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The Republicans were exceedingly indignant; and when, a day or two afterward, it was known that Captain Maitland had arrived at Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah, with thirteen thousand pounds of powder and other articles for the British and Indians, it was determined to seize the vessel. The Georgia Assembly was then in session. ** The leading Whigs approved of the enterprise, and on the night of the tenth of July, thirty volunteers, under Commodore Bowen and Colonel Joseph Habersham, embarked in two boats, took possession of the ship, discharged the crew, and placed the powder in the magazine in Savannah, except five thousand pounds, which they sent to the army then investing Boston, under General Washington. ***
8736
The Indian hostilities, which occurred at this time on the western Miles frontiers, we have considered in preceding chapters.
The spirit of resistance waxed stronger and stronger during the autumn of 1775. In January, 1776, it assumed a form of strength and determination hitherto unknown in Georgia. On the eighteenth of that month, Colonel Joseph Habersham, **** who was a member of the Assembly, raised a party of volunteers, took Governor Wright a prisoner, and paroled him to his own house, (v) before which a sentinel was placed, and forbid all intercourse between him and persons inimical to the Republican cause. On the night of the eleventh of February,1776during a storm, the governor escaped from a back window of his house, with John Muloyne, and went down the river five miles, to Bonaventure, the residence of that gentleman. There a boat and crew were waiting for him, and he was conveyed to Tybec Sound, and took shelter on board the armed ship Scarborough.
Royal rule had now actually ceased
* The Secret Committee at Charleston, who intercepted this letter, placed another in the cover, with Governor Wright's name counterfeited, and sent it on to Gage. In that letter they said (as if Governor Wright was penning it), "I have wrote for troops to awe the people, but now there is no occasion for sending them, for the people are again come to some order." Gage was thus misled.
** They met on the fourth of July. On the fifteenth, they elected Archibald Bullock, John Houstoun, John Joachim Zubley, Noble Wimberly Jones, and Lyman Hall, to represent that province in the Continental Congress. These were the first delegates elected by the representatives of the whole people, for Hall represented only the parish of St. John's. Fifty-three members signed their credentials. Zubley afterward became a traitor. While the subject of independence was being debated in 1776, Samuel Chase, of Maryland, accused Zubley of communicating with Governor Wright. Zubley denied the charge, but while Chase was collecting proof, the recusant fled.
*** One of the men engaged in this adventure was Ebenezer Smith Platt. He was afterward made a prisoner, and being recognized as one of this daring party, was sent to England, where he lay in jail many months, under a charge of high treason. He was eventually considered a prisoner of war, and was exchanged.
**** Joseph Habersham was the son of a merchant of Savannah, who died at New Brunswick, in New Jersey, in August, 1775. Joseph Habersham held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Continental army. In 1785, he was a member of Congress from Savannah; and in 1795, Washington appointed him postmaster general of the United States. He held that office until 1800, when he resigned. He was made president of the Branch Bank of the United States, at Savannah, in 1802, which position he held until his death, in November, 1815, at the age of sixty-five years. The name of his brother James, late President of the Council, appears upon the first bill of credit issued by the Provincial Congress of Georgia in 1776.
* ( v) Governor Wright's house was on the lot in Heathcote Ward, where the Telfair House now stands. The Council House was on the lot where George Schley. Esq., resided in 1849.
Congressional Delegates.—Savannah Menaced.—British Repulsed.—Party Lines.—Lee's Expedition.
in Georgia, and the Assembly assumed governmental powers. They elected new delegates to the Continental Congress;1776passed a resolution to raise a battalion of Continental troops;Feb. 4and issued bills of credit in the form of certificates, and ordered them to be received at par in payment of debts and for merchandise.
Governor Wright wrote a letter to the AssemblyFeb. 13very conciliatory in its tone, but receiving no answer, he resolved to allow the armed vessels at the mouth of the river to force their way to the town, and procure such supplies as they needed. Eleven merchant vessels, laden with rice, were then at Savannah ready to sail. These were seized by the war ships, and Majors Maitland and Grant landed, with a considerable force, upon Hutchinson's Island, opposite Savannah, preparatory to an attack upon the townMarch 6, 1776The patriots were on the alert, and sent a flag to Maitland, warning him to desist.
This flag was detained, and another was fired upon. Further parley was deemed unnecessary, and the next day two merchant vessels, lying in the stream, were set on fire by the patriots. Floating down to the one containing Maitland and Grant, with their men, great consternation was produced. Some of the soldiers jumped overboard and swam ashore; some stuck in the mud, and many lost their fire-arms; while the officers escaped in boats to Hutchinson's Island. At this critical moment, four hundred Carolinians, under Colonel Bull, arrived, and aided the Georgians in repulsing the assailants. Three of the merchant vessels were burned, six were dismantled, and two escaped to sea.
The breach between the Whigs and Tories was now too wide to be closed, and the line was very distinctly drawn by stringent measures on the part of the former. *** These tended to winnow the chaff from the wheat, and many Tories, possessed of no property, left Georgia and took refuge in East Florida, where Governor Tonyn was actively engaged in fitting out privateers to prey upon the infant commerce of the Southern colonists, and to ravage their coasts. The Tories there organized under the title of theFlorida Rangers, and were led by Thomas Brown, the Augusta Loyalist, who afterward commanded the garrison at that place. A fort built by Governor Wright's brother, on the St. Mary's, was their place of rendezvous, whence they went out and levied terrible contributions, in the way of plunder, upon the people of Southern Georgia, who were thinly scattered over the country.
The war had now fairly commenced, and the flame of patriotism which burned so brightly at the North was not less intense in Georgia. The Declaration of Independence was received in Savannah with great joy. ****August 10, 1776Pursuant to the recommendation of the Continental Congress, the people turned their attention to the organization of civil government, upon the basis of independence, and in strengthening their military power. To weaken the British and Tories in the South, an expedition against St. Augustine (then in possession of the English) was planned, and General Charles Lee, then at Charleston, was invited to take the command of troops that might be sent. Lee perceived the advantages to be derived from such a measure, and acquiescing, he immediately ordered Brigadier Robert Howe to proceed to Savannah with troops. Howe had marched as far as Sunbury, at the mouth of the Midway River,August, 1776when sickness, want of artillery and
* Archibald Bullock, John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, and George Walton.
** Lachlin Mflntosh was appointed colonel; Samuel Elbert, lieutenant colonel; and Joseph Habersham, major.
*** When the British first appeared in the attitude of assailants, the Committee of Safety appraised such houses in Savannah as were owned by Republicans, with the determination of applying the torch if they could not repulse the enemy. The houses of the Tories were not noticed; and therefore, in the event of a general conflagration, their property would not be accounted for.
**** Archibald Bullock, president of the council, convened that body, on the receipt of the Declaration (which came by express in thirty-five days from Philadelphia), when they ordered it to be publicly read in front of the council-chamber. There, under a military escort, the council proceeded to the liberty-pole, where they were saluted by thirteen cannon-peals and small arms from the first Continental battalion, under Colonel M'Intosh. Proceeding to the haltery, another salute of thirteen guns was fired. The people then partook of a dinner in a grove, where thirteen toasts were given. In the afternoon, there was a funeral procession, and the royal government was buried, with the customary ceremonies. In the evening, the town was brilliantly illuminated.—M'Call, ii., 90.
Boldness of the Tories.—Organization of Civil Government.—M'Intosh and Gwinnett.—A Duel.
other necessaries for the campaign, caused Lee to abandon the enterprise. The effect of this movement was disastrous to the Whigs.
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The Tories gained confidence; and on the seventh day of February, 1777, they attacked Fort M'Intosh. * The garrison was commanded by Captain Richard Winn, of South Carolina. After holding out for two days, he was obliged to surrender.
The officers and privates of the garrison were all paroled except two young officers, who were taken to St. Augustine and kept as hostages.
During the autumn of 1776, a convention was held in Savannah to form a state Constitution, with a bullet in the thigh. M'Intosh recovered; Gwinnett died, murder, at the instance of Gwinnett's friends, and was acquitted.
It was adopted on the 5th of February following: Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was chosen president of the council, an office equivalent in its functions to that of governor. In consequence of military rivalry, a serious difficulty arose between Gwinnett and Colonel M'Intosh, ** who had just been elected brigadier general of the Georgia Continental troops. A duel ensued, when both were wounded, each M'Intosh was tried for This quarrel produced a serious local agitation, which at one time menaced the Republican stability of Georgia, and the true friends of the cause were alarmed. To allay party feeling, General M'Intosh consented to accept of a station at the North; and Washington appointed him commander-in-chief of the Western Department, with his head-quarters at Pittsburg, where we have already met him. (See page 500.)
During the summer and autumn of 1777, Colonels Elbert, Scriven, Baker, and others, attempted to dislodge the Tories from East Florida, and several skirmishes occurred. These expeditions were fruitless of advantage to the patriots, and much suffering ensued. Frederica was attacked by the enemy; some Americans and negroes were captured, and considerable property was carried off. Often, during the autumn, predatory excursions were made
* This was a small stockade, one hundred feet square, with a block-house in the center, and a bastion at each corner. It was situated upon the northeast side of Saltilla River, in the present Camden county.
** Lachlin M'Intosh was born near Inverness, in Scotland, in 1727. He was the son of John M., who was at the head of the Borlam branch of the clan M'Intosh. He came to Georgia with General Oglethorpe in 1736, when Lachlin was nine years of age. His father being made a prisoner and sent to St. Augustine, Lachlin was left to the care of his mother at the age of thirteen years. His opportunities for education were small, yet his strong mind overcame many difficulties. Arrived at maturity! he went to Charleston, where, on account of his fine personal appearance and the services of his father, he commanded attention. He and Henry Laurens became friends, and he entered that gentleman's counting-room as clerk. He left commercial pursuits, returned to his friends on the Alatamaha, married, and engaged in the profession of a land surveyor. He made himself acquainted with military tactics, and when the War for Independence broke out, he was found, when needed, on the side of the Republicans. He was first appointed colonel, and in 1776 was commissioned a brigadier. He was persecuted by his rival, Button Gwinnett, until he could no longer forbear; and finally, pronouncing that gentleman a scoundrel, a duel ensued, and Gwinnett was killed. M'Intosh afterward commanded in the Western Department, and led an expedition against the Indians. (See page 500). He returned to Georgia in 1779, and was at the siege and fall of Savannah. He was with Lincoln at Charleston, where he was made prisoner. After his release, he went with his family to Virginia, where he remained until the close of the war. When he returned to Georgia, he found his property nearly all wasted; and in retirement and comparative poverty, he lived in Savannah until his death, which occurred in 1806, at the age of seventy-nine. General M'Intosh, when young, was considered the handsomest man in Georgia.
Expedition to Florida.—Troops under General Howe.—His public Life.—Duel with Gadsden.
upon the southern frontiers of Georgia, the marauders frequently penetrating as far as the Alatamaha and even beyond, and the settlements suffered terribly.
During the winter and spring of 1778, the opponents of the new government became formidable, and indications of an invasion of Georgia, from Florida and from the Indian territory in the West, was perceived.
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Tories gathered at Ninety-Six] and crossed the Savannah, while those of Florida, joined by the Indians, continued to scatter desolation along the southern frontier. Robert Howe, * of North Carolina, now promoted to the rank of major general, was in the chief command of the Southern army, and favored the yet cherished design to march into Florida and disperse the Loyalists. In fact, this measure had become a chief desideratum, for the gathering storm on the frontier of that state was pregnant with evil omens for the whole South. The Loyalists were gaining strength on the St. Mary's, St. John's, and at Pensacola, and re-enforcements of British troops were expected at St. Augustine.April, 1778Howe moved his head-quarters from Charleston to Savannah.
His regulars, who were in a condition to take the field, did not exceed five hundred and fifty men. These were joined by the commands of Colonels C. C. Pinckney, Bull, and Williamson. Governor Houstoun, of Georgia, who was requested to furnish three hundred and fifty militia, cheerfully complied.
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Thus prepared, Howe marched toward the Alatamaha, when he was informed that a body of British regulars, under General Augustine Prévost, a large force of Loyalists, under Colonel Brown, and numerous Indians, were moving toward the St. Mary's for the purpose of invading Georgia. Already Colonel Elbert had been victorious at Frederica, ** and Howe felt certain of success, when, on the twentieth of May,1778he reached the Alatamaha, and learned how rumors of his expe-
* Robert Howe was a native of Brunswick, North Carolina. History bears no record of his private life, and his biography has never been written. He appears to have been one of the earliest and most uncompromising of the patriots of the Cape Fear region, for we find him honored with an exception, together with Cornelius Harnett, when royal clemency was offered to the rebels by Sir Henry Clinton, in 1776. He was appointed colonel of the first North Carolina regiment, and with his command went early into the field of Revolutionary strife. In December, 1775, he joined Woodford at Norfolk (see page 536), in opposition to Lord Dunmore and his motley army. For his gallantry during this campaign, Congress, on the twenty-ninth of February, 1776, appointed him, with five others, brigadier general in the Continental army, and ordered him to Virginia. In the spring of 1776, British spite toward General Howe was exhibited by Sir Henry Clinton, who sent Cornwallis, with nine hundred men, to ravage his plantation near old Brunswick village. He was placed in chief command of the Southern troops in 1778, and was unsuccessful in an expedition against Florida, and in the defense of Savannah. His conduct was censured, but without just cause. Among others whose voice was raised against him, was Christopher Gadsden, of Charleston. Howe required him to deny or retract. Gadsden would do neither, and a duel ensued. They met at Cannonsburg, and all the damage either sustained was a scratch upon the ear of Gadsden by Howe's ball. *
** Colonel Elbert, who was stationed at Fort Howe, on the Alatamaha, early in the spring of 1778, went with three hundred men to Darien, where he embarked on board three galleys, accompanied by a detachment of artillery on a flat-boat, and proceeded to attack a hostile party at Oglethorpe's Fort. He was successful. A brigantine was captured, and the garrison, alarmed, fled from the fort to their boats, and escaped, leaving Elbert complete victor. On board of the brigantine were three hundred uniform suits, belonging to Colonel Pinckney's regiment, which had been captured while on their way, in the sloop Hatter, from Charleston to Savannah.
* Major André wrote a humorous account, in rhyme, of this affair, in eighteen stanzas. Bernard Elliott was the second of Gadsden, and General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of Howe. The duel occurred on the thirteenth of August, 1778. After this affair, Howe and Gadsden were warm friends.
March toward Florida.—Divided Commands.—Failure of the Expedition.—Minor Expeditions.
dition had alarmed the Tories of East Florida. His enterprise was exceedingly popular, and the sympathy of the whole Southern people, who were favorable to Republicanism, was with him. With scanty supplies, he pushed forward in the midst of many difficulties, to Fort Tonyn, on the St. Mary's,June, 1778which the enemy abandoned and partly demolished on his approach. Here he ordered a general rendezvous of all the troops, and of the galleys, under Commodore Bowen, preparatory to making an assault upon St. Augustine.
On the day of his arrival at Fort Tonyn, Howe was informed that twelve hundred men had marched from St. Augustine for the St. John's, and that two galleys, laden with twenty-four pounders, had been sent to the mouth of that river, to co-operate with the land force in opposing the Americans. He was also informed by a deserter that the whole force of the enemy was about fifteen hundred men fit for duty. Sudden, united, and energetic action was now necessary, but Howe experienced the contrary on the part of his compatriots. The governor of Georgia was at the head of his own militia, and refused to be commanded by Howe; Colonel Williamson (the imputed traitor) look the same course with his volunteers; and Commodore Bowen would not be governed by any land officer. The necessary consequence was tardy, divided, and inefficient operations.
Sickness soon prostrated almost one half of the troops, for, unprovided with sufficient tents, they slept exposed to the deadly malaria of the night air among the swamps; and Howe clearly perceived that failure must result in future movements unless the forces could be united under one commander. He called a council of war, and ascertained that Houstoun would not be governed by another, and that the army was rapidly melting away. A retreat was unanimously agreed upon. Pinckney and the remains of his command returned by water to Charleston, while Howe, with the remnants of his force, reduced by sickness and death from eleven hundred to three hundred and fifty, returned to Savannah by land. Thus ended an expedition upon which the South had placed great reliance. Howe was much censured, but the blame should properly rest upon those who, by proud assumption of separate commands, retarded his movements and weakened his power. No expedition was ever successful with several commanders.
The British, emboldened by this second failure of the Americans to invade Florida, and counting largely upon the depressing influence it would have upon the patriots, hastened to invade Georgia in turn. Savannah was the chief point of attack. It was arranged that a naval force, with land troops from the North, should enter the river and invest the city; while General Prevost, who commanded in East Florida, should march toward the same point from St. Augustine, with his whole motley band of regulars, Tories, and Indians, to awe the people in that direction, and by preliminary expeditions weaken the Americans. * Hitherto the British arms had been chiefly directed against the Northern and Middle States, but with little effect. The patriots had steadily maintained their ground, and the area actually out of possession of the Americans was very small. Sir Henry Clinton was master of New York city, but almost every where else the Americans held possession. To the South he looked for easier and more extensive conquests; and against Savannah, the apparently weakest point he directed his first operations. Lieutenant-colonel Campbell,
* Soon after the return of Howe, some regulars and Loyalists had made a rapid incursion into Georgia, and menaced the fort at Sunbury, at the mouth of the Midway River. The little garrison was commanded bv Lieutenant-colonel John M'Intosh (a brother of General Mflntosh). The enemy approached in two divisions, one with artillery, in boats, under Lieutenant-colonel Fuser; the other by land, under Lieutenant-colonel Mark Prévost, consisting of six hundred regulars. Fuser approached the fort and demanded its surrender. M'Intosh replied, "Come and take it!" The promptness and brevity of the reply indicated security, and Fuser withdrew, although he could easily have captured the fort. In the mean while, General Seriven, with others, were skirmishing with Colonel Prevost, who had been joined by a band of Tories, under M'Girth, in one of which the latter was mortally wounded. The invaders pressed forward until within three miles of Ogeechee Ferry, where they were confronted by Colonel Elbert and two hundred Continentals, at a breast-work thrown up by a planter named Savage. Unable to proceed further, they retraced their steps toward the Alatamaha, plundering and burning houses, and laying the whole country waste. Midway church was destroyed, rice barns were burned, and the people were made houseless.
British Expedition against Savannah.—Preparations to receive them.—Landing of the British.
an efficient and reliable officer, sailed from Sandy Hook on the twenty-seventh of November,1778with more than two thousand land troops, * covered by a small squadron, under Commodore Parker. The fleet arrived at Tybee Island (see map, page 726), near the mouth of the Savannah, on the twenty-third of December. Six days afterward, the vessels and transports had crossed the bar, and the troops were landed at daybreakDec. 29without much opposition, three miles below the town, above Five-fathom Hole, opposite Brewton's Hill. **
General Howe, whose army was now augmented to a little less than seven hundred men, was at Sunbury when intelligence was received at Savannah of the approach of the British fleet. Governor Houstoun immediately sent an express to Howe with the information. At the same time, another messenger arrived at Sunbury from the South, informing Howe that General Prevost, with all his force, was on his way from St. Augustine to invade Georgia. All was alarm and confusion when the latter intelligence reached Savannah. The governor sent the public records to Purysburg for safety, from whence they were afterward carried to Charleston. The small battery on the eastern extremity of the city was strengthened, and the people aided the soldiers in casting up intrenchments. ***
Howe hastened to his camp at Savannah to prepare for the invasion. His little army was encamped southeast of the town, near the eastern extremity of the present remains of the French works. There he anxiously awaited promised re-enforcements from South Carolina, under General Lincoln. The militia from the surrounding country came in very slowly, day after day; and on the morning of the battle which ensued, his whole force was about nine hundred men. Believing the British army to be really weaker than it appeared, he resolved to defend the town; and when, on the morning of the twenty-eighth, the fleet appeared at Five-fathom Hole, where Fort Jackson now is, he prepared for battle. On that morning, Colonel Elbert, perceiving the necessity of keeping the enemy from the advantageous position of Brewton's Hill, offered to defend it with his regiment; but Howe, believing they would march immediately toward the town, rejected the proposition. He placed his center at the head of the causeway; his left, under Colonel Elbert, fronted the rice-fields, and was flanked by the river: and his right, commanded by Colonel Isaac Huger, covered the morass in front, and was flanked by the wooded swamp and one hundred Georgia militia, under Colonel George Walton. Having made this disposition, he detached Captain J. C. Smith, of South Carolina, to occupy and defend Brewton's Hill. His little force proved inadequate; and soon after landing, the British took possession of that eminence. Howe now perceived the superiority of the British force, and at ten o'clock in the morning called a council of war to consider the expediency of abandoning the town. It was then too late to deliberate, for the enemy were forming for attack. It was resolved first to fight, and then to retreat, if necessary.
After Campbell had formed his army on Brewton's Hill, he moved forward, and took a position within eight hundred yards of the American front, where he maneuvered in a man-
* These troops consisted of the 71st regiment of foot, two battalions of Hessians, four of provincials, and a detachment of the royal artillery.
** From the landing-place (which was the nearest the ships could approach) a narrow causeway, with a ditch on each side, led through a rice swamp six hundred yards, to firm ground. The 7lst regiment of royal Scots led the van across the causeway, and was attacked by some Americans. Captain Cameron and two of his company were killed, and five were wounded. The Highlanders were made furious, and, rushing forward, drove the Americans into the woods.
*** More clearly to understand the nature of the attack, defense, and result, it is necessary to know the position of the town at that time. It is situated upon a high bluff of forty feet altitude, and then, as now, was approachable by land on three sides. From the high ground of Brewton's Hill and Thunderbolt on the east, a road crossed a morass upon a causeway, having rice-fields on the north side to the river, and a wooded swamp, several miles in extent, on the south of it. It was approached from the south by the roads from White Bluff, on Vernon River, and from the Ogeechee Ferry, which unite near the town; and from the westward by a road and causeway over the deep swamps of Musgrove's Creek, where, also, rice-fields extend from the causeway to the river on the north. From the western direction, the Central Rail-way enters Savannah. From the eastern to the western causeway was about three fourths of a mile.
Battle.—Defeat of the Americans.—Disastrous Retreat.—The Loss.
ner to excite the belief that he intended to attack the center and left. This was at three o'clock in the afternoon. This movement was only a diversion in favor of a body of infantry and New York volunteers, commanded by Sir James Baird, who, under the guidance of an old negro named Quamino Dolly, withdrew unperceived, and by a by-path through the swamp at the South, were gaining the American rear. To this by-path Walton had called Howe's attention in the morning, but knowing its obscurity, the general did not think it worthy of regard. Sir James and his party reached the White Bluff' road unperceived, and pressing forward, attacked Walton's Georgia brigade on flank and rear. Walton was wounded and taken prisoner, and such was the fate of a large portion of his command. At the same moment Campbell moved forward and attacked the Americans in front. The patriot line was soon broken, and, perceiving the growing panic and confusion, Howe ordered a retreat over the causeway across Musgrove's Swamp, west of the town. To that point Colonel Roberts, in obedience to early orders, if the contingency should occur, hastened with the artillery, to cover the retreat. Already the enemy was there in force to dispute the passage. By great exertions, the American center gained the causeway and escaped without loss. The right flank also retreated across, but suffered from an oblique enfilading fire; while to Colonel Elbert, with the left, the passage was closed after a severe conflict. He and his troops attempted to escape by the rice-fields, but it being high water in the creek, none but those who could swim succeeded, and these lost their guns and accoutrements. Many were drowned, and the remainder were taken prisoners. While the British were pursuing the Americans through the town toward Musgrove's Creek, many citizens, some of whom had not been in the battle, were bayoneted in the streets; but when the action was over, life and property were spared. Campbell's humanity and generosity as a man were equal to his skill and bravery as a soldier, and the active terrors of war in the city ceased with the battle. * Yet deep sadness brooded over Savannah that night, for many bereaved ones wept in bitter anguish over relatives slain or mortally wounded. ** Those few who escaped across Musgrove's Swamp, retreated up the Savannah and joined Howe, who, with the center, fled as far as Cherokee Hill, eight miles distant, and halted. The whole fugitive force then pushed up the Savannah to Zubley's Ferry, where they crossed into South Carolina. Howe saved three field-pieces in his flight. ***
When Lieutenant-colonel Campbell had secured his prize by garrisoning the fort at Savannah, and by other measures for defense, he prepared to march against Sunbury, the only post of any consequence now left to the Americans, near the Georgia sea-board. He issued orders to the commanders of detachments in the lower part of the state to treat the people leniently, and by proclamation he invited them to join the British standard. These measures had their desired effect, and timid hundreds, seeing the state under the heel of British power, proclaimed their loyalty, and rallied beneath the banner of St. George.
While arranging for his departure southward, Campbell received intelligence that the garrison at Sunbury had surrendered to General Prevost. That officer had left St. Augus-
* Like credit can not be given to Commodore Parker. For want of other quarters the prisoners were placed on board of ships, where disease made dreadful havoc daily during the succeeding summer. Parker not only neglected the comforts of the prisoners, but was brutal in his manner. Among those confined in these horrid prison ships, was the venerable Jonathan Bryan, aged and infirm. When his daughter pleaded with Hyde Parker for an alleviation of the sufferings of her parent, he treated her with vulgar rudeness and contempt. The bodies of those who died were deposited in the marsh mud, where they were sometimes exposed and eaten by buzzards and crows.—See M'Call's History of Georgia, ii., 176.
** About one hundred Americans were either killed in the action or drowned in the swamp, and thirty-eight officers and four hundred and fifteen privates were taken prisoners. The fort; which only commanded the water, and was of no service on this occasion, with forty-eight pieces of cannon, twenty-three mortars and howitzers, eight hundred and seventeen small arms, ninety-four barrels of gunpowder, fifteen hundred and forty-five cannon shot, one hundred and four ease ditto, two hundred shells, nine tons of lead, military stores, shipping in the river, and a large quantity of provisions, fell into the hands of the victors. The British lost only seven killed and nineteen wounded. The private soldiers who refused to enlist in the British army were confined in prison ships; the Continental officers were paroled to Sunbury.
*** Ramsay, ii., 4: Gordon, ii.. 403; Marshall, i., 293; M'Call, ii., 168; Stedman. ii., 66.
Sunbury taken by the British.—Sketch of the Public Life of General Lincoln.
tine with about two thousand men (including Indians) and several pieces of artillery, on the day when Campbell reached Tybee Island. One division took a land route, the other proceeded in armed boats. They reached the vicinity of Sunbury on the sixth of January, and proceeded to attack the fort.
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The garrison consisted of about two hundred Continental troops and militia, under Major Lane, who, when Prevost demanded an unconditional surrender on the morning of the ninth, promptly refused compliance. Prevost then placed his cannon in battery and opened upon the fort. Lane soon perceived the folly of resistance, and after considerable parleying he surrendered. The spoils of victory were twenty-four to the command in the Southern department where we find him in the summer of 1779 pieces of artillery, with ammunition and provisions; and the men of the garrison were made prisoners of war. The Americans lost one captain and three privates killed, and seven wounded. The British loss was one private killed and three wounded. Two American galleys in the river were taken by their crews to Assabaw Island, stranded, and burned. The crews escaped in a sloop, but, while on their way to Charleston, were captured and carried prisoners to Savannah.
The fall of Sunbury was the death-blow to Republican power in East Georgia, and the conquest of the whole state now appeared an easy thing. The march of Campbell to Augusta, under the direction of Prevost, who proceeded from Sunbury to Savannah; the establishment of military posts in the interior; Campbell's sudden retreat from Augusta, and the subsequent battle at Brier Creek, we have already considered. Previous to these events, and soon after the failure of Howe's summer campaign against East Florida, General Lincoln * had been appointedSept. 26, 1778and Howe was ordered to the North, at Verplanck's Point.
* Benjamin Lincoln was born on the third of February, 1733. He was trained to the business of a farmer, and had few educational advantages. He continued in his vocation in his native town (Hingham, Massachusetts) until past forty years of age, when he engaged in civil and military duties. He was a local magistrate, representative in the Colonial Legislature, and held the appointment of colonel of militia, when, in 1774, he was appointed a major general of militia. He was very active until the close of 1776, in training the militia for the Continental service, and in February, 1777, he joined Washington, at Morristown, with a re-enforcement. On the nineteenth of that month, Congress appointed Lincoln, with Lord Stirling, St. Clair, Mifflin, and Stephen, major general in the Continental army. He was active during the summer and autumn of that year in opposition to Burgoyne, while on his march toward Saratoga. He was severely wounded on the seventh of October, at Saratoga, which kept him from active service until August, 1778, when he joined Washington. He was appointed to the chief command in the Southern department, in September, and arrived at Charleston in December. By judicious management he kept Prévost and his troops below the Savannah River most of the time, until October, when, in concert with D'Estaing, he laid siege to Savannah. The effort was unsuccessful. In May following, he, with the largest portion of the Southern army, were made prisoners at Charleston by the British, under Sir Henry Clinton. He was permitted to return to Hingham on parole. In November he was exchanged, and the following spring he joined Washington on the Hudson. He was at the surrender of Cornwallis, and was deputed to receive that commander's sword. He was elected Secretary of War a few days after this event, which office he held for three years, and then retired to his farm. In 1786-7 he commanded the militia in the suppression of Shays's insurrection. He was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1787. He was appointed collector of the port of Boston in 1789, which office he held for twenty years, when he was succeeded by General Dearborn. He died in Hingham, on the ninth of May, 1810, at the age of seventy-seven years. He lived with his wife fifty-five years. General Lincoln was temperate and religious. No profane word was ever heard uttered by his lips. A great part of his life he was a deacon in the Church.
* The signature of Howe on page 729 is from a letter written by him under date of "Verplanck's Point, July, 1779."
Royal Government re-established.—Appearance of the French Fleet.—Alarm of the British.—Savannah strengthened.
Several minor expeditions were planned and executed both by Prevost and Lincoln, but they had little effect. The latter arrived at Purysburg, upon the Savannah, on the third of January, 1779, and established his head-quarters there. His force consisted of about twenty-five hundred effective men, and it continually augmented by recruits from the militia. The marches and counter marches of these generals in attempts to foil each other will be noticed while considering the attack upon Charleston in May following, and its immediate antecedent events. *
On the twentieth of July,1779Sir James Wright returned from England and resumed the government of Georgia. It had been under military rule since the fall of Savannah. Governor Wright did not long remain in quiet, for the strong arm of our French ally held the falchion over the head of British power in the South. Early in September, the Count D'Estaing, with twenty ships of the line and eleven frigates, having on board six thousand soldiers, suddenly appeared off the Southern coasts. He had battled successfully with Admiral Byron in the West Indies, and now he came to assist in driving the British out of the Southern States. So sudden was his appearance off Tybee IslandSept. 3, 1779that four British vessels fell into his hands without a contest. A plan was soon arranged between Lincoln and D'Estaing to besiege Savannah. The latter urged the necessity of early departure from our coast as a reason for prompt action, and he entreated Lincoln to press forward with his army as rapidly as possible.
From the moment when the French fleet appeared off Tybee, Provost felt uneasy. He recalled his detachments from the advanced posts, and directed Colonel Maitland, who, with eight hundred men, was stationed at Beaufort, to be in readiness to leave that post. He began in earnest to strengthen the fortifications of the city; and Colonel Moncrief, the talented chief of the engineers, pressed into his service every hand not otherwise employed, including three hundred negroes collected from the neighboring plantations. Thirteen redoubts and fifteen batteries, with lines of communication, were speedily completed, with strongabatisin front. Upon these batteries seventy-six pieces of cannon were placed, of six, nine, and eighteen pounds caliber. These were manned by seamen from the vessels of war in the harbor. Several field-pieces were placed in reserve, to be used at any required point at a moment's warning, and intrenchments were opened to cover the reserved troops and artillery.
On the evening of the fourth of September the French fleet disappeared, and Prevost rejoiced in the belief that Savannah was not its destination. Still, he continued his preparations for attack. The works on Tybee Island were strengthened, and the garrison there was increased by one hundred infantry under Captain Moncrief. On the sixth the fleet reappeared with increased force; and on the ninth it anchored off Tybee Island, and landed some troops on the south side of it. Moncrief, perceiving resistance to be useless, spiked the guns, embarked the troops, and fled to Savannah. The English shipping near Tybee sailed up to Five Fathom Hole, and the whole British land force in Georgia was now concentrated at Savannah. The next day all the cannons of the armed vessels, except a few which were left to defend the channel, were brought on shore and placed in battery. Every thing was now ready for an attack.
Lincoln marched from Charleston to Zubley's Ferry, where he concentrated his troops on the twelfth of September. Count Pulaski, with his legion, and General M'Intosh, with his
* On one occasion two American galleys went down the Savannah and captured and destroyed two vessels belonging to the English. Prevost on another occasion sent a party to surprise Beaufort, and capture stores there; and on the fourth of June, Colonel Cruger (who afterward commanded at Ninety-Six), with a party of Loyalists, while celebrating the king's birth-day at a plantation at Belfast, on the Midway, was captured by Captain Spencer. Cruger was afterward exchanged for Colonel John M'Intosh. On the south side of the Ogeeehee, at a place called Hickory Hill, a party, under Colonel Twiggs, had a skirmish with some British soldiers, who attacked them. The enemy lost seven killed, ten wounded, and the remainder were taken prisoners. The Americans had two wounded. Major Baker, with thirty men, attacked and defeated a party of British soldiers near Sunbury, on the twenty-eighth of June, the same dav when Twiggs had his engagement near the Ogeeehee. These were Georgia Loyalists.
American Army at Savannah.—Pulaski.—D'Estaing's summons to Surrender refused.—His Error
command, were dispatched toward Savannah, a little in advance of the main army, to attack the British outposts. Both parties had several skirmishes with the enemy before they reached the French army, already landed at Beaulieu, or Beuley.