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CHAPTER XXXI.
INDIAN PRESENTS DISTRIBUTED AT AUGUSTA. - ARRIVAL OF ACADIANS. - DEBRAHM'S COLONY AT BETHANY. - MILITARY CONDITION OF THE PROV- INCE. - GOVERNOR REYNOLDS' AND CAPTAIN DEBRAHM'S REPRESENTA- TION OF THE FORTS AND GARRISONS NECESSARY FOR THE DEFENSE OF GEORGIA. - SUGGESTION TO PURCHASE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NEGRO SLAVES WITHI WHICH TO CONSTRUCT THE REQUISITE FORTIFICATIONS. - DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. -DR. WILLIAM LITTLE. - REYNOLDS' ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC AF- FAIRS CRITICISED. - HE IS RECALLED, AND HENRY ELLIS IS NAMED AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. - GOVERNOR REYNOLDS RESIGNS, AND RESUMES HIS STATION IN TIIE BRITISH NAVY.
UPON the arrival of the Indian presents in December, 1755, Governor Reynolds proceeded to Augusta that he might super- intend their distribution and utilize the occasion in confirming the amicable relations existing between the colonists and their red neighbors. While there, awaiting the assembling of the chiefs, he was summoned to Savannah by a matter claiming his immediate and personal attention. He was therefore constrained to leave the presents, and the addresses he had prepared, with Mr. William Little, commissioner and agent for Indian affairs, who, a week after the departure of the governor, read those speeches and distributed the presents to some three hundred chiefs and head warriors. The convocation was peaceful and amicable. Well pleased with the royal gifts, the aborigines re- newed their pledges of friendship.
The affair which necessitated the speedy return of the gov- ernor to Savannah was the unexpected arrival of two transports having on board four hundred French Papists. They had been sent by Lieutenant-Governor Lawrence of Nova Scotia who, in an accompanying letter, informed Governor Reynolds that for the better security of that province and in pursuance of a resolu- tion of his council lie had forwarded these people to Georgia, not doubting but that they would be received and cared for.1 The prohibition against Papists was still unrepealed, and Georgia was
1 Sec Letter of Governor Reynolds to the Board of Trade, under date of January 5, 1757.
503
ACADIANS.
not in condition to assume conveniently the support of such a number of needy persons. The governor was sore perplexed, but his humane resolution was thus announced to the Lords Commis- sioners of Trade and Plantations: "The season of the year would not admit of their going back again, and therefore I was obliged to receive them, and their provisions being all expended and the poor wretches ready to perish, I was obliged to order them to be supplied immediately : which, with the hire of some boats to distribute them about the Province, has occasioned an expence of near 80 pounds."
Hard was the lot of these Acadians. Of French descent, and adherents to the Romish faith, leading pastoral lives and busied only with agricultural pursuits and the rearing of flocks and herds, they found themselves, upon the cession of Nova Scotia (then known as Acadie) to the British Crown, deprived of the sympathy of France and subjected to the will of a nation alien to them in language and religion. Forced to swear allegiance to England or to quit their homes, they elected the former alter- native, with the proviso, however, that they should never be re- quired to bear arms either against France or their old Indian allies. This condition being sanctioned by the royal governor of the province, they were for some time suffered to remain in quiet possession of their homes and property. Then came an order from the Crown requiring an unconditional oath or an immediate departure. The Acadians refusing compliance with this demand, it was finally determined to remove the entire population, and to scatter these peoples among the English colonies in North Amer- ica " where they could not unite in any offensive measures, and where they might be naturalized to the government and coun- try." To Lieutenant-Colonel Winslow, commanding the Mas- sachusetts forces, was the enforcement of this harsh decree en- trusted.
By a proclamation so cunningly framed that its true design was not revealed, and yet enjoining a compliance by penalties so severe that they could not be endured, the attendance of all male Acadians was required on the 5th of September, 1755, at Grand Pré, where Colonel Winslow commanded. The convention oc- curred in the village church. Going into the midst of the as- sembled multitude, that officer announced the startling resolu- tions of Lieutenant-Governor Lawrence and his council : " Your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds, and live stock of all sorts are forfeited to the Crown, with all other your effects, sav-
504
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
ing your money and household goods, and you yourselves are to be removed from this Province."
Appalled at a calamity which they were powerless to avert, and stunned by the terrors of this frightful edict, these peoples submitted to a fate which consigned them to penury, expatria- tion, and the blackness of desolation. That all hope of remain- ing longer might be wrested from them, their dwellings, barns, mills, school-houses, and even churches were committed to the flames. In the language of another, " for several successive even- ings the cattle assembled around the smouldering ruins as if in anxious expectation of the return of their masters, while all night long the faithful watch dogs of the neutrals howled over the scene of desolation and mourned alike the hands that had fed and the houses that had sheltered them."
Forced to depart at the point of the bayonet, crowded into vessels at the rate of two persons to every ton, and carrying only a modicum of luggage, these Acadians were torn from their homes and cherished associations, and were parceled out at the will of their English masters among the British colonies from Massachusetts to Georgia.1 It was a brutal outrage, the like of which can scarcely be found in history. Said one of the suffer- ers, " It was the hardest case which had happened since our Saviour was on earth."2 To Georgia was allotted the care of four hundred of these outcasts. Distributed throughout the prov- ince, they were sustained at the public expense. In the spring, many of them, building rude boats, departed in them for Caro- lina, hoping eventually to find their way back to the homes from which they had been so inhumanly expelled. For the control of those who remained the General Assembly passed a special act which was approved on the Sth of February, 1757. After recit- ing that most of the Acadians then in the province were residing in and about Savannah, and that they were illegally cutting and appropriating to their own use much valuable timber belonging to the inhabitants, this act empowered the justices of the peace to bind them out to such persons as should be willing to sup- ply them and their families with sufficient food, clothing, and shelter. Thus were they practically treated as servants. Abso-
1 See Grahame's History of the United States, vol. iii. pp. 384, 385. Lon- don. 1836. See Stevens' History of Georgia, vol. i. pp. 413-417. New York. MDCCCXLVII.
2 Pathetically has the poet Longfel- low, in his Evangeline, depicted the sor- rows of these outraged peoples.
--
108
505
DEFENSELESS CONDITION OF GEORGIA.
lutely prohibited were they from having and using any firearms or offensive weapons, except upon the plantations and under the supervision of their masters. Feeble and of limited duration was the impression produced upon the province by the intromis- sion of these unfortunate Acadians. After a short sojourn nearly all of them departed, some to South Carolina, some to France, and others to Nova Scotia. Those who remained were the least enterprising, and soon lapsed into utter obscurity and oblivion.
Far otherwise was it with the colony of Germans which De Brahm planted at Bethany. The original settlement of one hun- dred and sixty persons, begun in 1751, was so rapidly recruited that within eleven months the community numbered fifteen hundred souls.1
True to the instincts of his military calling, Governor Rey- nolds devoted more attention to the defenses of the province than to any other matter connected with its administration and development. The population of Georgia, dispersed as it was, aggregated scarcely sixty-four hundred souls. Of these, seven hundred and fifty-six, capable of bearing arms, were enrolled in the militia and officered. Badly equipped, and organized into eight companies, they were regularly drilled six times during the year. Widely separated, their concentration on an emer- gency was very difficult. There was not a fortification within the limits of the colony in even tolerable condition.
At Augusta the wooden fort, one hundred and twenty feet square, was so rotten that a great portion of it was propped up to prevent its walls from falling. Its eight small iron guns were honey-combed, and their carriages were decayed. Of ordnance stores there was no supply. The defenses at Frederica which, during the Spanish troubles, were so formidable had lapsed into ruin, and the twenty old cannon there remaining were lying dis- mounted and without ammunition. In Savannah the prospect was equally discouraging. Eleven old cannon, three and four pounders, without carriages, twenty-seven old swivel guns, and sixty-one old muskets, " most of them with broken stocks and many without locks," constituted the entire show of armament.2 The small log forts which the trustees had builded at various points had tumbled almost into nothingness.
Summoning to his aid John Gerar William DeBrahm, one of
1 History of the Province of Georgia, p. Board of Trade, under date January 5, 1756. 4 20. Wormsloe. MDCCCXLIX.
2 Sec Letter of Governor Reynolds to the
506
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
the royal surveyors and of late a captain of engineers of high repute, Governor Reynolds matured, and on the 5th of January, 1756, submitted the following : " Representation of the Forts and Garrisons necessary for the defence of Georgia : " -
" Georgia being a large but weak Province, is unable to raise a number of men to meet an Enemy in the Field or Woods. It requires therefore to be provided in sundry places with forts wherein few men may defend the Province (i. e. the settled part of the Province) against many, and keep the Inhabitants free from Invasions.
" To fortify this Province will require to choose such places where the Enemy must take his passage (as well by water from the East as by land from the West) which places likewise are convenient to communicate one with another by Land as well as by Water to make their correspondence and assistance as easy as possible.
" The places for Forts near the Sea are first COCKSPUR, a small Island in the mouth of Savannah River commanding the North but much better the South Channel. The North Channel is only for small craft, but the South Channel is for large vessels. "Secondly. SAVANNAH, being the first landing place and like- wise the best settled Town in the Province, on Savannah River. " Thirdly. HARDWICKE, being likewise the first landing place upon Great Ogeechee River, where also is the passage over that river to correspond between Savannah and Frederica.
" Fourthly. FREDERICA, being the Southermost place of the present Settlements, but the Center between Savannah and St. John's Rivers, upon an Island commanding the chief branch of Alatamaha River, a convenient Place to harbour Men of War, and, being also protected by them, also the fittest place for a Garrison Town or Place of Arms.
" The LAND PASSAGES for the Enemy are along the Rivers Savannah, Great Ogeechee, and Alatamaha. These Rivers are therefore all to be fortified in such places where they leave off to be navigable, viz* :
" At Augusta, and at the fork of Ochonee and Alatamaha Rivers, and upon a South and North Course from these two places on a convenient Spot on Great Ogeechee River, to stop the Enemy's passage along the River and to defend likewise the passage for the communication between the Forks and Augusta. " To protect this communication it is necessary to raise Two Hundred Rangers, commanded by two Captains with the assist-
-
ITA
-
507
SCHEME FOR FORTIFYING GEORGIA.
ance of four Lieutenants and Six Sargents. They are to be sta- tioned in the following places and manner viz :
In Frederica, one Capt" and one Sergt with 29 Men.
" Augusta, one Capt" and one Sergt with 29
¥ In Savannah, one Lieu': and one Serg* with 29
" Hardwicke, one Lient with .
25
" The Forks, one Lieu with 25
" The Ogeechee Pass one Lieut with 25
14
Between Savannah and Augusta one Sergt with
Between the Pass and Hardwicke one Sergt with .
10 "
Between the Forks and Frederica one Sergt with
14 ¥
200
" Their duty is to reconize the communication every day, to carry Letters and Orders, and to convey Messengers, Travellers, and Troops when marching.
" Frederica to be one half an Hexegon, i. e. of three Poligons 960 feet each, with two Whole and two Demi Bastions towards the Land, two Demi Bastions and a Cittadel towards the River, which Citadel must command both Town and River, and lodges the whole Garrison.
" The necessary Artillery for this Place is
10 24 18 Pounders
12 12 Pounders Cannon. 20 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 Pounders
4 12 10 Pounders. Haubices.
4 100 50 Pounders. Mortars.
50
" The Garrison for the place is to be 300 Regulars, sufficient to defend it against a surprise, but against a siege the Garrison must be reinforced with 700 men.
350 Militia 350 Indians S 700
To make a Garris" of 1000 men.
" Hardwicke is to be a Triangle, i. e. three Poligons, 600 feet each, with three detached Bastions, being only a Citadel com- manding the River and Town.
ARTILLERY FOR THIS PLACE.
5 24 18 Pounders
6 12 Pounders Cannon.
10 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 Pounders
2
12 10 Pounders. Haubices.
2
100 50 Pounders. Mortars.
25
T
-
508
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
The Garrison is
150 Regulars.
150 Militia.
The Reinforcement 300 Men
150 Indians.
450
" Cockspur is to be a Triangular Fort, i. e. three Poligons, a. 132 feet, with three Semi Bastions or a Block House with a Re- doubt of 4 Poligons, each 100 feet, without any Bastion, being only to defend the Mouth of Savannah River.
ARTILLERY.
6
24
18 Pounders )
3
12
Pounders
2
9
Pounders
Cannon.
2
8
Pounders L
2
10 Pounders. Haubices.
- 15
The Garrison is
30 Regulars.
The Reinforcement 70 Men
35 Indians.
100
"Savannah is to be a Square, i. e. four Poligons, each 448 feet, with four Bastions, 3 upon the Bluff to command the Town, and one below the Bluff : besides a Battery upon the Bluff to com- mand the River, being only a Citadel to command both the River and Town.
ARTILLERY.
8 24 18
Pounders Pounders
Cannon.
10 1, 2, 3, 8, 9
Pounders
2 12 10
Haubices. Mortars.
2
100 50
26
The Garrison is ·
150 Regulars.
The Reinforcement 300 Men
150 Indians.
450
"Augusta will be the same as Savannah, only altogether upon one Horison, or like Hardwicke, being a Citadel of that Form.
ARTILLERY.
12 12 Pounders
10 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 Pounders
Cannon. 2 10 Pounders. Haubices.
- 24
§ 35 Militia.
4 12
150 Militia.
-
FORTIFICATION OF GEORGIA.
509
150 Regulars.
The Garrison is
§ 150 Militia.
The Reinforcement 300 Men .
150 Indians. -
450.
" The Pass, or Ferry over the head of the Great Ogeechee River will be a Block House, in a Redoubt of 4 Poligons, 100 feet each, without any Bastion, being only a Protection of the Passage over the River.
ARTILLERY.
4 8 Pounders 4 3 Pounders
Cannon.
- 8
30 Regulars.
The Garrison is .
35 Militia. -
The Reinforcement 70 Men
35 Indians.
100
" The Forks will be the same as Hardwicke, or Augusta, that is a Triangle or Square.
ARTILLERY.
22
1, 2, 3, 8, 9 Pounders.
Cannon.
.
2 10 Pounders. Haubices.
- 24
150 Regulars.
The Garrison is ·
.
150 Militia.
The Reinforcement 300 Men .
150 Indians.
450
Regular Garrisons in all 960
ARTILLERY.
Militia
· 1020
24,18
Pounders 29
Indians . .
.
200
(1, 2, 3, 8, 9 Pounders
84
Rangers
Haubices, 12, 10
Pounders 14
3,200
Mortars, 100, 50
Pounders 8
172
" All these Forts are only projected in earth work faced with Facines or Turf, being the cheapest way in all Parts of the World to fortify by; but since workmanship is so very dear in these parts because of the scarcity of White People to employ to such purposes, and those few that can be got cannot be obliged for any time, and consequently there is no accounting upon White People let the encouragement be what it will; it will therefore answer much better and be more advantageous to buy 150 Negroes and
3
1020
Cannon. 12 Pounders 37
.
-
٤٠
510
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
to but them under the conduct of three conductors and six over- seers, to every fifty negroes one conductor and two overseers ; one of the conductors to be a Bricklayer, one a Carpenter, and one a Blacksmith : two of the overseers to be Bricklayers, two Carpen- ters, and two Blacksmiths, and if possible all Sailors likewise. They chuse the best hands of those sensible Negroes they think fit to assist in their business when required. These Negroes are to be employed either in one place or in two or three as will be requisite to carry on the most necessary Works. These trains of Pioneers are under the direction of a Premiere Engineer who is assisted by a Lieutenant or Second Engineer, and are likewise to have a Doctor and two Mates.
" If these Negroes are bought in Africa and brought over to America they will not amount to 4500 pounds sterling. Their maintenance per annum each at
5 pounds sterling £750
The Six Overseers Salary per annum £30 sterlg. 180
The 3 Conductors Salary per annum £50 150
The Doctor with two Mates per annum 180
The Second Engineer per annum
182
-
£1,825
The amount of it in 10 years, which time all the work may be finished
£18,250
For extraordinary expenses to build or buy Boats, Iron, Steel, and necessary Tools, and to hire now and then Soldiers or others when necessary, £1000 per annum 10,000
Add to this the buying the Negroes 4,500
£32,750
Suppose of 150 Negroes at the end of Ten Years there are but 100 left, every one of these will be worth 40 pounds sterlg. to sell in America, . £4,000
Consequently the expense of fortifying the whole Province of Georgia (subtracting the sale of the Negroes) will amount only to £28,750
"No other Calculation can be made in this part of the World, and it is certainly a way to do anything of this kind much cheaper than in Europe."
Novel as this scheme was, and economical as it appeared to be, it did not receive the sanction of the Board of Trade, and the defenses of Georgia were suffered to remain in a deplorable con- dition. Fortunately their protective powers were not called into requisition.
Contemporaneously with this document was received from the
511
POLITICAL DISAGREEMENTS.
governor a dolorous letter in which, again alluding to his small salary of £600 a year, he states that all the perquisites of his office do not amount to £60 per annum ; that his fees for issuing new grants aggregate not more than £123 15s. ; that although he lived in the most frugal way, his expenses exceeded his in- come; that no outfit had been allowed him; that he had been at a charge of £1,000 in that behalf, and that he saw no way of reim- bursing himself for this outlay. He earnestly prays the favor- able consideration of the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, and requests that his salary be made equal to that of the governor of North Carolina. We do not find that this peti- tion was granted. The truth is the governor before long became involved in a controversy with the General Assembly, and soon lost what influence he at first exerted over that body.
On the part of the chief magistrate it was urged that the members of the house were too greedy of power; that his mes- sages were not by them treated with becoming respect ; that they were niggardly and dilatory in providing means for the support of government and the defrayal of the expenses of the court of oyer and terminer; that they were indifferent in re- gard to the prompt and efficient administration of justice; and that at least some of them were unfaithful and incompetent. His strictures upon the general conduct of his council were equally severe.1
Per contra, it was asserted that upon Governor Reynolds' first arrival in the colony he was heartily welcomed, and that the live- liest anticipations were entertained of a happy and prosperous administration ; that only a few months after entering upon the duties of his office he entrusted its affairs and those of the prov- ince to William Little, a surgeon in the Navy, whom he had brought over with him in the capacity of a private secretary, a person unaccustomed to the transaction of business and "of the most despotic principles ; " that this Dr. Little was guilty of ex- tortion as clerk of the general court, of falsifying a minute of the house of representatives, of which he was the clerk, " in order to cover his sinking a Bill which had passed both Houses," and also of forging another minute in regard to another bill which had received the sanction of the General Assembly ; that although advised of all this the partiality of the governor for his favorite led him to bestow upon this unworthy recipient two or three
1 See Letter of Governor Reynolds to the Board of Trade, dated the 29th of March, 1756.
-
512
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
other employments of value ; that the General Assembly had been dissolved leaving half the taxes of the past year uncollected and those for the current year unprovided for, merely to frustrate an inquiry into the conduct of Dr. Little; that the governor con- stantly endeavored to belittle the council, ignoring them when questions of moment were to be discussed, and convening them upon occasions the most trivial; that he only partially communi- cated to the members his majesty's instructions ; that he fre- quently acted in direct opposition to their advice in the determi- nation of affairs in which they were to cooperate ; that, utterly ignoring the presence and office of the members of council who attended him to Augusta upon the occasion of the distribution of the royal presents to the Indians, he delegated the whole busi- ness to Dr. Little, who was totally unworthy of the trust; that he suspended Mr. Clement Martin, a member of council, for no cause other than that he presented the council's remonstrance against Dr. Little; that without consultation with that body he appointed "judicial and ministerial offices of justice " and re- fused to allow the protests of members to be entered upon the minutes ; that he inserted or omitted what he pleased in making up the journal of council; that he had erected "a new and ex- traordinary Judicature," where he alone presided ; that he inter- fered in a lawless manner in the conduct of causes in the general court ; that he failed to countenance the officers in the fearless discharge of their legitimate duties ; that he had been partial in ceding the public lands ; that he encouraged vexatious prosecu- tions against parties who incurred his anger; that he transcended his powers in filling offices which stood only within the gift of the Crown ; that his general conduct of affairs had produced such dissatisfaction that the colony so far from increasing in popula- tion and wealth was daily retrograding; and that his administra- tion of the government was incompetent, partial, and tyrannical.1
Exaggerated as some of these charges may have been, the complaints which came up from the colony were too frequent and too earnest to be suffered by the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations to pass unheeded. That the governor was too much under the influence of his unscrupulous secretary was manifest to all. It was not to be denied that he applied to
1 See Letter of Alexander Kellet, mem- 7, 1756. See Letter of Jonathan Bryan ber of Council and Provost General of the to Lord Halifax, dated Savannah, April 6, Colony, to the Lords Commissioners of 1756.
Trade and Plantations, under date of July
513
RECALL OF GOVERNOR REYNOLDS.
the conduct of the colony, the council, and the House of Assem- bly the same arbitrary rules which he had been accustomed to promulgate upon the quarter-deck of his man-of-war. Evidently he was not fitted for his present station, and the colony was not flourishing under his guidance. His majesty was memorialized on the subject, and from Whitehall there came an order, dated the 3d of August, 1756, signifying the royal pleasure that the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations " should imme- diately direct Governor Reynolds to come to England to answer for his conduct in his Government." The same document ap- proved the " recommendation of Henry Ellis Esq. to be appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Georgia during the absence of Mr. Rey- nolds," and requested the Lords of Trade " to prepare and trans- mit for his Majesty's signature the proper commission for that purpose."
In pursuance of these instructions the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, two days afterwards, forwarded a copy of this royal order to Governor Reynolds, enjoining his prompt return to England " to the end that an account of the present situation and circumstances of the Province and his conduct in the administration of government there might be laid before his Majesty for his further directions thereupon."
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