USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 45
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Encouraged by the prospect, Governor Martin, in his inaugural address, thus felicitated the members of the legislature: "I am extremely happy in finding that the virtuous struggles made by the good citizens of this State against our cruel and unnatural enemies have at length nearly secured to us those blessings for which we have so long contended and, I doubt not but by a con- tinuance of those exertions and the support we have reason to expect, we shall in a short time reap the happy fruits of our labors."
It was under his administration that Georgia was rescued from British dominion and the commonwealth restored to the full ex- ercise of all legislative, executive, and judicial powers. IIe was the governor whose good fortune it was to behold the successful termination of the Revolution, and to witness the public recogni- tion of Georgia as a sovereign State.
Secure in the hope of the early triumph of the armies of the Confederation, the legislature at its called session in April passed the following resolutions in acknowledgment of the distin- guished services of Generals Greene and Wayne : 1_
" Whereas the Honorable Major General Greene hath, since his taking the command of the Southern Army, rendered high and important services to the Southern States by wresting them from the hand of British oppression and establishing the founda- tion of their independence and prosperity :
" And whereas services so glorious and honorable to the United States in general and this State in particular - services which at once characterize the able and judicious General as well as the intrepid asserter of American freedom -call for the distinguished approbation of the Legislature of this State :
" Bo it therefore resolved that the sum of five thousand guin- 1 These resolutions were adopted May 1, 1782. See MS. journal.
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GIFTS TO GENERALS GREENE AND WAYNE.
eas be granted to three Commissioners to be appointed by this House for the purpose of purchasing an estate for Major General Nathaniel Greene in such part or parts of the State as he shall appoint.
" Resolved that the said Commissioners be empowered and au- thorized to draw on, and receive the said sum of five thousand guineas from, the public treasury of this State."
" Whereas Brigadier General Wayne hath, since his command- ing the force of the United States within this State, rendered great and meritorious services to tliis Country by driving in the posts of the enemy, and, with a very inferior force, keeping them confined to Savannah :
" And whereas the gallant and judicious conduct of the said General highly merits the generous attention and approbation of the Legislature of this State :
" Resolved that a high sense of the great merits and services rendered by the Honorable Brigadier General Anthony Wayne is entertained by this House, and that the same be acknowledged in a letter from the Speaker to the General.
" Resolved that the sum of four thousand guineas be granted to three Commissioners, to be appointed by this House, for the purpose of purchasing an estate for Brigadier General Anthony Wayne in such part or parts of the State as he shall appoint."
Colonel Elijalı Clarke, "in consideration of his distinguished services," was complimented by this legislature with the planta- tion of Thomas Waters on which the colonel was then residing. Ile was to retain it rent-free until the question of its confiscation was determined. If confiscated, that plantation was to be pre- sented to him, by the State, in fee simple.
On the 4th of May this legislature adjourned to assemble at Ebenezer on the first Tuesday in July. There had General Wayne established his headquarters. The enemy was now closely confined within the lines which encircled Savannah, and the town of Ebenezer became, for a little while, the actual capital of Geor- gia as it was the chief post of the republican forces within the State.
Here, by the General Assembly, provision was made for the purchase, in behalf of the State, of all slaves owned by parties, adherents to the Crown, who were on the eve of departing from Georgia. The evacuation of Savannah by the king's forces was
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imminent, and this measure was deemed important for the agri- cultural interests of Georgia. These slaves were to be resold to the best advantage, and their labor was to be retained for the immediate development of the lands within the State.
Resolutions were also adopted permitting all merchants in Savannah, who professed loyalty to the king, to remain unmo- lested in that town for the space of twelve months to close out their stocks of goods, provided they took no advantage of the necessities of the community and sold their commodities at rea- sonable prices. Upon the expiration of this period they were to be furnished with permits to sail for any British ports they might select.
Prohibitions were laid upon the exportation of salt and pro- visions. There was great need in the land, and the authorities were not unmindful of such regulations as seemed calculated to relieve the distress of the inhabitants.
Removing from Ebenezer, the General Assembly convened in Savannah on the 13th of July. The Filature was quickly ar- ranged as the most suitable place for its deliberations. Again was the first capital of Georgia restored to the possession of the republicans. Through their chosen representatives the patriots, rejoicing in the good fortune of the hour, legislated gladly for the welfare of the youthful commonwealth, now free and inde- pendent.
Upon this hasty review it will be perceived that the govern- ment of Georgia during this Revolutionary period was feeble, uncertain, and peripatetic. Little was done beyond the main- tenance of the semblance of executive and legislative authority. Most of the acts passed by the legislatures were temporary in their character and intended to answer the immediate require- ments of an abnormal epoch. Few records of this transition stage in the development of the State have been preserved, and they are at best but fragmentary and unimportant. The terri- torial jurisdiction of governor and assembly was frequently very limited, and varied with the fortunes of war. Beyond the strug- gle for life and property comparatively little appertains to the history of these days. Liberty and subsistence were the princi- pal objects in view, and the paths which led to their attainment were rugged with poverty, obstructed by sore trials, and were crossed by the king's servants.
So seriously impaired were the finances of the State, and so depreciated in value was the paper currency in vogue, that arms,
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munitions, and supplies of all sorts were very difficult of procure- ment. Nearly five hundred thousand dollars were expended by Georgia in defraying the expenses of Governor Howley while a member of the Continental Congress.
There were times too when the personnel of the state govern- ment consisted only of a president of council, assisted by a few members of the board ; when, for long intervals, there were no meetings of the General Assembly ; when many of the provisions of the constitution were inoperative ; and when scarcely a regi- ment of soldiers could be marshaled within the limits of the State to dispute the supremacy of the Crown.
With regard to the colonial records of Georgia it may be stated that for some time after the fall of Savannah in Decem- ber, 1778, they were lodged for safe keeping in one of the public offices in Charlestown, South Carolina. When that city was threatened, they were thence transported in wagons by Captain John Milton to Newbern, North Carolina, and entrusted to the care of Governor Nash. Upon the appearance of the British army in North Carolina they were removed to Maryland where they remained until the close of the war. Upon the conclusion of peace such of them as could be collected were restored to Geor- gia, under the conduct of Captain Nathaniel Pearre, of the Geor- gia Continental Brigade.
Having thus considered the political history of Georgia during this trying period when the royal government at Savannah and the republican government in the upper portion of the State were contending for the mastery over a distracted, divided, im- poverished, and smitten territory, let us review the military events subsequent to the repulse of the allied army before Savannah in October, 1779.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
SIR HENRY CLINTON'S SOUTHERN EXPEDITION. - THE FALL OF CHARLES- TOWN A HEAVY BLOW UPON THE REPUBLICANS OF THE SOUTII. - CAPTAIN HUGH MCCALL. - OPERATIONS OF PRIVATE ARMED VESSELS AND OF PAR- TISAN LEADERS. - AFFAIR ON THE OGEECHEE BETWEEN COLONELS PICKENS AND TWIGGS AND CAPTAIN CONKLIN. - THE SMALL-POX. - SAVAGE THE WARFARE BETWEEN ROYALISTS AND REPUBLICANS. - TREACHERY OF GENERAL ANDREW WILLIAMSON. - AUGUSTA OCCUPIED BY COLONELS BROWN AND GRIERSON. - CONDUCT OF COLONEL BROWN. - COLONEL DOOLY MURDERED. - EXPLOIT OF COLONEL JOHN JONES. - AFFAIR BE- TWEEN COLONEL MCDOWELL AND MAJOR DUNLAP. - ENGAGEMENTS NEAR WOFFORD'S IRON-WORKS AND NEAR MUSGROVE'S MILL. - COLONEL CLARKE WOUNDED. - CORNWALLIS' SANGUINARY INSTRUCTIONS. - COLO- NELS CLARKE AND MCCALL ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE AUGUSTA. - DETAILS OF THE ENTERPRISE. - THE SIEGE RAISED. - TERRIBLE FATE OF THE AMERICAN PRISONERS. - BROWN'S ATROCITIES. - MAJOR CARTER. - SAD PLIGHT OF THE NORTH GEORGIANS. - COLONEL CLARKE CONDUCTS A LARGE BODY OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO TEMPORARY HOMES ON THE WATURGA.
ADVISED that the fleet of Count d'Estaing had left the coast of Georgia and that General Lincoln, for a season at least, had virtually abandoned the territory lying south of the Savannah ; encouraged by the successes of Colonel Campbell and General Prevost; and perceiving that no satisfactory progress was attend- ing his efforts for the subjugation of the Northern States, Sir Henry Clinton, in the language of General Moultrie, " reversed the proverb of taking the bull by the horns " and determined to prosecute the fortunes of war in that portion of the Confederation where the republican armies were least formidable. Entrusting the garrison at New York to the command of General Knyphau- sen, and accompanied by Admiral Arburthnot, Sir Henry set sail from Sandy Hook late in December, 1779, with a strong land and naval force destined for the reduction of Charlestown and the subjugation of South Carolina. Tybee inlet was desig- nated as the point of rendezvous. Rough seas and tempestuous winds protracted the voyage and entailed heavy loss in artillery and cavalry horses, and in siege guns. The end of January, 1780, was at hand before a concentration of the fleet could be
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CAPTURE OF CHARLESTOWN.
effected. Necessary repairs having been made, the ships sailed for North Edisto inlet and, on the 11th of February, disembarked the troops on John's Island. Thence by slow and careful stages they advanced, almost ten thousand strong, for the investment of Charlestown, the capital of South Carolina and an opulent town of some fifteen thousand inhabitants.
While the land army was about finishing its first parallel, Ad- miral Arbuthnot, passing the harbor batteries, completed the isolation of the town and rendered the hope of its retention by the Revolutionists desperate in the extreme. When this pos- ture of affairs was communicated by Colonel Laurens to General Washington, his sagacious response was : " The impracticability of defending the bar, I fear, amounts to the loss of the town and garrison. At this distance it is impossible to judge for you. I have the greatest confidence in General Lincoln's prudence, but it really appears to me that the propriety of attempting to defend the town depended on the probability of defending the bar, and that when this ceased the attempt ought to have been relinquished."
Entertaining an exaggerated impression of the military value of Charlestown, relying upon the strength of the fortifications which he had constructed, and expecting reinforcements from other States, General Lincoln, who had concentrated within the city lines all available forces under his command, resolved to defend the place to the last extremity.
Reinforced by Lord Rawdon's brigade of eight regiments, and by General Patterson, who, marching from Savannah across the country and bringing with him many horses, supplied in large measure the loss of animals experienced during the passage of the fleet from New York, Sir Henry Clinton was enabled with great ease to take advantage of General Lincoln's mistake and to render certain the catastrophe which culminated on the 12th of May.
Upon the details of the siege and capitulation of Charlestown we may not dwell. It is proper, however, that we should note the terrible effect which this calamity wrought upon the fortunes and the hopes of the Confederacy. Charlestown having fallen, spoil to the amount of £300,000 sterling was distributed by English and Hessian commissaries of captures. On private rap- ine there was no restraint. Silver plate was seized by the con- querors. Negro slaves, the property of rebels, were shipped to the West Indies and sold. English officers thought more of
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amassing fortunes than of reuniting the empire. A sentence of confiscation hung over the whole land, and British protection was granted only in return for the unconditional promise of loyalty.1
Among the seven general officers captured was Brigadier- General Lachlan McIntosh, who, during the siege, commanded a militia brigade composed in part of Georgians. Directing his attention to securing the submission of tlie inhabitants of South Carolina, Sir Henry Clinton issued proclamations offering par- don, with few exceptions, for past treasonable offenses, a rein- statement in the fruition of rights and immunities which had heretofore been enjoyed under the British government, and ex- emption from taxation other than that imposed by the provincial legislature.
Seventeen days after General Lincoln's surrender Colonel Tarleton, in overcoming Colonel Buford at the Waxhaws, totally routed all the continental troops who had not been made pris- oners at the capitulation of Charlestown and intensified the gen- eral panic occasioned by the fall of the capital of South Carolina. Beaufort, Camden, and Ninety-Six quickly sued for peace. With the exception of those dwelling in that portion of the State bor- dering upon North Carolina, the inhabitants preferred submission to further resistance.
While these important military events were transpiring in South Carolina, although Georgia was largely under the domin- ion of the king's forces, it must not be supposed that she wholly acquiesced in the reestablishment of British rule. The with- drawal of a considerable portion of the garrison at Savannah en- couraged resistance in the breasts of the republicans and caused demonstrations in support of liberty and property which, although partial, nevertheless exerted a potent influence in keeping alive the flame of patriotism and in confirming the hope of more au- spicious days.
In perpetuating the memory of the incidents of this epoch our special acknowledgments are due and are freely tendered to Cap- tain Hugh McCall. Oppressed by physical infirmities and a martyr to the effects of the exposures and dangers experienced as an officer in the army of the Revolution; now confined to his couch, again a helpless cripple locomoting in an easy-chair upon wheels ; dependent for a livelihood upon the slender salary paid him as keeper of the Savannah jail; often wholly inter-
1 Sce Bancroft's Ilistory of the United States, vol. x. p. 306. Boston. 1874.
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OPERATIONS OF THE REVOLUTIONISTS.
rupted in his labors, and then, during intervals of pain, writing with his portfolio resting upon his knees ; fired with patriotic zeal and anxious to wrest from impending oblivion the fading , traditions of a State he loved so well and whose independence he had imperiled everything to secure, he compassed a nar- rative 1 which is highly prized, and which, in its recital of events connected with our Revolutionary period and the part borne by Georgians in that memorable struggle, is invaluable. To him do we stand indebted for the fullest accounts of the perils and the privations, the affairs and the incidents, of our primal Revolution.
The royal commissioners of sequestration proving quite ener- getic in reducing into possession all property of the rebels, a counter effort was made by the republicans for its recaption and removal to places of security. In this attempt violent collisions were not infrequent, and many lives were lost. The private armed vessels of Commodore Oliver Bowen and of Captains Spencer, John Howell, William Maxwell, Job Pray, Hardy, John Lawson, Joseph Stiles, and of others, were active not only in the recovery of such property but also in attacking parties of the enemy engaged along the coast in collecting forage and pro- - visions for the British troops in Savannah. The crews of vessels thus captured, and the English guards taken on board, were usually paroled as prisoners of war. Sometimes such as had been guilty of murder, arson, and robbery were executed for their crimes. It was a harsh period. Retribution was swift, and the lex talionis in general vogue.
These privateers made frequent voyages to the West Indies whenco they procured supplies of salt, warlike munitions, and other articles necessary for the comfort and defense of belea- guered Georgia.
Active alike in protecting the frontiers against the inroads of the Indians and in attacking the British outposts whenever an opportunity occurred, Colonels Twiggs, Clarke, Dooly, Few, and Jones, with their partisan commands, rendered service most op- portune and valuable, infusing new life into the almost moribund cause of the Revolutionists, bravely encountering every hazard in defense of life and property, and enkindling in the hearts of the despairing expectation of ultimate success.
MeGirth and his followers, desperadoes and freebooters all, were peculiarly obnoxious to the patriots whom they lost no 1 Ilistory of Georgia, vols. i. and ii. Savannah. 1811, 1816.
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opportunity of harassing, plundering, and murdering. Hoping to effect the capture of this officer, and to assist the republicans of Middle and Southern Georgia in removing their personal prop- erty to places of security, about the 20th of March, 1780, Colonel Andrew Pickens, with a portion of his South Carolina regiment, formed a junction with Colonel Twiggs and Captain Inman. The united forces of these officers numbered some three hundred men. Marching down the Ogeechee River, this little army pro- ceeded to Liberty County where McGirth was then committing some depredations. There the patriots gave chase to him, but his intimate knowledge of the country and the fleetness of his horse enabled him to make good his escape. Several of his party were slain, and three or four were captured. The Americans then returned and encamped at Governor Wright's plantation, which had been agreed upon as the place of rendezvous. In- formed of what was transpiring, the British officer commanding in Savannah detailed Captain Conklin, of the first battalion of DeLancey's corps, with two subalterns and sixty-four men, to proceed to the Ogeechee and disperse the rebels collected in that quarter. Marching from Savannah at three o'clock on the morn- ing of the 4th of April, that officer reached Ogeechee ferry at ten o'clock and there learned from some negroes the position of the Americans. Crossing the river without interruption, he de- tached Ensign Supple with fifteen men to turn the right flank of his adversary. Observing the enemy as he passed the Ogee- chee, aware of his design, and anxious to encourage his advance so as effectually to cut off his retreat, Colonels Pickens and Twiggs, exhibiting only twenty dragoons under the immediate command of Captain Imman, concealed the main body from view and occupied an advantageous position for effective action. The enemy advanced along the causeway with much apparent confi- dence. Captain Inman, too precipitate in his attack, opened the engagement before the British had gained the high ground. This necessitated a participation by the reserve. Early in the skirmish Captain Conklin was mortally wounded. Lieutenant Roney, second in command, peceiving that his situation was critical, resorted to the bayonet and, by a vigorous charge in which he was wounded, succeeded in keeping his assailants at bay. Closely pressed by Inman's dragoons, Ensign Supple with- drew his detachment into a rice-field where further pursuit was rendered impracticable. Rejoining the party on the causeway, he assisted in conveying the wounded to the river, and acted as
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a rear-guard to the command on its retreat. Had Captain Inman delayed his attack and drawn the enemy away from the cause- way so that Colonels Pickens and Twiggs could have gained the rear and cut off the only line of retreat, the entire force would certainly have been captured. Of the British, two privates were killed and five wounded. Captain Conklin died of his wounds on the following morning. Governor Wright's barn, containing three hundred and fifty barrels of rice, was burned to prevent its contents from falling into the hands of the enemy, then -busily occupied in collecting supplies for the garrison in Savannah.
Eight days before, one of the American detachments, which had remained for a while in Liberty County, fell in with a mixed party of loyalists and Indians. In the conflict which ensued the enemy was utterly routed, with a loss of ten killed.
While the republicans were removing their property from Southern Georgia, Colonels Pickens and Twiggs continued to hover near for their assistance and protection, defeating expedi- tions sent out from Savannah to interrupt this business, and com- pelling the enemy to seek security within his fortified lines. In one of these skirmishes Captain John Bilbo was mortally wounded.
To add to the horrors of the period, the small-pox spread its loathsome ravages far and near. Fear fell upon soldier and civil- ian, and it was only after months of anguish, when the virtue of inoculation was clearly established, that the terrors of this horrid pest were measurably dissipated.
Many of the refugees from Southern and Middle Georgia ex- perienced great difficulty in placing their families and personal property in localities exempt from danger. Some, foreseeing the privations to which their wives and children would be subjected, repented of their first purpose and availed themselves of the protection offered by the conqueror. Others, unable to defray the charges incident upon the removal, and filled with a patriotic desire to consecrate their lives to the military service of the Con- federacy, bade farewell to their homes, commending their all to the chances of war and the God of battles. Of this last class were Colonels John Jones, of Burke County, and Benjamin Few, of Richmond County. Repairing to the county of Wilkes they there united their fortunes under the gallant leadership of Colo- nel Elijah Clarke.
Merciless was the war waged between Royalists and Republi- cans. The former, inflamed with hatred and eager for rapine, spared neither age nor sex. Ruin marked their footsteps, and
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their presence was a signal for theft, torture, murder, and crimes without a name. Revenge and retaliation prompted the Repub- licans to many bloody deeds which can scarcely be excused even in a defensive war, - that most justifiable of all conflicts, where life, liberty, property, and country are at stake. Dark is the picture from whatever light it may be viewed, and not a few of the scenes there depicted were, beyond controversy, inspired by Moloch.
Brigadier-General Andrew Williamson, with three hundred men, was now encamped near Augusta. Although composed of militia, this was, numerically considered, the most formidable force then assembled at a single point for the defense of repub- lican Georgia. While encouraging Colonel Clarke with the sug- gestion that he would accede to a concentration of forces and unite in the suppression of the Royalists in Upper Carolina, he held the king's protection in his pocket and meditated an act of infamy. Unable either to read or write, he entrusted the details of his command to his aid-de-camp, Malcolm Brown, who had long given evidence of his attachment to the royal cause. Con- cealing for some time the information he had received of the fall of Charlestown, he subsequently, upon the approach of the Brit- ish detachments, called his officers together, expressed the opinion that further resistance would prove ineffectual, and recommended them to return to their homes and there accept the protection offered at the hands of the king's servants. He thereupon aban- doned his command. For this traitorous act he was rewarded by a colonel's commission in his majesty's service ; and, until the close of the war, was recognized as a warm advocate of the rees- tablishment of the royal government.1
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