USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 32
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1 The field-pieces here alluded to, un- der the general orders of Major Roman DeLisle, were commanded and served by Captains Celerine Brusard and Edward Young.
2 In the erection of this breastwork much ussistunco was rendored by Mr. Savage's negrocs.
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vigorously to dispute his further progress, determined Prevost to abandon his enterprise and to return to St. Augustine.
Treating the population as rebels against a lawful sovereign, and utterly refusing to stipulate for the security of the country,1 Prevost, upon his retreat, burnt Midway Meeting-House and all dwellings, negro quarters, rice barns, and improvements within reach. The entire region was ruthlessly plundered, the track of his retreating army being marked by smoking ruins. His sol- diers, unrestrained, indulged in indiscriminate pillage, appropri- ating plate, bedding, wearing apparel, and everything of value capable of easy transportation. The inhabitants were subjected to insult and indignities. The region suffered terribly and the patriotism of the people was sorely tried.2 The scene was such as was subsequently repeated when General Augustine Prevost, in 1779, raided through the richest plantations of South Caro- lina,3 or when the Federal cavalry under General Kilpatrick, in the winter of 1864-1865, overran, occupied, and plundered Lib- erty County, converting a well-ordered and abundantly supplied region into an abode of poverty, lawlessness, and desolation.
Delayed by head winds, Colonel Fuser did not arrive in front of Sunbury until Prevost had entered upon his retreat and was beyond the reach of communication. Late in November, 1778, his vessels, bearing some five hundred men, battering cannon, light artillery, and mortars, anchored off the Colonel's Island.+ A landing was effected at the ship-yard. Thence, the land forces with field-pieces, moving by the main road, marched upon Sunbury. The armed vessels sailed up Midway River in concert, and took position in front of the fort and in the back river op- posite the town simultaneously with its investment on the land
1 Major John Habersham was commis- sioned by Colonel Elbert to propose to Colonel Prevost some general arrange- ment by which the region might be pro- tected from pillage and conflagration. Prevost, however, refused to stipulate for the security of the country, observing that the inhabitants had voluntarily brought on their impending fate by a rebellion against their lawful sovereign. McCall's History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 159. Savan- nah. 1816.
2 The following lines descriptive of the desolations wrought by this invading forre are extracted from a quaint, okdl- fashioned poem composed by John Baker,
a son of Colonel John Baker, and found among the MSS. of the latter : -
" Where'er they march, the buildings burn, Large stacks of rice to ashes turn : And me [Midway] a pile of ruin made Before their hellish malice staid.
" Nor did their boundless fury spare The house devote to God and prayer : Brick, coal, and ashes shew the place Which once that sacred house did grace.
" The churchyard, too, no better sped, The rabble so against the dead Transported were with direful fumes, They tore up and uncover'd tombs."
8 Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. x. p. 291. Bostonf. 1874.
4 Formerly called Bermuda Island.
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SUNBURY INVESTED BY FUSER.
side by the infantry and artillery. Colonel John McIntosh, with one hundred and twenty-seven continental troops and some mi- litia and citizens from Sunbury, numbering less than two hun- dred men in all, held Fort Morris. The town was otherwise unprotected. Having completed his dispositions, Fuser made the following demand upon Colonel McIntosh for the surrender of the fort : -
"SIR, - You cannot be ignorant that four armies 1 are in mo- tion to reduce this Province. One is already under the guns of your fort, and may be joined, when I think proper, by Colonel Prevost who is now at the Midway Meeting-House. The resist- ance you can, or intend to make will only bring destruction upon this country. On the contrary, if you will deliver me the fort which you command, lay down your arms, and remain neuter until the fate of America is determined, you shall, as well as all of the inhabitants of this parish, remain in peaceable possession of your property. Your answer, which I expect in an hour's time, will determine the fate of this country, whether it is to be laid in ashes, or remain as above proposed.
" I am Sir,
Your most obedient, etc.,
L. V. FUSER,
Colonel 60th Regiment, and Commander of his Majesty's troops in Georgia, on his Majesty's Service.
" P. S.
" Since this letter was closed some of your people have been firing scattering shot about the line. I am to inform you that if a stop is not put to such irregular proceedings, I shall burn a house for every shot so fired."
To this demand the following brave response was promptly re- turned by Colonel McIntosh : 2_
1 Ile referred to the expedition from New York under the command of Colonel Archibald Campbell, that from Florida under Lieutenant-Colonel Mark Prevost, that, which had not yet taken the field, under General Augustine Prevost, and his own.
2 Mr. John Couper, in a letter dated St. Simon's, 16th April, 1842, and writ- ten when he was eighty-three years of age, gives the following anecdote of the famous and eccentric Captain Rory Mc- Intosh, who, at the time, had attached himself in a volunteer capacity to the in-
fantry company commanded by Captain Murray, forming part of the fourth bat- talion of the 60th regiment. Captain Murray's company was in the lines which Colonel Fuser had developed around Sun- bury and its fort. "Early one morn- ing," writes Mr. Conper, " when Rory had made rather free with the ‘moun- tain dew,' he insisted on sallying out to summons the fort to surrender. His friends could not restrain him, so out he strutted, claymore in hand, followed by his faithful slave Jim, and approached the fort, roaring out, 'Surrender, you misero-
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" FORT MORRIS, Nov. 25, 1778.
"SIR, - We acknowledge we are not ignorant that your army is in motion to endeavour to reduce this State. We believe it entirely chimerical that Colonel Prevost is at the Meeting-House : but should it be so, we are in no degree apprehensive of danger from a junction of his army with yours. We have no property compared with the object we contend for that we value a rush : and would rather perish in a vigorous defence thian accept of your proposals. We, Sir, are fighting the battles of America, and therefore disdain to remain neutral till its fate is determined. As to surrendering the fort, receive this laconic reply : COME AND TAKE IT.1 Major Lane, whom I send with this letter, is directed to satisfy you with respect to the irregular, loose firing mentioned on the back of your letter.
" I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
JOHN MCINTOSH, Colonel of Continental Troops."
In delivering this reply Major Lane informed Colonel Fuser that the irregular firing of which he complained was maintained to prevent the English troops from entering and plundering Sun- bury. With regard to the threat that a house should be burned for every shot fired, Major Lane stated that if Colonel Fuser sanctioned a course so inhuman and so totally at variance with the rules of civilized warfare he would assure him that Colonel McIntosh, so far from being intimidated by the menace, would apply the torch at his end of the town whenever Colonel Fuser fired the town on his side, " and let the flames meet in mutual conflagration." 2
ants! How dare you presume to resist his Majesty's arms ?' Colonel McIntosh knew him, und, seeing his situation, for- bid any one firing, threw open the gate, and said, ' Walk in, Mr. McIntosh, and take possession.' 'No,' said Rory, 'I will not trust myself among such vermin ; but I order you to surrender.' A rifle was fired, the ball from which passed through his face, sidewise, under his eyes. Ile stumbled and fell backwards, but im- mediately recovered and retreated back- wards, flourishing his sword. Several dropping shots followed. Jim called out, ' Run, massa - de kill you' ' Run, poor slavo,' says Rory. "Thou mayost run,
but I am of a race that never runs.' In rising from the ground, Jim stated to me, his master, first putting his hand to one cheek, looked at his bloody hand, and then raising it to the other, perceived it also covered with blood. Hle backed safely into the lines." White's Historical Collections of Georgia, p. 472. New York. 1855.
1 The legislature of Georgia, in ac- knowledgment of the conspienous gal- lantry of Colonel McIntosh on this occa- sion, voted him n sword with the words Come and take it engraven thereon.
2 Soo White's Historical Collections of Georgia, pp. 523, 524. New York. 1855.
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FUSER RETREATS.
Instead of assaulting, Fuser hesitated and awaited a report from scouts whom he had sent into the country to ascertain the precise movements of Prevost and learn when his junction might be expected. That officer, as we have seen, unwilling, after the affair near Midway Meeting-House, to hazard an engagement with the continental forces supposed to be advancing from the Great Ogeechee, and surprised at the non-appearance of Fuser before Sunbury, had already commenced his retreat and was be- yond the reach of easy communication. Surprised and chagrined at the intelligence, Fuser raised the siege, reembarked his troops, and returned to the St. Jolin River where he met the returned forces of Prevost. Mutual recriminations ensued between these officers, each charging upon the other the responsibility of the failure of the respective expeditions.
Remembering the superior forces at command, it cannot be doubted that either singly or in conjunction Prevost and Fuser could have speedily occupied Sunbury and compelled a surrender of Fort Morris, had their operations been vigorously pressed. When we consider the paucity of continental troops and militia offering resistance to the invading column of the one, and the slender garrison opposed to the investing forces of the other, the small space and the short time to be overcome in accomplishing a junction, and the further fact that they both must have been aware of the near approach to Savannah of Colonel Campbell's expedition from which these advances from Florida were dis- tinetly intended to distract the attention of the Revolutionists, we cannot but be surprised that Colonels Fuser and Prevost should thus have abandoned their enterprise when a consummation was manifestly within easy grasp.
Upon his retreat from Sunbury Colonel Fuser landed his Brit- ish regulars at Frederica with instructions to repair and place in good defensive condition the military works which General Ogle- thorpe had planned and erected at that point.
Having collected his forces, General Robert Howe marched to Sunbury. During his short stay there he did little more than point out and condemn the defenseless condition of the works, and memorialize congress upon the dangers which threatened the Georgia coast, the lack of men and munitions of war, and the disorganization existing in his scattered army. He was one of those unfortunate officers who, lacking the energy and the
MeCall's Georgia, vol. ii., pp. 155, 161. the American Revolution, etc., vol. i. p. Savannah. 1816. Moultrie's Memoirs of 189. New York. 1802.
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ability to make the most of the resources at command, and harp- ing upon the existence of defects and wants which inhered in the very nature of things, constantly clamored for the unattainable, indulged in frequent complaints, neglected careful organization, discipline, and dispositions, and, on important occasions, became involved in unnecessary perplexities and loss.
Although relieved from the presence of the enemy, heavy shad- ows rested upon the inhabitants of St. John's Parish.1 Desola- tion and ruin were on every hand. The gathered crops having been burnt, many were without sufficient means of subsistence, and not a few were compelled to look elsewhere for support. These tribulations, however, were but an earnest of sadder ones soon to follow, trials so grievous that patriotic hearts were well- nigh overborne at thought and apprehension of distresses almost beyond human endurance. These peoples, the first of the colony to declare for freedom, were on the eve of passing under a yoke far more oppressive than that from which not three years before they had sought to escape, and their homes were to become so desolate that expatriation would be found preferable to a per- plexing residence and distressful life in the region where they had garnered up present possessions and future hopes.2
General Howe's impressions of the conditions of affairs in Sun- bury and in Georgia are thus conveyed in a letter to General Moultrie : 3 " It is impossible for me to give an account of the
1 The inhabitants of Sunbury seem, at times, to have been considerably annoyed by the lawless condnet of the troops quur- tered in their midst. So marked were these violations of good order that Gen- eral Howe on the 16th of Jannary, 1778, deemed it proper to call attention to them in a general order from which we make the following extract : -
"Complaints have been made to the General that some of the Soldiers have injured the Buildings in the Town ; and his own observation convinces him that these complaints are but too well founded. Actions like these disgrace an army, and render it hateful. Any Soldier who either offers Insult or does Injury to the Persons or Property of the Inhabitants will be punished in the severest manner. And officers of every degree are injoined to exert themselves to prevent such Enor- mities for the future if possible, or to detect those who may comunit thom, that
they may receive that punishment which such Actions so richly deserve. Officers of Companies are to take particular care that their men are mado nequainted with this Order." MS. order book of Gen- eral Elbert.
2 If we may credit a contemporary writer, the population of the Midway set- tlement was considerably demoralized.
"Fields once her [Midway's] glory and her pride, Weeds, grass, and briars now do hide, And worst of villains make their home Where flames had happen'd not to come.
" Instead of preaching, prayers, and praise, Now on the Gospel holy days They race, and fight, and swear and game, Without regard to law or shame.
" They arm'd, disguis'd, with faces blacked, Do many villainies transact ;
The few, few honest that are here, Do often rob and put in fear."
(MS. Diary of Benj'n Baker.)
8 Dated Sunbury, December 8, 1778.
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GENERAL HOWE'S LETTER.
confused, perplexed way in which I found matters in this State upon my arrival ; nor has it been in my power to get them as yet in a better train. I am sorry to inform you that this town is not defensible for half an hour, should it be attacked the least for- midably ; and its present safety is entirely owing to the spirited conduct of the troops in the fort, and the want of enterprise in the enemy who most certainly might have possessed it in a very short time and with little loss though the garrison had made (which I doubt not they would have done) the most spirited resistance. The enemy undoubtedly are at St. Simon's where they are repairing the fort, and where the regulars remain : the Scopholites having been detached to convey their booty beyond St. John's, after which, as deserters say, they are to return. . . .
" I am concerned to inform you that notwithstanding these alarming appearances and my very early application for negroes to act as pioneers, I am as yet unfurnished with them, or indeed with any other assistance to carry on the works without which this State will probably be lost. The galleys are likewise in a condition, at this alarming crisis, truly deplorable. They are now given up to my direction, and I will exert myself to put them on a more respectable footing. All I can say is that my strenuous endeavors during my stay shall not be wanting to make the best defence possible against the attempts of the enemy, and if I am but heartily supported by the State, which I hope I shall be, I flatter myself we shall make the purchase of this country dearer perhaps than our enemies expect.
" Though I cannot think, without the most absolute necessity, of requesting of your State more Continental troops than have been ordered, yet should that necessity occur, being certain that my Country will give to this every generous support, I would have you hold Col. Henderson's regiment in constant readiness to move upon the first notice; and, lest the exigence of affairs should make still more assistance necessary, wagons and all other things requisite to the march of troops should immediately be got in readiness that the men, when wanted, may move without delay."
The regiments of Colonels Huger and Thompson had already been put under marching orders. At Purrysburg there was to be a concentration of forces so that they could advance for the relief of any threatened point, and Colonel Owen Roberts was directed to hasten forward with his artillery for the defense of Savannah. That town was in a very unprotected condition. At
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its eastern extremity a battery had been thrown up and there a few guns were mounted. These, however, bore only upon the river. The land approaches were entirely open, the fortifications erected under the auspices of Captain DeBrahm having been permitted to fall into decay.
The first definite intelligence of Colonel Campbell's approach was communicated by William Haslen, a deserter from the British transport ship Neptune. He was examined before Gov- ernor Houstoun on the 6th of December, and a copy of his depo- sition 1 was at once forwarded by express to General Howe who was still at Sunbury. His declaration left no doubt on the minds of the authorities but that a very formidable expedition was afloat destined for the reduction of Savannah and the con- quest of Georgia. About the same time General Howe received another express from the south verifying the rumor that General Augustine Prevost was on the eve of marching from St. Augus- tine, with all his forces, against Georgia.
In this alarming posture of affairs the militia was hastily sum- moned to the field, and Captain John Milton, secretary of state, was directed by the governor to pack and remove, without delay, to a place of safety, all the public records appertaining to his office. They were accordingly transported in boats to Purrys- burg, and thence to the residence of Mr. Bryan.
Early in December the first vessels belonging to Colonel Camp- bell's expedition made their appearance at Tybee. The weather proving very unfavorable, they withdrew to sea, and at one time it was hoped that the alarm created by their presence was pre- mature and possibly false. Even the governor shared in this im- pression, for he ordered that the public records should be re- turned to Savannah. Before this was done the British vessels were again upon the coast, and Captain Milton proceeded to Charlestown and there deposited the State's papers for safe- keeping.
We learn from Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell's re- port 2 to Lord George Germain, dated Savannah, January 16, 1779, that in obedience to Sir Henry Clinton's orders he set sail from Sandy Hook on the 27th of November, 1778, with his maj- esty's 71st regiment of foot, two battalions of Hessians, four battalions of provincials, and a detachment of the royal artil-
1 For a copy of this deposition sco 2 Sco Gentleman's Magazine for the McCall's History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. year 1739, p. 177.
165. Savannah. 1816.
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lery, en route for Georgia. He was escorted by a squadron of his majesty's ships of war commanded by Commodore Parker. The entire fleet, with the exception of two horse sloops, arrived off the island of Tybee on the 23d of December. By the 27th the vessels had crossed the bar and were lying at anchor in the Savannah River.
From the provincial battalions two corps of light infantry were formed, one to be attached to Sir James Baird's light com- pany of the 71st Highlanders, and the other to Captain Camer- on's company of the same regiment. Possessing no intelligence that could be relied upon with regard to the military force in Geor- gia or the dispositions made for her defense, Sir James Baird's Highland company of light infantry, with Lieutenant Clarke of the navy, was dispatched in two flat-boats, on the night of the 27th, to seize any of the inhabitants they might find on the banks of Wilmington River. Two men were captured, and the infor- mation derived from them confirmed Colonel Campbell and Com- modore Parker in the resolution to land their troops the next evening at Mr. Girardeau's plantation, less than two miles below the town of Savannah. This was the first practicable bluff near the Savannah River, - the region between it and Tybee Island being a continuous marsh intersected by streams.
The Vigilant, a man-of-war, with the Comet galley, the Kep- pel, an armed brig, and the armed sloop Greenwich, followed by the transports in three divisions in the order established for a descent, proceeded up the river with the tide at noon. About four o'clock in the afternoon the Vigilant opened the reach to Girardeau's plantation, and was cannonaded by two American galleys. A single shot from the Vigilant quickened their re- treat.
The tide and the evening being too far spent, and many of the transports having gotten aground some five or six miles below Girardeau's plantation, the debarkation was delayed until the next morning. At daybreak the first division of the troops - consisting of all the light infantry of the army, the New York volunteers, and the first battalion of the 71st regiment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland - was landed on the river dam in front of Girardeau's plantation. Thence a narrow causeway, about eight hundred yards in length, with a ditch on each side, led through a swamp directly towards Girardeau's res- idence, which stood upon a bluff some thirty feet above the level of the river delta. Tho light infantry, under Captain Cameron,
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having first reached the shore, were rapidly formed and led briskly forward to the bluff where Captain John C. Smith, of South Carolina, with forty men, was posted. Here the British were welcomed by a smart fire of musketry by which Captain . Cameron and two Highlanders were slain and five others were wounded. Rushing onward and upward the enemy quickly suc- ceeded in driving Captain Smith from his position. He retreated upon the main army. The bluff was soon occupied by the first division of the king's troops and one company of the second bat- talion of the 71st regiment, the first battalion of Delancey, the Wellworth battalion, and a portion of Wissenbach's regiment of Hessians.
A company of the second battalion of the 71st regiment and the first battalion of Delancey being left to cover the landing place, Colonel Campbell moved on in the direction of Savannah in the following order. The light infantry, throwing off their packs, formed the advance. Then came the New York volun- teers, the first battalion of the 71st regiment, with two six- pounder guns, and the Wellworth battalion of Hessians with two three-pounders. A part of Wissenbach's Hessian battalion closed the rear. Upon entering the great road leading to the town, Wissenbach's battalion was there posted to secure the rear of the army. A thick, impenetrable, wooded swamp covered the left of the line of march, while the cultivated plantations on the right were scoured by the light infantry and the flankers.
The open country near Tattnall's plantation was reached just before three o'clock in the afternoon. The command was halted in the highway, about two hundred paces from the gate opening into Governor Wright's plantation, and the light infantry was formed upon the right along the rail fence.
Leaving the English forces in this position, we turn for a moment to General Howe's army. That officer had formed his encampment southeast of Savannah, and anxiously awaited rein- forcements of militia and continental troops from South Carolina. His soldiers had not yet recovered from the pernicious influences of the Florida campaign. About a fourth of the Georgia conti- nentals lay prostrate by disease, and many who were convalescing were too feeble to endure the fatigue of battle.1 He had found it impracticable to concentrate the militia. On the day when Colo- nel Campbell wrestled with General Howe for the possession of Savannah, the army of the latter, exclusive of the militia,
1 McCall's History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 169. Savannah. 1816.
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GENERAL HOWE'S ORDER OF BATTLE.
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