USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia: containing brief sketches of the most remarkable events, up to the present day, Vol. I > Part 11
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In Mr. Habersham's, letters, he frequently com- plains of the exercise of arbitrary power, by the justices who presided over the civil affairs of the province. He says that in many instances. students who promised to be ornaments to socie- ty, were withdrawn from school in the midst of an unfinished branch of education, and bound out as servants ; that on these occasions he was
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never consulted, and that his remonstrances were treated with contempt : that he several times ad- dressed general Oglethorpe upon the same sub- . ject, but he refused to restrain the powers exer- cised by the magistrates. In one of his letters to the general, he says, " you have laid me un- der great obligations to your excellency, by re- questing an undisguised disclosure of my senti- ments respecting the general regulations and ar- rangements of the province; I shall give it to you with that candour which becomes an honest man.
" I wish your excellency's plans of industry could be put in practice, but I do not think them practicable by the people who now inhabit this colony ; a skilful industrious tenant would easily clear his rent, and provide a comfortable subsistence for himself and family ; but unfortu- nately, there is too much of the genteel spirit prevailing amongst the inhabitants of the pro- vince, to hope for a prospect so desirable." He acknowledges his ignorance of farming, and states generally, the difficulties which will prevail in the cultivation of rice without some negroes, and the assistance of machinery to prepare it for market. He gives a correct view of the pov- erty of the pine land, laid off for the poor people indiscriminately, and the tenures on which they are allowed to hold their land ; he makes some observations on the weak heads and corrupt hearts of the magistrates, as well as the profligate, licen-
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tious conduct of the people generally about Sa. vannah, who he considered as useless in Georgia, as they had been in England ; that two of the magistrates had encouraged a settlement of pa- pists in the neighborhood of the Orphan-house, whose tenets and conduct had become injurious - and offensive to the institution ; that after an ex- periment of nine years, to the loss of many hun- dreds of poor souls, he thought it was time that the chimerical scheme of settlement by the trus- tees should be relinquished or altered ; that the general had been surrounded by a parcel of para- sites who had only flattered and deceived him. " I once thought it was unlawful and unjust to keep slaves, but am now inclined to think, God may have a higher end in permitting them to be brought into a christian country, than merely to support their masters. Many of the poor slaves in America have already been made free men of the heavenly Jerusalem, and possibly a time may come, when many thousands may embrace the. gospel, and thereby be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God." He mentions many other considerations in justification of a limited use of negroes in a colony, which is inca- pable of advantageous cultivation without them : he closes this letter by respectfully assuring the .general, of the candor of its contents in conformi- ty with his request.
Frederica was settled by general Oglethorpe in February, 1736, on the island of St. Simons,
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south of the Alatamaha, and on the west side of that island about the centre. It stands upon a high bluff, compared with the marshes in its front : the shore is washed by a fine river which com- municates with the Alatamaha, and enters the ocean through Jekyl sound, at the south end of the island. It forms a bay before the town, and is navigable for vessels of large burthen. The town was defended by a pretty strong fort of tappy, and several eighteen pounders were mounted on a ravelin in front, which commanded the river .. The fort was surrounded with regular . ramparts, had four bastions of earth, stockaded and turfed, and a palisaded ditch which inclu- ded the store-houses : two large and spacious buildings of brick and timber, with several pieces of ordnance mounted on the rampart : the town was also surrounded by a rampart, with flankers of the same thickness with that round the fort, in form of a pentagon, and a dry ditch. The whole circumference. of the town was about one mile and a half, including the camp for general Oglethorpe's regiment at the north side of the town ; the parades on the cast, and a small wood to the south, which was left for the conveniency of fuel and pasturage, and served as a blind to the enemy in case of an attack from shipping com- ing up the river. The town had two gates cal- led the town and water posts ; next to the latter was the guard-house, under which was a prison, handsomely built of brick : at the north end the.
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barracks were built of tappy, and near them the magazine : a road was opened to the southward to the plantations of captain Demere, Mr. Haw. kins, and general Oglethorpe : the latter at a lit- tle distance resembled a neat little country vil- Jage ; farther on were several families of Saltz- burghers. Bachelors redoubt was on the main, where was kept a look out of rangers ; a corpo- ral's guard was kept at Pike's bluff on the north, and a canal was cut through the general's island, to facilitate the communication with Darien. Frederica was laid out with spacious streets, nam- ed after the officers and margined with orange trees. The civil government, as in other parts of the province, was administered by three ma- gistrates or justices, assisted by a recorder, con- stables and tything-men. At the south point of the island, was a little town called St. Simons ; near it a small battery was built as a watch-tower to discover vessels at sea, and upon such disco- very an alarm gun was fired, and a horse-man sent with notice to head-quarters, about nine . miles distant. In case, an enemy appeared, the number of guns fired, gave notice of the num- ber of vessels. A work was also built on the north end of Jekyl island, where a brewery was established to make beer for the troops : on the. north end or high point of Cumberland island, a small battery was erected to protect the inland navigation, as well as St. Andrew's sound ; at the south end was a work of considerable regu
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larity and strength, called fort William, com- manding the entrance to St. Mary's. Fort George was built at the mouth of St. Johns river, near Oglethorpe's hill. . The garrison was with- drawn in conformity with one of the stipulations. in the treaty of September, 1736. A stronger proof cannot be given of general Oglethorpe's indefatigable zeal and industry, than that all these fortifications were erected in seven months.
The settlement on St. Simons island being on the frontier, as well as the one at Darien on the Alatamaha, afforded abundant scope for the exer- cise of a warlike temper ; and having received a severe blow from the garrison at Augustine, the higlanders anxiously waited for an opportunity of revenging the massacre of their beloved friends at fort Moosa; and the time was approaching to give them what they desired. Though the territory granted by the second charter to the proprietors of Carolina extended far to the south of the river Alatamaha, the Spaniards had never relinquished their pretended claim to that part of the province of Georgia. The Spanish ambas- sador at the British court, had declared that his catholic majesty had as good a claim to the terri- tory in question, as he had to Madrid, and that he would as soon think of surrendering the one as the other, to Great-Britain. The squadron commanded by Admiral Vernon, had for some time occupied so much of their attention in the WVest-Indies, that none of the Spanish fleet could
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be spared to maintain their supposed right : but no sooner had the greatest part of the British fleet left those seas and returned to England, than the Spaniards turned their attention to Georgia, and commenced preparations for dislodging the English settlers in that province. Finding that threats and menaces could not terrify Oglethorpe into compliance with their demands, they deter- mined to try the force of arms. They were aware that the general had made himself unpop- ular in South-Carolina by the failure of his at- tack upon St. Augustine, and of the disgust en- tertained by the settlers of Georgia, against the plan of the trustees government, from which they had formed an antipathy to his person ; and determined to take advantage of such a favorable moment to destroy his little army and settlement. Accordingly an armament was prepared at Havan- na to be sent against him to expel him by force of arms from their frontiers : with this view, two thousand troops commanded by Don Anto- nio de Rodondo, embarked at Havanna, and arri- ved about the first of May, at St. Augustine : but before this formidable fleet and armament had reached their destination, they were discov- ered by captain Haymer of the Flamborough man of war, who was cruising on that coast ; and advice was immediately sent to general Ogle- thorpe of their arrival in Florida. ·
The general had now a fair opportunity of testing his military talents ; such an army as this.
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reinforced by the troops at Augustine, was suffi- cient to make Georgia tremble : Oglethorpe sent intelligence to governor Glen of South-Carolina, both by land and water, requesting his military assistance with all possible expedition, and at the same time he despatched a sloop to the West- Indies to acquaint admiral Vernon with the ex- pected invasion.
By this time, Carolina had found great advantage from the settlement of Georgia, which had prov- ed an excellent barrier to that province against the incursions of the Spaniards and the Indians, un- der their control. The southern parts being ren- dered secure by Oglethorpe's regiment in Geor- gia, the lands south-west of Port-Royal became in great demand, and had risen to four times their former value : though the Carolinians were equal- ly interested with their neighbors in the defence of Georgia, having little confidence in the gene- ral's military abilities, since his unsuccessful ex- pedition against Augustine, the planters were seized with a panic, especially those on the south- ern parts of the province, deserted their planta- tions and fled to Charleston with their families and effects : the inhabitants of Charleston, ma- ny of whom were prejudiced against Oglethorpe, declared against sending him any assistance, and determined to fortify their town and defend them- selves upon their own ground, and left Ogle- thorpe to stand or fall against a superior force. In such an emergency, policy evidently required
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the firmest union and the utmost exertion of the combined force of the colonies. If Ogle- thorpe had been overpowered and crushed, the reduction of Georgia would have opened to the enemy, an easy access into the bowels of Carolina, and offered both provinces a divided prey to the Spaniards. In the mean time general Oglethorpe was making every possible prepara- tion at Frederica, to give a warm reception to the Spanish Don, at the head of a formidable force. Messages were sent by the general, to his faithful Indian allies, who gathered to his assistance in the hour of danger. Captain McIntosh's com- pany of highlanders, joined him on the first notice from Darien, and evidenced their anxiety of re- torting Spanish vengeance upon their own heads. With his regiment, a few rangers, highlanders and Indians, the general fixed his head quarters at Frederica, not allowing himself to doubt of a reinforcement from Carolina and expecting their arrival every hour ; but determined in case of attack' before the reinforcement arrived, that the Spaniards should purchase the province at the expense of many of their lives.
On the 21st of June, nine sail of Spanish ves- sels came into Amelia sound ; but the eighteen pourders from fort William, commanded by en- sign Alexander Stuart, and the guard schooner with eighty men, commanded by captain Dunbar, gave them such a warm reception, as to keep them at a respectable distance. When the general was
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advised of this attack, he resolved to support the fortifications on Cumberland, and set out with a "detachment on board of his boats ; sent captain Horton with his company of grenadiers in front, and was himself obliged to fight his way in two boats, through fourteen sail of Spanish vessels, which endeavored to intercept him in St. Andrews sound. Lieutenant Tolson, who com- manded the boat of the greatest strength, instead of following the general, ran into a marsh, where · he remained until next morning : when this officer returned to Frederica, he was arrested, tri- ed and found guilty of cowardice. Major Heron from the shore, seeing the general surrounded by the enemy, and obscured by smoke, was alarmed for his fate ; but next day to the great joy of the garrison, he returned in the guard schooner to St. Simons. After having withdrawn the troops from St. Andrews, and reinforced fort William, he ordered his detachments from Jekyl and the main, and sent another express to the governor of Carolina, by Mr. Mulryne, informing him of his situation and urging the necessity of a rein- forcement.
On the 28th of June, the Spanish fleet amount- ing to thirty-six sail, and carrying upwards of five thousand men, including seamen and ma- rines, under the command of Don Manuel de Monteano, came to anchor off St. Simons' bar, where they remained until the 5th of July, sound- ing the channel ; and after finding a depth of
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water sufficient to admit the ships, came in on the flood tide : they were received with a brisk fire from the batteries and the vessels. One of the Spanish ships of twenty-two guns, and a galley with an eighteen and two nine pounders, attempt- ed to board captain Thompson's ship ; but with the assistance of captain Carr's marines, lieuten- ant Wali's and ensign Otterbridge's infantry made such a brave defence, that the Spaniards were obliged to retire with considerable loss. A snow of sixteen guns at the same time attempt- ed to board the guard schooner, but was also re- pulsed by captain Dunbar. This engagement lasted upwards of three hours ; the enemy lost seventeen killed and ten wounded. The fleet an- chored about a mile above Oglethorpe's works at the south end of the island, hoisted a red flag at the mizen topmast-head of the largest ship, land- ed their forces upon the island, and erected a bat- terv, on which twenty eighteen pounders were mounted. Amongst their land forces they had a fine regiment of artillery, under the command of Don Antonio De Rodondo, and a regiment of negroes. The negro commanders were clothed in lace, bore the same rank with the white offi- cers, and with equal freedom and familiarity, walked and conversed with the commander in chief. Such an example might have justly alarmed the Carolinians.
When general Oglethorpe found that his bat- tery at St. Simons had become useless, and his
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situation hazardous, he spiked up the guns, burst the bombs and grendoes, destroyed his stores, and retired to his head-quarters at Frederica-so great was the force of the enemy, that he plainly perceived that nothing remained for him to at- chieve with his handful of men; he therefore re- solved to use his utmost vigilance, and to act only on the defensive. He kept scouting parties in eve- ry direction to watch the motions of the enemy, while his main body were employed in working at the fortifications, making them as strong as circumstances would admit. Day and night he kept his Indian allies ranging through the woods to harass the out posts of the enemy. The gen- eral's scouting parties brought in five Spanish prisoners, who informed him of their number and force, and that the governor of Augustine was commander in chief of the expedition. The general still expecting a reinforcement from Car- olina, used all his address in planning measures for gaining time and preventing the troops from being discouraged ; for this purpose he sent out the highland company also to assist the Indians, and obstruct as much as possible the approach of the enemy, until he should receive assistance from Carolina. His provisions for the garrison were neither good nor plentiful, and his great dis- tance from any settlements, together with the enemy keeping the command of the river, left him without a prospect of getting a supply : he carefully concealed these discouraging circum-
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stances from his little army, which did not amount to more than seven hundred men. To animate them with a spirit of perseverance, he exposed himself to the same hardships and fatigues with the common soldiers ; and in the worst of events, could have secured the retreat of a considerable portion of his garrison through Alligator Creek, and his cut through Generals island. In the mean time the Spaniards had made several at- tempts to pierce through the woods, with a view to attack the fort, but met with such opposition from the deep morasses and dark thickets, de- fended by the Indians and highlanders, that every effort failed with considerable loss. Don Manu- el de Monteano, had no other prospect left, and these difficulties must either be surmounted or the design relinquished : for this purpose par- ties were kept in motion to explore the thickets, and to take possession of advantageous posts.
On the 7th of July, about nine o'clock in the morning, a ranger from the patrol, brought infor- mation to the general, that a body of the enemy had approached within two miles of Frederica. He ordered four platoons of the regiment imme- diately to follow him, and marched with some rangers, highlanders and Indians, who were then under arms, and attacked the enemy about a mile from the fort, as they were entering a savan- na, to take possession of a ditch which they in- tended to use as an intrenchment. The general attacked them with such vigor, that they were
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soon defeated, and one hundred and twenty-nine killed and taken prisoners : the general took two prisoners with his own hand. Lieut. Scroggs, of the rangers, took capt. Sachio prisoner, who com- manded the party. Tooanohowi* an Indian chief, was shot in the right arm by captain Ma- geleto ; he drew his pistol with the left and shot the captain dead upon the spot. The general pursued the enemy two miles, and halted upon an advantageous piece of ground, until a rein- forcement came up. He posted them with the highlanders, in a wood, with a large savanna in . front, over which the Spaniards must pass on their way to Frederica. He hastened to the fort and ordered an additional force to be in readiness, in case of necessity. By the time this arrange- ment was made, three hundred of the enemy's best troops attacked the party he had left. He hastened to their relief and met three platoons, who in the smoke and drizling rain, had retreat- ed in disorder, and the fire continuing, he order- ed these platoons to rally and follow him, and rushed on with his party to the assistance of the other platoon and the highlanders, who continued the conflict ; when he arrived he found that lieutenants Sutherland and Mackay, had entirely defeated the enemy. In this action Don Antonio de Barba, was mortally wounded, and several of
* Tooanohowi was the nephew of Tomochichi, and with him accompanied General Oglethorpe to England, in 1734.
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the enemy were killed and taken. Captain Dem- ere and ensign Gibbon, rallied their platoons, and came up to the ground. Captain Carr and his company of marines, and lieutenant Cadogan, with a party of the regiment, came up at the same time, and were followed by Major Heron, with another body of the regiment. In these two ac: tions the enemy lost two captains, one lieutenant, two sergeants, two drummers and one hundred and sixty private soldiers ; and one captain and nineteen privates, were taken prisoners.
The next morning he returned to Frederica, and as an encouragement and stimulus to brave- ry, lieutenants Primrose, Maxwell and Mackay, were appointed his aids-de-camp ; lieut. Suth- erland brigade major, and sergeant Stuart, en- sign. On the 12th, one of the English prisoners escaped from the Spaniards, who reported, that on calling the rolls of the enemy, they had lost two hundred and forty men. and nineteen Indians. The Spanish commander, finding he could make no advantageous impression on the fort in this way, changed his plan of operations, and keeping his troops under cover of his cannon, proceeded with his gallies up the river with the tide, to re- connoitre the fort, and draw the general's atten- tion to another quarter. The general fixed on an advantageous spot, and sent a party of Indians, with orders to lie in ambuscade in the woods and grass. and endeavor to prevent their landing, which succeeded. About the same time, another Eng-
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Lish prisoner escaped from the Spanish camp, and brought advice to general Oglethorpe, of a difference subsisting in it, between the troops from Cuba, and those from Augustine ; and that in consequence of this misunderstanding, they encamped in separate places. The general thought this afforded him a favorable opportunity of tak- ing an advantage of the enemy, and he resolved to attempt a surprise upon one of the encamp- ments. With the advantage of his knowledge of the woods, he marched out in the night with three hundred regular troops, the highland com- pany, rangers and Indians. Having advanced within two miles of the enemy's camp he halted, and went forward with a small party to take a view of their posture : but while he wished above all other considerations to conceal his approach, a Frenchman from his party, fired his musket,. run off to the enemy and gave the alarm : Ogle- thorpe finding his design defeated by this traitor, thought it prudent to retreat to Frederica. Ap- prehensive that the deserter would discover his weakness to the enemy, he resorted to the opera- - tions of his genius, to devise a plan by which he might destroy the credibility of the deserter's in- formation. For this purpose he wrote a letter, and addressed it to the traitor, in which he desi- red him to acquaint the Spaniards of the defence- le'ss state of Frederica, and how easy and prac -. ticable it would be to cut him and his small gar- rison to pieces. He requested him to use every
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art in urging them forward to an attack, and to assure them of success; but if he could not pre- vail with them to make that attempt, to use eve- ry influential argument to detain them two or three days longer upon the island, for within that time, according to advice he had received from Carolina, he should receive a reinforcement of two thousand land forces, and six British ships of war, with which he felt assured he would be able to give a good account of the Spanish in- vaders ; and closed his letter with the strictest · cautions against his subjecting himself to suspi- cion, reminding him of the great reward he was to receive from his king, in the event of success attending the plan; and urging the necessity of profound silence respecting Admiral Vernon's intentions against Augustine. This letter was given by Oglethorpe, to one of the Spanish prisoners, who for the sake of liberty and a small reward, promised to deliver it to the French deserter, privately, and conceal the cir- cumstance from the knowledge of any other per- son ; observing that the Frenchman was not a de- serter, but a spy upon the Spanish camp. With? these injunctions, the Spanish soldier was liberat- ed, and as Oglethorpe wished and expected, the letter was delivered to the Spanish commander in chief. The conjectures and speculations, occa- sioned by this letter, were various ; and the Span- ish commandant was not a little perplexed to know what inference he ought to draw from it.
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In the first place, he ordered the supposed spy to be put in irons to prevent his escape, and then called a council of war to consider what was most proper to be done, in consequence of intel- ligence so puzzling and alarming. Some officers were of opinion, that the letter was intended as a deception to prevent them from attacking Frede- rica ; others thought that the circumstances men- tioned in it, wore such an appearance of truth, that there were good grounds to believe that the English general wished them to take place, and therefore gave their voice for consulting the safe- ty of Augustine, and relinquishing a plan of con- quest attended with so many difficulties, and put- ting to hazard the loss of both army and fleet, and perhaps the whole province of East Florida: While the Spanish officers were employed in these embarrassing deliberations, fortunately three ves- sels of small force, which the governor of Caroli- na had sent out to watch the motions of the ene- my, appeared at some distance on the coast .- This corresponding with part of Oglethorpe's let- ter, induced the Spanish commander to give cred- it to its entire contents. It was therefore deter- mined, to attack Oglethorpe at his strong hold at Frederica, before the expected reinforcement should arrive ; and accordingly the whole Span- ish army was put in motion. Captain Noble Jones, with a detachment of regulars and Indians, being out on a scouting party, fell in with a small detachment in the enemy's advance, who were
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