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CHAPTER
XIX
pages 364-374
By Charles C. Jones
Volume II - Revolutionary Epoch, 1888
Submitted by: Dena Whitesell
Upon the capture of Savannah, in December, 1778, by Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, the Executive Council designated
Augusta as the seat of government. So rapidly, however, did that officer push his column up the Savannah River,
and so quickly did he occupy Augusta with his troops, that until his evacuation of that place, late in February,
1779, it existed but in name as the capital of Georgia. During this period the republican government of the State
was peripatetic. In such a condition was it frequently found during the continuance of the Revolutionary struggle.
The public records had been sent out of the State for safe keeping. Until the close of the contest the proceedings
of the Executive Council consisted of little more than insignificant orders and letters, a meagre journal of its
convocations, hasty deliberations and adjournments, and a scant memorandum of its principal acts touching the general
safety. The treasury was empty. There was not even an attempt made to levy and collect taxes. Paper bills of credit,
issued upon the faith of the State, had depreciated in value to such an extent that they possessed scarcely any
purchasing power. All sorts of shifts were resorted to in order that the troops in the field might be supplied
with food and clothing. Of payment in money for military services rendered there was often none, especially in
the case of the militia. The currency employed in paying off troops enlisted in the continental service was almost
as valueless as were the promises to pay circulated by the State. Not infrequently, the confiscated property of
Royalists was utilized in discharging the obligations incurred in the purchase of necessaries for the soldiers
in the field. Simple in the extreme was the machinery of government. The affairs of state were administered by
a council of safety who did the best they could in the disjointed and impoverished condition of the country. Legislative
convocations and enactments were suspended, and the courts were closed. Silent leges inter arma.
When Augusta again passed into the hands of the republicans the members of council convened there at the residence
of Matthew Hobson to select a president and transact such business, demanded by the emergency, as lay within their
power. They represented the State, and for the time being all legislative and executive functions were exercised
by them. Matters wore on in this way until the time designated for the meeting of the General Assembly arrived.
So disturbed was the condition of the commonwealth, and so thoroughly occupied by British troops were the lower
counties, that only twenty-five members convened in Augusta in July, 1779. Too few to organize and conduct governmental
affairs in accordance with the provisions of the consti-tution, and yet impressed with the necessity of devising
some plan and providing some machinery by which the integrity of the State might be conserved and the administration
of its business facilitated, on the 24th of July they assented to and promulgated the following document by which
an oligarchical form of government was practically inaugurated.
" State op Georgia, Richmond County
"Whereas, from the invasion of the British forces in this State great evils have arisen and still exist to
disturb the civil government of the said State, and which, in a great measure, have prevented the Constitution
of the land from being carried into such full effect as to answer the purposes of government therein pointed out:
And whereas, it becomes incumbent and indispensably necessary at this juncture to adopt such temporary mode as
may be most conducive to the welfare, happiness, and security of the rights and privileges of the good people of
the said State, and the maintenance and existence of legal and effective authority in the same as far as the exigence
of affairs requires, until a time of less disquiet shall happen and the Constitution take its regular course; to
the end therefore that government may prevail and be acknowledged, to prevent as far as may be anarchy and confusion
from continuing among us, and fully to support the laws of the land derived under the Constitution thereof: We
therefore, the representatives of the people of the Counties of Wilkes, Richmond, Burke, Effingham, Chatham, Liberty,
Glynn, Camden, and other freemen of the State, having convened and met in the County of Richmond in the State aforesaid
for the purposes of considering the present disturbed situation of the State, and for applying as far as is in
our power some remedy thereto, and having maturely and seriously considered the same, do recommend that the following
persons be appointed by the good people of this State to exercise the supreme authority thereof, who shall, before
they enter on the execution of their office, take the following oath, viz: I, A. B., elected one of the Supreme
Executive Council of the State of Georgia, do solemnly swear that I will, during the term of my appointment, to
the best of my skill and judgment, execute the said office faithfully and conscientiously, without favor, affection,
or partiality; that I will, to the utmost of my power, support, maintain, and defend the State of Georgia, and
use my utmost endeavors to support the people thereof in the secure enjoyment of .their just rights and privileges;
and that I will, to the best of my judgment, execute justice and mercy in all judgments: so help me God.
" And we, and each of us, on our parts, as free citizens of the State of Georgia aforesaid, do for ourselves
nominate, authorize, empower and require you, John Wereat, Joseph Clay, Joseph Habersham, Humphrey Wells, William
Few, John Dooly, Seth John Cuthbert, William Gibbons, senior, and Myrick Davies, Esquires, or a majority of you,
to act as the Executive or Supreme Council of this State: and to execute from Tuesday, the twenty-seventh instant,
to the first Tuesday in January next, unless sooner revoked by a majority of the freemen of this State, every such
power as you, the said John Wereat, Joseph Clay, Joseph Habershara, Humphrey Wells, William Few, John Dooly, Seth
John Cuthbert, William Gibbons, senior, and Myrick Davies, Esquires, or a majority of you shall deem necessary
for the safety and defence of the State and the good citizens thereof: taking care in all your proceedings to keep
as near the spirit and meaning of the Constitution of the said State as may be.
"And you the said John Wereat, Joseph Clay, Joseph Habersham, Humphrey Wells, William Few, John Dooly, Seth
John Cuthbert, William Gibbons, senior, and Myrick Davies, Esquires, or a majority of you hereby have full power
and authority, and are authorized, empowered, and required, to elect fit and discrete persons to represent this
State in Congress, and to instruct the delegates so chosen in such matters and things as will tend to the interest
of this State in particular, and the United States of America in general: the said delegates taking care, from
time to time, to transmit to you, the said Council, or other authority of the State for the time being, an account
of their proceedings in Congress aforesaid: to regulate the public treasury of the said State, to borrow or otherwise
negotiate loans for the public safety: to regulate the militia, and appoint an officer, if necessary, to command:
to appoint, suspend, and discharge all civil officers if it shall be found expedient: to demand an account of all
expenditures of public money, and to regulate the same, and, where necessary, order payments of money: to adopt
some mode respecting the current money of this State, and for sinking the same: to direct and commission the Chief
Justice of the State, or assistant Justices, or other Justices of the Peace, and other officers of each County:
to convene courts for the trial of offences cognizable by the laws of the land in such place or places as you shall
think fit: always taking care that trial by Jury be preserved inviolate, and that the proceedings had before such
courts be in a summary way so that offenders be brought to a speedy trial and justice be amply done as well to
the State as to the individuals.
"You, or a majority of you, the said Council, have full power and hereby are requested, on conviction of offenders,
to order punishment to be inflicted extending to death: and when objects deserving mercy shall be made known to
you, to extend that mercy and pardon the offence, remit all fines, mitigate corporal punishments, as the case may
be, and as to you or a majority of you shall seem fit and necessary. And you, the said Council or a majority of
you, at all times and places when and where you shall think fit have hereby full power and competent authority
to meet, appoint your own President, settle your own rules, sit, consult, deliberate, advise, direct, and carry
in execution all and every act, special and general, hereby delegated to you, and all and every such other acts,
measures, and things as you or a majority of you shall find expedient and necessary for the welfare, safety, and
happiness of the freemen of this State.
" And in case any of the persons herein appointed to exercise the supreme authority as aforesaid shall refuse
to act, die, or depart this State, or shall by any other means be prevented from exercising the same, then, and
in such case, you the said Council hereby chosen, or a majority of you, shall, and you are hereby authorized, empowered,
and required to fill up such vacancies by choosing fit and discrete persons or person to act in their or his room
and stead, which person or persons so chosen is or are hereby invested with every power and authority in as full
and ample a manner as if they bad been appointed by this present instrument of writing.
" And we do hereby declare all officers, civil and military, and all persons, inhabitants of this State, subject
to and answerable to your authority, and will ratify and confirm whatever you may do for or concerning the public
weal, according to the best of your judgment, knowledge, and ability. And further, we do hereby promise you our
support, protection, and countenance.
" In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this twenty-fourth day of July in the year of our Lord
1779."
This supreme executive council organized temporarily the same day by the choice of Seth John Cuthbert as president
pro tempore ; and, on the 6th of August, perfected a permanent organization by unanimously electing John Wereat
president. All the members then took the oath of office prescribed and entered upon the discharge of their important
duties. The entire transaction was abnormal. The choice lay between anarchy and this modified form of government.
Regular assemblages of the legislature were, for the time being, impracticable. It was equally out of the question
to evoke an expression of the popular will or to expect a general observance of the provisions of the constitution.
To the republicans only a fraction of the State remained. Blood, turmoil, disquietude, and antagonisms were everywhere.
The preservation of at least the semblance of sovereignty was vital to the cause of the patriots. Under the circumstances
the delegates doubtless acted for the best; and, although in this matter they exceeded their powers and proceeded
without constitutional warrant, their action grew out of a condition of affairs most peculiar, and was intended
to meet an emergency beyond the ordinary contemplation of law. In their selection of members of this supreme executive
council it does not appear either that their judgment was at fault or that their confidence was misplaced. Nor
did the erection of this temporary government fail to secure the indorsement of the patriots of Georgia. It was
a war measure. By this oligarchy was Georgia ruled for many months, and during the entire period there is not even
a suggestion that those to whom were committed powers so comprehensive were ever guilty of peculation, injustice,
infidelity, or despotism. Their official conduct was a tribute at once to the individual worth of each member of
the provisional government, and to the purity, the patriotism, the honor, and the virtue of the epoch. Brigadier-General
Lachlan Mclntosh was now again in Georgia and in command of the forces concentrated for the protection of the upper
portions of the State. His return was sanctioned by Congress in accordance with his earnest desire, approved by
General Washington, who, on the 11th of May, 1779, addressed the following communication to that august body: —
" Brigadier General Mclntosh will have the honor of delivering you this. The war in Georgia, — being the State
to which he belongs, — makes him desirous of serving in the Southern army. I know not whether the arrangements
Congress have in contemplation may make it convenient to employ him there, but I take the liberty to recommend
him as a gentleman whose knowledge of service and of the country promises to make him useful. I beg leave to add
that General McIntosh's conduct, while he acted immediately under my observation, was such as to acquire my esteem
and confidence, and I have had no reason since to alter my good opinion of him."
Second in command to General Lincoln, he was at all times most earnest in devising means for the improvement of
the military condition of Georgia and in concerting plans for restraining the British forces within the narrowest
limits. With the supreme council of safety he conferred frequently and most freely. The liberation of Georgia from
kingly rule lay nearest the hearts of all.
As indicating the intelligent observation of the members of this supreme executive council, and their anxiety to
facilitate the redemption of the State, we submit this extract from a communication addressed by them to General
Lincoln on the 18th of August, 1779: " A considerable part of the State having been in the immediate possession
of the enemy ever since its invasion by them, those counties which have held out against them have been constantly
subject to their incursions and depredations, and, of course, the few militia thereof, much harassed with duty:
but their spirits have been kept up with the idea of support from the Continent and our Sister State, otherwise,
we apprehend, a total evacuation would long since have taken place by those who have firmness enough to sacrifice
everything to the cause of America, whilst the wavering would have joined the enemy and assisted them in their
operations against Carolina.
"The arrival of the advance of General Scott's army, under Colonel Parker and Major Jamison, at a very critical
juncture, has had the most salutary effect that could be expected, for it has infused new spirit into the militia
who are now all cheerfully under arms to oppose the concerted invasions of the enemy's Irregulars and Indians who
are at this time making different inroads upon us. General McIntosh has sent out a part of the Continental troops
to support our militia, and we hope that for the present we shall be able to repel the enemy and to keep them from
reaping any considerable advantages from the attempts of small parties. But we presume, Sir, that we need not endeavor
to impress your mind with an idea of the feeble resistance we should be able to make to any serious attempt of
the enemy to subjugate the upper parts of the State even with the assistance that General Mclntosh can at this
time afford us.
"We believe that it is generally allowed that unless the enemy are considerably reinforced, they will not
make another attempt upon Charlestown ; and from a variety of circumstances we are led to hope that they will not
receive such reinforcement. Should this be the case, there can scarce remain a doubt but that they will aim at
a total subjugation of Georgia this fall: for we cannot in reason suppose that they will keep a considerable body
of troops immured in Savannah whilst the back country, so necessary to their quiet subsistence as well as their
future designs, remains unconquered. The large quantities of grain made in the vicinity of this place and the numerous
herds of cattle through all the upper parts of the country must be very considerable objects with them, particularly
as we know that they cannot even now get sufficient supplies of cattle without coming upwards and then fighting
for them. The frequent skirmishes of our Militia with their Irregulars, who are employed as drovers, evince the
truth of this observation: and should they gain the upper parts of this State, we are bold to assert that Carolina
would be in a very dangerous situation. The great defection of the upper parts of that country is well known; a
circumstance on which the enemy found the most sanguine hopes, and we have every reason to believe that they continually
receive encouragement from these people to invade the back country. Nor could the enemy wish for a more favorable
situation to be joined by them than that by Augusta, or anywhere above it, where the river is shallow and the swamps
all passable.
"Add to the circumstances already mentioned, which might induce the enemy to progress upwards in force, that
of having no obstruction to their intercourse with the Indians, which is a very capital one, and which will immediately
be the case should they effect an entire conquest of this country ; and unless they should do this, their intercourse
will be very precarious and uncertain, and we shall always have it in our power to give the most considerable interruption
to it. We think this point worth paying the most particular attention to, as we are now informed that Indian goods
are now imported at Savannah, and that the Creek Indians have had no late supply from the Floridas. Should the
trade from this country with the Indians be once open and uninterrupted, the enemy will find not the least difficulty,
whenever they have a mind, in bringing the savages from the frontiers of Carolina.
"Besides our apprehensions on the above heads, we are fearful that in case the British troops should move
up this way, the greatest part of the inhabitants, worn out with fruitless opposition and actuated by the fear
of losing their all, would make terms for themselves: and as the human mind is too apt to be led by a natural gradation
from one step of infamy to another, we have not the least doubt of their joining the enemy against their countrymen
in any other State. But even should the British commander not bend his force this way, a great many families, harassed
and unsupported, would remove far northwardly (for which they are already thinking of preparing), and this dangerous
migration nothing but the appearance of support can prevent.
"With minds forcibly impressed by the operation of such powerful reasons, we beg leave to solicit you, Sir,
in the most serious manner to order General Scott, who, we understand, is on his march southwardly with the rest
of his troops, immediately to this place.
" We cannot think that the lower parts of Carolina will be endangered by such an order: for we may reasonably
presume that the enemy will never penetrate far into that part of the country while a respectable force remains
in their rear, which would be the case if General Scott and his troops were in Georgia."
The governor of South Carolina was also memorialized to assist with men and money in the effort to retain the possession
of Upper Georgia and prevent the English from accomplishing the entire subjugation of the State. These and similar
appeals were not in vain, and it may not be denied that the representations and efforts of the supreme executive
council of Georgia had much to do with bringing about the cooperation between the French army under Count d'Estaing
and the American forces under Lincoln for the recovery of Savannah in the fall of 1779.
When, in March, 1776, Sir James Wright fled from Savannah and took refuge on board his majesty's ship Scarborough,
at Tybee Roads, fear fell upon all the king's servants holding office in Georgia, and one by one, as opportunity
occurred, they quitted the province. A few of them espoused the cause of the Revolutionists, but most of them departed
for London. Some sought refuge in St. Augustine. From that time until the capture of Savannah in December, 1778,
there was not even the semblance of royal government in Georgia. Upon the reduction of the capital of the State
and the expulsion of the republicans from Southern Georgia a strictly military government was at first erected,
and this was followed by the establishment of a civil administration under Lieutenant-Colonel Prevost who held
an appointment from the king's commissioners as lieutenant-governor of Georgia. He was supplanted by Sir James
Wright who, reaching Savannah on the 14th of July, 1779, resumed the gubernatorial office six days afterwards.
Such was the unsatisfactory condition of affairs that he felt constrained to delay issuing writs of election. The
old officers returned slowly, and the governor, until after the repulse of the allied army before the fortifications
around Savannah, could claim to be little more than a locum tenens. He found " several of the leading Rebels
very busy in keeping up the expiring flame of Rebellion," and was persuaded that there were yet many in Greorgia
" who, if they had an opportunity, would adhere to the Independent Scheme."
On the 9th of August he says to Lord George Germain, " The more I am able to see into the true state of affairs
here, the more I am convinced of the wretched situation this Province is in, and how nearly it was being totally
lost while the army was carrying on their operations in South Carolina; and now, my Lord, the Rebels who went from
hence into Carolina on the arrival of Colonel Campbell, with other Rebels of Carolina and this Province, are possessed
of the Country at and about Augusta, and all above it, and I have the honor to inclose your Lordship the information
I received from three Back Country People by which it appears that almost the whole settlements down to Briar Creek
are broke up, or the inhabitants skulking about to avoid the Rebel Partys, and that the Rebels have collected upwards
of 600 men and are going to establish a post with them somewhere in St George's Parish. I doubt not, my Lord, however,
but this Province will soon raise its head and become more populous and opulent than ever. I have ordered an exact
return of the whole Militia, but have not yet received it, although, from the best information I have been able
to come at, I really believe they will not exceed 400 men in the whole Province: and probably 800 would not appear
under arms."
With regard to the Indians he adds, " I am sorry to say that after the immense expence to Government on account
of the Indians, they do not seem to me to be so hearty in the cause and so warmly attached as I expected."
Thus, during the lull which preceded the gathering storm, the thunders of which were soon to shake the foundations
of the city of Oglethorpe, Governor Wright at Savannah, supported by the king's army, was striving to recreate
the royal government and to lead back the inhabitants of Southern Greorgia to a complete and orderly submission
to British rule. While at Augusta the members of the Supreme Executive Council, invested with unlimited powers
yet sadly deficient in all material appliances, were endeavoring to perpetuate the sovereignty of a republican
State just born into the sisterhood of nations, and to arm, feed, and clothe a patriot band, few in numbers yet
brave of heart, fighting for home and property and liberty, the odds were seemingly all in favor of his majesty
King George III In this conflict between a republican oligarchy and an English monarchy it did really appear that
there was little hope for the ultimate independence of the bleeding, impoverished, and distracted commonwealth.
PICTURE of COUNT d'ESTAING
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