USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia: containing brief sketches of the most remarkable events, up to the present day, Vol. II > Part 25
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supported by the infantry. The British cavalry were thrown into confusion and pressed upon the columns of infantry, and the causeway was too narrow for either to act with effect ; consequently the enemy were obliged to fall back. This was effected without much loss, as general Wayne could not get up in time to improve the advantages which Parker's position would have afforded him.
Five of the enemy were killed, and some wounded ; among the latter was colonel Douglass, second in command. Two of the American van were killed, and three wounded. During the day, colonel Jackson had two men killed and one wounded.
Wayne secured all the avenues of direct re-' treat to Savannah, and cherished the hope of forc- ing Brown to a general action the next morning ; but the latter had a number of militia under his command, who had a perfect knowledge of the country. These guides led him through deep swamps by bye paths, at a right angle from the direct. wav, into the road leading from White- bluff, which Brown reached before day light, and arrived safe in Savannah the next morning.
Some time previous to the rencounter which has been mentioned, a party of Creek Indians, coming to Savannah, on a trading expedition, were intercepted by general Wayne, but not in a hostile manner : some of them were detained as hostages, and the remainder permitted to return to their own country with friendly talks.
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The American general assured them that the British forces were now confined within narrow limits in Charleston and Savannah ; that they would soon be compelled to abandon the idea of conquest in America and retire to England. This mild treatment, accompanied by such assurances, it was supposed would deter the Indians from fu- ture hostilities. Though the grand council in the Cherokee and Creek nations, did not sanction a continuance of the war in alliance with Great- Britain ; a few of their warriors determined on a compliance with the promise made to the British general in Savannah. With this view, about three hundred Creeks, headed by Guristersigo, who stood high in the opinion of his countrymen for bravery and military skill, set out from the nation for Savannah early in the month of June.
The secret movements which are uniformly observed by Indians when they are engaged in war, were scrupulously observed during their march. Having white guides, they passed down the southern frontier of Georgia unperceived, ex- cept by two boys, who were taken and murdered. Guristersigo approached the vicinity of Wayne's camp, on the night of the 22nd of June, and des- patched his white guides and a few Indians to reconnoitre it. The party returned the next day and reported that general Wayne's main body was encamped at the plantation of Joseph Gib- bons, seven miles from Savannah, and that his piquet was two miles in his advance, at Barrack
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1782. 409
Gibbons', from which there was a fine open road, which led direct to the town. To avoid Wayne, and carry the piquet by surprise, was determined on by the Indian chief; and for this purpose, he made the requisite dispositi ns for attack.
Fortunately for general Wayne, he changed his position on the afternoon of the 23rd, to the ground which had been occupied the preceding night by his piquet guard ; supposing that he had no enemy near him, from which danger was to be apprehended, except in Savannah ; he had ta- ken the necessary precautions to have all the passes well guarded in that direction, and content- ed himself by posting a single sentinel on the road in his rear. Guristersigo having but fifteen miles to march through the settlement, did not enter it until after dark, and pursuing his route, reached the vicinity of the American camp about three o'clock in the morning.
Having made the requisite arrangements for battle, he sent forward a few daring warriors, with orders to spring upon the sentinel and murder him ยท before he could give the alarm. This order was promptly executed. Guristersigo advanced with his whole force upon the rear of the American camp. The infantry flew to their arms, and the matrosses to their pieces of light field artillery. By this time the Indians were among them, which being perceived by captain Parker, he or- dered a retreat to the quarter- guard, behind Gib- bons' house, at head-quarters.
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The general sprung to his horse; supposing that the whole British force from Savannah was in the margin of his camp, he ordered the bayonet to be vigorously resorted to, and called out, " death " or victory." Similar orders were given to colonel Posey, who commanded in camp, about two hun- dred yards from the house. The general had scarcely seated himself in the saddle, before his horse was shot and fell under him. Wayne ad- vanced, sword in hand, at the head of captain Par- ker's infantry and the quarter-guard, with a deter- mination to regain his field pieces, which he found in the possession of the Indians.
Guristersigo renewed the conflict with great gallantry, supposing he had only the piquet guard to contend with ; but he was soon convinced that the rifle and tomahawk were unavailing, when op- posed by the bayonet in close quarters. The ar- tillery was soon recovered, and Guristersigo with seventeen of his warriors and white guides, lay dead upon the ground. The enemy fled with precipitancy and in confusion, leaving one hun- dred and seventeen pack-horses, loaded with peltry, on the field of battle. The pursuit was pressed into the woods, but of the active sav- ages, only twelve were taken prisoners; who were shot a few hours afterward, by order of general Wayne.
The American loss was four killed and eight wounded. The defeated Indians retreated in small parties to the Creek nation.
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When the limits of the British regulars were contracted, a number of those who adhered to the royal cause, were unwilling to be confined to a garrisoned sea-port town. General Clarke ima- gined that they could render him essential ser- vices, by retiring to the Cherokee nation. At the head of this clan was colonel Thomas Waters, who had formed a settlement on Hightower river, at the mouth of Long swamp creek, where him- self and party had collected a number of negroes, horses, cattle, and other property, which they had plundered from the frontiers of Georgia and Caro- lina. General Pickens made application to the governor of South-Carolina, to carry another ex- pedition into the Cherokee nation, to route this banditti and punish the Indians. Pickens' plan being approved of by the governor of Carolina, he sent an express to colonel Elijah Clarke, of Geor- gia, on the 5th of September, requesting the aid of part of his regiment, and fixed on the 16th, at Long creek, in Wilkes county, as the time and place of rendezvous, with thirty days provision.
General Pickens' command consisted of three hundred and sixteen, and Clarke's of ninety- eight, including ten volunteers from Richmond county ; making in the whole four hundred and fourteen; including the officers.
The general marched on the morning of the 19th in a western direction for the Chatahouchie river, which he reached and crossed on the 24th, at Beaver shoal. Pursuing their course on a small
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Indian trail, they met two Indians, who were ta- ken prisoners. The information received from them was, that there were several Indian towns within the distance of ten or twelve miles, and from thence colonel Waters' party was about twenty miles.
The general detached colonel Robert Ander- son with one hundred men, piloted by one of the Indian prisoners, to destroy the villages and towns upon the river. Colonel White was ordered down the river, with a detachment, for a similar purpose, while the general and colonel Clarke took a more direct course for colonel Waters' rendezvous, the destruction of which was the principal object of the expedition ; but Waters' spies had discovered the army on the march, and gave him notice just in time to escape with his party. A few Indians were killed, and a number of women and children were taken prisoners. . Anderson and White joined the main body in the afternoon, having killed eight Indians and destroy. ed a number of towns.
General Pickens sent out some of his pris- oners in search of the chiefs, offering the olive branch, with assurances that no more of their towns should be destroyed, if they would sur- render the white people among them, and enter into a treaty of peace : in the mean time the general marched from one town to another, to procure supplies of provisions and forage for his army.
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Several of the chiefs met in the mountains and sent one of their principal head men, called the Terrapin, with a party of warriors, and six of Waters' men prisoners ; promising that every ex- ertion should be made to take and bring in the others ; acknowledging that these white men had " occasioned the killing of their people, and the -burning of their towns. On the 8th of October, colonel Clarke marched from Selacoa, with one hundred men, in pursuit of Waters, who had halted on the Estanala river, about sixty miles west of Long swamp; but Waters hearing of his advance, retreated through the Creek nation to . St. Augustine. On the same day, captain Max- well's company marched to Estanala town, where he took twenty-four negroes, the principal part of whom had been plundered by Waters' party from the inhabitants of Georgia and Carolina, a number of horses, and a quantity of peltry, with which he returned on the seventh day.
A number of the chiefs came in, and propos- ed to general Pickens, while he was at Selacoa, to hold a treaty at Long swamp, on the 17th, to which he agreed. On the day appointed, twelve chiefs and two hundred warriors appeared, and entered into temporary articles of treaty, which were afterwards to be confirmed by the whole na- tion, at such time and place as the governor of Georgia should appoint.
By this treaty, all the lands claimed by the Cherokees south of Savannah river, and east of
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the Chatahouchie, were to be surrendered to the . state of Georgia, as the price of peace. The In- dian trade was to be opened upon terms not less advantageous to the Indians, than that which had previously been carried on between them and the British government. These articles being sign- ed by both parties, general Pickens returned to his former rendezvous, on Long creek, where the troops were discharged on the 22nd of Octo- ber, and returned to their homes without the loss of one man. The general's whole command, could not produce a tent or any other description of camp equipage. After the small portion of bread, which they could carry in their saddlebags, was exhausted, they lived upon parched corn, potatoes, peas, and beef without salt, which they collected in the Indian towns.
Early in the succeeding year, the governor of Georgia invited the Cherokee chiefs to Augusta, finally to conclude the articles of treaty which had been temporarily entered into by general Pickens. Lyman Hall, John Twiggs, Elijah Clarke, Wil- liam Few, Edward Telfair, and Samuel Elbert, esquires, were appointed commissioners on the part of the state, and the treaty was concluded on the 30th of May, 1783, when the present bounda- ry line was established between the state of Geor- gia and the Cherokee nation.
Another treaty was made soon after with the Creek Indians, by which all the lands claimed by them, east of the Oconee river, were surrendered
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to the state of Georgia. These tracts of country were afterwards laid off into two counties; the former was called Franklin, and the latter Wash- ington, and they were appropriated for the location of the bounty and state warrants.
The treaty with the Cherokees, at Augusta, was attended by general Pickens in person, with the original document. Why he was not invited to take a seat with the commissioners, is a little extraordinary. General Pickens had on all occa- sions tendered his services to the state, when it was menaced or attacked by an enemy.
The capture of two large armies under the command of general Burgoyne and lord Cornwal- lis, and the disasters which had befallen the British troops, on a variety of succeeding occasions, had rendered the war in America very unpopular in the British empire. The obstinate perseverance in the American character, for the attainment of free- dom and independence, was not so easily crushed as at first expected by the British ministry.
At the opening of the preceding parliament, a settled determination was announced from the throne for a vigorous prosecution of the war against America, and these addresses were sanc- tioned in both houses by large majorities. In the course of the session, those who were opposed to the measures of the crown, had collected well authenticated documents, which were submitted for consideration. From these it was ascertain- ed, that in a war of seven years, but little progress
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had been made toward an attainment of the ob- jects for which it had been commenced. Large sums of money had been spent ; two entire armies had been lost, and many had been cut up in detail ; and the question was asked, what had been gained ? New- York, Charleston, and Savannah, were then in possession, all of which were literally blockaded by land ; and that a powerful and expensive fleet was all that enabled them to hold possession of these cities.
The debates upon these subjects had some in- fluence upon the minds of the ministry. It was at first determined to hold what had been gained in America, and withdraw the supernumerary forces, including the navy, to act against France and Spain. These powers had taken advantage of the absence of the British fleet, and by every possible means distressed the commerce of Great-Britain at home.
When these arrangements were made known to general Washington, he became urgent in his solicitations to congress to increase his force that he might be enabled to make one more grand ef- fort to drive the British army from America : at the same time he urged general Greene to rouse up the southern militia, and use every means in his power to contract the enemy's limits in Charles- ton and Savannah, and cut off their supplies of provision.
It was fortunate for the United-States, that the sentiments of the British nation were not in unison
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with those of its sovereign. On the 29th of Feb- ruary, it was moved in the house of commons by general Conway, " That it is the opinion of this house, that a further prosecution of offensive war : against America, would, under present circum- stances, be the means of weakening the efforts of this country against her European enemies, and tend to increase the mutual enmity so fatal to the interests of both Great-Britain and America."
A change of ministry and policy soon suc- ceeded. General Sir Guy Carlton was ordered to take the command of the British forces in Ame- rica, and in conjunction with admiral Digby, was appointed to negociate a peace with the American government. Upon their arrival in New- York, propositions were made for a peace, or truce, with those colonies which had revolted against the Bri- tish crown ; intimating that others which had not revolted, or had been reduced by the British arms, were not to be included. The independence of the United-States was not explicitly acknowledg- ed, nor was any notice taken of the treaty of alli- ance with France.
In reply to the propositions of the British com- missioners, it was declared by a resolution of con- gress, that the basis of negociation must be an ac- knowledgment of the independence of the United States, and in conjunction with his most christian majesty the king of France. The former was ultimately acknowledged upon certain conditions, but to the latter there were strong evidences of
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reluctance, and several months passed away in fruitless attempts at negociation.
On the 2nd of May, general Leplie who com- . manded the British forces in the southern depart- ment, proposed to general Greene a cessation of hostilities. The latter declined entering into any stipulation of this sort, without authority from congress. It was understood however, that mea- sures were in progress for withdrawing the British forces from America, and that terms of peace had been offered by Great-Britain to the American ministers at Paris.
About the 1st of July, general Wayne was visited by a deputation from the merchants of Sa- vannah, under the protection of a flag, for the pur- pose of ascertaining the conditions upon which the British subjects might be permitted to remain in the city, after it should be evacuated by the British troops. They informed him that such an event was daily to be expected, in consequence of orders which had recently been received by general Clarke. General Wayne replied, that when the British garrison should be withdrawn from Sa- vannah, he should feel bound, in his military ca- pacity, to protect the persons and property of such as might remain; but that the ultimate disposal of both, would be turned over to the civil authorities of the state ; that his excellency the governor and his executive council were in the vicinity of the American camp, to whom he would submit the subject of their application, and give them an an- swer the next day,
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General Wayne had a personal conference with governor Martin, and was requested to offer assurances of safety, for the persons and property of such inhabitants as chose to remain in Savan- nah, after it should be evacuated by the British troops ; and that a reasonable time would be al- lowed them to dispose of their property and settle their pecuniary concerns in the state ; but it was to be clearly understood, that such men as had been guilty of murder, or other atrocious offences, would be liable to be tried and punished accord- ing to the laws of the state. The governor refused to enter into any stipulations for the safety of cul- prits, who were amenable to the judicial tribu- nals of the state ; alleging that the executive and judiciary were separate and distinct, by the con- stitution, and that the former had no control over the latter. These subjects were communicated to the deputation, by whom they were reported to the inhabitants of the town.
Another deputation was appointed upon the succeeding day, with instructions to enter into de- finitive terms and conditions, and that they might be well understood, it was requested that they should be reduced to writing : they were accord. ingly indulged in their wishes. This negociation tas principally confided to major John Haber- sham, an officer of the Georgia line, and a native of the city, whose personal character gave facility and confidence to the arrangements ; having by the correctness of his conduct, and the polish of his
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manners, preserved a high standing, even among those who were inimical to the cause in which he was engaged. Satisfied with the assurances of protection which were given, many of the British subjects, who resided with their families in Sa- vannah, discontinued the preparations which they had commenced for removal, and became citizens of the United-States. Such of the loyalists as were unwilling to subscribe to the conditions pro- posed, removed with their families, and the pro- perty they had in possession, to Cockspur and Tybee islands, where they encamped until the transports were ready to sail. Among this num- ber there were many, whose atrocious conduct during the war, would have placed their lives at great hazard, if they had been tried by the civil authorities of the state : others had in possession large fortunes, in negroes and other property, which had been plundered from their republican countrymen. According to the British accounts of that day, seven thousand persons sailed from Savannah, between the 12th and 25th of July, and consisted of the following descriptions : twelve hundred British regulars and loyalists ; five hun- dred women and children; three hundred In- dians ; and five thousand negroes. Governor Wright and some of the civil and military officers went to Charleston in the Princess Caroline ; ge- neral Clarke and part of the British regulars to New- York ; Colonel Brown's rangers and the Indians to St. Augustine ; and the remainder to
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the British West-India islands, under convoy of the Zebra frigate, Vulture sloop of war, and other armed vessels, which had been ordered to the coast of Georgia for the purpose. The same ac- count states that from three fourths to seven eighths of the Georgia negroes had been carried off by the British.
The war in Georgia was now hastening to a close. The pleasing moment was fast approach- ing, when the war-worn veteran would be permit- ted to retire from the scene of blood, to the enjoy- ment of peace. The 11th of July was fixed for the embarkation of the British troops, and a formal surrender of the town was made to colonel James Jackson ; and the American army entered and took possession of it the same day. Colonel Jackson was selected for this purpose, by general Wayne, -as a compliment justly due for his faithful services during the whole war, in which he had often distinguished himself ; but more particularly, for the hazardous services which he had recently per- formed with his legion, in advance of the army. Upon this important occasion, the friends and families of the Americans in Savannah, received them with tears of joy and gratitude, but the sur- rounding country exhibited nothing but ruins and devastation, and threw a gloomy shade over their future prospects.
Colonel Posey, with the main body of general Wayne's army, marched in a few days to join ge- neral Greene, in South-Carolina; and general
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Wayne followed with the remainder a few days afterward. The metropolis of Georgia had been three years six months and thirteen days, in the entire possession of the enemy; and -at several times, the whole state had been under the control of the British government. The number of the disaffected, to the republican government, appears by the act of confiscation and banishment, to have amounted to two hundred and eighty. A con- siderable number of them were afterward restored to the rights of citizenship, and some of them to the enjoyment of their property, upon paying twelve and a half per cent. upon the amount thus restored ; and others upon paying eight per cent. into the public treasury.
No correct estimate can be made of the im- mense losses sustained by the inhabitants of Geor- gia, during the revolutionary war. The negroes, and other property, which was carried off; the houses, plantations, and produce, destroyed by fire ; the loss of time, by constant military em- ployment ; the distressed condition of widows, who were left by the numerous murders commit- ted upon the heads of families, and killed in the field of battle, seem to bid defiance to calculation. If the inhabited part of the state, with all the proper- ty it contained, had been valued at the commence- ment of the war, half of the amount would proba- bly have been a moderate estimate of the loss.
On the 30th of November, provisional articles of a treaty were entered into by the commission-
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ers of the United-States, and a commissioner on the part of Great-Britain, at Paris; but the arti- cles contained in this treaty were not to be conclu- sive or binding, until a treaty of peace should be agreed upon between France and England, which was then in progress. The definitive treaties be- tween America, France, and England, were final- ly ratified at Paris on the 3rd of September, 1783. . The embarkation of the British army in Charleston, was suspended until late in Decem- ber. The enemy had not a sufficiency of provi- sions for the voyage, and the sales of it were with- held to compel the restoration of the negroes and other private property, which had been plundered from the inhabitants ; which was ultimately agreed to, but only partially complied with.
Immediately after the departure of the British from Georgia, a meeting of the legislature was called, in Savannah, by governor Martin, on the first Monday in August. Their attention was di- rected to the opening of the courts of justice, and the appointment of commissioners of confiscated sales. This session was short, as it was so soon to be succeeded by the constitutional meeting on the first Monday in January, 1784. Lyman Hall was appointed governor ; George Walton, chief- justice ; Samuel Stirk, attorney-general ; John Milton, secretary of state; John Martin, treasur- er; and Richard Call, surveyor-general. The land offices were opened, and bounty warrants granted to the officers and soldiers for military
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services. Public accounts were audited, accord- ing to the scale of depreciation, and the unappro- priated proceeds of the confiscated property was converted into a sinking fund for the redemption of the public debt.
The valuable prize of freedom and indepen- dence was now obtained, and the people of Ame- rica were left at liberty to live under a form of go. vernment of their own choice. The blood which flowed from the suffering patriots of that day, should never be forgotten ; and the precious jew- el which was purchased by it, should be preserv- ed with courage and remembered with gratitude, by succeeding generations,
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
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