USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 29
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Given under my Hand and Seal in the Council Chamber at Savannah, this fif- teenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven.
By his Honour's Command,
JAMES WHITEFIELD, Secretary.
JOHN ADAM TREUTLEN.
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GOD SAVE THE CONGRESS."
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To this proclamation Mr. Drayton, on the 1st of August, penned a defiant, scornful, and discourteous reply, in which he taunts the governor with injustice done to George McIntosh, and with a total disregard of the rights of the people over whom he was called to preside. Criticising the conduct of his excellency and of the executive council in the administration of public af- fairs, he adds : -
"I am inclined to think you are concealed Tories, or their tools, who have clambered up, or have been put into office in order to burlesque Government -and I never saw a more ex- travagant burlesque upon the subject than you exhibit - that the people might be sick of an American Administration, and strive to return under the British domination merely for the sake of endeavouring to procure something like law and order. I respect the people of Georgia ; but, most wise rulers, kissing your hands, I cannot but laugh at some folks. Can you guess who they are ? "
The laugh was hollow. The scheme and the animus of its supporters had been laid bare, and all hope of destroying the au- tonomy of Georgia was at an end.1
As allusion was made to the case of George McIntosh, and as the circumstances connected with his arrest, incarceration, and subsequent release attracted much comment, it may not be out of place to review them here. We present the facts as they have been handed down to us by Captain McCall.2
At the commencement of the contest between Great Britain and her American colonies, George MeIntosh, a brother of Gen- eral Lachlan McIntosh, a native of Savannah and a gentleman of considerable wealth, was residing and planting on Sapelo River in St. Andrew's Parish. So earnest was he in his support of the American cause against the encroachments of Parliament that he was chosen a member of the committee of safety of St. John's Parish. In May, 1776, William Panton - late a merchant in
1 Of the antecedents of Governor Treutlen but little is known, so far as our inquiry extends. Among the early ad- voeates of liberty he was, in Georgia, rec- ognized as a trusted and influential leader. During that troublous period when Sonth Carolina attempted to ex- tend dominion over her younger sister, he battled bravely for the integrity of his Stato. The tradition lives among his descendants that he was, in Orangeburg,
South Carolina, inhumanly murdered by Tories. His grave is unmarked, and Georgia, in naming her counties, has neg- lected to perpetuate his virtuous and pa- triotic memory.
2 History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 112. Savannah. 1816. See also The Case of George McIntosh, Esquire, a Member of the Late Council, etc. " Audi alteram Partem." Pp. 29. Printed in the year MDCCLXXVII.
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CASE OF GEORGE MCINTOSHI.
Savannah, but then chiefly engaged at an Indian trading post which he had established on St. John's River, in East Florida - brought into Sunbury a quantity of goods such as cloths, osna- burgs, salt, sugar, etc. Finding that these commodities were in great demand, he solicited and obtained permission from the committee of safety to sell them and to purchase rice in return, upon condition that he would give bond and security, in accord- ance with the resolution of the Continental Congress, that the rice and other produce should not be landed at any port subject to the dominion of England. Mr. George McIntosh, Sir Pat- rick Houstoun, and Mr. George Bailie had purchased goods of Panton to a considerable amount.
Having previously received from the committee of safety a license to ship a quantity of rice, of which they were joint own- ers, to Surinam, with the understanding that the provisions of the non-intercourse acts should not be violated, they gave to Pan- ton, in payment for the commodities purchased of him, bills of exchange on their consignee in Surinam. Panton also became interested in some of the rice. Regular clearances were obtained for the vessels conveying the rice, from the officer of customs in the port of Sunbury, and they set out for Surinam. When in the mouth of Sapelo River, they were boarded by William Pan- ton who claimed that the cargoes belonged to him and ordered that the destination of the vessels should be changed. The brig was directed to proceed to the West Indies, the schooner to St. Augustine, and the sloop to St. John River. The masters of these vessels subsequently deposed that, although these orders were in contravention of the instructions of the shippers, on be- ing informed that Panton held bills of exchange drawn against the proceeds of the cargoes, they finally consented to obey his directions. A letter written by Governor Tonyn of East Florida, and addressed to Lord George Germain, was intercepted at sea and transmitted to the president and council of Georgia. In it he suggests that, in the recent procurement of rice from Georgia, Mr. Panton " had been greatly assisted by Mr. George McIntosh who is compelled to a tacit acquiescence with the distempered times." " I am informed," continued the writer, " that his prin- ciples are a loyal attachment to the king and constitution. He would, my lord, be in a dangerous situation was this known."
On the 8th of January, 1777, McIntosh was seized by order of the president and council and lodged in the common prison. Gwinnett was then president, and gladly availed himself of the
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opportunity thus afforded to mortify General Lachlan McIntosh and vent his wrath against him upon his brother. For some time the power of the judiciary to intervene by habeas corpus was questioned by the executive, who, alleging that the offense was against the laws of the Confederated States, claimed that the judge of a State could in no manner take cognizance of it.
When interrogated by the friends of McIntosh, Panton con- fessed that George McIntosh was a man of honor, that he be- lieved him to be " sincerely attached to the rights and liberties of America," and that he was not chargeable with the deviation in the voyages of the vessels. Many depositions were taken before Judge Glen, in behalf of McIntosh, to invalidate the sug- gestions contained in Governor Tonyn's letter to Lord George Germain. Bailie and Houstoun were both " placed upon the bill of confiscation and banishment," and McIntosh was "rigorously prosecuted." While he was in confinement awaiting a trial, his property was dissipated. When admitted to bail he set out to lay his case before the Continental Congress. In passing through North Carolina he was pursued and arrested by a party, under the command of Captain Nash, who had been directed to overtake and conduct him as a prisoner to the Continental Congress. Hle did not arrive at the seat of government until the 9th of Oc- tober. Upon submitting his memorial, fortified by many affi- davits and commendatory letters from Jonathan Bryan, John Wereat, Henry Laurens, and other prominent individuals who believed in his innocence and regarded his prosecution as inspired and urged by the enemies of his brother, General Lachlan' Mc- Intosh, congress appointed Messrs. Adams, Duane, and Williams to examine into the matter and report their conclusions. In the execution of the duty thus devolved upon them the committee, on the ensuing day, reported that after investigation they were sat- isfied no sufficient cause had been shown to warrant the deten- tion of Mr. McIntosh. He was thereupon discharged, and so the matter ended. Notwithstanding his harsh treatment, his losses, and the suspicions set afloat impugning his loyalty to the American cause, McIntosh sought only to purge himself of the calumnies which had been heaped upon him, and invoked neither protection nor redress under the shadow of the British flag.
In consequence of the constant employment of the militia, provisions, especially bread-stuffs, became quite scarce in Georgia, so much so that Governor Treutlen found it necessary to issue
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A FORT BUILT AT SUNBURY.
a proclamation forbidding the exportation of corn, rice, flour, and other commodities requisite for the subsistence of the inhabitants and the support of the troops in the field. So rapidly were the state bills of credit depreciating on the market that he deemed it proper to issue another proclamation threatening penalties upon all who should be found undervaluing them. As, however, no provision had been made for the ultimate redemption of these promises, they, day by day, were held in less esteem by the public.
An act of the assembly was published proclaiming the bind- ing force of such statutes passed by royal legislatures as were not in conflict with the provisions of the constitution, or at vari- ance with the subsequent state legislation. A land office was opened and inducements were offered to all who would come in and settle upon vacant territory. It was resolved to raise two battalions of minutemen for the defense of the frontier. The term of enlistment was fixed at two years, and large bounties were offered, in the name of the State, to both officers and men. l'revious to placing these battalions in the field, the protection of the western division of the State had been confided to Colonel Marbury, commanding a regiment of dragoons. Subsequently this force was distributed south of the Alatamaha to guard cat- tle and to repel the oft-repeated incursions of the Tory Colonel McGirth.
For the immediate protection of Sunbury a fort was built just below the town upon the point where the high ground ended and the wide, impracticable marshes between the main and Bermuda Island commenced.
A small defensive work may have existed here at an earlier date. The Record Book of Midway Church discloses the fact that in 1756 a letter was received from the Honorable Jonathan Bryan, one of his majesty's council for the colony, conveying the intelligence that the Indians were much incensed at sev- eral of their people having been killed by some settlers on the Great Ogeechee River in a dispute about cattle, and cautioning the Midway Congregation, with expedition, to construct a fort for their protection. "People," continues the journal, "are very much alarmed with the news, and consultations were imme- diately had about the building and place for a fort, and it was determined by a majority that it should be at Captain Mark Carr's, low down, and upon the river near the sound, at about seven or eight miles distance from the nearest of the settlement of the
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Society, which accordingly was begun on the 20th September, 1756." 1
On the 11th of July following, apprehending an attack from a French privateer, the Midway people were summoned to Sun- bury where they "raised a couple of batteries and made car- riages for eight small cannon which were at the place." These were probably nothing more than field-works thrown up on the bluff just in front of the town. It is to these little forts that Governor Ellis alluded when, upon his second tour of inspection through the southern portion of the province, he " was pleased to observe that the inhabitants of the Midway District had en- closed their church within a defence, and had erected a battery of eight guns at Sunbury in a position to command the river."
It will be remembered that when, in July, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved to raise two battalions to serve in Georgia and authorized the construction of four galleys for the defense of her sea-coast provision was made for the enlistment of two artillery companies, of fifty men each, to garrison the two forts which were to be erected, one at Savannah and the other at Sunbury.
It may, we presume, be safely asserted that the inclosed earth- work just south of Sunbury was laid out and builded about the period of the commencement of the Revolutionary War. If any fort existed there prior to that time it was then so modified and enlarged as to completely lose its identity.
The names of those who were specially charged with the con- struction of this fort have not been perpetuated, but it lives in . tradition that the planters of Bermuda Island and of the Midway District and the citizens of Sunbury contributed mainly to its erection. It was built chiefly by slavo labor, and was armed with such cannon as could be procured on the spot or obtained elsewhere.2 That its armament was by no means inconsiderable will be conceded when it is remembered that twenty-five pieces of ordnance were surrendered by Major Lane when he yielded up this work. These guns, however, were small, consisting of 4, 6, 9, 12, and 18 pounders, with perhaps one or two 24-pounders. It was called by the Americans FORT MORRIS; 8 but, upon its
1 See White's Historical Collections of Georgia, pp. 517, 518. New York. 1855. 2 It is not improbable that some of these guns may have been brought from Frederica ; for the Council of Safety had ordered all warliko stores at that placo to be secured.
8 In compliment to Captain Morris, commanding a company of continental artillery raised for coast defense. By this company was the fort garrisonod upon its completion.
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FORT MORRIS.
capture by Prevost, its name was by him changed to FORT GEORGE.
At the inception of the Revolutionary War the coast defenses of Georgia were in a most dilapidated condition. All her forts were in ruins, or nearly so. On the 20th of September, 1773, Sir James Wright, who makes no mention of any defensive work at Sunbury, reports Fort George on Cockspur Island, which was built in 1762 of mud walls faced with palmetto logs with a cap- oniere inside to serve for officers' apartments, as "almost in ruins, and garrisoned only by an officer and three men -just to make signals, etc." Fort Halifax, within the town of Savannah, constructed in 1759 and 1760, and made of plank filled in with earth, with the exception of two of its caponieres, was totally down and unfit for use. Fort Frederick, at Frederica, erected by General Oglethorpe when his regiment was stationed there, had been without a garrison for upwards of eight years, and al- though some of its tabby walls remained the entire structure was fast passing into decay. Fort Augusta, in the town of Augusta, made of three-inch plank, had been neglected since 1767 and was rotten in every part. Fort Barrington on the Alatamaha River was in like condition. Of the fort at New Ebenezer, of Fort William on the southern extremity of Cum- berland Island, of Fort Argyle, and of the other minor de- fenses erected in the early days of the colony scarce a vestige re- mained.
Located some three hundred and fifty yards due south of Sun- bury, and occupying the bluff where it first confronts Midway River as, trending inward from the sound, it bends to the north, Fort Morris was intended to cover not only the direct water ap- proach to the town, but also the back river by means of which that place might be passed and taken in reverse. Its position was well chosen for defensive purposes. To the south stretched a wide-spread and impracticable marsh permeated by Pole-haul and Dickerson creeks, two tributaries of Midway River, whose mouths were commanded by the guns of the fort. This marsh also extended in front of the work, constituting a narrow and yet substantial protection against landing parties, and gradually contracting as it approached the southern boundary of Sunbury. This fortification was an inclosed earthwork, substantially con- structed. Its walls embraced a parade about an acre in extent. The eastern face, fronting the river, was two hundred and seventy five feet in length. Ilero the heaviest guns were mounted. The
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northern and southern faces were respectively one hundred and ninety-one and one hundred and forty feet in length, while the curtain, looking to the west, was two hundred and forty-one feet long. Although quadrangular, the work was somewhat irregular in shape. From the southern face and the curtain no guns could be brought to bear upon the river. Those there mounted served only for defense against a land attack. The armament of the northern face could be opposed to ships, whichi succeeded in passing the fort, until they ascended the river so far as to get beyond range. It also commanded the town and the intervening space. The guns were mounted en barbette, without traverses. Seven embrasures may still be seen, each about five feet wide. The parapet, ten feet thick, rises six feet above the parade of the fort, and its superior slope is about twenty-five feet above the level of the river at high tide. Surrounding the work is a moat at present ten feet deep, ten feet wide at the bottom, and twice that width at the top. Near the middle of the curtain may be seen traces of a sally-port or gateway, fifteen feet wide. Such is the appearance of this abandoned work as ascertained by recent survey. Completely overgrown by cedars, myrtles, and vines, its presence would not be suspected, even at a short remove, by those unacquainted with the locality. Two iron cannon are now lying half buried in the loose soil of the parade, and a third will be found in the old field about midway between the fort and the site of the town. During the recent war between the States, two 6-pounder guns were removed from this fort and carried to Riceboro. No use, however, was made of them. Two more, of similar calibre, of iron, and very heavily reinforced at the breech, were taken by Captain C. A. L. Lamar, whose company was then stationed at Sunbury, and temporarily mounted on the bluff to serve as signal guns. Notwithstanding their age and the ex- posure to which they had so long been subjected, these pieces were in such excellent condition that they attracted the notice of the ordnance department, and were soon transported to Savan- nah. There they were cleaned, mounted upon siege carriages, and assigned to Fort Bartow, where they remained, constituting a part of the armament of that work, until upon the evac- uation of Savannah and its dependent forts by the Confederate forces in December, 1864, they passed into the hands of the Fed- eral army.
Sunbury was occupied by the Revolutionists as a military post, and its fort garrisoned at a very early period in the colonial
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GOVERNOR JOHN IIOUSTOUN.
struggle for independence.1 Fort Morris was the most important military work constructed by Georgians during the war of the Revolution.
The Assembly convened in Savannah in January, 1778, and on the 10th of that month elected John Houstoun governor. A son of Sir Patrick Houstoun, a gentleman of liberal education and strong character, he was among the first in the colony to coun- sel resistance to British aggressions. Twice had he represented Georgia in the Continental Congress ; and but for the defection of the Reverend Mr. Zubly, which necessitated his presence in Georgia at the trying moment, his name would have been affixed to the Declaration of Independence. He was a member of the Executive Council when he was called to the gubernatorial chair. The other state offices within the gift of the House of Assembly were thus filled : John Glen was made chief justice; William Stephens, attorney-general ; William O'Bryan and Nehemiah Wade, joint treasurers ; James Maxwell, secretary ; and Thomas Chisholmn, surveyor-general. James Jones was appointed col- lector for the port of Savannah, and David Reese for that of Sunbury. Ambrose Wright was commissioned as Commissary General of the State and Superintendent of Public Buildings in the County of Chatham.
At a meeting of the executive council, held on the 16th of April to consider the attitude of affairs both civil and military, an extraordinary political act was committed. It was nothing less than investing the governor with almost dictatorial powers. In a preamble and resolutions the executive council declared the situation of Georgia so truly alarming that only the most spirited
1 The following orders were issued by Colonel S. Elbert for the instruction of the artillerists stationed nt Sunbury : - See MS. order book of Colonel Elbert.
" HEADQUARTERS SAVANNAH, 5th Dec'r, 1777. " Orders to Captain Defatt of the Artil- lery.
" You are to proceed immediately to the Town of Sunbury, in this Stato, where are a corps of Continental Artil- lery posted, which you are constantly to bo employed in teaching the perfect uso of artillery, particularly in the Field. Both Officers and Men are hereby strictly ordered to attend ou yon for the above purpose, at such times and in such places as you may direct; and the Commanding
Officer of the Troops in that place, on your showing him these Orders, will fur- nish Men to do the necessary duty in the Town & Fort ; so that there will be noth- ing to prevent Captain Morris and his Company from being perfected in the Business for which they were raised. Such pieces of Artillery as you approve of, have mounted on Field-Carriages; and for this purpose you are empowered to employ the necessary Workmen, and procuro Materials. Your drafts on me for every necessary Expense, accompany- ing the Vouchers, will be duly honored.
" I am, Sir, your most Obdt. Servt., S. ELBERT, Col. Commd'g."
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and vigorous exertions could suffice to defeat the machinations of the enemy, and that " in such times of danger it might happen that everything would depend upon instantaneous measures being embraced, which could not be done should the' governor wait for calling a council." Having then recorded their favorable opinion of the constitutionality of the measure they proposed to adopt, the members proceeded to sanction the following unusual and dangerous policy : "The Council therefore, impressed with a sense of the calamitous situation of this State, and appreliending it as an unavoidable expedient, do request that his honor, the Governor, will be pleased to take upon himself to act in such manner as to him shall seem most eligible ; and to exercise all the executive powers of government appertaining to the militia or the defence of the State against the present danger which threat- ens it, or in annoyance of the enemy, independent of the Execu- tive Council and without calling, consulting, or advising with them unless when and where he shall find it convenient, and shall choose to do so. And they pledge themselves to support and uphold him in so doing, and to adopt as their own the measures which he shall embrace; and that this shall continue during the present emergency, or until the honorable House of Assembly shall make an order or give their opinion to the contrary."
To this remarkable exhibition of personal confidence Governor Houstoun replied : " Ile was exceedingly unwilling to do any act without the approbation of the Council : but that, as he found by experience, during the present alarm, the impossibility of at all times getting them together when too much, perhaps, de- pended upon a minute ; and further, that as the Council had given it as their opinion that the proceeding was justifiable under the Constitution, and as the meeting of the Assembly was so near at hand and alarms and dangers seemed to thicken on all sides, he agreed to act in the manner the Council requested, during the present emergency, or until the honorable House of Assembly shall make an order or give their opinion to the con- trary."
While such a delegation of authority may not have been pro- hibited in terms by the constitution of 1777, it is very question- able whether the framers of that instrument ever contemplated such a cession on the part of the members of the executive coun- cil who were constituted the special advisers and coadjutors of the governor in the exercise of the executive powers of govern- ment.
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SCOPHOLITES.
The threatening aspect of affairs on the southern frontier and the general alarm pervading the State caused this abnormal action on the part of the executive council.
Early in April, 1778, a band of loyalists from the interior of South Carolina, led by Colonel Scophol,1 assembled near Ninety- Six and, moving thence, crossed the Savannah River about forty miles below Augusta. Here they were joined by a party from Georgia, entertaining like sentiments and commanded by Colo- nel Thomas. Seizing some boats conveying corn and flour from Augusta to Savannah, they supplied themselves with such provis- ions as they needed, burning the rest and sinking the boats.
Numbering between five and six hundred, these outlaws marched rapidly for Florida plundering and destroying every- thing which came in their way as they passed through Georgia. The sparsely populated districts were incapable of offering resist- ance. Reaching Florida in safety, these Scopholites joined the enemy and strengthened their purposes for an early and a formi- dable invasion of Georgia.2
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