USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 53
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The legislature quickly convened and approved the agreement made between Governor Martin and General Wayne and the British merchants in Savannah, rendering it obligatory upon the latter to expose their goods for sale at fair profit and to abstain from anything savoring of extortion.
Bills were passed forbidding the exportation of salt, provisions, and other necessaries of life ; placing the Georgia battalion upon an equal footing with the continental troops as to pay, cloth- ing, and rations ; reopening the courts of justice ; encouraging churches and schools ; and prescribing terms upon which the dis- affected might again be admitted to the privileges enjoyed by citizens of Georgia.
Arrangements were made for refunding the supplies and moneys advanced to soldiers in the field by officers and citizens during the progress of the Revolution. Bounties were offered to seamen who would man the two galleys ordered to be built
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STATE OFFICERS ELECTED.
for harbor defense. Questions touching the creation of a suit- able navy, the adjustment of the public accounts, the collection of arms in the hands of the militia, the equipment of troops, and the sale of confiscated estates, all received careful consideration. A plan was digested for protecting the southern frontier against depredations from East Florida.
In acknowledgment of his "great and useful services to his Country for which he is entitled to the notice and attachment of the Legislature," it was resolved that " the House which hereto- fore belonged to Mr. Tattnall in Savannah be granted to Colonel Jackson as a mark of the sense entertained by the Legislature of his merits."
Governor Martin was instructed to issue a proclamation calling upon the inhabitants of Savannah to assemble at a given time and place to inquire into the character of all persons deemed sus- picious, and to tender the oath of allegiance to such as might be found worthy the privileges of citizenship.
On the 31st of July the committees, previously appointed for that purpose, reported that they had, upon the sales of confiscated estates, purchased for General Anthony Wayne, at a cost of £3,900, the plantation, late the property of Alexander Wright, containing eight hundred and forty acres; and for General Nathanael Greene, the plantation recently owned by Lieutenant- Governor John Grahame, containing two thousand one hundred and seventy-one acres, at a cost of £7,097 19s.
Realizing the propriety of establishing some definite rule by which outstanding debts might be equitably adjusted a commit- tee was raised on the 4th of August to prepare a table showing the depreciation of the paper currency, month by month, from the first of January, 1777.
On the following day, which was the last of the session, Ædanus Burke was elected chief justice, with a salary of £500 per annum ; John Milton, secretary of state, with a salary of £100; and Joseph Clay, treasurer, with a salary of £300. John Wereat and Jolin Gibbons were chosen as auditors of accounts, with an annual salary of £300 each. Joseph Woodruff was appointed collector of customs for the port of Savannah at a salary of £150, and Jolm Lawson, Jr., was selected to fill a like office for the port of Sunbury, at a salary of £50. John Gibbons was named as vendue master for the town of Savannah. It was a busy session, and the legislature adjourned to meet again in Savannah in October. Most earnest were its members in the
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passage of measures which would conduce to the rehabilitation of the State.
Deplorable was the condition of Georgia. For forty-two long months had she been a prey to rapine, oppression, fratricidal strife, and poverty. Fear, unrest, the brand, the sword, the tom- ahawk, had been her portion. In the abstraction of negro slaves, by the burning of dwellings, in the obliteration of plantations, by the destruction of agricultural implements, and by theft of domes- tic animals and personal effects, it is estimated that at least one half of the available property of the inhabitants had, during this period, been completely swept away. Real estate had depreciated in value. Agriculture was at a stand-still, and there was no money with which to repair these losses and inaugurate a new era of prosperity. The lamentations of widows and orphans, too, were heard in the land. These not only bemoaned their dead, but cried aloud for food. Amid the general depression there was, nevertheless, a deal of gladness in the hearts of the people, a ra- diant joy, an inspiring hope. Independence had been won at great cost. It was prized all the more, and the sufferings endured in its acquisition were remembered only with pride. In the near future it was believed that all sorrows would be speedily forgot- ten, all losses rapidly repaired. Therefore there was no repining, and each, sharing the burthen of his neighbor, set about, and that right manfully, providing for the present and laying the founda- tions for prosperous and happy days.
The population of Georgia, as reported by Governor Wright 1 to the Earl of Dartmouth on the 20th of December, 1773, con- sisted of upwards of eighteen thousand whites and fifteen thou- sand blacks. If it be true, as Dr. Ramsay 2 suggests, that the State lost during the progress of the Revolution one thousand of her inhabitants and four thousand slaves, it appears scarcely prob- able, allowing a reasonable rate of increase and at the same time paying due regard to the retarding influences of the struggle, that Georgia, upon the conclusion, could claim many more inhabitants than she numbered at the inception of the war. We question whether her population aggregated more than thirty-five thou- sand. Unfortunately we find no data upon which to predicate a definite estimate.3
1 P. R. O., Am. & W. Ind., No. 235.
2 History of the Revolution of South Carolina, vol. ii. p. 370. Trenton. MDCCLXXXV.
8 The troops contributed by Georgia to the continental army during the contin- uance of the Revolutionary War num- bered two thousand six hundred and sev-
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It would appear that Sir James Wright was quite opposed to the evacuation of Savannah. His views are forcibly presented in the following important document copied from the original in the Marquis of Lansdowne's collection : -
"On my departure from Tybee Island at the inlet from the sea to the town of Savannah, such part of the loyal refugees as were then collected there in order to embark on board the trans- ports in consequence of the order from Sir Guy Carleton to evacuate the Province of Georgia, to the number of about 800, on the 5th of July last addressed me and most earnestly requested that I would lay before his Majesty a true and faithful state of the Province and of their sufferings and distresses in general and particularly by the cruel order for the evacuation.
" And the following I conceive to contain a concise view of the situation of affairs there for three years past.
" In March 1779 I was ordered out from hence by his Majesty with the rest of the King's officers in order to reestablish his Majesty's civil government in Georgia, and I landed there on the 13th of July when I soon began to set about that pleasing work. But on the 12th of September following the Count d'Estaing landed the French Troops to the number of from six to seven thousand, and a few days after the Rebel General Lincoln joined him with about five thousand rebel forces 1 and laid close siege to the Town of Savannah attended with a most furious bombard- ment and cannonade which continued till the ninth of October when, by the blessing of God, they were totally defeated and routed by the united and spirited efforts of his Majesty's Troops and his loyal and faithful subjects there.
" After which we flattered ourselves with hopes that we should have been able to remain in peace and quietness, and to pursue · such measures in our legislative capacities and otherwise as would most effectually promote and secure his Majesty's Government and authority in that Province, and show to others the great blessings resulting from peace, true liberty, happiness, and good order under his Majesty's mild and free government, and in which we had made some progress as by the several laws passed &c. and transmitted home may more fully appear.
enty-nine. When to these we add many partisans, never borne upon the rolls of the continental or state establishment, and who depended largely upon their own resources and oxertions for arms, munitions, and subsistonce, it will readily be perceived that almost the entire man-
hood of the republican element was ac- tively enlisted in the warlike effort to achiove the independence of the Confed- erated States.
1 Theso estimates of the strength of the allied army are exaggerated.
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" And the Province was peopling very fast the latter end of the year 1780, when great numbers of loyal subjects were flock- ing in to settle, expecting his Majesty's protection and safety from the tyranny and oppression of Rebellion, and when the loyal subjects in that Province were beginning to raise their drooping spirits and to collect and improve the remains of their scattered and almost ruined and lost property.
" But alas these flattering hopes were not of long continu- ance, for after the reduction of So: Carolina and before the minds of the people were settled and wholly reconciled to a re- turn to their allegiance and the authority of the King's Govern- ment, the troops were withdrawn and carried out of that Prov- ince, and the spirit of Rebellion still remaining amongst many of the inhabitants of South Carolina, no sooner were the Troops got to a distance from them than (as was clearly foreseen and men- tioned) a general and very rapid revolt took place in that Prov- ince and a considerable number of Rebels from thence and of Georgia Rebels, who on the reduction of the Province fled into So Carolina, and some who remained in the back settlements of Georgia, began to raise commotions in those settlements and as- sassinated and otherwise cruelly murdered as many Loyalists as they could come at, and upwards of one hundred good men in the space of one month fell victims to their loyalty and the cru- elty of the Rebels, and the Rebel Party increasing, the Loyalists found themselves overpowered and, receiving no assistance or protection from his Majesty's Troops (altho' frequently applied for by me in strong terms), they were at length, in order to save their lives, reduced to the dire necessity of quitting their very comfortable settlements in the Country and their whole property and come to the posts held by the King's Troops at Ebenezer and other places where they joined them in April, May, and June 1781, and carried arms and did constant duty with them from that time till they retreated to Savannah, when the Militia came with them. And these people with their wives and children amounted to about fourteen hundred in number; who, having been compelled to abandon their all, fled at different times to Savannah (almost naked and destitute of everything) where I conceived they could not be suffered to perish in our Streets for want of food and raiment, and the resources of the Province being all exhausted and gone, it became absolutely necessary to support them and draw bills on the Lords of the Treasury for the amount of the oxpense. And his Majesty's faithful subjects bore up against all
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these misfortunes and distresses and voluntarily and cheerfully laboured many months in erecting fortifications and works of de- fence at Savannah and other parts of the Province, and in pro- viding barracks and quarters for the Troops, and contributed everything possible towards the support of government, and flat- tered themselves happier times were not far off, especially as I had received on the 4th of February last a letter from his Maj- esty's Secretary of State declaring his Majesty's great satisfaction with the ' conduct, zeal, and affection of. the Legislature for his Majesty's person and their firm attachment to the Constitution, and that the King had commanded him to acquaint me that I should ' assure them that his loyal and faithful subjects of Georgia may always rely upon his Majesty's protection and constant atten- tion to their prosperity and happiness,' and the people, encour- aged by his Majesty's most gracious approbation of their conduct, and the assurances of protection and support, and stimulated by their unshaken loyalty and fidelity, were persevering in their ex- ertions for the defence of the Province against a Rebel Force which had for some time infested the Town of Savannah and parts adjacent, and flattering themselves with a prospect of peace on Sir Guy Carleton's arrival at New York, when to their very great mortification, grief, and astonishment an order was received from him about the middle of June, dated at New York the 23d of May, for the evacuation of the Province and notifying ' That Transports might be daily expected not only to bring away the Troops with the Military and Public Stores of all sorts, but also myself and all such Loyalists as might choose to depart, with their effects.'
" And it was conceived by the Civil Power that there was no apparent necessity for evacuating the Province, at least such part of it as we then held, because there were then at Savannah 1,300 regular Troops, and at least 500 loyal Militia might have been added to them, and the Rebel Forces under General Wayne by the best information did not at any time exceed 500, besides some small straggling parties of Rebel Militia who were going about the Country murdering and plundering the loyal inhabit- ants in cold blood, and therefore it was apprehended that the force then in Savannah was full sufficient to hold and protect the parts then planted, unless a Foreign Force had come by sea or a very large reinforcement of Rebel Troops with cannon by land, and it was also conceived that instead of evacuating, had an addi- tion of 500 more Forces been sent, it would have enabled us to
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have drove the Rebels entirely out of the Province and to have opened the Country again as far as Augusta, which would have afforded a happy asylum for thousands of loyal, suffering sub- jects, and for which reinforcement I frequently and long applied to the King's Generals, but without effect. And I conceive that even holding what part we had would have been of the utmost importance by raising large quantities of provisions for the sup- ply of the Army and West India Islands. Whereas by the sudden evacuation at the time it was ordered, crops of rice were left standing which would have been fit to. reap in August, and full sufficient to produce at least (on a very moderate calcula- tion) 10,000 barrels of 500 lbs. each, besides a very large quan- tity of Indian corn, peas, potatoes, and other provisions to a very great amount and value, and enough to support the Rebels for several years in great plenty, or which they may sell for a large sum of money, rice then selling at from five to six guineas per barrel. But alas ! we were hurried away with our Negroes, with- out the least notice, and had not provisions for six weeks in hand for their future subsistence, whereas had this evacuation appar- ently unnecessary (for the reasons before given) been only de- layed for a few months, we should have had plenty of provisions for years to have carried with our Negroes, or might have sold our crops to great advantage, but by the hasty evacuation the King's faithful and loyal subjects were most cruelly abandoned and re- duced to the sad necessity of forsaking their valuable possessions, and which many hundreds did, and became overwhelmed in diffi- culties and distress which they are not able to surmount, and this rather than swerve from their allegiance.
" And I had several meetings and consultations with the Coun- cil to settle what was most advisable and proper to be done on that most critical, cruel, and trying occasion. And on the 21st of the said Month it was finally settled and determined by the unanimous voice of the Council, That Whereas there was the number of Rebel Troops hereinbefore mentioned then in the Province, and as the King's Troops were ordered away, it became impossible for the Crown Officers and other Loyal Subjects to at- tempt to withstand the said Rebel Forces or to remain in the Province, and more especially as the Rebel General Greene was then in So: Carolina within three easy days' march of Savannah, and was said to have with him upwards of 2,000 men, besides the Militia in that Province which he could soon raise. And thus circumstanced and plunged and reduced at once (from the
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pleasing prospect of seeing Georgia a great and flourishing Prov- ince) into the utmost difficulties and distress, we found ourselves constrained to abandon our valuable estates and crops, and to quit the Province with such of our movable property as we could collect almost instantly, not having received the least previous notice.
"And thus the King's loyal and faithful subjects have been treated, and these facts I conceive in justice to them and to my- self necessary to state, in order to show that I have not been wanting in my duty, and that the true and real situation of af- fairs in Georgia may appear, and whether there was any and what foundation for such a hasty and cruel evacuation.
"And I must beg leave to report and assert that the King's subjects in general in Georgia have from time to time given the strongest proof possible of their loyalty and firm attachment to his Majesty's person and government.
" I have the honor to be, with perfect esteem, my Lord, your Lordship's Most obedt & most humble Servant, JA. WRIGHT.1
"September, 1782."
With the exception of some disturbances on the northern frontier, caused by the Indians, the rest of the year 1782 brought no alarms to Georgia. Rejoicing in present freedom, and en- couraged by the hope of assured peace, her citizens industriously meditated upon and perfected plans for the development of the agricultural and commercial resources of the commonwealth, and for the speedy accommodation of many troublesome questions growing out of the recent abnormal condition of affairs.
The last blood shed upon the field during the war was that poured from the mortal wound received by Colonel John Laurens, only twenty-seven years old, as with an inferior force he repelled a party of the British collecting provisions at Combahee ferry. " He had not a fault that I could discover," said Washington, " unless it were intrepidity bordering upon rashness." 2
Careful search fails to disclose the proceedings of the adjourned session of the legislature in October, if any meeting was held.
By the General Assembly which convened in Savannah in January, 1783, that sterling patriot and worthy gentleman, Dr. Lyman Hall, was elected governor of Georgia. On the 31st of that month George Walton was selected to fill the position
1 From the Marquis of Lansdowne's Collection, American Affairs, vol. Ixvi.
2 Sce Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. x. p. 565. Boston. 1874.
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of chief justice, Samuel Stirk was appointed attorney-general, John Martin, treasurer, John Milton, secretary of state, Rich- ard Call, surveyor-general, Joseph Woodruff, collector of the port of Savannah, and John Lawson, Jr., collector for the town and port of Sunbury. Registers of probate and assistant jus- tices were named for the respective counties. Land offices were established and commissioners were designated to superintend the sales of confiscated property. The payment of the public debt was receiving due consideration. Officers and soldiers were rewarded with bounty warrants for military services rendered. William McIntosh, Samuel Stirk, and John Wereat, as commis- sioners on the part of the State, were negotiating with Governor Patrick Tonyn, of East Florida, for the accommodation of all differences and the prevention of disturbances along the line of the St. Mary's River. General Lachlan McIntosh, John Hous- toun, and Edward Telfair were designated as proper parties to " settle and adjust the northern boundaries of Georgia," and to treat with such commissioners as might be selected by the State of South Carolina for that purpose. It was proposed to organize a "Court of Claims to determine the rights of contested prop- erty." Temples of justice and of religion were now open in the land. Provision was made for public education. The entire machinery of state government was in motion. Peace and in- dependence had been formally conceded to the United States.
The infant Republic, no longer buffeted within the confines of its storm-rocked cradle, walked forth in the light cf unclouded day an acknowledged member of the sisterhood of nations, and Georgia, youngest born of the Confederation, as a sovereign State entered upon a career of strength and of prosperity.
Thus have we endeavored, in all fidelity, to present the his- tory of Georgia from the earliest period to the epoch of her elevation into the dignity of an independent commonwealth. Ilenceforward it will be our pleasure and privilege to trace her progress as augmenting daily in population and material wealth, developing year by year in resources and capabilities, and, through the intervention of wise constitutions, sage rulers, good government, educational advantages, commercial connections, and fruitful fields, encouraging the intelligence, the enterprise, the industry, the patriotism, and the virtue of her citizens, she has grown mightier with each generation until now the insignificant colony, planted by Oglethorpe upon Yamacraw Bluff, is saluted as the "Empire State of the South."
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INDEX TO VOLUME II.
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ADDRESS of Messrs. Jones, Bulloch, and Houston to the president of congress, 172.
Allen, Rev. Moses, 322.
Allen, Lieutenant-Colonel, defeated at Long Cane, 466.
Alligator Creek, affair at, 296.
Ambuscade near Midway Meeting-House, 306.
American troops concentrated for the siege of Savannah in 1779, 404. Losses sustained, 405, 409, 411.
Amherst, General, sends forces for the relief of Carolina, 8, 14.
André, his parody on the duel between Generals Ilowe and Gadsden, 324, 325.
Andrew, Benjamin, a member of con- gress, 433.
Antony, Captain, 500.
" Appalache Old Fields," Mr. Jonathan Bryan attempts to purchase the, 144- 146.
Arbuthnot, Admiral, 443. Ariustrong, General, 236.
Aslı, General John, his defeat at Brier Creek, 347-352. Report of the en- gagement, 350. Acquitted by a court of inquiry, 352.
Ashby, Captain, hung by Brown, 458. Assault of the 9th of October, 1779, 397- 403.
Attakullakulla, 5. Rescues Captain Stu- art, 12, 13. Address to Governor Bull, 16.
Augusta, congress of the four southern governors, the superintendent of the southern district, and the five nations of Indians at, 42-46, 334. Captured by Colonel Campbell, 335. Evacuated by the British, 343. Designated as the capital of Georgia, 364. General As- sembly ordered to convene at, 428. VOL. II.
Occupied by Colonels Brown and Grierson, 448. Attempt of Colonel Clarke and Lieutenant-Colonel McCall to retake, 455-458. Siege and capture of, by General Pickens, Colonel Clarke, and Colonel Lee, 477-493. Articles of capitulation of, 491, 492. Losses sus- tained during the siege of, 493. Effect of the capture of, 495.
BAILLOU's Causeway, affair at, 511.
Baird, Sir James, liis movement in rear of General Ilowe's army at Savannah, 320, 321. IIis bloody order at the bat- tle of Brier Creek, 350.
Baker, Captain John, 227. Attacks Wright's Fort on St. Mary River, 233, 234. Colonel, leads the militia against Florida, 265-268. Defeated by Mc- Girth near Nassau River, 266. Wounded at Bulltown swamp, 305. Defeats Cap- tain Goldsmith, 362. Participates in the capture of Augusta, 477.
Baker, Sir William, 138.
Barclay, Captain, his demonstration against Savannalı, 225-228.
Battalion of Georgia continental troops organized and officered, 208, 209. Ques- tion in regard to, 216, 217.
Beattie's Mill, affair at, 472.
Beaulieu, D'Estaing lands at, 377. Bermuda Island, 333.
Betizi, M., wounded at Savannah, 399. Bilbo, Captain Jolin, 447.
Blackstocks, affair at, 464.
Boone, Governor, grants by, to lands south of the Alatamaha River, 28-40. Boston, the suffering poor of, relieved by contributions from Georgia, 153, 156, 168, 176.
Boston Port Bill, 147.
Bowen, Captain Oliver, 181, 250. Com- modore, 269.
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Boyd, Colonel, defeated and killed at the battle of Kettle Creek, 339-344.
Braddock, Captain, 500. Brantley, Captain, 503.
Bread-stuffs, scarcity of, 280.
Brewton Hill, Colonel Campbell effects a landing at, 315.
Brier Creek, General John Ash defeated at, 347-352.
Brown, Thomas, mobbed, 177. Attacks Fort McIntosh, 261. Defeated by Colonels Twiggs and Few, 335. Colo- nel, and in command of Augusta, 336, 448. His revenge, 449. Ilis defense of the White House, 456-458. His courage, 457. His barbarity, 458, 459. Defeats Harden at Wiggin's Hill, 475. His inhumanity, 475, 476. His defense of Augusta in 1781, 478-493. Capit- ulates, 491, 492. Protected, 493. Up- braided by Mrs. McKay, 493. Escapes from General Wayne, 511.
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