USA > Georgia > Wilkinson County > History of Wilkinson County > Part 14
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WILKINSON COUNTY'S PART IN THE WAR OF 1812
Perhaps never in the history of the civilized world has a universal fear seized the whole people as during this pe- riod of time. The great dread that seized the whole of Europe at the monster armies of Napoleon on the one side and his enemies on the other had spread to the New World. It seized upon the Creek Indian nation, where their superstitions prepared the way for any cult that might be introduced:
The British, recognizing the trend of events was in- evitably drawing America into maelstrom of war which was engulfing Europe and that she would be aligned on the side of her Revolutionary ally, France, was not slow to grasp the opportunity of arousing the Creeks into a re- ligious frenzy against the Americans. She could not have selected a more powerful agent to produce this than Te- cumseh. With his band of Shawnees, he came from De- troit into the Creek nation. From tribe to tribe he went,
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even into the Seminoles of Florida, teaching them the "Dance of the Lakes," converting all the disgruntled ele- ments to his faith immediately and from them spreading to those who had always been loyal to the Americans. His prophecies of destruction for those who refused to believe in him, death by quagmires, earthquakes, thunder and lightning and all the forces of nature, which he claimed to be at his beck and call, while the bullets of their enemies would prove harmless to the true believers : all this was rapidly having its effect on the Indians. As he went from tribe to tribe, the mantle of Tecumseh was cast upon other able local prophets, and these took up the work with such a spirit that the whole nation was soon in an uproar. Chief- tain after chieftain was converted, and town after town began rapidly to join the war party until nine-tenths of the whole nation was arrayed against the Americans. Here and there, however, a chieftain would remain loyal to the Americans and hold his followers in line.
Chiefest of these was Big Warrior of the Tucka- batches, Chief Speaker of the nation. He treated with de- rision the teachings of Tecumseh and his converts. Te- cumseh, however, had been informed by the British that a comet would appear in the fall and that he could safely prophesy concerning its approach to the Indians and use it to further his ends. Tecumseh therefore prophesied that Big Warrior would see his arm extended across the heav- ens in the fall and when he, Tecumseh, returned to De- troit, he would stamp his feet and shake down every house in Tuckabatchee. The next month after he made this re- markable prediction, a mighty rumbling was heard in the earth and the houses of Tuckabatchee reeled and tot- tered in an earthquake. (Pickett's History of Alabama, p. 515.) Soon the comet appeared. To the superstitious red men it was Tecumseh's arm extended.
But still the staunch old chieftain, though with fear and trembling, refused to take sides against the Americans.
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With him, remained the greater part of the Tuckabatchee tribe as well as the Coweta, the Cusseta and a few other tribes.
Both the British and Tecumseh, himself, seems to have overestimated the power their plans would have upon the superstitious minds of the Indians. Their success over- stepped their most sanguine expectations and perhaps saved the southern states from one of the greatest massa- cres in history. The British had calculated upon, and had . timed the Indian outbreak to coincide with the arrival of their fleets and land forces to be sent from Europe. But the religious fanaticism of the Indians could not be re- strained. Killings and disorders broke out throughout the whole Indian nation. A civil war among the Creeks was imminent in 1813. Hoboheilthle, theTallassee king, fa- mous in Georgia history, now grasped the war club. Though a delegation of Indians loyal to the Americans hurried to him and urged him to desist, he vowed he would not only capture and destroy all the Indian towns lying between him and the Georgia frontiers but would not pause in his victorious march through Georgia until he had reached the Ogeechee : that with his bows and ar- rows and war clubs and magic powers, aided by the British and Shawnees who were already en route, he would crush the Americans. (Indian Affairs, p. 847.)
WILKINSON COUNTY THREATENED BY THE INDIANS
The disaffection of this famous old chieftain was a se- rious blow to the Americans. For his were no idle threats. His influence throughout the Creek land would now rally hundreds of braves to the British arms. Only too well did the uneasy families of Wilkinson and the adjoining coun- ties realize the peril that now faced them as this news reached the Georgia frontiers, for WILKINSON LAY IN HIS THREATENED LINE OF MARCH, with only thinly settled Twiggs county lying between it and the
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Indian country, and the small federal garrison at Fort Hawkins to stand guard.
In June, 1813, news reached the Indian nation that the Shawnees from the Great Lakes were coming. This seems to have been taken by them as the signal for their out- break. The civil war now burst forth and the towns loyal to the Americans began to feel the weight of Indian ven- geance. The Indian chieftain, Cornells, hurried to Mil- ledgeville and urged the governor of Georgia to rush troops to the aid of the loyal Indians but the governor was dilatory and the civil war continued to rage. In July another appeal was sent to Benjamin Hawkins by the In- dians offering a part of the Indian lands if aid should be sent them. At the same time, Big Warrior, whose town was now beseiged by the hostiles was sending appeals to the ancient allies of his tribe, the Cherokees, for aid. The combined forces of the hostiles were now turned against Tuckabatchee whose warriors still stood firm. The Cusse- tah and the Coweta chiefs now vowed they would die in the defense of Big Warrior and gathering two hundred warriors ordered their war chiefs to fight their way to Tuckabatchee and bring back to Coweta the beleagured braves of Big Warrior. Welcome news arrived by runners that the Cherokees were on the march to the aid of the loyal Creeks.
The Cussetah and Coweta warriors having succeeded in saving Big Warrior and his tribesmen and bringing them back with them, the Indian towns along the Chatta- hoochee were fortified against Hoboheilthle, who was now the recognized head of the war faction, and was putting into effect his threats of systematic destruction of all the Indian towns which refused to dance the "Dance of the Lakes." These fortified towns along the Chatta- hooche now constituted the first line of defense for the people of Wilkinson county against the threatened de- struction.
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And yet, the governor of Georgia as well as the federal authorities seemed unaware of the great crisis facing this section. Tardiness and delays were making the weak In- dian towns fight their battles against overwhelming odds.
Suddenly in August the massacre at Fort Mims filled the nation with horror and awakened it to the fact that a crisis was upon this section. Their success in this attack on Fort Mims now convinced the Indians that their prophets were worthy of belief, and it was immediately decided to attack the well fortified Coweta town with all the forces that could be brought to bear and after reducing it, sweep Georgia to the Savannah river where the British would co-operate. The date fixed for the storming of Coweta town was about October Ist, 1813. News also reached the friendly Indians that the Seminoles well armed by the Spaniards in Florida were on the march to join in with the attack. Frantic appeals were sent to the governor of Georgia stating that unless help arrived the loyal towns would have to join the hostile "Red Sticks" to prevent be- ing destroyed. The governor of Georgia now thoroughly alarmed hastened General Floyd with his Georgia militia to the aid of Coweta and they arrived in time to prevent its fall.
In the meantime the inhabitants in this immediate sec- tion threatened by Hoboheilthle were in a panic of fear. Knowing his ability to make good this threat with his thousands of fanatic warriors, those living nearest the Ocmulgee frontier were in a high state of alarm and were fleeing into the interior. Immense numbers left their homes in terror, for the comparatively small forces of militia which could be depended on were no match for the red tribesmen of Hoboheilthle. Brigadier-General David Blackshear, of Laurens county, was in command of the Second Brigade of the Fifth Division, composed of the regiments of Wilkinson, Twiggs, Laurens, Pulaski, and Telfair counties.
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In the early part of August, 1813, the situation along the frontiers guarded by this brigade became so serious that Governor Mitchell ordered him to repair at once to the Ocmulgee and take such steps as would make the in- habitants secure. Hastening to Twiggs county he hur- riedly had three forts erected along the river at strategic points. From this county he went to Pulaski and Telfair where he had seven other forts built. Col. Ezekiel Wim- berly commanding the militia of Twiggs was ordered to assemble sufficient men to garrison the forts along the Twiggs border and to provide mounted spies to patrol the territory lying between. Col. Allen Tooke of Pulaski and Major Cawthorn of Telfair were given similar orders to garrison the forts of their respective counties. The Wil- kinson county militia under the command of Col. William Cawley and that of Laurens county was now ordered out to relieve these garrisons in the guarding of the frontier. Those parts of the first class militia not in active service were required to assemble at Irwinton every two weeks to be drilled and disciplined.
Although the militia of this whole section was now un- der arms, it began to be realized that the state was to- tally unprepared for a war such as was bursting upon it. It was found that there were insufficient arms, especially. in Telfair county, with which to provide the militia. Gen- eral Blackshear at once sent urgent demands on the gov- ernor for more. It was now also discovered that the pow- der and balls provided by the state arsenals were practi- cally worthless. Thus, badly armed and equipped, the militia formed a weak second line of defense along the Oc- mulgee against the impending extermination by the hostile Creeks. On every breeze came rumors of British warships filled with thousands of British troops which were ex- pected to be landed on either the Atlantic coast or the Gulf coast and march through Georgia, and against any well armed body of men the militia would fare badly.
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However, the arms and ammunition problem was partly remedied.
In the meantime events were happening in the Indian nation which gave relief to the fear-stricken settlers of this section. General Floyd had arrived at Coweta and reinforced by the friendly Indians had defeated the In- dians at Caleebee, in which battle the Tallassee King fell. Likewise Andrew Jackson at the head of his West Ten- nesseans had arrived in the Indian nation, and Cocke with his East Tennesseeans was approaching. Battle after bat- tle was fought, the Indians fighting with a fanatical fe- rocity never equalled in the history of the Creek nation. Had the overzealous prophets been able to have re- strained their converts and co-ordinated their uprising with the arrival of the British forces, the history of Wil- kinson county would have told a far different story. As it was, the Creeks could not withstand the overwhelming armies that were sent against them and their power was crushed before the British arrived.
General Blackshear during this time had assembled his forces at Hartford (Hawkinsville), as his headquarters and extended his line of operations to the Flint river where he stationed a force for the protection of the Oc- mulgee frontier. This released the line of forts from so rigid a guard. All the first class militia of this section was now organized and surrendered to the use of the federal government to be sent to whatever front deemed neces- sary ( Bench & Bar of Ga., Vol. I, p. 419) . It now became essential for the second class militia of these counties to guard the Ocmulgee line of defense.
As the year 1814 wore on dark days fell upon Wilkin- son county. Washington city had been burned by a victo- rious British army. The great Napoleon on whom America had so fondly based her hopes of invincibility when she had entered the war met his downfall at Leipsic and was sent into exile. News reached Georgia that the
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hosts of British redcoats fresh from the battlefields of Europe would now be poured into Georgia, either from the Gulf or from the Atlantic coast. Irwinton was now made the recruiting rendezvous of Lieutenant Gresham, 2nd Lt. 8th U. S. Infantry.
A new Indian peril now faced this immediate section. Ten British ships having arrived at Apalachicola, the Seminole tribes which had become greatly augmented by large numbers of other Creeks upon the utter defeat of the Creek nation by Jackson, Floyd and others, had flocked to the Seminoles and now seized upon this oppor- tunity to get revenge. Thus in September of 1814, the citizens of these counties between the Ocmulgee and Oconee were thrown into great excitement over well sub- stantiated rumors that the Seminoles would shortly at- tack Hartford. Col. Allen Tooke commanding the militia of Pulaski county, recognizing the dire straits that section was now in by reason of all the first class militia having entered the federal service hurried a courier to Governor Early informing him of the perilous situation.
The forts guarding the Ocmulgee were now reinforced and a body of scouts was thrown across the river to explore the Indian country throughout that section, and locate any hostiles on the march.
It became increasingly apparent that New Orleans would be the first objective of the victorious British ar- mies and fleets. Major-General Andrew Jackson, who was in command of the federal forces throughout the southern states, began hastening thither with his army and sent ur- gent calls to Governor Early to rush the first class militia to Mobile with the utmost despatch. Col. Ezekiel Wim- berley's regiment was detached from General Black- shear's brigade and ordered to rendezvous at Fort Haw- kins. Arriving there with less than its full complement, the regiment was completed by recruits from the second class militia of Jasper and Morgan counties.
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The Seminole troubles now caused a change in the plans. General McIntosh immediately proceeded on the march but General Blackshear was ordered to march with Col. Wimberley's regiment from Hartford together with other troops to the Flint river and after establishing a depot to keep McIntosh informed of any forces of hostile Indians. Meanwhile Major Blue of the 39th regiment with sixteen hundred mounted men, Choctaws, Chicka- saws and Creeks were on the march against the Seminoles. Likewise, Col. Benjamin Hawkins' regiment of Creeks was ready to march against them, and should it be neces- sary, General McIntosh's command was also to turn aside from the march to Mobile and aid in the extermination of the Seminoles.
On December 19, 1814, General McIntosh, receiving more disturbing information by Indian runners of the ac- tivities of the British at Apalachicola, hastily sent a cour- ier to Blackshear informing him of the dangers the south- western part of Georgia was in, from not only the British and Indians but also the further fact that hun- dreds of negroes which had fled to the Seminoles were now being armed and drilled for the purpose of being turned loose on the state, and at the same time ordering Blackshear to rush his command with all speed to the con- fluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers. .
Although Blackshear's forces were almost totally with- out any supplies, having less than a day's rations on hand, the emergency was so great that he immediately took up the line of march at the same time sending requisitions to Governor Early to have supplies sent forward, in order to prevent a failure of the expedition. Food and munitions were sent on after Blackshear's army as fast as they could be collected ; but on January 3rd to add to the troubles, the flat which was being used to ferry them across the river at Hartford sank and it was some days before it could be put back into service. In the meantime Blackshear's men were approaching the Flint river.
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The arrival in the Gulf of Mexico of the British war fleet with one hundred, fifty boats and barges loaded with soldiers was now learned, its objective being New Or- leans, and Mobile its second place of attack. This made necessary that all available Georgia troops be rushed to that point. General McIntosh leaving the Seminole prob- lem for Blackshear to solve was now en route there.
News arriving that Major Blue had defeated the Semi- noles to such an extent that extensive depredations against the Georgia frontiers were improbable, Governor Early ordered General Blackshear to change his destination and proceed as rapidly as possible towards Mobile and if possible overtake McIntosh's army before its arrival there. Blackshear's brigade, unable to carry its baggage through the old Indian trail to Fort Mitchell, had to turn about and march back to Hartford, thence strike the road leading through Twiggs county to Fort Hawkins.
This, he had done and was already on the road to Fort Hawkins when Governor Early received the astounding intelligence that the British had landed troops on Cum- berland island and was ravaging that whole section of the state. The Seminoles were hurrying their bands to unite with them and hundreds of negroes were turning against their former masters and joining the British with the re- sultant horrors of the threatened race war.
With the impending attack on Mobile, which, if success- ful, would let in the vast British armies reinforced by thousands of Indians for a triumphant march through Wilkinson county to the capital of the state; with the bulk of her military forces en route to Mobile to prevent this very threat; now from the southeast invaded by strong forces at her most vulnerable point, all Georgia knew that her crisis had arrived.
Blackshear's army including the Wilkinson county sol- diers had been inducted into the federal service and was under federal orders to proceed to Mobile, and, hence
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Governor Early had no legal right to control his move- ments. However, this was the only available force that could be rushed to the coast to stop the invaders. The governor, therefore, on the 19th of January, sent a cour- ier to Blackshear urging him to change his course and hurry with all possible speed to the relief of the panic- stricken citizens of the coastal counties. Although it might mean a court-martial for disobedience of orders, Black- shear realized that the fate of Georgia might depend upon his decision, and, without a moment's loss of time, he swung his army around and started on the road through Telfair to Darien, at the same time writing McIntosh of his reasons for deviating from the instructions to join him.
Although with less than half the number of men the British had landed on the Georgia coast, badly supplied with arms, ammunition and provisions, Blackshear by forced marches, lost no time in rushing aid to that sec- tion. The road along which his army was marching, how- ever, was filled with refugees, fleeing into the distant parts of Georgia from the imminent perils, and his march was retarded by their baggage-laden wagons frequently block- ing the road.
Never did an army march more eagerly than did Black- shear's. They were going not merely to the defense of their fellow Georgians on the coast, but they were striking at a peril which threatened this section, their families, their homes. Blackshear's despatches gives a vivid picture of the morale of his men as they marched for the coast, telling of how many of his men were ill and in the hos- pitals when the order came to rush to Darien, but in spite of this, large numbers of them overtook his army on the march and rejoined their comrades.
On the day before Blackshear reached Darien, he re- ceived the news of Jackson's victory at New Orleans. The arrival of Blackshear's army together with this glo- rious news completely changed the aspect on this front.
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Detachments of his command soon occupied Sapelo island. Others picketed the approaches to the British lines cutting . off bands of negroes attempting to join the British. Be- fore Blackshear's army could attack the enemy, the news of the treaty of Ghent arrived and hostilities ceased.
( Documents and letters in Sketch of David Blackshear, Bench and Bar of Georgia, Vol. I, pages 411, et seq. : Pickett's History of Alabama ; Indian Affairs, Vol. I : Au- gusta Chronicle. )
CHAPTER XXVI THE POST WAR BOOM
THE fragments of history picked up here and there de- scribing the conditions in Wilkinson County following the closing of the War of 1812, strikingly remind us of the conditions of our own times since the World War. There was a high price for anything the farmers of Wil- kinson had to sell. The demand for cotton to be exported to Europe was pouring a flood of gold into the county. Land values rose rapidly as all the available acreage was planted. The white population in 1820 was 5,144, and the black population 2,663. More and more slaves were brought in and sold to the planters at enormous prices, this requiring more land for them to cultivate. Rents for land were high where any could be found.
The distance to the seaport was the main drawback. Savannah, one hundred fifty miles, and Augusta more than one hundred miles distant were considered the best mar- kets and in the falls when the cotton was ready to be sold, communities would co-operate in providing their carts and wagons and several would journey together to these towns carrying their produce. Some of the larger planters employed wagoners by the year, keeping them constantly on the road carrying their farm produce thither and mer- chandise back. Although the Oconee River could be used as a means of transportation, yet, it seems the planters preferred hauling their cotton overland. Direct connection with Savannah by an economical artery of commerce was now the urgent need of the day, and the best minds of Georgia were trying to solve the problem. In spite of the handicaps of transportation the wealth of the county rap- idly grew. .
The growing wealth brought tremendous changes in
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the economic life of the county. More tradesmen came to make this their home. Irwinton was now growing rap- idly. There was a great demand for educated men and the opportunities for the young man have never been ex- ceeded in the history of the county. For those agriculturally minded, there was the demand for overseers for the large plantations; for those who craved military honors, there was the great military organization of the State which required well trained officers, with the constant prospect of the nation being engaged in some war on short notice ; for the professional man there was the vast rapidly grow- ing hinterland which was demanding more and more law- yers, physicians, etc .; for the man who preferred the schoolroom, there was the clamor for teachers and private instructors by the wealthy planters who wanted to give their children an education; especially for the politically minded were opportunities such as have never been again. The rapid-fire creation of new counties throughout the State brought with it the necessity for new officers to gov- ern them, and the man wth the ability for leadership who arrived first could almost always count on a political ca- reer. Likewise there was a spirit of unrest among the set- tlers to a large extent, the craving for greener pastures, the urge to seek new lands. Thus, we find numbers of the earlier families of Wilkinson completely disappearing from the records here, only to re-appear in some other section of the State or in Alabama. If there is anything to the old adage, "Blood will tell," it is well indicated by the numerous instances of striking successes made by these emigrants from Wilkinson.
The post war boom brought other changes, the counter- part of which we have here to-day. There seems to have been almost a complete cessation of spiritual growth. Dur- ing the period when the Great Crisis was approaching and while the war was in progress the people were religious, but now that the war was over, the dangers had passed,
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wealth and good times were at hand there was a backslid- ing and falling from grace so pronounced, that the preach- ers were commenting on the "low state of religion and abounding iniquity." (History of Georgia Baptists. )
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