CHAPTER XXIII pages 442-461 By Charles C. Jones Volume II - Revolutionary Epoch, 1888 Submitted by: Dena Whitesell Advised that the fleet of Count d'Estaing had left the coast of Georgia and that General Lincoln, for a season at least, had virtually abandoned the territory lying south of the Savannah; encouraged by the successes of Colonel Campbell and General Prevost; and perceiving that no satisfactory progress was attending his efforts for the subjugation of the Northern States, Sir Henry Clinton, in the language of General Mouitrie, " reversed the proverb of taking the bull by the horns " and determined to prosecute the fortunes of war in that portion of the Confederation where the republican armies were least formidable. Entrusting the garrison at New York to the command of General Knyphau-sen, and accompanied by Admiral Arburthnot, Sir Henry set sail from Sandy Hook late in December, 1779, with a strong land and naval force destined for the reduction of Charlestown and the subjugation of South Carolina. Tybee inlet was designated as the point of rendezvous. Rough seas and tempestuous winds protracted the voyage and entailed heavy loss in artillery and cavalry horses, and in siege guns. The end of January, 1780, was at hand before a concentration of the fleet could be effected. Necessary repairs having been made, the ships sailed for North Edisto inlet and, on the 11th of February, disembarked the troops on John's Island. Thence by slow and careful stages they advanced, almost ten thousand strong, for the investment of Charlestown, the capital of South Carolina and an opulent town of some fifteen thousand inhabitants. While the land army was about finishing its first parallel, Admiral Arbuthnot, passing the harbor batteries, completed the isolation of the town and rendered the hope of its retention by the Revolutionists desperate in the extreme. When this posture of affairs was communicated by Colonel Laurens to General Washington, his sagacious response was: " The impracticability of defending the bar, I fear, amounts to the loss of the town and garrison. At this distance it is impossible to judge for you. I have the greatest confidence in General Lincoln's prudence, but it really appears to me that the propriety of attempting to defend the town depended on the probability of defending the bar, and that when this ceased the attempt ought to have been relinquished." Entertaining an exaggerated impression of the military value of Charlestown, relying upon the strength of the fortifications which he had constructed, and expecting reinforcements from other States, General Lincoln, who had concentrated within the city lines all available forces under his command, resolved to defend the place to the last extremity. Reinforced by Lord Rawdon's brigade of eight regiments, and by General Patterson, who, marching from Savannah across the country and bringing with him many horses, supplied in large measure the loss of animals experienced during the passage of the fleet from New York, Sir Henry Clinton was enabled with great ease to take advantage of General Lincoln's mistake and to render certain the catastrophe which culminated on the 12th of May. Upon the Retails of the siege and capitulation of Charlestown we may not dwell. It is proper, however, that we should note the terrible effect which this calamity wrought upon the fortunes and the hopes of the Confederacy. Charlestown having fallen, spoil to the amount of £300,000 sterling was distributed by English and Hessian commissaries of captures. On private rapine there was no restraint. Silver plate was seized by the conquerors. Negro slaves, the property of rebels, were shipped to the West Indies and sold. English officers thought more of amassing fortunes than of reuniting the empire. A sentence of confiscation hung over the whole land, and British protection was granted only in return for the unconditional promise of loyalty. Among the seven general officers captured was Brigadier General Lachlan Mclntosh, who, during the siege, commanded a militia brigade composed in part of Georgians. Directing his attention to securing the submission of the inhabitants of South Carolina, Sir Henry Clinton issued proclamations offering pardon, with few exceptions, for past treasonable offenses, a reinstatement in the fruition of rights and immunities which had heretofore been enjoyed under the British government, and exemption from taxation other than that imposed by the provincial legislature. Seventeen days after General Lincoln's surrender Colonel Tarleton, in overcoming Colonel Buford at the Waxhaws, totally routed all the continental troops who had not been made prisoners at the capitulation of Charlestown and intensified the general panic occasioned by the fall of the capital of South Carolina. Beaufort, Camden, and Ninety-Six quickly sued for peace. With the exception of those dwelling in that portion of the State bordering upon North Carolina, the inhabitants preferred submission to further resistance. While these important military events were transpiring in South Carolina, although Georgia was largely under the dominion of the king's forces, it must not be supposed that she wholly acquiesced in the reestablishment of British rule. The withdrawal of a considerable portion of the garrison at Savannah encouraged resistance in the breasts of the republicans and caused demonstrations in support of liberty and property which, although partial, nevertheless exerted a potent influence in keeping alive the flame of patriotism and in confirming the hope of more auspicious days. In perpetuating the memory of the incidents of this epoch our special acknowledgments are due and are freely tendered to Captain Hugh McCall. Oppressed by physical infirmities and a martyr to the effects of the exposures and dangers experienced as an officer in the army of the Revolution; now confined to his couch, again a helpless cripple locomoting in an easy-chair upon wheels; dependent for a livelihood upon the slender salary paid him as keeper of the Savannah jail; often wholly interrupted in his labors, and then, during intervals of pain, writing with his portfolio resting upon his knees; fired with patriotic zeal and anxious to wrest from impending oblivion the fading traditions of a State he loved so well and whose independence he had imperiled everything to secure, he compassed a narrative1 which is highly prized, and which, in its recital of events connected with our Revolutionary period and the part borne by Georgians in that memorable struggle, is invaluable. To him do we stand indebted for the fullest accounts of the perils and the privations, the affairs and the incidents, of our primal Revolution. The royal commissioners of sequestration proving quite energetic in reducing into possession all property of the rebels, a counter effort was made by the republicans for its recaption and removal to places of security. In this attempt violent collisions were not infrequent, and many lives were lost. The private armed vessels of Commodore Oliver Bowen and of Captains Spencer, John Howell, William Maxwell, Job Pray, Hardy, John Lawson, Joseph Stiles, and of others, were active not only in the recovery of such property but also in attacking parties of the enemy engaged along the coast in collecting forage and provisions for the British troops in Savannah. The crews of vessels thus captured, and the English guards taken on board, were usually paroled as prisoners of war. Sometimes such as had been guilty of murder, arson, and robbery were executed for their crimes. It was a harsh period. Retribution was swift, and the lex talionis in general vogue. These privateers made frequent voyages to the West Indies whence they procured supplies of salt, warlike munitions, and other articles necessary for the comfort and defense of beleaguered Georgia. Active alike in protecting the frontiers against the inroads of the Indians and in attacking the British outposts whenever an opportunity occurred, Colonels Twiggs, Clarke, Dooly, Few, and Jones, with their partisan commands, rendered service most opportune and valuable, infusing new life into the almost moribund cause of the Revolutionists, bravely encountering every hazard in defense of life and property, and enkindling in the hearts of the despairing expectation of ultimate success. McGirth and his followers, desperadoes and freebooters all, were peculiarly obnoxious to the patriots whom they lost no opportunity of harassing, plundering, and murdering. Hoping to effect the capture of this officer, and to assist the republicans of Middle and Southern Georgia in removing their personal property to places of security, about the 20th of March, 1780, Colonel Andrew Pickens, with a portion of his South Carolina regiment, formed a junction with Colonel Twiggs and Captain Inm&n. The united forces of these officers numbered some three hundred men. Marching down the Ogeechee River, this little army proceeded to Liberty County where McGirth was then committing some depredations. There the patriots gave chase to him, but his intimate knowledge of the country and the fieetness of his horse enabled him to make good his escape. Several of his party were slain, and three or four were captured. The Americans then returned and encamped at Governor Wright's plantation, which had been agreed upon as the place of rendezvous. Informed of what was transpiring, the British officer commanding in Savannah detailed Captain Conklin, of the first battalion of DeLancey's corps, with two subalterns and sixty-four men, to proceed to the Ogeechee and disperse the rebels collected in that quarter. Marching from Savannah at three o'clock on the morning of the 4th of April, that officer reached Ogeechee ferry si ten o'clock and there learned from some negroes the position of the Americans. Crossing the river without interruption, he detached Ensign Supple with fifteen men to turn the right flank of his adversary. Observing the enemy as he passed the Ogeechee, aware of his design, and anxious to encourage his advance so as effectually to cut off his retreat, Colonels Pickens and Twiggs, exhibiting only twenty dragoons under the immediate command of Captain Inman, concealed the main body from yiew and occupied an advantageous position for effective action. The enemy advanced along the causeway with much apparent confidence. Captain Inman, too precipitate in his attack, opened the engagement before the British had gained the high ground. This necessitated a participation by the reserve. Early in the skirmish Captain Conklin was mortally wounded. Lieutenant Roney, second in command, peceiving that his situation was critical, resorted to the bayonet and, by a vigorous charge in which he was wounded, succeeded in keeping his assailants at bay. Closely pressed by Inman's dragoons, Ensign Supple withdrew his detachment into a rice-field where further pursuit was rendered impracticable. Rejoining the party on the causeway, he assisted in conveying the wounded to the river, and acted as a rear-guard to the command on its retreat. Had Captain Inman delayed his attack and drawn the enemy away from the causeway so that Colonels Pickens and Twiggs could have gained the rear and cut off the only line of retreat, the entire force would certainly have been captured. Of the British, two privates were killed and five wounded. Captain Conklin died of his wounds on the following morning. Governor Wright's barn, containing three hundred and fifty barrels of rice, was burned to prevent its contents from falling into the hands of the enemy, then busily occupied in collecting supplies for the garrison in Savannah. Eight days before, one of the American detachments, which had remained for a while in Liberty County, fell in with a mixed party of loyalists and Indians. In the conflict which ensued the enemy was utterly routed, with a loss of ten killed. While the republicans were removing their property from Southern Georgia, Colonels Pickens and Twiggs continued to hover near for their assistance and protection, defeating expeditions sent out from Savannah to interrupt this business, and compelling the enemy to seek security within his fortified lines. In one of these skirmishes Captain John Bilbo was mortally wounded. To add to the horrors of the period, the small-pox spread its loathsome ravages far and near. Fear fell upon soldier and civilian, and it was only after months of anguish, when the virtue of inoculation was clearly established, that the terrors of this horrid pest were measurably dissipated. Many of the refugees from Southern and Middle Georgia experienced great difficulty in placing their families and personal property in localities exempt from danger. Some, foreseeing the privations to which their wives and children would be subjected, repented of their first purpose and availed themselves of the protection offered by the conqueror. Others, unable to defray the charges incident upon the removal, and filled with a patriotic desire to consecrate their lives to the military service of the Confederacy, bade farewell to their homes, commending their all to the chances of war and the God of battles. Of this last class were Colonels John Jones, of Burke County, and Benjamin Few, of Richmond County. Repairing to the county of Wilkes they there united their fortunes under the gallant leadership of Colonel Elijah Clarke. Merciless was the war waged between Royalists and Republicans. The former, inflamed with hatred and eager for rapine, spared neither age nor sex. Ruin marked their footsteps, and their presence was a signal for theft, torture, murder, and crii without a name. Revenge and retaliation prompted the Republicans to many bloody deeds which can scarcely be excused even in a defensive war, — that most justifiable of all conflicts, where life, liberty, property, and country are at stake. Dark is the picture from whatever light it may be viewed, and not a few of the scenes there depicted were, beyond controversy, inspired by Moloch. Brigadier-General Andrew Williamson, with three hundred men, was now encamped near Augusta. Although composed of militia, this was, numerically considered, the most formidable force then assembled at a single point for the defense of republican Georgia. While encouraging Colonel Clarke with the suggestion that he would accede to a concentration of forces and unite in the suppression of the Royalists in Upper Carolina, he held the king's protection in his pocket and meditated an act of infamy. Unable either to read or write, he entrusted the details of his command to his aid-de-camp, Malcolm Brown, who had long given evidence of his attachment to the royal cause. Concealing for some time the information he had received of the fall of Charlestown, he subsequently, upon the approach of the British detachments, called his officers together, expressed the opinion that further resistance would prove ineffectual, and recommended them to return to their homes and there accept the protection offered at the hands of the king's servants. He thereupon abandoned his command. For this traitorous act he was rewarded by a colonel's commission in his majesty's service; and, until the close of the war, was recognized as a warm advocate of the rees-tablishment of the royal government. Upon the disbanding of this force Augusta was occupied by Colonels Brown and Grierson, two notorious partisan officers in the king's army. The former had been a resident of that town prior to the inception of the war. His conduct and language had then been so offensive and insulting to the friends of liberty that he was finally arrested by the parish committee, tried, tarred and feathered, and exposed to public ridicule in a cart drawn by three mules. This ignominious punishment ended, he made his escape to the British, swearing vengeance against all patriots. Entrusted now with the command of the town in the streets of which he had suffered such gross indignities, he was resolved to gratify a revenge sternly cherished, and to repay, with interest, to the citizens of Augusta the ill-usage he had experienced at their hands. His first measure was the sequestration of the property of the republican inhabitants. This was speedily followed by an order banishing, beyond the limits of Georgia, all Whig families. Stripped of their possessions and driven from their homes, exposed to insults and enduring numberless privations, these proscribed Georgians were compelled to journey even to the borders of North Carolina, where they arrived half famished, broken down by the fatigue and hardships of travel, and some of them with constitutions so sadly shattered that all hope of health and life had fled. The tyrant rejoiced in his supremacy; and, gloating over the sorrows he had wrought, boasted that his . . . " great revenge Had stomach for them all." Emissaries were dispatched into the adjacent country with authority to grant protections and exact oaths of allegiance to the British Crown. A party thus commissioned, and led by Captain Corker, at dead of night forced an entrance into the dwelling-house of Colonel John Dooly and, in the most barbarous manner, murdered him in the presence of his wife and children. Thus perished an officer who had borne himself gallantly in many affairs and deserved well of the republic. When the disaffection of Williamson was made known to Colonel Clarke he was in command of three hundred men in Wilkes County, whom, by his personal exertions, he had there " embodied." Maddened and chagrined at the traitorous act, and disappointed in his expectation of immediately taking the field against the British and Tories who, in large numbers, were running riot through various portions of South Carolina, he dismissed his command, granting leaves of absence and furloughs for twenty days that his officers and men might take leave of their families, arrange their affairs, and prepare for a long campaign. Freeman's Fort in Elbert County was named as the point for the reassembling of this force. By the 11th of July, 1780, one hundred and forty men, strongly mounted and well armed, rendezvoused at the designated place. Without waiting for further accessions, Colonel Clarke crossed his command by night at a ford six miles above Petersburg. The British and loyalists were in South Carolina in the line of his intended march. His force being composed of volunteers, so soon as his troopers left Georgia each man claimed the right of thinking and acting for himself. Influenced by the manifest dangers which opposed, and moved by the insubordination which prevailed in his little army, Colonel Clarke deemed it prudent to return to Georgia and await a more favorable opportunity for cooperating with the South Carolinians in an effort to dislodge the enemy. Colonel John Jones, of Burke County, refused to join in the retreat, and succeeded in persuading thirty-five men to unite with him in the attempt to penetrate the country and form a junction with the republican forces wherever they might be. Organised into a company with Colonel Jones as captain, John Freeman as lieutenant, and Benjamin Laurence as guide, this little band pressed forward. While traversing the disaffected territory these men represented themselves to be loyalists in the active service of the king. In this capacity they were furnished with guides. Having passed the head waters of the Saluda River they were informed by one of the guides that a party of Royalists had, a short distance in front, been attacked and defeated by some rebels. Jones thereupon expressed a wish to be conducted to the spot that he might unite with the loyalists in taking " revenge for the blood of the king's subjects which had been shed." About eleven o'clock on the night of the 14th of July he was led to the royal party, numbering about forty, collected to pursue the rebels who had retreated to the north. Selecting twenty-two men for the attack, and leaving his horses and baggage in charge of the rest of his command, Jones approached the enemy. He found them generally asleep and wholly unprepared for the onset At the first fire one was killed and three were wounded. The entire command, numbering thirty-two, cried for quarter and surrendered without offering the slightest resistance. Having paroled his prisoners, having destroyed all their arms except such as were needed by his command, and taking with him as many horses as could conveniently be led, Jones compelled the astonished guide to conduct him to Earle's ford on Pacolet River where, on the following day, he formed a junction with Colonel McDowell commanding three hundred North Carolina militia. Some twenty miles distant from McDowell's camp, in a southerly direction, was Prince's Fort, commanded by Colonel Innia. Ignorant of McDowell's approach, that officer had detached Major Dunlap with seventy British dragoons, and a party of loyalists commanded by Colonel Ambrose Mills, in pursuit of Jones whose audacious exploit had just been brought to his knowledge. Reaching the vicinity of McDowell's camp late at night, and supposing that he had overtaken Jones party, Dunlap waited for the dawn to make his attack. As he was crossing the river in the early morning he was discovered by a sentinel who, running in, gave the alarm. Few of the Americans were awake. Before they could form, Dunlap, with drawn swords, hurled his dragoons and loyalists upon them. The Georgians being encamped nearest to the river received the first shock and suffered considerable loss. Jones was disabled by eight sabre cuts on the head. Falling back about one hundred yards the Georgians, under Lieutenant Freeman, joined Major Singleton who was forming his men behind a fence, while Colonels McDowell and Hampton were rapidly, with the main body, coming into line of battle on his right. An advance was quickly ordered when Dunlap, discovering his mistake, beat a hasty retreat which was effected with trifling loss. Fifty-two of the best riders, including Lieutenant Freeman and fourteen Georgians, were ordered to pursue the retiring foe. After two hours and a ride of fifteen miles the enemy was overtaken. Dunlap was routed upon the first attack; eight of his troopers being slain. Finding it impossible to rally his men, the British commander joined in the flight, which ceased not until Prince's Fort, garrisoned by three hundred Royalists, was reached. The Americans continued the pursuit, inflicting additional losses, until they came within three hundred yards of that fort. By two o'clock in the afternoon Hampton with every man of his command was back in camp. Thirty-five excellent horses, an ample supply of dragoon equipage, and a considerable amount of baggage, formed the substantial trophies of this brilliant adventure. Upon his return to Georgia, Colonel Clarke remained but a short while in a state of inactivity. He longed to join the little army of the Revolution then energetically employed in repressing the devastations of the British soldiery and loyalists in the upper portion of the Carolinas. In this desire he received every encouragement from President Stephen Heard and the members of his council. Besides, a residence in Georgia proved most onerous to his men, who were compelled to secrete themselves in the woods and to rely for subsistence upon the charity of friends. Perceiving that no good could be accomplished at home, he booh reassembled his regiment, and, leading it along the eastern slope of the mountains, conducted it to the confines of North Carolina. Here he was joined by Colonel Jones, by several small parties of Georgians, and by a detachment of twenty men from Colonel Pickens' regiment, commanded by Captain James McCall. Having no military chest, he was compelled to subsist his troops upon the country, and to forage upon the enemy with whom he skirmished frequently and successfully. Constantly changing his camp to avoid surprise, and always selecting advantageous positions, he held his troopers well in hand and improved every opportunity of cutting off the supplies upon which Colonel Innia depended. So annoying to the British garrison proved the presence of Clarke that the English commander resolved to force him to a general and decisive engagement. With this intention, he came out of his fort and moved upon Colonel Clarke, who retired upon Wofford's iron works, and there, on the 10th of August, choosing his ground, waited for the enemy's attack. During the afternoon his pickets were driven in, and a fire at long range was maintained until dark. Every effort was made, but without success, to draw the Americans from their well-selected position. Under the shadows of night the opposing parties withdrew, each claiming the victory, although no decided impression had been created on either side. Innis retired to his fort near Musgrove's Mill, on Enoree River, and Clarke returned the next morning to his former encampment. Among the slain in this affair1 was Major Burwell Smith, an active partisan officer, who had often defended Georgia against the attacks of the Indians and had never suffered either surprise or defeat. His death was sincerely lamented in the republican camp. Nothing daunted by this demonstration, Colonel Clarke maintained his ground and manifested increased activity in cutting off the foraging parties of the enemy, and in protecting the patriots against predatory bands of loyalists who roamed through the country plundering and burning every habitation incapable of resisting their devastations. Still intent upon driving Clarke and his command out of the region, Colonel Innis, placing him-self at the head of three hundred and fifty men composed of British regulars, dragoons, militia, and loyalists, moved out of the fort and advanced in the direction of the American camp. The fact of his approach was communicated by scouts on the night of the 17th of August. Fortunately, Colonel Clarke had recently been reinforced by Colonels Williams, Branham, and Shelby, and it was resolved by a council of war to offer battle in the morning. Four miles north of Musgrove's Mill was a plantation through which ran a long lane. At the northern end of this Colonel Clarke selected a favorable position for receiving the attack. Advancing with one hundred men, he formed across the road, his flanks being protected by a fence. On either flank he was closely supported by Williams and Branham, while Shelby, with a reserve corps, covered the centre, with orders to throw his force wherever circumstances might require. Moving along the lane, the vanguard of the enemy was within fifty paces of the Americans before the danger was perceived. That he might obtain room to form his regulars, Innis ordered his dragoons and mounted militia to charge and drive the republicans from the ground which they occupied. Conscious that the fate of the engagement depended upon holding his position so as to force the British regulars to form in the open field on either side of the lane while his own men were covered by the fence and the woods, Clarke, supported by Shelby, tenaciously held the centre while Williams and Branham, extending the flanks, delivered an enfilading and destructive fire. Repulsed in their charge, the dragoons and mounted militia recoiled upon the regulars confined in the lane and created much confusion. Into the disordered mass the Americans poured, hot and destructive fire. In their efforts to restore order and lead the cavalry again to the charge, seven British officers were either killed or wounded, and their men were slaughtered without the power of resistance. Among the wounded was Colonel Innis. Captain Ker, second in command, finding it impossible longer to maintain the unequal conflict, ordered a retreat which continued for four miles and until Musgrove's Mill was reached. So closely were the retiring Britons pressed by the Americans that on more than one occasion they were forced to turn and resort to the bayonet to push back their eager pursuers. Sixty-three of the enemy were killed. One hundred and sixty were wounded and captured. The Americans lost only four killed and nine wounded. Among the former was the gallant Captain Ininan; among the latter were Colonel Clarke and his sonf Captain John Clarke. In repulsing the charge of the British dragoons and mounted militia a severe hand-to-hand conflict ensued. It was during the milSe that Colonel Clarke, who fought with a desperation worthy of all praise, received two sabre cuts, one on the back of his neok and the other on his head. In fact his life was saved by his stock-buckle which received the edge of the weapon. At one time he was actually surrounded by the enemy and in charge of two stout cavalrymen. Renowned for his strength and activity, and exerting himself to the utmost, he knocked one of them down, put the other to flight, and thus liberated himself from hia unpleasant situation. Colonel Clarke was every inch a hero. In feats of arms he was ever plucky and powerful. He was the most noted partisan leader in Georgia. In alluding to this engagement Colonel Shelby spoke of it as the hardest and beet fought action he ever was in." Soon after this affair Colonel Clarke returned to Georgia with his command. In a circular letter, addressed by Lord Cornwallis to his subalterns commanding various advanced posts, appeared the following severe injunctions: " The inhabitants of the Provinces who have subscribed to and taken part in this revolt should be punished with the utmost rigour: and also those who will not turn out shall be imprisoned and their whole property taken from them or destroyed. I have ordered in the most positive manner that every militia man who has borne arms with us, and afterward joined the enemy, shall be immediately hanged. I desire you will take the most rigourous measures to punish the rebels in the district in which you command, and that yon obey in the strictest manner the directions I have given in this letter relative to the inhabitants in this country." Under color of this authority, cruelties the most barbarous were practiced. Grievous punishments were inflicted without even the forms of trial. Condemnations and executions occurred, the prisoners being unacquainted with the offenses with which they were charged. The morning after this sanguinary order was reoeived in Augusta five victims were taken from the jail, and by order of Colonel Brown were publicly strangled on the gibbet.1 Confiscations were multiplied, and a reign of tenor overspread such portions of Georgia and South Carolina as were under the control of the king's forces. Hoping that this inhuman order would rouse the manhood of the State to determined resistance and concentrate the friends of American liberty in a supreme effort for its assertion, Colonel Clarke, in association with Lieutenant-Colonel McCall, planned an expedition for the capture of Augusta. In the success of the enterprise they were the more inclined to repose confidence because Lord Cornwallis, in mustering his forces to oppose General Gates, had materially depleted the garrison at that point. It was hoped that they might, within a short time, by their joint exertions raise an army of one thousand men. With such a force it was believed that Brown would be compelled to evacuate his post, and that the northern and western divisions of Georgia and South Carolina would be speedily restored to their Confederate allegiance. Soap Creek in Georgia, forty miles northwest of Augusta, was agreed upon as the place of rendezvous. Entering Wilkes County about the 1st of September, 1780, Colonel Clarke succeeded, within less than two weeks, in placing in the field some three hundred and fifty men. After the most strenuous efforts expended in the western part of Ninety-Six district, in South Carolina, Colonel McCall persuaded only eighty men to accompany him upon the expedition. A union of these detachments occurred at Soap Creek at the appointed time. Celerity of movement being all important, Colonel Clarke put his column on the march without delay and, on the morning of the 14th of September, halted near Augusta and formed his command for action. The enemy was ignorant of his purpose until he appeared before the town. One division, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel McCall, was instructed to enter Augusta by the lower road. The left division, led by Major Samuel Taylor, was ordered to approach by the upper road, while Colonel Clarke in person, with the centre division, was to effect an entrance by the middle or southern road. Moving rapidly and simultaneously these divisions advanced upon Augusta. Near Hawk's Creek on the west, Major Taylor fell in with an Indian encampment which he at once carried. The savages retreated upon their allies, keeping up a desultory fire as they retired. This assault upon the Indian camp gave to Colonel Brown the first intimation of the approach of the Americans. Taylor pressed on to gain possession of McKay's trading post, denominated the White House, and situated about a mile and a half west of Augusta as the town then stood. This house was occupied by a company of the King's Rangers commanded by Captain Johnston. Thither did the retreating Indians betake themselves. Ordering Grierson to reinforce Johnston, Brown advanced with the main body of his troops to contest the entranoe of the Americans. Completely surprised by the centre and right divisions, the forts surrended after scarcely a show of resistance. Seventy prisoners and a large quantity of Indian presents fell into the hands of the captors. These being secured and left under the charge of a suitable guard, Colonel Clarke hastened to the assistance of Major Taylor. Meanwhile, Brown and Grierson had joined Johnston and the Indians at the White House and entered upon its vigorous defense. Taking possession of several small houses to the eastward, Clarke endeavored, under their cover, to dislodge the enemy. The attempt proved futile. Prom eleven o'clock in the forenoon until nightfall an irregular fire was maintained between the contending parties, but without producing any material impression. It was manifest that the enemy could not be driven from his stronghold without the assistance of artillery. Sheltering themselves behind the bank of the river, and protected by the trees which grew along the margin, such of the Indians as could not be accommodated in the White House found security in that locality, and thence delivered a careful and annoying fire. Hostilities ceased with the close of the day, and strong guards were posted to prevent the escape of the enemy. Under cover of the night Brown materially strengthened his position by throwing up earthworks round the house. The space between the weather boarding and the ceiling was filled with sand and clay so as to render the structure proof against musketry. The windows were secured by boards taken from the floors, and loop-holes were constructed at convenient distances. Every material at command was utilized in enhancing the defensive power of the building. The next morning two pieces of light artillery, a four-pounder and a six-pounder gun, were transported from Fort Grierson and placed in position so as to bear upon the White House. Their carriages not being adapted for field service, and their management being unskillful, these guns proved of little avail. Captain Martin, too, the only artillerist in Clarke's command, was unfortunately killed just after the guns were brought into action. A musketry fire was directed during the day against the enemy, who evinced no intention either of abandoning the post or of surrendering. Daring the night of the 15th Brown was reinforced by fifty Cherokee Indians who, well armed, crossed the Savannah in canoes and participated in the defense. Before daylight on the morning of the 16th the Americans succeeded in driving the Indians from their shelter along the river bank and in completely catting off the garrison from its water supply. Thus was the enemy greatly inconvenienced and the sufferings of the wounded became intense. Their cries for water and medical aid were heart-rending. A horrid stench, arising from the dead bodies of men and horses, enhanced the miseries of the situation. Brown himself, shot through both thighs, was suffering terribly, but his desperate courage never for a moment forsook him. Ignoring the tortures of his wounds, he remained booted at the head of his gallant band, directing the defense and animating his troops by his presence and example. In order to atone in. some degree for the absence of water, he ordered all the urine to be carefully preserved in earthen vessels found in the store. When cold, this was served out to the men, he himself taking the first draught. A more frightful illustration of the extremity of the situation cannot be imagined. Summoned to surrender on the 17th, he promptly refused the demand, and warned Colonel Clarke that his present demonstration would eventually bring destruction and devastation upon the western division of Georgia. The summons was repeated in the afternoon with an avowal of a fixed determination on the part of the Americans to reduce the garrison at every sacrifice. Brown's only reply was that he should defend himself to the last extremity. Never was braver foe brought to bay. His wonderful resolution sustained all his followers in their dire distress. Upon the appearance of the Americans, Colonel Brown had dispatched messengers by different routes to inform Colonel Cruger at Ninety-Six of his situation, and to urge that reinforcements should be immediately sent to his relief. Sir Patrick Houstoun, one of these messengers, was the first to reach Ninety-Six. He communicated the perilous posture of affairs. Cruger lost no time in repairing to the scene of conflict. During the night of the 17th Colonel Clarke was informed by his scouts that Colonel Cruger, at the head of five hundred British regulars and royal militia, was advancing by forced marches for the succor of the besieged. In direct disobedience of orders many of Colonel Clarke's men had gone to Burke County to see their families and friends from whom they had long been separated. Others, actuated by the love of booty, had decamped carrying with them the goods which Brown had recently received to be distributed as presents among the Indians. About eight o'clock on the morning of the 18th the British troops appeared on the opposite bank of .the Savannah River. In his enfeebled condition, his ranks depleted by wounds, death, and desertion, Colonel Clarke was compelled to raise the siege. The Americans retreated about ten o'clock, having sustained a loss of sixty in killed and wounded. Among the former were Captains Charles Jourdine and William Martin, and William Luckie, a brave and much-respected young man from Sooth Carolina, who fell early in the contest while endeavoring to gain possession of the White House. Such of the republicans as were badly wounded were left in the town. Thus did Captain Ashby, an officer noted for his bravery and humanity, and twenty-eight soldiers fall into the hands of the enemy. He and twelve of the wounded prisoners were forthwith hung upon the staircase of the White House, where Brown was lying wounded, that he might enjoy the demoniacal pleasure of gloating over their expiring agonies. Their bodies were then delivered to the Indians who, after scalping and mutilating them, threw them into the river. Henry Duke, John Burgamy, Scott Reeden, Jordan Ricketson, Darling, and the two brothers Glass, youths of seventeen and fifteen years of age, were choked to death under a hastily constructed gibbet. Their fate, however, was mild when contrasted with that reserved for other prisoners who were delivered into the hands of the Indians that they might be avenged of the losses which they had sustained during the siege. Placing their victims in the centre of a circle, they consigned them to blows, cuts, scalping, burning, and deaths most horrible. Seventy savages had fallen at the hands of the Americans, and thus did their surviving companions offer sacrifices to their manes. The brutalities inflicted by Brown and his followers on this occasion stagger all comprehension and transcend civilized belief. Major Carter, who accompanied the division assaulting by the upper road, encountered a mortal hurt at the door of the White House while endeavoring to prevent the enemy from gaining possession of that structure. At great hazard he was borne off by his comrades, who conveyed him to the plantation of Mrs. Bugg, where he expired a few days afterwards. To him Colonel Clarke paid this tribute: " A man of more bravery than Major Carter never occupied a space between heaven and earth." Among the British slain were Captain Andrew Johnston and Ensign Silcox, of the Florida Rangers. Brown's command on this occasion consisted of two hundred and fifty loyalists,- chiefly Florida Rangers, — an equal number of Creek warriors, and fifty Cherokees. Before retiring Colonel Clarke paroled the officers and men whom he had captured. Among them were Captain James Smith and forty-one of the King's Hangers, a commissioned officer and eleven men of DeLancey's corps, and a surgeon. In entire disregard of the obligations into which they had entered, these officers and soldiers resumed their arms immediately upon the departure of the Americans. No sooner had the republican forces retreated than Colonel Brown sent out detachments in every direction to arrest all persons who had participated in the siege or sympathized in the effort to recapture Augusta. Captain Kemp, with a small party of rangers, surprised Colonel Jones and five companions in a house on Beech Island. James Goldwire was killed. Although Jones and two of his company were wounded, they succeeded in repelling the rangers and in taking refuge in a swamp. While there concealed and awaiting recovery from his wounds, Jones was discovered and made prisoner. The loyalists clamored for his life, which was saved through the personal exertions of Captain Wylly, who surrounded him with a guard. The entire adjacent country was subjected to a rigorous search. Republican sympathizers were dragged from their homes and crowded into wretched prisons. Those suspected of having belonged to Clarke's command were hung without even the mockery of a trial. Venerable men, beyond the age of bearing arms and standing aloof from the contest, were consigned to filthy jails for no reason save that they welcomed the return of sons and grandsons who had long been absent in the armies of the Revolution. Witness the sufferings of the father of Captains Samuel and James Alexander. In the seventy-eighth year of his age he was arrested by order of Colonel Grierson, chained, and dragged at the tail of a cart forty miles in two days. When attempting to obtain some rest for his feeble limbs by leaning against the vehicle, he was ignominiously scourged by the driver. Closely confined in Augusta, these old men were held as hoatages for the neutrality of the country. Succumbing to the rigors of ill-usage, the ravages of small-pox, and the privations incident to their sad situation, few survived to behold the eventual triumph of the patriots. Some twenty-five prominent persons who had been paroled in Augusta were sent to Charlestown. Among these may be mentioned Majors George Handley and Samuel Stirk, Captain Chesley Bostwick, Mr. John Wereat, and several members of the executive council of Georgia. Thus did Colonel Brown, smarting under bodily pain and remembered indignities, make good his threat uttered in the White House. Thus did he satiate his revenge. The homes of the patriots were filled with blood, ashes, and tears. The republicans were compelled to pass under a yoke too heavy for the stoutest neck. Further sojourn in this region was rendered in tolerable, and multitudes forsook the territory dominated over by the insatiate Brown and his followers. Colonels Clarke and McCall have been severely although unjustly criticised for inaugurating this movement against Augusta. Had they succeeded, praise and not censure would have been the general verdict. By some the expedition was denounced as an "ill-timed and a premature insurrection." Such language did not emanate from patriotic lips. The undertaking was well conceived and vigorously pressed. But for the lack of field artillery the White House would have been carried prior to the appearance of Colonel Cruger. That the failure of the effort to retake Augusta inflamed the Royalists and entailed additional miseries upon the region cannot be doubted. The entire affair was a warlike mischance encountered by men patriotic in their impulses, zealous in their action, and eager to achieve a great good. After raising the siege of Augusta Colonel Clarke retreated to Little River and there disbanded his force that his men might visit their homes preparatory to service in distant fields. Late in September he again found himself at the head of a detachment numbering three hundred men. At the place of rendezvous were collected four hundred women and children, with their personal effects, craving permission to follow the army to a place of safety. For two years past the agricultural operations of this portion of Georgia had been so much disturbed that very many of the fields remained uncultivated. Poverty lay down at the doors of not a few, and the curses of the tyrant were heard everywhere. It was the part of humanity to hearken to the prayers of this helpless population and to guide it into abodes of peace and plenty. For eleven days did Colonel Clarke and his command escort this congregation of women and children through mountainous regions and unaccustomed paths to avoid interruption by the enemy. It was a journey replete with difficulties and privations, but there came no murmurings by the way, and at last the patient travelers, foot-sore, weary, and pinched by hunger, found rest, homes, and entertainment at the hands of the generous dwellers by the banks of the Waturga and the Nolachuckie rivers. In this beautiful region, guarded by mountains, with its sweet waters, grand forests, and fertile valleys, unvexed by royal proclamations, unvisited by the despoiler, and rejoicing in the hospitality of a brave, honest, virtuous, and liberal people, did these refugees abide until the storm of war was overpast, until the gentle sounds of assured peace lured them back to their Georgia homes. While Colonel Clarke was conducting his charge to this place of security he was advised that Colonel Ferguson was trending upward to intercept him, and that Colonel Campbell was collecting a force with which to dispute his advance. Unable to turn aside from the accomplishment of the humane mission which was then engaging his attention, he detached Major Chandler and Captain Johnston with thirty men to participate in those operations which culminated so gloriously in the memorable battle of King's Mountain. Having safely guarded the Georgia refugees to their temporary homes, Colonel Clarke returned to the borders of South Carolina, and there held his veterans in readiness for active service. South of the Savannah matters were now in a condition of painful repose and silent unrest. The manhood of the State was largely withdrawn, doing battle beyond her confines for the common cause. PICTURE OF JACKSON   BACK TO HISTORY INDEX   ©Genealogy Trails