USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 47
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Such of the republicans as were badly wounded were left in the town. Thus did Captain Ashby, an officer noted for his bravery and humanity, and twenty-eight soldiers fall into the hands of the enemy. He and twelve of the wounded prisoners were forthwith hung upon the staircase of the White House, where Brown was lying wounded, that he might enjoy the demoniacal pleasure of gloating over their expiring agonies. Their bodies were then delivered to the Indians who, after scalp- ing and mutilating them, threw them into the river. Henry Duke, John Burgamy, Scott Reeden, Jordan Ricketson, Darling, and the two brothers Glass, youths of seventeen and fifteen years of age, were choked to death under a hastily constructed gibbet. Their fate, however, was mild when contrasted with that reserved for other prisoners who were delivered into the hands of the Indians that they might be avenged of the losses which they had sustained during the siege. Placing their vic- tims in the centre of a circle, they consigned them to blows, cuts, scalping, burning, and deaths most horrible. Seventy savages had fallen at the hands of the Americans, and thus did their sur- viving companions offer sacrifices to their manes. The brutalities inflicted by Brown and his followers on this occasion stagger all comprehension and transcend civilized belief.
Major Carter, who accompanied the division assaulting by the upper road, encountered a mortal hurt at the door of the White House while endeavoring to prevent the enemy from gaining possession of that structure. At great hazard he was borne off by his comrades, who conveyed him to the plantation of Mrs.
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Bugg, where he expired a few days afterwards. To him Colonel Clarke paid this tribute : " A man of more bravery than Major Carter never occupied a space between heaven and earth."
Among the British slain were Captain Andrew Johnston and Ensign Silcox, of the Florida Rangers. Brown's command on this occasion consisted of two hundred and fifty loyalists, - chiefly Florida Rangers, - an equal number of Creek warriors, and fifty Cherokees.
Before retiring Colonel Clarke paroled the officers and men whom he had captured. Among them were Captain James Smith and forty-one of the King's Rangers, a commissioned officer and eleven men of DeLancey's corps, and a surgeon. In entire dis- regard of the obligations into which they had entered, these officers and soldiers resumed their arms immediately upon the departure of the Americans.
No sooner had the republican forces retreated than Colonel Brown sent out detachments in every direction to arrest all per- sons who had participated in the siege or sympathized in the effort to recapture Augusta. Captain Kemp, with a small party of rangers, surprised Colonel Jones and five companions in a house on Beech Island. James Goldwire was killed. Although Jones and two of his company were wounded, they succeeded in repelling the rangers and in taking refuge in a swamp. While there concealed and awaiting recovery from his wounds, Jones was discovered and made prisoner. The loyalists clamored for his life, which was saved through the personal exertions of Cap- tain Wylly, who surrounded him with a guard.
The entire adjacent country was subjected to a rigorous search. Republican sympathizers were dragged from their homes and crowded into wretched prisons. Those suspected of having be- longed to Clarke's command were hung without even the mock- ery of a trial. Venerable men, beyond the age of bearing arms and standing aloof from the contest, were consigned to filthy jails for no reason save that they welcomed the return of sons and grandsons who had long been absent in the armies of the Revolution. Witness the sufferings of the father of Captains Samuel and James Alexander. In the seventy-eightlı year of his age he was arrested by order of Colonel Grierson, chained, and dragged at the tail of a cart forty miles in two days. When attempting to obtain some rest for his feeble limbs by leaning against the vehicle, he was ignominiously scourged by the driver.
Closely confined in Augusta, these old men were held as hos-
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tages for the neutrality of the country. Succumbing to the rigors of ill-usage, the ravages of small-pox, and the privations incident to their sad situation, few survived to behold the eventual tri- umph of the patriots. Some twenty-five prominent persons who had been paroled in Augusta were sent to Charlestown. Among these may be mentioned Majors George Handley and Samuel Stirk, Captain Chesley Bostwick, Mr. John Wereat, and several members of the executive council of Georgia.1
Thus did Colonel Brown, smarting under bodily pain and re- membered indignities, make good his threat uttered in the White House. Thus did he satiate his revenge. The homes of the patriots were filled with blood, ashes, and tears. The republic- ans were compelled to pass under a yoke too heavy for the stoutest neck. Further sojourn in this region was rendered in- tolerable, and multitudes forsook the territory dominated over by the insatiate Brown and his followers.
Colonels Clarke and McCall have been severely although un- justly criticised for inaugurating this movement against Augusta. Had they succeeded, praise and not censure would have been the general verdict. By some the expedition was denounced as an "ill-timed and a premature insurrection." Such language did not emanate from patriotic lips. The undertaking was well con- ceived and vigorously pressed. But for the lack of field artillery the White House would have been carried prior to the appear- ance of Colonel Cruger. That the failure of the effort to retake Augusta inflamed the Royalists and entailed additional miseries upon the region cannot be doubted. The entire affair was a warlike mischance encountered by men patriotic in their im- pulses, zealous in their action, and eager to achieve a great good.
After raising the siege of Augusta Colonel Clarke retreated to Little River and there disbanded his force that his men might visit their homes preparatory to service in distant fields. Late in September he again found himself at the head of a detach- ment numbering three hundred men. At the place of rendez- vous were collected four hundred women and children, with their personal effects, craving permission to follow the army to a place of safety. For two years past the agricultural operations of this portion of Georgia had been so much disturbed that very many of the fields remained uncultivated. Poverty lay down at the doors of not a fow, and the curses of the tyrant wero heard
1 Sco McCall's History of Georgia, vol. ii. pp. 320-330. Savannah. 1816.
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everywhere. It was the part of humanity to hearken to the prayers of this helpless population and to guide it into abodes of peace and plenty. For eleven days did Colonel Clarke and his command escort this congregation of women and children through mountainous regions and unaccustomed paths to avoid interruption by the enemy. It was a journey replete with diffi- culties and privations, but there came no murmurings by the way, and at last the patient travelers, foot-sore, weary, and pinched by hunger, found rest, homes, and entertainment at the hands of the generous dwellers by the banks of the Waturga and the Nolachuckie rivers. In this beautiful region, guarded by mountains, with its sweet waters, grand forests, and fertile val- leys, unvexed by royal proclamations, unvisited by the despoiler, and rejoicing in the hospitality of a brave, honest, virtuous, and liberal people, did these refugees abide until the storm of war was overpast, until the gentle sounds of assured peace lured them back to their Georgia homes.
While Colonel Clarke was conducting his charge to this place of security he was advised that Colonel Ferguson was trending upward to intercept him, and that Colonel Campbell was collect- ing a force with which to dispute his advance. Unable to turn aside from the accomplishment of the humane mission which was then engaging his attention, he detached Major Chandler and Captain Johnston with thirty men to participate in those opera- tions which culminated so gloriously in the memorable battle of King's Mountain.
Ilaving safely guarded the Georgia refugees to their temporary homes, Colonel Clarke returned to the borders of South Car- olina, and there held his veterans in readiness for active service. South of the Savannah matters were now in a condition of pain- ful repose and silent unrest. The manhood of the State was largely withdrawn, doing battle beyond her confines for the com- mon cause.
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CHAPTER XXIV.
THE REPUBLICANS OF GEORGIA ALMOST IN EXTREMIS. - THEIR MARVEL- OUS COURAGE AND ENDURANCE. - INFLUENCE OF WOMAN. - COLONELS TWIGGS AND CLARKE DEFEAT MAJOR WEMYSS AT FISH DAM FORD. - TARLELTON'S DISCOMFITURE AT BLACKSTOCKS. - SUMTER WOUNDED. - GALLANTRY OF MAJOR JACKSON. - AFFAIR AT LONG CANE. - COLONEL CLARKE DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED. - COLONEL PICKENS RESUMES HIS SWORD. - GENERAL GREENE ASSIGNED TO THE COMMAND OF THIE SOUTII- ERN DEPARTMENT. - LIEUTENANT-COLONEL HENRY LEE. - GENERAL MOR- GAN'S ADDRESS TO TIIE GEORGIA REFUGEES. - MAJOR JOHN CUNNINGHAM. - BATTLE OF THE COWPENS. - GENERAL PICKENS' TRIBUTE TO MAJOR JACKSON. - AFFAIR AT BEATTIE'S MILL. - EFFECT OF THE BATTLE OF GUILFORD. - CORNWALLIS MOVES NORTHWARD. - OPERATIONS OF COLO- NELS CLARKE, BAKER, HAMMOND, AND WILLIAMSON. - UPPER GEORGIA FILLED WITH MOURNING AND DESOLATION. - AFFAIR NEAR MATTIIEW'S BLUFF. - HARDEN DEFEATED BY BROWN NEAR WIGGIN'S HILL. - REPUB- LICAN PRISONERS BUTCHERED. - CHARACTER OF COLONEL BROWN.
NEVER was the patriotism of any people more sorely tried than was that of republican Georgians during the winter of 1780. Their affairs were literally in extremis. Of commerce there was none save an occasional introduction, at great hazard, of salt and military supplies. Agriculture, for some time on the wane, was now pursued with no expectation of profit, but simply as a means whereby a meagre subsistence might be obtained. Only such raiment was procurable as domestic industry evoked from the rude spinning-wheel and the cumbersome hand-loom. The temples of justice were closed, and there were no live coals on the altars dedicated to Jehovah. School-houses were rotting in silence and no sound of merriment was heard in the land. Confiscations, conflagrations, thefts, murders, and sanguinary royal edicts had wrought sad havoc and engendered mourning almost universal. Poverty and ruin dwelt everywhere, and for months the signs of patriotic life in Georgia were most feeble and spas- modic. The paper currency, the only circulating medium known to the inhabitants, had so effectnally lost its purchasing power that the pay of a captain in the rebel service for an entire month was incapable of procuring for him a pair of common shoes. The
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pecuniary compensation of the private soldier was literally noth- ing, and his supply of food and clothing was limited and preca- rious in the extreme.
That the Confederation, under such circumstances, should have been able to enlist soldiers and to offer effectual resistance ap- pears almost inexplicable : for history teaches that in the main- tenance of protracted wars, no matter what the patriotism and endurance of the contestants may be, reasonable pay and suffi- cient rations are absolutely requisite to insure efficient service in the field and contentment at home. The struggles of the Amer- ican colonies in their rugged march toward the achievement of liberty are without parallel in the record of revolutions. As we look back upon this period of privation, self-denial, desolation, and supreme effort, we marvel at the heroic spirit which pos- sessed this beleaguered land. As we contrast the armies of the republicans with those of other nations renowned for valor and patriotism, we wonder at the inspiration which sustained them and the zeal for independence which enabled them to suffer every want and overcome all obstacles. In the darkest hours of this deadly conflict how sublime the influence and the example of woman ! The presence of her sympathy and aid, the potency of her prayers and sacrifices, the eloquence of her devotion, her tears, and her smiles, were priceless in the encouragement they gave and more effective than an army with banners. The gentle hands of wives, mothers, and sisters furnished clothing, prepared ammunition, and manufactured war-trappings for the soldiers in the field. Sometimes they grasped weapons, and in lonely dwell- ings defended life and virtue against the unholy assaults of the loyalists.1
Oppressed by the disagreeabilities of the situation and the in- security of their homes many of the Georgia republicans led their families to distant abodes, and, the theatre of war being transferred to the Carolinas, under favorite partisan leaders there associated themselves and bravely contended for the right.
With a command of four hundred and twenty-five men Colonel Sumter had moved from Fishing Creek and taken post at the Fish Dam ford on Broad River, twenty-eight miles from Winns- borough. There, on the 9th of October, 1780, he was joined by Colonels Elijah Clarke and John Twiggs, and Majors Chandler and James Jackson, accompanied by one hundred of the Georgia
1 See the exploits of Nancy Hart, White's Ilistorical Collections of Georgia, p. 441. New York. 1855.
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militia. Conceiving it practicable to surprise Sumter in his camp, Lord Cornwallis detached Major Wemyss with the 63d regiment, mounted, and some fifty dragoons, to capture or dis- perse his force. After a march of twenty-four miles through a country in sympathy with the Crown, and from the inhabitants of which he received every needed information, Major Wemyss, at four o'clock on the morning of the 13th, charged the Ameri- can camp which he at first almost carried. A destructive fire from Winn's men and the Georgians under Twiggs, who had hastily formed behind a fence, checked the enemy's advance and quickly converted the attack into a retreat. Major Wemyss was badly wounded. Twenty of his command were killed, and many were disabled.
Passing over Broad River Sumter marched to Shirer's ferry, and there menaced a British post. The garrison refused to ven- ture beyond their works, which could not be carried in the ab- sence. of artillery. On the 18th he established himself at Black- stocks, on the south side of Tyger River.
Hearing that Sumter had crossed Broad River, and conjectur- ing that he was meditating a demonstration against Ninety-Six, Lord Cornwallis determined to strike another and a heavier blow for his destruction. Colonel Tarleton, with his legion and the 63d regiment led by Major Money, was ordered to attack vigor- ously, while a portion of the 71st regiment was pushed forward to Broad River to support the movement. Tarleton's column consisted of four hundred mounted men and three hundred in- fantry.
On the morning of the 20th of November, as he drew near to the camp of the Americans, he fell in with Captain Patrick Carr, who, with a few men, had been sent out on a scout. He had captured three loyalists and two boys and was conducting them to Sumter when his party was fired upon by the British. Abandoning his prisoners he fled and gave the alarm of the enemy's advance. The position of the Americans was well selected and capable of easy defense. The hillside in their front was precipitous. Their rear and right flank were rendered se- cure by Tyger River, while their left was covered by a strong log barn, occupied by a competent force, and well adapted to the use of musketry. In his hot haste leaving his infantry to follow on, and placing himself at the head of two hundred and fifty of his best dragoons, Tarleton charged rapidly upon Sumter. He was handsomely received by the Georgians under Twiggs. Re-
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coiling, he massed his forces for another assault, and the action soon became general. In this engagement the British displayed conspicuous valor, but they were unable to overcome the stout resistance interposed by the republicans. The 63d regiment was roughly handled. Major Moncy, commanding, Lieutenants Gib- son and Cope, and one third of the privates fell.1 Unable to dislodge his antagonist, Tarleton was compelled to fall back. In the midst of the battle Sumter was disabled by a shot in the right shoulder,2 and the command devolved upon Colonel Twiggs who bravely and intelligently sustained the fortunes of the day. In his retreat Tarleton was pursued by a cavalry force under the command of Major James Jackson, who succeeded in capturing thirty dragoon horses. But one American was killed in this en- gagement, and he was a Georgian from Wilkes County, Rogers by name. Sumter and two privates were wounded. Of the enemy ninety-two were killed and one hundred wounded. Re- tiring from the scene of action the English commander proceeded about two miles, and there, in the midst of a heavy rain, en- camped for the night.
Upon the disappearance of the enemy Colonel Twiggs, ap- prehending a renewal of the attack in the morning and knowing that British reinforcements were at hand, having sheltered the wounded who had been abandoned by the British, withdrew his forces across the Tyger River, leaving Colonel Wiun and his de- tachment to retain possession of the battlefield until after night- fall. Before morning he was joined by this command. The ball having been extracted from his shoulder, Sumter was placed on a bier, suspended between two horses, and was thus transported to a place of safety.
Indulging in his usual exaggeration Colonel Tarleton advised his chief that he had won a signal victory, cutting to pieces the rebel rear-guard and slaying one hundred of the enemy, among whom were three colonels. He claimed also to have captured fifty prisoners. This absurd statement he deliberately reaffirms in his " History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the South- ern Provinces of North America." 3 "The real truth is," says
1 Stedman's History of the American War, vol. ii. p. 230. London. 1794.
2 When wounded, this gallant officer requested his aid-de-camp, Captain Henry Hampton, to return his sword into its scabbard, to direct one of the men to lead VOL. 11.
off the horse on which he was mounted, to say nothing about the casualty, and to "request Colonel Twiggs to take the command." McCall's History of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 346. Savannah. 1816.
3 Page 179. London. MDCCLXXXVII.
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Lieutenant Roderick Mckenzie,1 " that the Americans, being well sheltered, sustained very inconsiderable loss in the attack ; and as for the three Colonels, they must certainly have been imaginary beings, ' men in buckram,' created merely to grace the triumphs of a victory which the British army in Carolina were led to celebrate amidst the contempt and derision of the inhabitants who had much better information." The conduct of Major James Jackson in this action secured for him a high reputation for valor and intrepidity,2 and the dexterity of the Georgia Wilkes County riflemen elicited the admiration of the entire command.
These successes of the Revolutionists at Fish Dam ford and at Blackstocks inspired the militia with confidence, modified the im- pressions hitherto entertained by many of the invincibility of British regulars, and tinged with a silver lining the war cloud which had settled so long and so darkly upon the country.
Of all the settlements in the vicinity of Ninety-Six that of Long Cane sympathized most with the aspirations of the repub- licans. Thither did Colonels Clarke and McCall repair to recruit their ranks. Their encampment was pitched upon Long Cane Creek, and their expectation was that their forces would soon be so materially augmented that they would be sufficiently powerful to confine the British closely within their stronghold at Ninety- Six. Early in December Colonel Benjamin Few arrived, and, being the senior officer present, assumed command.
Colonel Cruger, who was still charged with the defense of Ninety-Six, ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Allen, with two hundred regulars, an equal number of loyalists, and fifty dragoons, to drive Few from the country. In the execution of this command the British forces approached within three miles of the American camp before their presence was detected. Colonel Clarke, with Lieutenant-Colonel McCall, Major Lindsey, and one hundred militia from Georgia and Carolina, moved promptly forward to stay the advance of the enemy until the main body could prepare for action. At a remove of a mile and a half from camp he fell in with the British vanguard composed of royal militia. A lively action ensued, during which Colonel Clarke received in the shoul- der what at the moment was supposed to be a mortal wound, and was borne from the field. In ten minutes the Royalists were
1 Strictures on Lieutenant-Colonel Tarle- 2 See Charlton's Life of Major-General ton's Ilistory, etc., p. 78. London. James Jackson, Part I. p. 21. Augusta. 1809.
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driven back. Meanwhile Colonel Allen, having deployed his regulars, advanced with charged bayonets. Colonel McCall was wounded in the arm. His horse was shot under him, and, in falling, so entangled his rider that he narrowly escaped capture. In retreating the Americans were closely pursued by the dra- goons. Major Lindsey, thrice wounded, had fallen to the ground. While in this disabled condition Captain Lang, of the dragoons, with a barbarity almost surpassing belief, sabred him several times on his head and arms and cut off one of his hands. Fourteen of the Americans were killed (some of them butchered as they lay bleeding in the road), and seven were wounded. As the sur- vivors of this unequal contest reached the American camp they found Colonel Few and the main body in the act of retreating. Although summoned by Colonel Clarke to his assistance at the commencement of the affair, he excused himself from not respond- ing by asserting that the force of the enemy was so decidedly superior to his own he deemed it entirely imprudent to hazard a general engagement. As a matter of fact his command ex- ceeded that of the British by full fifty men, and his conduct was severely criticised by his brother officers. The Americans fell back into North Carolina. With great difficulty and in extreme pain was Colonel Clarke conveyed to a place of safety. During his absence from the army, enforced by this wound, Majoy John Cunningham was for some time in command of the Georgia troops.
Captain Dunlap's dragoons, associated with a band of loyalists, having in their vandal raid destroyed Colonel Pickens' residence and deprived him of all his personal property, that officer rightly judging that the conditions of his protection had been broken by the British, determined to resume his arms and again lead his people in defense of their property and liberty. Although cautioned by Captain Ker that he would fight with a halter around his neck his response was " that he had honorably and conscientiously adhered to the rules laid down in his protection, but that he considered himself completely absolved from its ob- ligations by the plunder and wanton waste which had been com- mitted upon his farm, and the insults and indignities which had been offered to his family."
Yielding to the suggestion of General Washington, Congress, after the defeat of Gates, assigned Major-General Greene to the command of the Southern Department. No better selection could have been made. The country rejoiced at the presence of this
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genuine patriot and most trustworthy leader. "I introduce this gentleman," wrote the commander-in-chief of the American ar- mies, " as a man of abilities, bravery, and coolness. He has a comprehensive knowledge of our affairs, and is a man of fortitude and resources. I have not the smallest doubt, therefore, of his employing all the means which may be put into his hands to the best advantage, or of his assisting in pointing out the most likely ones to answer the purposes of his command." That he might be ably supported in his mission, which contemplated nothing less than the restoration of the Carolinas and of Georgia to the enjoyment of American liberty and home rule, General Washington detached from his command for service in the Caro- linas his best cavalry officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lee, with his legion, consisting of three troops of horse and three companies of infantry. The gallant Morgan, too, and Kosciuszko were among his lieutenants. Rapidly did the affairs of the patriots emerge from their disjointed condition. Order and strength were devel- oped, and Cornwallis and Tarleton found to their cost that the days of tyranny were well-nigh numbered.
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