USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 28
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The continental troops destined for the expedition having been concentrated at Sunbury and supplied with necessary am- munition and provisions were embarked on board transports on the afternoon of the 30th of April. Impeded by head winds, and delayed by some of the galleys getting aground, Colonel Elbert did not reach Frederica until Sunday, the 11th of May. There he rested his troops until the 18th, when he advanced to the north end of Amelia Island.
Lieutenant Robert Ward, of the second battalion, with a party, was ordered ashore with instructions to proceed to the south end of the island and secure all the inhabitants so that they might be prevented from communicating to the enemy any intelligence of the approach of the Americans. Previously, however, the enemy had there landed a detachment and was ob- serving the movements of General Elbert. Perceiving Ward's approach, the officer in command of the British detachment dis- patched a boat to give the alarm to an armed vessel lying at anchor south of the island. Guns were fired by the vessel and these were answered by cannon at the mouth of the St. John River. Attacked by the enemy, Lieutenant Ward was slain and his party driven back.
1 Soo MS. order book of Colonel Elbert.
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On the 19th thirteen men of Colonel Baker's command joined Colonel Elbert and informed him of the disaster which had oc- curred at Nassau River. Two days afterwards three others came in and gave fuller report of the unfortunate affair. They, with five others, had been captured by McGirth and placed under the charge of an Indian guard. Falling upon them unexpectedly, the Indians, with hatchets and knives, massacred their five com- panions. These three, in the confusion, effected their escape. Of Colonel Elbert's approach by water the authorities in East Florida were fully informed. A detachment of artillery, sent from St. Augustine, was occupying a battery erected at Hester's Bluff, and a schooner, mounting ten guns, and an armed sloop were already guarding the inland passage between Amelia Island and the main. At the mouth of the St. Jolin River two war vessels, one of fourteen and the other of sixteen guns, were stand- ing on and off waiting to intercept the American galleys if they attempted an approach from the sea. With them Elbert was unable to cope. Confined within the narrow limits of the gal- leys, and subjected to the influence of the sun, each day growing hotter, his men were becoming exhausted and discontented. Be- cause of the vexatious delays to which he had been subjected his stock of provisions was already scant, and there was no good prospect of his being able to force the coast guard and obtain a fresh supply from the shores of the St. John's. These untoward circumstances, combined with Colonel Baker's defeat, induced Colonel Elbert to give over his purpose and retire upon Freder- ica. From Cumberland Island, under date of May 30th, he wroto Major Habersham a letter, from which we extract the fol- lowing : 1 " I dispatched Lt Col" Stirk last Monday night with 90 men to make a forced march under cover of the night and penetrate as far as the Rains where I was in hopes he might sur- prize and make prisoners of some of the enemy, by which means I expected to get some information of their situation which I am much at a loss for. He returned the next evening without being able to do anything. . . . The same night two men belonging to the Congress, and on Tuesday night two men of your regiment, deserted, and are gone to the enemy. This determined me to lose no time in retreating to St Illa, as the enemy will from them be informed of our strength, and what is more, of our having had nothing but rice to eat for five days past. Lieut Col" Harris with one hundred men, rank and file, is gone up the north side 1 MS. order and letter book of Colonel Elbert.
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COMMUNICATION OF COLONEL ELBERT.
of St Mary's as far as the Ford, from whence he is to march across to St Illa and join us. I am in hopes he will be able to fall in with some of the Florida Scouts and Indians, in which case, I will answer for it, he gives a scourging to double his num- ber, should there be as many. Our brave fellows are in high spirits and wish an opportunity of a trial of skill with the Florid- ians which I would have given them had I gone to the banks of St John's river. I knew too well the defenceless situation of the State to risk so many of her troops on the turn of a die. Could we have got the gallies into St John's river I would, with the men I had with me, have made the whole Province of East Flor- ida tremble, but without the assistance of vessels to command the river I don't think it would be prudent to cross it with fifteen hundred men. However, if I am commanded, I dare attempt it with half the number. I am well convinced that a post properly established on St Illa, where it can be succoured by water, will be a great means of protecting and securing our southern fron- tiers. 'Tis my opinion, as the enemy are so well prepared for us, that we should lay by awhile ; and, if Carolina will assist us, join our forces by and by, and then, with the united force of our gallies and their privateers, make a powerful invasion of that Province. In the mean time we can be arming, clothing, and disciplining our men. In cach of those respects they are at present very deficient. I have consulted Commodore Bowen on every occasion, who has agreed with me in all matters, and has ever shown the greatest readiness in forwarding the expedition. He seems a little disappointed at not having had an opportunity of exchanging a few shots with the enemy. The Gallies will do well inland, but I can't help thinking that two or three such ves- sels as the Hinchinbrook would, if they got them at sea, give them a hearty drubbing. This our Enemy were in eager expec- tation of, as they knew it to be impossible for us to pass Amelia Narrows."
Colonel Elbert's reasons for abandoning the expedition were approved by the president and council. Retiring on the last of May, he reached Old Town on the St. Illa the following day. There he was joined by Colonel Harris and his detachment. From the St. Illa Colonel Elbert proceeded to Fort Howe, whence he marched to Darien, and thence to Savannah. The fleet, under the command of Commodoro Bowen, returned to Sunbury. Thus ended this expedition, conceived in ambition and jealousy, planned without due cantion, marred in its execution, and utterly without benefit in its results.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
In the exercise of his gubernatorial powers, and responding to the emergency caused by the lamented death of Archibald Bul- loch, President Gwinnett issued a proclamation requiring the counties to elect delegates to a legislature to convene in Savan- nah on the first Tuesday in May, 1777. The election of a suc- cessor to President Bulloch was the first duty of this assembly. Gwinnett was an avowed candidate for the position.
The legislature met, and, after organizing on the 8th of May by the election of Dr. Noble W. Jones as speaker and Samuel Stirk as secretary, proceeded to the choice of a governor and members of the executive council. John Adam Treutlen was elected governor by a handsome majority, and Jonathan Bryan, John Houstoun, Thomas Chisholm, William Holzendorf, John Fulton, Jolin Jones, John Walton, William Few, Arthur Fort, John Coleman, Benjamin Andrews, and William Peacock were selected as members of the executive council. Of this body Ben- jamin Andrews was chosen president. The books and papers of the late council of safety were, by resolution of the assembly, confided to the executive council, and thenceforth the council of safety ceased to exist.
Grievous was Gwinnett's disappointment. McIntosh did not hesitate to avow openly his gratification at the election of Treut- len. In fact, he publicly and in the presence of the executive council denounced Gwinnett as a scoundrel.1 . The quarrel be- tween these gentlemen culminated on the 15th of May, when Gwinnett challenged McIntosh to mortal combat. They met the next morning at sunrise, within the present limits of the city of Savannah. Pistol shots were exchanged at the short dis- tance of twelve feet. Both were wounded in the thigh ; MeIn- tosh dangerously, Gwinnett mortally. The former was confined to his couch for some time, and the latter, after lingering for twelve days, died of his hurt.
Gwinnett's death caused great excitement. Dr. Lyman Hall, one of liis executors and a warm personal friend, and other gentle- men of influence, brought the matter to the notice of the legisla- ture, and accused the judicial officers of a neglect of duty in not arresting McIntosh and binding him over to answer the charge of murder. The general, informed of these reflections, as soon as his wound would permit, surrendered himself to Judge Glen, entered into bonds for his appearance, was indicted, tried, and acquitted. Even this determination of the matter did not allay
1 McCall's llistory of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 110. Savannah. 1816.
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CAREER OF BUTTON GWINNETT.
the malevolent feelings of the Gwinnett party, who, incensed at the loss of their leader, used every exertion to impair the influ- ence of McIntosh and to fetter his efforts in the public service. At the suggestion of his friends, Colonels George Walton and Henry Laurens, he consented to leave Georgia for the time be- ing, and to repair to the headquarters of General Washington, for assignment to duty with the continental army. He was in- structed to take command of the western districts of Virginia and Pennsylvania. He carried with him as his deputy adjutant- general his son, Captain Lachlan McIntosh, and as his brigade major his young friend and comrade, Captain John Berrien. Nearly two years elapsed before he returned to Georgia, and during his absence, while his heart was constantly with his State and people, he rendered signal service in the common cause.
The career of Button Gwinnett was brief but brilliant. An educated merchant of Bristol, England, he removed to Charles- town, South Carolina, whence, after a short residence, he came to Georgia. As early as 1765 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits in this province. Subsequently, converting his stock in trade into cash, he purchased the island of St. Catharine 1 from Thomas and Mary Bosomworth, and, having peopled it with negro slaves, there fixed his abode and turned his attention to agriculture. His residence was in distant view of the town of Sunbury, then the rival of Savannah in population and commer- cial importance. With Dr. Lyman Hall, the leading physician in the community and one of the earliest "Sons of Liberty," he contracted a strong personal and political friendship. A mem- ber of the Continental Congress, in 1776 he was one of the Georgia signers of the Declaration of Independence. A delegate to the constitutional convention which promulgated the constitu- tion of February, 1777, it is believed that he had more to do than any one else with framing that important document. As. the successor of Archibald Bulloch he attained the highest honors within the gift of his fellow citizens. Of his patriotism, love of liberty, and devotion to the cause of American freedom he gave proof most abundant. But he was ambitious, grasping of power, strong in his prejudices, intolerant of opposition, and violent in his hate. Rising like a meteor, he shot athwart the zenith of the young commonwealth, concentrating the gaze of all, and in a short moment was seen no more.
1 This island, including a stock of and a plantation-boat, was then pur- horses, cattle, and hogs, somo lumber, chased by Gwinnett at a cost of .25,250.
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Within the compass of two years are his brilliant aspirations, triumphs, and reverses compressed. Inseparably associated is his name with the charter of American independence. Of the three members from Georgia whose names are affixed to that memora- ble document, two, Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett, were from St. John's Parish and, we may add, from the town of Sunbury ; for, although the latter then resided on St. Catharine Island, his home was within sight of that flourishing seaport, his public and private business was there transacted, he was constantly seen in its streets, was known and honored of its citizens, and in very truth constituted one of them. Two signers of the Declaration of Independence from one little town in St. John's Parish ! and that town wholly obliterated from the face of that beautiful, lonely, and bermuda-covered bluff ! It is in perpetuating acts and names like these that memory stays the engulfing waves of oblivion, and administers signal rebuke to " time which anti- quates antiquities and hath an art to make dust of all things."
CHAPTER XIV.
COLONEL SAMUEL ELBERT IN COMMAND OF THE CONTINENTAL FORCES IN GEORGIA. - DEPRECIATION OF THE PAPER CURRENCY. - DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED IN PROCURING ENLISTMENTS. - DEPREDATIONS ALONG THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER. - DRAYTON'S EFFORTS TO BRING ABOUT A CON- SOLIDATION OF THE STATES OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. - PROC- LAMATION OF GOVERNOR TREUTLEN. - CASE OF GEORGE MCINTOSHI. - STATE LEGISLATION. - FORTIFICATION AT SUNBURY. - JOHN HOUSTOUN ELECTED GOVERNOR. - HE IS INVESTED WITH ALMOST DICTATORIAL POWERS. - SCOPHOLITES.
UPON the departure of General McIntosh, Colonel Samuel Elbert succeeded to the command of the continental troops in Georgia. But little progress was made by recruiting officers in filling up the ranks of companies attached to the battalions au- thorized by the Continental Congress. The bounty and pay al- lowed by the general government for a whole year's service were not equal to the sums offered by militiamen for substitutes to take their places for only three months. Those disposed to enter the army preferred enlistment for a short term with the militia, where they could act pretty much as they pleased and remain most of the time near their homes, to being mustered into the regular service for a period of three years, when they would be subjected to the strict rules of discipline and find themselves liable to duty in distant fields.
The paper currency, too, which, for'a little while, was accepted at par in defrayal of the expenses connected with the war, was now rapidly depreciating in value. Although congress and state legislatures subjected to prescribed penalties individuals who re- fused to receive it at par with gold and silver when offered in purchase of commodities exposed to sale, and denounced as enemies to the cause of freedom all those who attempted to les- sen its value, the large volume put upon the country, the poverty of the public revenue, the inability of the general government and of the respective States to redeem in coin, and the impossi- bility of providing by taxation for the sure payment of these rap- idly multiplying issues, begat a feeling of distrust in the public
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
mind, and soon demonstrated the visionary basis upon which such a circulating medium was founded.
Patriotic impulses are potent and may be relied upon. Priva- tions in the cause of right and honor and country will be, for the while, endured by citizens conscious of their privileges and earnest in their preservation. But there is a limit to all volun- tary exhibitions of devotion and self-sacrifice. History teaches that armies, the most enlightened and patriotic, must be properly fed, clothed, and paid, to insure contentment within and satis- faction at home. In the estimation of the soldier duty to coun- try is supplemented by no less binding obligations to family. While surrendering his occupation and personal liberty in the fulfillment of the one, he may justly expect to be at least meas- urably assisted in discharging the other. Hence, in a general appeal to the arms-bearing population of any community for en- listment, the recruiting officer must be prepared to tender sub- stantial inducements in addition to a mere invocation to a display of manhood and an exhibition of love of country. When the storm has been for some time raging, when men have learned the dangers and the disagreeablenesses of war, and when the prospect for an early conclusion of the struggle appears uncertain, many come to take a practical view of the situation and are not easily influenced by considerations which, at the outset, were recog- nized as most potent. As the war progressed the scarcity of pro- visions and the knowledge that the monthly pay was to be had only in a paper currency which was constantly and rapidly de- preciating in its accepted value deterred many from enlisting in the continental battalions. The recruiting officers in Georgia were disappointed in their expectations.
The southern frontier being most exposed, the commanding officer directed that all recruits, as rapidly as they were enlisted, should be forwarded to the posts on the Alatamaha. Twenty of these, on their way to Fort Howe, while within two miles of their destination, were set upon by one hundred and fifty loyalists and Indians. The attack was made while the party was crossing a thick bay swamp. Only six of the men, and Lieutenants Brown and Anderson in command, escaped. Fourteen were slain. Advised of the disaster, Colonel Screven, collecting the southern militia and summoning Lieutenant-Colonel John Mc- Intosh and his regulars from Darien, repaired to the scene of action. The dead lay unburied, scalped, their bodies ripped open, their intestines scattered about on the ground, and their
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CAROLINA ATTEMPTS TO ABSORB GEORGIA.
faces so mangled that they were in most instances incapable of recognition. The enemy having passed over the river at Reid's Bluff in their retreat upon St. Augustine were already beyond reach.
On the night of the 31st of July a party of Indians crossed the Ogeechee River near Morgan's Fort, rushed into the house of Samuel Delk, who was not at home, killed and scalped his wife and four children, and led his eldest daughter, a girl of fourteen, into miserable captivity.
On the 10th of August, 1777, some boats from a British armed vessel lying in St. Andrew's Sound landed on St. Simon's Island. Their crews captured and carried away Captain Arthur Carney, five citizens, several negroes, and as much household furniture as could be conveyed in the barges. Carney had been appointed to the captaincy of the fourth company in the first continental bat- talion of Georgia troops. After his capture, he espoused the royal cause, and proved himself not only an active Tory but a great cattle thief.1
Such was the warfare to which Georgia was subjected, and such the character of the enemy desolating her borders.
Late in 1776 the General Assembly of South Carolina adopted a resolution to the effect that a union between that State and Georgia would tend to promote their strength, wealth, and dig- nity, and insure mutual liberty, independence, and safety. Com- missioners were sent to Savannah to treat of the matter, and the Honorable William Henry Drayton seems to have been the chairman, as he certainly was the spokesman, of the committee. Arriving in Savannah in January, 1777, Mr. Drayton addressed his arguments to various leading citizens. " I found," said he in a letter written to Humphrey Wells of Augusta, dated Snow Hill, South Carolina, June 8, 1777, in which he gives the full details of his mission, " that every gentleman in public office with whom I conversed was strongly against a union. However, I had the pleasure to find some gentlemen of fortune, though not in office or convention, who heartily approved the measure." He was still in Savannah when the convention assembled. At his earnest solicitation he was accorded an audience. For quite an hour he addressed that body, arguing that although Carolina and Georgia, originally one, were now under separate governments, nature, climate, soil, productions, and kindred interests all de- manded that the union should be restored ; that if they remained apart jealousies and rivalships would spring up to the prejudice
1 McCall's History of Georgia, vol. i. pp. 131, 132. Savannah. 1811.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
of internal improvements, common productions, and foreign com- merce ; dangerous disputes would arise respecting boundaries and the navigation of the Savannah River; and that the value and security of property would be seriously imperiled. A union established, all rivalries and dangers would cease; agriculture, internal trade, and foreign commerce would rapidly increase; the expenses of government would be lessened, and the stability of the consolidated commonwealthis be confirmed. To Georgia especially would the suggested union prove most beneficial. Carolina planters would be encouraged to cross the river and fill the land with substantial improvements. Georgia currency, hitherto inferior in value, would be put on a par with that of Carolina. The Savannah River would be cleared of all obstruc- tions, and the commerce of the town of Savannah be rapidly and vastly enhanced. While Georgia would lose the seat of govern- ment, her prosperity would be so essentially promoted that this trifling circumstance' would be speedily forgotten. Should Geor- gia decline to accede to the proposition, the Carolinians, who possessed both intelligence and wealth, would speedily build a city opposite Savannahı which, attracting to itself the commerce, both internal and foreign, of the region, would quickly work the ruin of that town. With these and similar arguments did Mr. Drayton endeavor to persuade the convention to sympathize in the views of the South Carolina legislature. The members heard him patiently, respectfully, but rejected the proffered union. President Gwinnett, Dr. Noble W. Jones, and all the leading spirits were radically opposed to the scheme on grounds both material and constitutional. The effort of South Carolina to swallow up Georgia signally miscarried.
Mortified at their failure, the Carolinians sought to compass indirectly what they had been unable to accomplish by political correspondence and diplomacy. Petitions and broadsides, pre- pared in Carolina, were freely distributed in Georgia, heaping odium upon Governor Treutlen and his council, magnifying ex- isting grievances, creating dissatisfaction in the masses, and urging the people to take such action as would eventuate in the union of the two States as the surest means of self preservation and political existence. Perceiving the malign influence exerted and the unrest engendered by these inflammatory documents, and persuaded that their circulation was prejudicial to the welfare and peace of the State, the executive council, on the 14th of July, requested Governor Treutlen to issue a proclamation offer- ing a reward for the apprehension of Mr. Drayton and of those
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PROCLAMATION OF GOVERNOR TREUTLEN.
associated with him in the conduct of this unlawful project. Ac- cordingly the governor, on the following day, thus responded to the wish of the council : -
" GEORGIA.
By his Honour JOHN ADAM TREUTLEN, ESQUIRE, Captain-General, Gover- nour, and Commander-in-Chief in and over the said State.
A PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS it hath been represented unto me, that WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, of the State of South Carolina, Esq., and divers other persons, whose names are yet unknown, are UN- LAWFULLY endeavouring to POISON the minds of the good people of this State against the Government thereof, and for that purpose are, by letters, petitions, and otherwise, daily exciting animosities among the inhabitants, under the pretence of redress- ing imaginary grievances, which by the said WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON it is said this State labours under, the better to effect, under such specious pretences, an union between the States of Georgia and South Carolina, all which are contrary to the Arti- cles of Confederation, entered into, ratified, and confirmed by this State as a cement of union between the same and the other United and Independent States of America, and also against the resolution of the Convention of this State in that case made and entered into : THEREFORE, that such pernicious practices may be put an end to, and which, if not in due time prevented, may be of the most dangerous consequences, I HAVE, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of this State, thought fit to issue this Proclamation, hereby offering a reward of ONE HUNDRED POUNDS, lawful money of the said State, to be paid to any person or persons who shall apprehend the said WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON, or any other person or persons aid- ing and abetting him in such unlawful practices, upon his or their conviction : And I DO hereby strictly charge and require all magistrates and other persons to be vigilant and active in SUP- PRESSING THE SAME, and to take all lawful ways and means for the discovering and apprehending of such offender or offenders, so that he or they may be brought to condign punish- ment.
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