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CHAPTER
XXI
pages 397-416
By Charles C. Jones
Volume II - Revolutionary Epoch, 1888
Submitted by: Dena Whitesell
The French were to form in three columns: two for assault, and the third to act as a reserve corps moving to any
point where its cooperation seemed most requisite. Of the first column of assault under M. Dillon, Count d'Estaing
assumed personal com-manpl. The second was entrusted to M. de Steding, colonel of infantry. The third, or column
of reserves, was led by the Viscount de Noailles. The Americans were divided into two assaulting columns. The first,
composed of the second South Carolina regiment and the first battalion of Charlestown militia, was placed under
the guidance of Colonel Laurens. The second, consisting of the first and fifth South Carolina regiments and some
Georgia continentals, was commanded by General Lachlan Mclntosh. General Lincoln, taking with him some militia,
united with the Viscount de Noailles, and assumed, by virtue of his rank, general command of the reserves. The
cavalry, under Count Pulaski, was to precede the American column, commanded by Colonel Laurens, until it approached
the edge of the wood, when it was to break off and occupy a position whence it could readily ake advantage of any
breach which might be effected in the raemy's works. The weight of these assaulting columns was to be directed
against the right of the British lines. General Isaac Huger, with a force of five hundred men, was ordered to march
to the left of the enemy's works and remain as near them as he would, without being discovered, until four in the
morning, when ? was to advance and attack as close the river as practicable.
Although this movement was intended as a feint, he was inducted, if a favorable opportunity presented itself, to
improve the chance and push into the town. It was further arranged that some troops from the trenches should demonstrate
forcibly against the British centre with a view to distracting the enemy.
After wading half a mile through the rice-field which bordered the city on the east, General Huger reached his
point of attack and, at the designated hour and place, assaulted. The enemy, already fully advised of the movement,
was on the alert. He was received with music and a heavy fire of cannon and musketry, before which he retreated
with a loss of twenty-eight men. This command took no further part in the action. The attack by the troops from
the trenches upon the centre of the English line was feebly maintained and produced no impression. It was easily
repulsed by the soldiers under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, of the North Carolina regiment of loyalists.
These troops from the trenches, supported by the Chasseurs of Martinique, were commanded by M. de Sabliere.
The details of the assault upon the enemy's right, as conducted by the French columns of attack, we translate from
the journal of a French officer who participated in the tragic event: —
" By three o'clock in the morning all our dispositions had been perfected. . . . We commence marching by the
left to attack the city on its right where its western side, as we have before intimated, is fortified by three
redoubts located triangularly. The columns marched by divisions (each column had been divided into three battalions),
with easy gait and leisurely, that they might arrive at the point of attack at the designated hour.
" At five o'clock in the morning, the three columns, which had observed a similar order of march, arrived
within about eighty toises (160 yards) of the edge of the wood which borders upon Savannah. Here the head of column
was halted and we were ordered to form into platoons. Day begins to dawn and we grow impatient. This movement is
scarcely commenced when we are directed to march forward, quick time, the vanguard inclining a little to the right,
the column of M. de Steding to the left, and the column of the General (D'Estaing) moving straight to the front
M. de Noaiiies, with his reserve corps, proceeds to a small eminence from which he could observe all our movements
and repair to any point where the exigencies might demand his presence.
" At half past five o'clock we hear on our right, and on the enemy's left, a very lively fire of musketry
and cannon upon our troops from the trenches who had commenced the false attack. A few minutes afterwards, we are
discovered by the enemy's sentinels, who fire a few shots. The General now orders an advance at double quick, to
shout Vive le Roy, and to beat the charge. The enemy opens upon us a very brisk fire of artillery and rausketry,
which, however, does not prevent the vanguard from advancing upon the redoubt, and the right column upon the entrenchments.
The ardor of our troops and the difficulties offered by the ground do not permit us long to preserve our ranks.
Disorder begins to prevail. The head of the column penetrateswithin the entrenchments, but, having marched too
rapidly, it is not supported by the rest of the column which, arriving in confusion, is cut down by discharges
of grape shot from the redoubts and batteries and by a musketry fire from the entrenchments. We are violently repulsed
at this point.
Instead of moving to the right, this column and the vanguard fall back toward the left, Count d'Estaing receives
a musket shot when almost within the redoubt, and M. Betizi is here wounded several times.
"The column of M. de Steding, which moved to the left, while traversing a muddy swamp full of brambles, loses
its formationand no longer preserves any order. This swamp, upon which the enemy's entrenchments rested, formed
a slope which served as a glacis to them. The firing is very lively; and, although this column is here most seriously
injured, it crosses the road to Augusta that it may advance to the enemy's right which it was ordered to attack.
On this spot nearly all the volunteers are killed. The Baron de Steding is here wounded.
"The column of M. d'Estaing, and the repulsed vanguardwhich had retreated to the left, arrived here as soon
as the column of M. de Steding, and threw it into utter confusion. At this moment everything is in such disorder
that the formations are no longer preserved.
The road to Augusta is choked up. It here, between two impracticable morasses, consists of an artificial causeway
upon which all our seldiers who had disengaged themselves from the swamps, collected. We are crowded together and
badly pressed. Two 18-pounder guns, upon field carriages, charged with canister and placed at the head of the road,
cause terrible slaughter.
The musketry fire from the entrenchments is concentrated upon this spot and upon the swamps. Two English galleys
and one frigate sweep this point with their broadsides, and the redoubts and batteries use only grape shot, which
they shower down upon this locality. [Another contemporaneous French writer says the English fired from their cannon
packets of scrap iron, the blades of knives and sciors, and even chains five and six feet long.]
Notwithstanding all this our officers endeavor to form into columns this mass which does not retreat, and the soldiers
themselves strive to regain their ranks. Scarcely have they commenced to do this when the General orders the charge
to be beaten. Three times do our troops advance en masse up to the entrenchments which cannot be carried. An attempt
is made to penetrate through the swamp on our left to gain the enemy's right. More than half of those who enter
are either killed, or remain stuck fast in the mud. . . . Standing in the road leading to Augusta, and at a most
exposed point, the General, with perfect self-possession, surveys this slaughter, demands constant renewals of
the assault, and, although sure of the bravery of his troops, determines upon a retreat only when he sees that
success is impossible.
" We beat a retreat, which is mainly effected across the swamp lying to the right of the Augusta road; our
forces being entirely, and at short range, exposed to the concentrated fire of the entrenchments which constantly
increases in vehemence. At this juncture the enemy show themselves openly upon the parapets and deliver their fire
with their muskets almost touching our troops. The General here receives a second shot.
"About four hundred men, more judiciously led by the Baron de Steding, retreated without loss by following
the road to Augusta and turning the swamp by a long detour. M. de Noailles, anxious to preserve his command for
the moment when it could be used to best advantage, orders his reserve corps to fall back rapidly. Had he not done
so, it would have suffered a loss almost as severe as that encountered by the assaulting columns, the effect of
the grape shot being more dangerous at the remove where it was posted than at the foot of the entrenchments. Accompanied
only by his adjutant, he ascends an elevation fifteen paces in advance of his corps that he might with certainty
observe all the movements of the army. Hfs adjutant, M. Calignon, is mortally wounded by his side. When the Viscount
de Noailles perceives the disorder reigning among the columns, he brings his reserve corps up to charge the enemy;
and, when he hears the retreat sounded, advances in silence, at a slow step, and in perfect order, to afford an
opportunity to the repulsed troops to reform themselves in his rear. He makes a demonstration to penetrate within
the entrenchments in case the enemy should leave them, and prepares to cut them off in that event. Under these
circumstances he encounters some loss, but the anticipated sortie would have caused the total destruction of our
army.
That the enemy did not make this apprehended sortie is to be attributed to this excellent disposition of his forces
and this prompt manoeuvre on the part of the Viscount de No-ailles (This statement is not entirely correct. Major
Glasier, of the Sixtieth Regiment, who, with the grenadiers and reserve marines, was supporting the points assailed,
di, when the order for retreat was given by the commander of the allied army, make a sortie from the British lines.
He struck general McIntosh's column in the flank and pursued the retiring troops as far as the abattis).
" The fragments of the army hastily form in single column behind the reserve corps and begin marching to our
camp. M. de NoaiUes constitutes the rear guard, and retires slowly and in perfect order. Towards eight o'clock
in the morning the army was again in camp, and a cessation of hostilities for the purpose of burying the dead and
removing the wounded was proposed and allowed."
The American right column, under the command of Colonel Laurens, preceded by Count Pulaski, assaulted the Spring-Hill
redoubt with conspicuous valor. At one time the ditch was passed and the colors of the second South Carolina regiment
were planted upon the exterior slope. The parapet being too high for them to scale in the face of a murderous fire,
these brave assailants were driven out of the ditch. On the retreat, this command was thrown into great disorder
by the cavalry and lancers who, severely galled by the enemy's fire, broke away to the left and passed through
the infantry, bearing a portion of it into the swamp.
The second American column, led by General McIntosh, arrived near the Spring-Hill redoubt at a moment of supreme
confusion. Count d'Estaing was then, his arm wounded, endeavoring to rally his men. " General Mclntosh,"
says Major Thomas Pinckney, who was present and an earnest actor in the bloody details of this unfortunate and
ill-considered attempt, " did not speak French, but desired me to inform the Commander-in-Chief that his column
was fresh, and that he wished his directions where, under present circumstances, he should make the attack. The
Count ordered that we should move more to the left, and by no means to interfere with the troops he was endeavoring
to rally. In pursuing this direction we were thrown too much to the left, and, before we could reach Spring-Hill
redoubt, we had to pass through Yamacraw swamp, then wet and boggy, with the galley at the mouth annoying our left
flank with grape shot. While struggling through this morass, the firing slacked, and it was reported that the whole
army had retired. I was sent by General McIntosh to look out from the Spring-Hill, where I found not an assailant
standing. On reporting this to the General, he ordered a retreat which was effected without much loss, notwithstanding
the heavy fire of grape shot with which we were followed."
While the assault was raging, Pulaski, with the approval of General Lincoln, attempted, at the head of some two
hundred cavalrymen, to force a passage between the enemy's works. His purpose was to penetrate within the town,
pass in rear of the hostile lines, and carry confusion and havoc into the British camp. In the execution of this
design, he advanced at full speed until arrested by the abattis. Here his command encountered a heavy cross-fire
from the batteries which threw it into confusion. The count himself was unhorsed by a canister shot which, penetrating
his right thigh, inflicted a motal wound. He was borne from the bloody field; and, after the conflict was over,
was conveyed on board the United States brig Wasp to go round to Charlestown. The ship, delayed by head-winds,
remained several days in Savannah River and, during this period, he was attended by the most skillful surgeons
in the French fleet. It was found impossible to establish suppuration, and gangrene supervened. As the Wasp was
leaving the river Pulaski breathed his last. His corpse became so offensive that Colonel Bentalou, his officer
in attendance, " was compelled, though reluctantly, to consign to a watery grave all that was now left upon
earth of his beloved and honored commander."
After the retreat of the assaulting columns from the right of the British lines, eighty men lay dead in the ditch
and on the parapet of the redoubt first attacked, and ninety-three within the abattis. The ditch, says an eye-witness,
was filled with dead. In front, for fifty yards, the field was covered with the slain. Many hung dead and wounded
upon the abattis, and for some hundred yards without the lines the plain was strewed with mangled bodies killed
by grape and langrage. The attacks upon the Ebenezer battery, the Spring-Hill redoubt, and the redoubt in which
Colonel Maitland had located his headquarters were made with the utmost gallantly and impetuosity. Two standards
were planted by the allied forces upon the Ebenezer battery; one of which was captured, and the other brought off
by the brave Sergeant Jasper who, at the moment, was suffering from a mortal wound. Major John Jones, aid to General
Mclntosh, was literally cut in twain by a cannon shot while within a few paces of the embrasure from which the
piece was discharged.
Of the valor and heroism of the assault there can be no question. That it was ill conceived and calamitous to the
last degree is equally certain.
The left of the English line rested upon a heavy work, mounting fourteen cannon, located just where the bluff,
upon which the town was situated, yields to the low grounds below. The line thence followed the high ground, where
it looks to the east, until about the point where it is now intersected by Liberty Street. Then, bending to the
south and west, it followed a semicircular course until it reached the point where the Augusta road descended into
the low grounds on the west. Thence, running northwards and following the edge of the high ground, its right developed
into a two-gun battery on the Savannah River. On the east and west the approaches to this line were rendered almost
impracticable by swamps at that time badly drained. We have already alluded to the precautions adopted by Prevoet
for the protection of the town fthere it looks upon the river. This line, at the time it was assaulted, was strong
and bristling with more than one hundred guns in fixed position. Accurately advised in advance of the precise points
of attack concerted by the allies, Prevost made his dispositions accordingly. His heaviest concentration occurred
on his right, and to Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland was the defense of this post of honor and of danger entrusted.
While it is difficult to reconcile the conflicting estimates which have been handed down to us of the forces actually
engaged during the siege of Savannah, we submit the following as the most accurate we have been able to prepare
after a careful comparison of the most reliable authorities at command: —
STRENGTH OF THE FRENCH ARMY, COMMANDED BT COUNT D'ESTAINO.
Noailles' Division, composed of the regiments of Champagne, Auxerrois, Foix, Guadeloupe, and Martinique . 900 men.
The Division of Count oVEstaing, composed of the regiments of Cambresis, Hainault, the Volunteers of Berges, Agenois,
Gatinois, the Cape, and Port-au-Prince, and the artillery................1,000 men.
Dillon's Division, composed of the regiments of Dillon, Armagnac, and Volunteer Grenadiers.......900 men.
The Dragoons of Conde and of Belzunce, under the command of M. Dejean .............60 men.
The Volunteer Chasseurs, commanded by M. de Rouvrai . 750 men.
The Grenadier Volunteers, and men of other regiments, commanded by M. des Framais.........356 men.
To these should probably be added the Marines and Sailors from the fleet, detailed for special labor to the number
of 500 men. Total..............4,456 men.
STRENGTH OP THE AMERICAN ARMY, COMMANDED BY GENERAL LINCOLN.
Continental Troops, including the Fifth Regiment of South Carolina Infantry..............1,008 men.
Heyward's Artillery.............65 men.
Charlestown Volunteers and MUitia........365 men.
General Williamson's Brigade..........212 men.
Regiments of Georgia Militia, commanded by Colonels Twiggs and Few..............232 men.
Cavalry, under command of Brigadier-General Count
Pulaski.................250 men.
Total..............2,127 men.
RECAPITULATION.
French Troops.................4,456
American...................2,127
Total strength of the allied army......6,588
ESTIMATES OF FORCES ENGAGED. 405
Anthony Stokes, chief justice of the colony of Georgia, who was in Savannah during the siege, estimates the besieging
army at about 4,500 French and 2,500 Americans.
In the Paris " Gazette" of January 7, 1780, the besieging forces are enumerated as follows: —
FRENCH TROOPS.
I. Europeans: Draughted from the regiments of Annagnac, Champagne, Auxerrois, Agenois, Gatinois, Cambresis, Hai-naulty
Foix, Dillon, Walsh, le Cap, la Guadeloupe, la Martinique, and Port-au-Prince, a detachment of the Royal Corps
of Infantry of the Marine, the Volunteers of Vallelle, the Dragoons, and 156 Volunteer Grenadiers, lately raised
at Cape Francois................2,979
II. Colored: Volunteer Chasseurs, mulattoes, and negroes newly raised at Saint Domingo...........545
American Troops...............2,000
Total...............5,524
In his inclosure to Lord George Germain, under date November 5, 1779, Governor Sir James Wright reports the British
forces within the lines of Savannah daring the siege, " including regulars, militia, sailors, and volunteers,"
as not exceeding twenty-three hundred and fifty men fit for duty.
By the legend accompanying Faden's " Plan of the Siege of Savannah," printed at Charing Cross on the
2d of February, 1784, we are informed that the total number of English troops, " including soldiers, seamen,
and militia," garrisoning the forts, redoubts, and epaulements, and fit for duty on the 9th of October, 1779,
was twenty-three hundred and sixty. "The force in Savannah under General Prevost," says that excellent
historian, Stedman, "did not exceed two thousand five hundred of all sorts, regulars, provincial corps, seamen,
militia, and volunteers." Dr. Ramsay states that the force of the garrison was between two and three thousand,
of which about one hundred and fifty were militia." General Moultrie, in his " Memoirs," substantially
adopts this estimate. According to Captain Hugh McCall, the British force " consisted of two thousand eight
hundred and fifty men, including one hundred atod fifty militia, some Indians, and three hundred armed slaves."
In Rivington's " Gazette" it is asserted that the entire strength of the English garrison on duty, including
regulars, militia, volunteers, and sailors, did not exceed two thousand three hundred and fifty men.
Upon an inspection of the returns, as we are informed by the French journal from which we have already quoted.
Count d'Es-taing ascertained that the allied army had suffered the following loss in killed and wounded: —
French soldiers.............760 men.
French officers.............61 men.
Americans...............812 men.
Total..............1,183 men.
The aggregate loss encountered by the combined French and American forces during the progress of the siege and
in the assault of the 9th of October has been variously estimated at from one thousand to fifteen hundred killed
and wounded. Dr. Ramsay asserts that the assaulting columns under Count d'Estaing and General McIntosh did not
stand the enemy's fire more than fifty-five minutes, and that during this short period the French had six hundred
and thirty-seven men killed and wounded, and the Americans two hundred and fifty-seven. "In this unsuccessful
attempt," says Marshall, " the loss of the French in killed and wounded was about seven hundred men.
The continental troops lost two hundred and thirty-four men, and the Charleston militia, who, though united with
them in danger, were more fortunate, had one Captain killed and six privates wounded. Irving, in a general way,
states that the French lost in killed and wounded upwards of six hundred men, and the Americans about four hundred.
" Our troops," says General Moultrie, " remained before the lines in this hot fire fifty-five minutes;
the Generals, seeing no prospect of success, were constrained to order a retreat, after having six hundred and
thirty-seven French and four hundred and fifty-seven Continentals killed and wounded." Greneral Lee's estimate
accords substantially with that of Marshall. When driven out of the ditch and compelled to retreat, Stedman asserts6
that the assailants left behind them, in killed and wounded, of the French troops six hundred and thirty-seven,
and of the Americans two hundred and sixty-four.
General Prevost reports the allied loss at from one thousand to twelve hundred.
Thoroughly protected by their well-constructed earthworks, the English suffered bat little. The few casualties
reported in the British ranks and the terrible slaughter dealt out to the assaulting columns assure us how admirably
Prevost had covered his men by intrenchments and redoubts and how skillfully and rapidly the besieged handled their
muskets and field and siege pieces. General Prevost's return shows forty killed, sixty-three wounded, four missing,
and forty-eight desertions during the siege. In a letter to his wife, dated Savannah, November 4, 1779, Captain
T. W. Moore, aid to General Prevost, estimates the entire loss sustained by the garrison in killed, wounded, and
missing at one hundred and sixty-three ; and Stedman says " the loss of the garrison, in the whole, did not
exceed one hundred and twenty." So potent are military skill and proper defenses for the preservation of human
life.
It is believed that about one thousand shells and twenty carcasses were thrown into the city daring the continuance
of the siege. Of the expenditure of solid shots we can find no record, although we know that they were freely used.
In the repulse of the French and Americans on the right of the city lines, the following English troops, under
the general command of Colonel Maitland, were mainly engaged: —
Dismounted dragoons............... 28
Battalion men of the 60th regiment.......... 28
South Carolina loyalists. They held the redoubts on the Ebenezer road where the brave Captain Tawse, commanding,
fell . 54
Colonel Hamilton's North Carolina loyalists....... 90
Militia under Captains Wallace, Tallemach, and Polhill. These were posted in the redoubt where Colonel Maitland
was . . 75
Grenadiers of the 60th regiment........... 74
Marines. Ordered to support the redoubt, they bravely charged the allied army when the retreat was sounded.......
37
Sailors under the command of Captains Man ley and Stiel, stationed in the Spring-Hill battery of six guns......
31....
General Huger's attack upon the left was frustrated by troops under the command of Colonel Cruger and Major Wright.
The following is a list of the French officers killed and wounded on the 9th of October, 1779 : —
Killed: Brow, major of Dillon's regiment, colonel of infantry ; Balbeon, midshipman; Destinville, second lieutenant
of the navy; Molart, lieutenant of the regiment of Armagnac; Stancey, second lieutenant of the Dragoons of Conde
; Taf, lieutenant of the regiment of Dillon; Guillaume, lieutenant of the Grenadiers of Guadeloupe; De Montaign,
captain of the Chasseurs ; Boisneuf, lieutenant of the regiment of Port au Prince; Du Perron, captain on staff
duty. Total, 10.
Wounded: Count d'Estaing, general; De Fontanges, major-general; De Betizi, colonel, and second in command of the
regiment of Gatinois; De Steding, colonel of infantry; Derneville, aide-major of division, mortally wounded ; Chalignon,
aide-major of division, mortally wounded; Boulan, captain of the Grenadiers of Armagnac ; Grillere, captain of
the regiment of Armagnac; Barris, captain of the regiment of Augenois; St. Sauveur, lieutenant of the regiment
of Augenois; Cbaussepred, lieutenant of the regiment of Augenois; Morege, second lieutenant of the regiment of
Augenois ; Chamson, lieutenant of the regiment of Cambresis; Coleau, lieutenant of the regiment of Cambresis; Boozel,
lieutenant of the regiment of Cambresis ; Oradon, second lieutenant of the regiment of Hainault; Labarre, lieutenant
of the dragoons of Cond6 ; Ouelle, captain of the regiment of Dillon ; Doyon, lieutenant of the regiment of Dillon
; Deloy, officer of the regiment of Dillon; Chr. de Termoi, cadet, of the regiment of Dillon; Dumouries, lieutenant
of the regiment of the Cape; Desombrages, lieutenant of the regiment of the Cape; Delbos, second lieutenant of
the regiment of the Cape; Dea-noyers, major of the regiment of Guadeloupe ; Roger, captain of the regiment of Guadeloupe;
Noyelles, captain attached to the staff of the regiment of Guadeloupe; D'Anglemont, lieutenant of the Chasseurs
of Guadeloupe ; De Rousson, second lieutenant of the Chasseurs of Guadeloupe; Bailly de Menager, lieutenant of
the regiment of Port au Prince, prisoner; Duclos, lieutenant of the volunteer Chasseurs. Total, 31.
The following are the names of some of the Continental and militia officers killed and wounded the same day :
Killed: Major John Jones, aid to General Mclntosh; Second Regiment, Major Motte, and Lieutenants Hume, Wickham,
and Bush; Third Regiment, Major Wise and Lieutenant Bailey ; General Williamson's Brigade, Captain Beraud; Charlestown
Regiment, Captain Shepherd; South Carolina Artillery, Captain Donnom, Charles Price, a volunteer, and Sergeant
William Jasper.
Wounded: Brigadier-General Count Pulaski, mortally; Major
l'Enfant and Captains Bentalou, Giles, and Rogowski; Second Regiment, Captain Roux and Lieutenants Gray and Petrie;
Third Regiment, Captain Farrar and Lieutenants Graston and De Saussnre; Sixth Regiment, Captain Bowie; Virginia
Levies, Lieutenants Parker and Walker; Light Infantry, Captain Smith, of the Third ; Captains Warren and Hogan,
of the Fifth ; Lieutenant Vleland, of the Second, and Lieutenant Parsons, of the Fifth; South Carolina Militia,
Captains Davis and Treville, and Lieutenants Bonneau, Wilkie, Wade, and Wardel; Lieutenant Edward Lloyd, Mr. Owen.
During the siege a number of Georgia officers who had no command and some patriotic gentlemen associated themselves
together for active duty under the leadership of Colonel Leonard Marbury. Although only thirty in all, four were
killed and seven wounded. Of these were Charles Price, of Sunbury, a young attorney of note, and Lieutenant Bailey,
whose names we have enumerated among the slain.
Among the incidents of the occasion, Captain McCalla records the following: While a surgeon was dressing the stump
from which the arm of Lieutenant Edward Lloyd had been torn by a cannon ball, Major James Jackson observed to that
excellent young officer that his prospects in life were rendered unpromising by this heavy burden which a cruel
fate had imposed upon him. Lloyd replied that, grievous as the affliction was, he would not exchange situations
with Lieutenant Stedman who had fled at the commencement of the assault.
The death of Sergeant Jasper was the logical sequence of the heroic impulses and intrepid daring which always characterized
him. During the assault the colors of the Second South Carolina Regiment, which had been presented by Mrs. Elliott
just after the battle of Fort Moultrie, were borne, one by Lieutenant Bush, supported by Jasper, and the other
by Lieutenant Grey, supported by Sergeant McDonald. Under the inspiring leadership of Colonel Laurens they were
both planted upon the slope of the Spring-Hill redoubt. So terrific, however, was the enemy's fire that the brave
assailants melted before it. Lieutenant Grey was mortally wounded just by his colors, and Lieutenant Bush lost
his life under similar circumstances.
When the retreat was sounded, Sergeant McDonald plucked bis standard from the redoubt where it had been floating
on the furthest verge of the crimson tide and retired with it in safety. Jasper, already sore wounded, was, at
the moment, endeavoring to replace upon the parapet the colors which had been struck down upon the fall of Lieutenant
Bush, when he encountered a second and a mortal hurt. Recollecting, however, even in this moment of supreme agony,
the pledges given when from fair hands this emblem of hope and confidence had been received, and, summoning his
expiring energies for the final effort, he snatched those colors from the grasp of the triumphant enemy and bore
them from the bloody field.
Hearing that he was fatally wounded, Major Horry, when the battle was over, hastened to the rude couch of the bleeding
sergeant and thus details the conversation which, ensued. " I have got my furlough," said he; and, pointing
to his sword, continued: " That sword was presented to me by Governor Rutledge for my services in the defense
of Fort Moultrie. Give it to my father, and tell him I have worn it with honor. If he should weep, say to him his
son died in the hope of a better life. Tell Mrs. Elliott that I lost my life supporting the colors which she presented
to our regiment." Then, from out the bright visions of his former achievements as they floated for the last
time before his dying memory selecting his success at the Spring, and repeating the names of those whom he there
rescued, he added: " Should you ever see them, tell them that Jasper is gone, but that the remembrance of
the battle he fought for them brought a secret joy to his heart when it was about to stop its motion forever."
Thus thinking and thus speaking, the gallant sergeant and the true patriot closed his eyes upon the Revolution
and entered into peace. The, place of his sepulture is unmarked. He sleeps with the brave dead of the siege who
lie beneath the soil of Savannah. Although no monumental shaft designates his grave, his heroic memory is perpetuated
in the gentle murmurs of that perennial spring at which one of his most generous and daring deeds was wrought.
His name is day by day repeated in a ward of the beautiful city of Oglethorpe whose liberation he died to achieve,
is inscribed upon the flag of one of the volunteer companies, and dignifies a county of Georgia whose independence
he gave his life to maintain.
Invoking the aid of an eminent sculptor to embody their gratitude and respect in a permanent, artistic memorial,
the citizens of Savannah, with imposing ceremonies, dedicated in Monterey Square to the memory of Count Pulaski
a montiment which, in purity of conception, symmetry of form, and varied attractions, stands at once a gem of art
and a noble expression of a people's gratitude.
The day is not far distant when, in another of the high places of this city, shall rise a shaft testifying the
admiration of the present and the coming generations for the distinguished services, unselfish devotion, and heroic
death of Sergeant William Jasper.
Upon the withdrawal of the French and American forces from the field, a truce of four hours was requested and allowed
for burying the dead and collecting the wounded. To the allied army was accorded the melancholy privilege of interring
only such of the slain as lay beyond the abattis. The bodies of such as were killed within the abattis were buried
by the British; and there they remain to this day without mound or column to designate their last resting-places.
It is stated by Captain McCall that two hundred and thirty of the slain and one hundred and sixteen wounded were
delivered up by the English, with the understanding that the latter should be accounted for as prisoners of war.
Although urged by General Lincoln not to abandon the siege, the grievous loss sustained during the assault, the
prevalence of sickness in camp, frequent desertions, the exposed and impoverished condition of his fleet, and the
apprehension of the appearance of a British naval force off the coast induced Count d'Es-taing to hasten his departure.
Accordingly, he resolved at once to raise the Biege, and, on the morning of the 10th, gave orders for dismantling
the batteries and returning the guns on shipboard. Causton's Bluff was selected as the point for embarkation. With
a view to protecting this avenue of retreat, two hundred and ninety-two men were detailed from the regiments of
Armagnac and Auxerrois and from the marines, and posted at three points to the east of Savannah.
On the 15th, M. de Bretigny arrived from Charlestown and requested Count d'Estaing to send nine hundred French
troops for the protection of that city. The requisition was refused. Desertions from the ranks of the allied army
multiplied daily. During the removal of their guns, munitions, and camp equipage, the French were not interrupted
by the English.
The Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia militia withdrew by land on the 15th, and there remained with the French troops
only the regulars and Pulaski's command.
At ten o'clock on the morning of the 18th the tents and camp utensils were placed in wagons, and, the same day,
were transported to the point of embarkation. At eleven o'clock at night the Americans moved to the left and the
French to the right, and thus the camp before Savannah was broken up. General Lincoln then marched for Zubly's
ferry, en route for Charlestown. The French proceeded only about two miles in the direction of Causton's Bluff
where they halted for the night and remained until the ensuing day that they might be near enough to assist General
Lincoln in the event that the English attempted on this side thd river to interrupt his retreat.
Causton's Bluff was reached at five o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 19th of October, and the work of embarkation
commenced. It was completed by the 21st, when, in the language of the French journal, " Causton's Creek and
all Georgia are evacuated."
The following English vessels were captured by the French fleet while upon the Georgia coast: the ship Experiment,
of fifty guns, having on board Major-General Garth, thirty thousand pounds sterling, and a large quantity of army
stores; the ship Ariel, of twenty guns; the Myrtle, avictualer; the Champion, a store-ship ; the ship Fame; the
ship Victory, richly freighted, and several small sloops, schooners, and coasting vessels laden with rice and flour.
Two privateer sloops, of ten guns each, and three schooners were taken in Great Ogeechee River by Colonel White.
In addition, the British were forced to sink the ships Rose and Savannah and four transports in a narrow part of
the Savannah River, below the town, to prevent the ascent of the French men-of-war. Several vessels were also sunk
above Savannah to preclude the near approach of the French and American galleys, which, passing up the North River
and rounding Hutchinson's Island, threatened an attack from that direction.
The following is a list of the French vessels of war under the command of Admiral the Count d'Estaing, concentrated
on the Georgia coast during the operations against Savannah: — First Division : Commanded by Bougainville.
Le Guerrier, 74 guns. Le Magnifique, 74 guns. Le Csesar, 74 guns.
Le Provence, 64 guns. Le Marseilles, 64 guns. Le Fantasque, 64 guns.
Le Vengeur, 74 guns.
Second Division : Commanded by Count d'Estaing.
Le Languedoc, 74 guns. Le Robuste, 74 guns. Le Zele, 74 guns.
Le Valliant, 74 guns. L'Artesien, 64 guns. Le Sagittaire, 54 guns.
L'Annibal, 74 guns.
Third Division : Commanded by M. de VaudreuiL
Le Tonant, 80 guns.
Le Diademe, 74 guns.
Le Hector, 74 guns.
Le Dauphin Royal, 70 guns.
Le Royal 70 guns.
Frigates.
Le Fendant, 74 guns. Le Refleche, 64 guns. Le Sphynx, 64 guns. Le Roderique, store-ship.
Le Fortune, 38 guns. L'Amazon, 86 guns. L'Iphigenie, 86 guns. La Blanche, 36 guns.
La Boudeuse, 36 guns.
La Bricole, 36 guns, armed store-ship.
La Lys, 18 guns.
La Truite.
La Chimere, 86 guns.
After the lapse of a century we are not inclined to dwell upon the mistakes committed during the conduct of this
memorable siege. The overweening confidence of Count d'Estaing in the superiority of his arms; his eagerness, at
the outset, to pluck the laurel of victory and entwine it around his individual brow; his manifest error in not
insisting upon an immediate response to his summons for surrender; his delay in not assaulting at the earliest
moment when the English defensive lines were incomplete and poorly armed, and when Colonel Maitland and his splendid
command formed no part of the garrison; the injudicious selection of a point for attack; and the confusion and
lack of concert which prevailed in conducting the columns of assault against the enemy's works, may fairly be criticised.
But we forbear. We prefer to recall only the generosity which prompted the alliance, the valor which characterized
the troops, and the heroic action which has given to the history of Savannah and the State of Georgia a chapter
than which none is bloodier, braver, or more noteworthy.
Errors of judgment belong to the past, while the fraternity evolved, the patriotism displayed, and the examples
of courage, patient endurance, and glorious death born of the event constitute now and will continue to form subjects
of special boast.
Bitter was the disappointment experienced by the Americans at this disastrous result. From the cooperation of the
French the most decided and fortunate issue had been anticipated. Generously couched was General Lincoln's letter
to Congress: u Count d'Estaing has undoubtedly the interest of America much at heart. This he has evidenced by
coming over to our assistance, by his constant attention during the siege, his undertaking to reduce the enemy
by assault when he despaired of effecting it otherwise, and by bravely putting himself at the head of his troops
and leading them to the attack. In our service he has freely bled. I feel much for him ; for while he is suffering
the distresses of painful wounds on a boisterous ocean, he has to combat chagrin. I hope he will be consoled by
an assurance that although he has not succeeded according to his wishes and those of America, we regard with high
approbation his intentions to serve us, and that his want of success will not lessen our ideas of his merit."
We cannot resist the temptation to introduce here the following estimate of the character of Count d'Estaing expressed
by one of his naval officers when commenting upon the failure of the effort to capture Savannah. Our translation
is literal. " Covetous of glory, excited by bis successes, and easily seduced by an invitation from the Sieur
de Bretigny who made him believe that the conquest of Savannah was an easy matter, Count d'Estaing was unable to
resist a desire, rising superior to the hazard, to attempt to add new triumphs to those which he had already achieved.
" If zeal, activity, eagerness, and ambition to accomplish great deeds are worthy of recompense, never will
France be able sufficiently to acknowledge her obligations to Count d'Estaing. With much intelligence, he possesses
the enthusiasm and the fire of a man twenty years of age. Enterprising, bold even to temerity, all things appear
possible to him. He fancies no representations which bring home to him a knowledge of difficulties. Whoever dares
to describe them as formidable is illy received. He wishes every one to view and to think of his plans as he does.
The sailors believe him inhuman. Many died upbraiding him with their misery and unwilling to pardon him; but this
is a reproach incident to his austere mode of life, because he is cruel to himself. We have seen him, sick and
attacked with scurvy, never desiring to make use of any remedies, working night and day, sleeping only an hour
after dinner, his head resting upon his hands, sometimes lying down, but without undressing.
"Thus have we observed Count d'Estaing during this campaign. There is not a man in his fleet who would believe
that he has endured all the fatigue which he has undergone. When I am now asked if he is a good General, it is
difficult for me to respond to this inquiry, He committed much to chance, and played largely the game of hazard.
But that he was energetic, adventurous almost to rashness, indefatigable in his enterprises which be conducted
with an ardor of which, had we not followed him, we could have formed no conception, and that to all this he added
much intellect, and a temper which imparted great austerity to his character, we are forced to admit."
In testimony of respect for his meritorious services the General Assembly of Georgia granted twenty thousand acres
of land to Count d'Estaing and admitted him to all the privileges, liberties, and immunities of a free citizen
of the State.
The exultation of the English garrison was, on the 25th of October, mingled with grief at the sudden death of Colonel
Maitland. Some say that he was carried off by a fever contracted at Beaufort. Others affirm that he fell a victim
to intemperance. He was a brilliant officer and an accomplished gentleman (he was a brother of James, Earl of Lauderdale,
and a member of Parliament for the district of Hadington, Dunbar, North Berwick, Lawder, and Jedburgh. Sincerely
was his demise lamented in england, and touching were the tributes rendered to his memory.).
After the departure of Count d'Estaing and the retreat of General Lincoln, the condition of Savannah and the sea-coast
of Georgia became more pitiable than ever. Exasperated by the formidable demonstration which, at the outset, seriously
threatened the overthrow of British dominion in Georgia, and rendered more arrogant and exacting, the loyalists
set out in every direction upon missions of insult, pillage, and inhumanity.
Plundering banditti roved about unrestrained, seizing negroes, stock, furniture, wearing apparel, plate, jewels,
and anything they coveted. Children were severely beaten to compel a revelation of the places where their parents
had concealed or were supposed to have hidden valuable personal property and money. Confiscation of property and
incarceration or expatriation were the only alternatives presented to those who clave to the cause of the Revolutionists.
So poor were many of the inhabitants that they could not command the means requisite to venture upon a removal.
Even under such circumstances not a few, on foot, sought an asylum in South Carolina. Among the principal sufferers
may be mentioned the families of General Mclntosh, Colonel John Twiggs, and Colonel Elijah Clarke. Georgia was
under the yoke; and she was forced to pay the penalty of unsuccessful rebellion, rendered tenfold more grievous
because of this recent formidable attempt to expel from her borders the civil and military servants of the king.
The ribald language and licentious conduct of the soldiery, coupled with the insults of lawless negroes, rendered
a residence in Savannah by all not in sympathy with the Crown, and especially by the weaker sex, almost beyond
endurance. Far and near the region had experienced the desolations of war. The rage between Whig and Tory ran so
high," says General Moultrie, " that what was called a Georgia parole, and to be shot down, were synonymous."
So stringent, too, were the restrictions upon trade, such was the depreciation of the paper currency, and so sadly
interrupted were all agricultural and commercial adventures, that poverty and distress were the common heritage.
At this time sixteen hundred and eighteen dollars, paper money, were the equivalent of one dollar in gold.
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