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The History of Georgia
By Charles C. Jones
Volume II - Revolutionary Epoch, 1888
Submitted by: Dena Whitesell
Updated by: Angela D. Bagley-Marianchuk 07/16/08
CHAPTER
XXVI
pages 496-514
The upper portion of Georgia being now under the control of the republicans, General Twiggs directed his attention
to the repossession of the middle and southern divisions. To this end be ordered Lieutenant-Colonel James Jackson
to move with his Georgia legion, consisting of three companies of cavalry and two of infantry, in the direction
of Savannah, and to occupy positions as near the enemy as becoming caution would suggest. His general instructions
were to annoy the outposts and detachments of his antagonist as fully as the means at command would allow, and
to retreat or advance as the circumstances of the case might justify.
Jackson's legion was composed in part of British deserters and loyalists, who, professing a change of political
sentiments, had quitted the service of the king. Dangerous and untrustworthy was this element, requiring for its
efficient control strict discipline and tireless vigilance. Not long prior to the receipt of these orders, and
while Colonel Jackson was still in command at Augusta, a nefarious plot was discovered which had been formed "by
a portion of his legion. The scheme was to assassinate the commanding officer in an unguarded moment, and, seizing
the governor and as many members of the executive council as were present in the town, to carry them off to the
British authorities in Savannah. This plan was quietly communicated to General Alured Clarke, commanding at Savannah.
He coordially sympathized in it, and, as a substantial proof of his approval, ordered Captain Brantley, with forty-five
men, to proceed cautiously to the outskirts of Augusta, join the conspirators under cover of night, and cooperate
with them in the execution of the nefarious project. Liberal rewards were also offered by him as a stimulus to
the perpetration of the crime. The manner in which this iniquitous design was frustrated is thus told by Captain
McCall : "A faithful soldier, named David Davis, who was the Colonel's waiter, discovered that there was something
in agitation of an extraordinary nature in the camp, and in order to obtain a knowledge of the secret affected
an extreme dislike to the Colonel and united with the conspirators in the use of the most unqualified language
of abuse and disrespect for him. Supposing that Davis9 situation would enable him to be of great service to the
party, they lent a favourable ear to his observations. This stratagem had the desired effect and drew from the
traitors a disclosure of the diabolical purposes in contemplation which he immediately communicated to his Colonel,
and informed him that no time was to be lost in checking its progress, as it was ripe for execution. The dragoons
who did not appear to have been engaged in the conspiracy were ordered to mount their horses and repair to Colonel
Jackson's quarters, prepared for action. The infantry were ordered to parade without arms, under pretence of searching
for some clothing which had been stolen the preceding night. The dragoons were ordered in front with drawn swords,
and the ring leaders were seized and confined. A general court martial was ordered to convene, and the culprits
were brought up for trial.
John Goodgame, William Simmons, and one Honeycut were ascertained to be the projectors and leaders in the conspiracy.
The court found them guilty of treason and sentenced them to suffer death by being hanged, and they were executed
accordingly. The remaining seventeen turned State's evidence, confessed their guilt, and were pardoned in consequence
of their apparent penitence."
Thus narrowly did a gallant officer escape assassination. Thus almost as by accident, was preserved the life of
a patriot who bad already rendered signal service in the army of the Revolution, and who, in after years, as soldier,
citizen, advocate, senator, and chief magistrate of Georgia, illustrated in a conspicuous degree all tfci virtues
which appertain to the civilian, the hero, and the statesman.
By the legislature of Georgia was Davis complimented for his fidelity to his commander and his attachment to the
cause of liberty. In token of the general approval of his conduct he was presented with five hundred acres of valuable
land, and with a handsome horse, saddle, and bridle.
Captain Brantley had reached Spirit Creek in the execution of his mission when he learned that the plot had been
discovered. Thereupon he hastily returned to Savannah.
In equipping his legion Colonel Jackson depended upon tbe skill and industry of his own men. Upon the back of a
letter addressed to him by Thomas Hamilton, one of his infantry officers, appears this statement in the handwriting
of the colonel: "I made all my own accoutrements, even to swords for my dragoons, caps, leather jackets, boots,
and spurs, and in short every article." What proof more convincing can be offered of the limited resources
of this war-worn land, or of the necessities and the ingenuity of its resolute defenders ?
Before following General Twiggs and Colonel Jackson in their demonstration against the British soldiers and loyalists
in Southern Georgia, let us refer to some naval affairs which transpired on the Georgia coast, comparatively insignificant,
and yet not unimportant in that day of small things, as they have been handed down to us chiefly by Captain McCall
to whom, more than all others, we stand indebted for the Revolutionary memories of the State.
The extreme scarcity of clothing, munitions of war, sugar, salt, and of other necessary articles, has already been
alluded. Upon the operations of privateers and small government vessels did the community largely depend for the
procurement of these commodities. Uncertain and irregular as that supply s was, the function of these vessels in
promoting the general comfort and encouraging the common defense cannot be too highly commended.
They were also a thorn in the side of British commerce and a terror to loyalists cultivating the islands and headlands
adjacent to the sea.
Learning that the English ship Britannia lay at anchor in the mouth of Great Ogeechee River, Captains John Howell
and John McCleur, on the night of the 14th of April, 1781, with muffled oars towed their privateers alongside and
grappled with her. Springing upon deck, they demanded and received quick surrender. Captain Wade and a boat's crew
had gone ashore to spend the night, and thus escaped capture. The Britannia had a cargo of rice on board, was bound
to the West Indies, and was waiting for a fair wind to put to sea. On the 24th, while off Doboy Sound with this
prize, the ship Cormorant, Captain McEvoy, hove in sight and gave chase. Finding that she could not escape, the
Britannia struck her colors and came to anchor. While the boats from the Cormorant were in the act of taking possession
of her, Captain Howell ran down, fired upon, and compelled them to retire. Then, slipping the cable of the Britannia,
he ran that vessel close in shore until he reached the south end of Blackbeard Island where he defended her until
the afternoon. Fearing attack during the night by a superior force, he abandoned and burnt the ship, paroling his
prisoners and landing them on the island.
On the 4th of June, 1781, Captain Howell having entered the inlet of Sunbury learned from a negro that he had been
sent out to catch fish for Mr. Kitchins, the collector of the port, with whom a party of British officers, both
civil and military, were to dine that day, it being the king's birthday. Although Mr. Kitchins' house was within
four hundred yards of the fort, now no longer called Morris but named by its captors George in honor of his majesty
King George III., presuming that the assembled guests on this festive occasion would indulge freely and be found
entirely off their guard, Captain Howell resolved upon their capture. Ascending the river with muffled oars and
under cover of the night, the captain with twelve men passed the fort without attracting its notice, and, landing
at Sunbury, surrounded the house about eleven o'clock and took the entire party, numbering twelve persons, prisoners.
Among the captured was Colonel Roger Kelsall, who had insulted and ill-treated Captain Howell while he was a prisoner
of war. Incensed at the recollection of these indignities, Captain Howell was on the eve of taking him out and
drowning him in the river, when the prayers of the lady of the house induced him to spare his life. Exacting from
his captives a pledge that they would not again take up arms until regularly exchanged, Captain Howell repaired,
without low or molestation, to his privateer. Upon his return to the fort Kekall observed that when he found himself
in Captain HowelTs power he anticipated early death. He admitted that he had no right to expect the lenient treatment
which he received.
Manning his boats with twenty men from his privateer, Captain Antony on the 12th of July proceeded up the Ogeechee
River to capture a schooner laden with rice. He did gain possession of her, but before he could get her out he
was intercepted by a British galley commanded by Captain Scallan. Taking to his boats Antony escaped to the shore
with the loss of one man killed and another wounded. On the following night he rejoined his privateer. Two days
afterwards Captain McCleur, within full view of the British armed vessels lying in Charlestown harbor, took the
sloop Brier, Captain William Roberts master, filled with West India produce, and carried her safely into a North
Carolina port.
On the 18th of September the brigantine Dunmore, Captain Caldeleugh, mounting twelve guns, sailed from Sunbury
for Jamaica. She had no sooner crossed the bar than she was attacked by two American galleys, one of which was
commanded by Captain Braddock. A close contest ensued which lasted for four hours when the brigantine effected
her escape. She was so much damaged that she was compelled to seek the port of Savannah for repairs. Upon resuming
her voyage she was again attacked by Captain Braddock, but a second time succeeded in eluding him. In a gale of
wind off Hilton Head the American galley Tyger, Captain McCumber, was capsized on the 20th of October. Two of her
crew were drowned. Thirty of them, saved in open boats, joined Captain Howell the next day and assisted in the
capture of two schooners freighted with rice, having thirty negro slaves on board, and bound for the West Indies.
Before the schooners could be conveyed to a place of security Captain Scallan appeared in a galley with two boats
and sixty men. Setting fire to the schooners, Captain Howell escaped with the negroes. Promptly taking possession
of the schooners, the enemy saved them from the impending conflagration.
Trivial as these affairs, and others of like character, doubtless were, they will now be remembered as the best
manifestations of activity on the sea which the patriots of Georgia in their impoverished and enfeebled condition
were capable of exhibiting.
In conducting his movement southward as far as Ebenezer Colonel Jackson had several skirmishes with the enemy who,
as they retired, destroyed the bridges along his line of inarch and annoyed him wherever the cover of a thick wood
afforded an opportunity.
To render secure the communication between Savannah and the lower counties the British maintained military posts
at Great Ogeechee ferry and at Sunbury. General Twiggs, assisted by Jones, Irwin, Lewis, Carr, and others, had
been very successful in rousing the patriotic ardor of the inhabitants and in swelling the ranks of the Revolutionists.
He hoped soon to be strong enough to make an attack upon Savannah. From Burke County, late in October, he ordered
Colonel Jackson, then at Ebenezer, with Stallings' dragoons, McKay's riflemen, and Carr's volunteer dragoons, to
attempt the surprise and reduction of the British post at Great Ogeechee ferry. While nearing that post on the
2d of November, Jackson fell in with a scouting party whom he captured without spreading any alarm, and actually
appeared before the White House at the ferry before Captain Johnston, the English commander, was aware of his approach.
So suddenly did he fall upon this structure, which constituted the principal defense, that Captain Johnston agreed
to surrender and was in the act of handing his sword to Colonel Jackson when Captain Goldsmith was killed by Captain
Patrick Carr. Inferring from this unexpected and violent act that no quarter was to be given, Captain Johnston
sprang into the house and called upon his men to resume their arms and to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
With so much vigor was the structure defended that " Jackson was not only compelled to relinquish what he
deemed a certain conquest, but to retreat with the loss of Captain Grant and several of his men." At this
juncture he was deserted by McKay's riflemen who went off in quest of plunder.
Proceeding to Butler's house, distant a mile from the ferry, where were stationed fifteen loyalists under the command
of Captain Howell who was lying sick abed, he carried that post which offered a stout resistance. Howell and five
of his men were killed. Five others were captured.
In the vicinity was stationed Lieutenant-Coloiiel Campbell, of the British cavalry, with a portion of his regiment.
When Jackson retreated from the White House at the ferry, Johnston witii his men and Captain Wylie with a detachment
of Florida Ringers joined Campbell, thus swelling his ranks to an aggregate of eighty-five men. Jackson's command
was now reduced to forty-nine dragoons officered by Stallings and Carr, and eight db-mounted militiamen led by
Captain William Greene.
About four o'clock in the afternoon the enemy advanced upon him. Placing his infantry in front he concealed his
cavalry behind a hummock. As the British cavalry charged over this little body Jackson hurled his dragoons upon
them, before whom they broke and fled for some distance, finally they rallied behind a fence whence they could
not be dislodged. Jackson in turn was forced to seek protection in an adjacent swamp. Under cover of the night
he retired toward Ebenezer.
In these skirmishes the Americans sustained a loss of six killed, five wounded, and five taken prisoners. Among
the akin was Captain Greene, and among the captured Captain Bugg. The enemy lost two captains, one cornet, and
nine privatei killed, and thirty non-commissioned officers and privates wounded and captured.
Upon his return to Ebenezer Colonel Jackson was reinforced so that his command numbered one hundred and fifty men.
With this force he scoured the country, attacking the foraging parties of the enemy, and restoring to their former
owners many negroes and much personal property which he found in the possession of the loyalists. Frequently did
his command suffer for want of subsistence. Rations were limited to rice, and even this food was sometimes procured
at great hazard and in small quantities. Corn was so scarce that every grain was husbanded to be used as seed.
The country had been so trampled upon and plundered by the enemy that the barest necessaries of life were most
difficult of procurement.
While General Twiggs with his command was encamped in Burke County preparing for a demonstration against Savannah,
he was diverted from his purpose by a body of loyalists and Indians depredating upon the northwestern frontiers
of the State, Falling upon them near the Oconee River he completely dispersed them, killing and capturing a number.
On this expedition he was accompanied by Messrs. Myrick Davies, David Emanuel,and------Lewis, members of the executive
council. About the middle of December, as his command was passing through Burke County, these gentlemen lagged
behind. In an unguarded moment they were set upon by a party of loyalists led by Captain Brantley. Emanuel and
Lewis being mounted upon fleet horses effected their escape.
Davies was overtaken and subsequently murdered by his inhuman captors. Too weak to hazard an assault upon the British
lines around Savannah, General Twiggs hovered in the vicinity, driving hack the foraging parties of the enemy,
threatening their outposts, protecting the persons and property of such of the patriots as tarried in the region,
and awaiting the arrival of reinforcements which General Greene promised to send so soon as they could possibly
be spared.
In November the Cherokees, incited by Major William Cunningham of his majesty's service and a lawless set claiming
him as commander, entered the northern settlements of Georgia, robbing and murdering as they journeyed. Taking
advantage of this provocation, General Pickens, with three hundred men of his brigade and a hundred Georgians under
Major John Cunningham, advanced into the Cherokee territory and burned every habitation and village south and east
of the mountains. He would have crossed the mountains, but was deterred by a deep fall of snow. Shortly after the
return of this expedition the Cherokees, associating some Creeks with them, entered upon another invasion of the
Georgia territory. They were met beyond the Oconee River by Colonel Clarke, and Colonel Robert Anderson of Pickens'
brigade, and were driven back.
It will be remembered that an act had been passed by the legislature of Georgia confiscating the property of sundry
Royalists and adjudging the parties named guilty of high treason. Although the estates thus condemned had not yet
been seized and sold, so confident were the republicans of ultimate success, and so pressing was the need of money,
that the legislator? which assembled in Augusta in January, 1782, anticipating the fund which was to be realized
from the sale of those properties and pledging it in advance, authorized the issue of certificates to the amount
of £22,100 sterling to meet the expenses requisite for the conduct of the government, and to the further
amount of £15,000 to liquidate arrears due to the militia. These certificates were to be redeemed at par
in gold and silver coin by the State after the sale of the confiscated property and from the moneys thence derived.
Sad commentary upon the low ebb at which the public credit then stood! The truth is, unable to raise by taxation
the necessary revenues, the General Assembly resorted to this, the only method it could devise, for satisfying
demands the payment of which had long been deferred, and to provide for the emergencies of a present impecunious
to the last degree.
" It is all over!" exclaimed Lord North with the deepest agitation and distress when the tidings of the
surrender of Lord Cornwallis first reached England. Fox heard with wild delight of the capitulation of Yorktown,
and the speech of the king grew confused. " Give up all further attempts to reduce the revolted Colonies,"
urged Sir James Lowther, while the city of London entreated his majesty " to put an end to this unnatural
and unfortunate war." Lord George Germain was forced to retire from the cabinet. Edmund Burke wrote to Benjamin
Franklin congratulating him upon the near advent of peace between the two branches of the English Nation."
Influences were at work which, before the lapse of many months, drew from Buckingham's ministry an assent to American
independence.
The potent effect of this signal disaster upon the minds of the British soldiery in America, the junction of the
auxiliary force under General St. Clair, and the recent successes of General Greene in South Carolina enabled that
officer, in January, 1782, to redeem his promise and turn his attention to the relief of Georgia. As he was on
the eve of detaching General Wayne for this important service he penned a letter to Governor Martin eminently wise,
conservative, and replete with counsel most valuable. " I cannot help recommending to your Excellency to open
a door for the disaffected of your State to come in, with particular exceptions. It is better to save than destroy,
especially when we are obliged to expose good men to destroy bad. It is always dangerous to push people to a state
of desperation, and the satisfaction of revenge has but a momentary existence and is commonly succeeded by pity
and remorse. The practice of plundering which, I am told, has been too much indulged with you, is very destructive
to the morals and manners of the people. Habits and dispositions founded on this practice soon grow obstinate and
are difficult to restrain: indeed it is the most direct way of undermining all government, and never fails to bring
the laws into contempt, for people will not stop at the barriers which were first intended to bound them after
having tasted the sweets of possessing property by the easy mode of plunder. The preservation of morals and an
encouragement to honest industry should be the first objects of government. Plundering is the destruction of both.
I wish the cause of Liberty may never be tarnished with inhumanity, nor the morals of people bartered in exchange
for wealth." The salutary influence of this communication was subsequently observed in the proclamations of
Governor Martin and in the action of the legislature assembled to deal with problems connected with the restoration
of republican power.
" To reinstate, as far as might be possible, the authority of the Union within the limits of Georgia"
was the general mission of the hero of Stony Point. He was accompanied by one hundred of Colonel Moylan's dragoons
commanded by Colonel Anthony Walton White, and a detachment of field artillery. On the 12th of January he crossed
the Savannah River in small boats, the cavalry horses swimming by their sides. His artillery was left behind until
suitable transportation could be procured. He was soon joined by Colonel Hampton with three hundred mounted men
from General Sumter's brigade. The infantry and cavalry of Jackson's legion then numbered only ninety men. McCoy's
volunteer corps did not exceed eighty, all told. To these Governor Martin hoped to add three hundred Georgia militia.
So soon as the governor and General Assembly were notified of General Wayne's entry into Georgia, a committee of
the executive council was appointed to wait upon him and devise measures for carrying into practical operation
the suggestions contained in General Greene's letter to Governor Martin. This conference resulted in the preparation
of two proclamations: one opening the door for the return of disaffected Georgians to republican ranks, and the
other encouraging desertions from the enemy. The latter was particularly addressed to the Hessian troops who were
already in sympathy with the Salzburgers at Ebenezer. These proclamations were not' without decided effect, and
excited no little dissatisfaction among the citizens and soldiery in Savannah. " Many of the former citizens,"
says Stevens, "who had been compelled from various causes to take protection under the British Government
and who had even joined the armies of the enemy, availed themselves of the door opened by the proclamation which
had special reference to them, returned to their state allegiance, and joined the camp of General Wayne, proving
their sincerity by the most zealous efforts to merit the pardon and protection extended to them by the executive."
The duty assigned to General Wayne of keeping a close watch upon the enemy and, if the occasion presented, of attempting
the capture of Savannah by a nocturnal assault, was so efficiently discharged that predatory bands of soldiers
and loyalists were seldom seen beyond the lines of that town. The customary intercourse of the Indians with the*
garrison was largely restrained. That garrison, including the reinforcement recently sent by Lord Rawdon and a
corps of one hundred and fifty negroes armed and enrolled as infantry and commanded by the notorious Brown, consisted
of thirteen hundred regular troops and about five hundred loyal militia. The town itself was strongly fortified.
Its land approaches were suitably defended by field and siege guns judiciously posted. Armed row-galley and brigs
covered the water front. So closely were these lines watched and so strictly were the British forces confined to
their defenses that the gallant Jackson on more than one occasion demonstrated almost up to the town gates and
picked off men and horses from the common.
As soon as the advance of the American forces under General Wayne was known in Savannah, Brigadier-General Alured
Clarke, who commanded the royal troops in Georgia, " directed his officers, charged with his outposts, to
lay waste the country with fire and to retire with their troops and all the provisions they could collect into
Savannah." This order was rigidly executed and the circumjacent district was devastated. "In consequence
whereof, Wayne found it necessary to draw his subsistence from South Carolina, which added to the difficulties
daily experienced in providing for the main army." General Henry Lee, in his " Memoirs," compliments
in high terms General Wayne's conduct during this period. " While in command before Savannah," so he
writes, "his orders, his plans, his motions, all bespoke foresight and vigilance; and although he played a
hazardous game, he not only avoided detriment or affront, but added to the honor of our arms."
Writing to General Greene, under date of February 28,1782, General Wayne conveys this impression of his fttuation
and labors: " The duty we have done in Georgia was more difficult than that imposed upon the children of Israel.
They had only to make bricks without straw, but we have had provision, forage, and almost every other apparatus
of war to procure without money: boats, bridges, &c. to build without materials except those taken from the
stump: and, what was more difficult than all, to make Whigs out of Tories. But this we have effected, and have
wrested the country out of the hands of the enemy, with the exception only of the town of Savannah. How to ke6p
it without some additional force is a matter worthy of consideration."
Anxious to enlarge the limits of the civil authority, Governor Martin, so soon as General Wayne had permanently
established his headquarters at Ebenezer, removed the seat of government to that town.
During this period of the practical investment of Savannah the enterprise, watchfulness, and intrepidity of Colonel
Jackson were beyond all praise. For desperate adventures was he selected by his commander, and it was his ambition
to strike the enemy whenever he presented a vulnerable point. At Cuthbert's sawmill, on the 13th of February, 1782,
he was attacked by Colonel Hezekiah Williams and came off victorious. Thirteen days afterwards, with thirty dragoons,
he succeeded by night in dislodging the picket and in burning the rice barn upon Governor Wright's plantation situated
only a half mile southeast of Savannah. Major Barnwell was not so successful in his attempt to destroy the rice
on Hutchinson's Island.
The savage ferocity displayed by the enemy on occasions may be inferred from the following communication penned
by General Wayne, and dated Headquarters, Ebenezer, 26th of March, 1782: " On receiving intelligence that
the enemy were on the point of moving out in force, I determined to more than meet them, and to avail myself of
circumstances and position, from a conviction that although our numbers were not so great as I could wish, yet
we were not to be disgraced, and that if we could possibly produce disorder in their ranks the enemy would have
no reason to triumph from the encounter. Our advance guard fell in with a party of their dragoons three miles from
Savannah, whom they immediately charged and drove into the lines, and then sounded a charge within the influence
of their batteries. This temerity in the officer drew the enemy out in force, and, in falling back before then?
one of his dragoons was killed. However, as soon as they discovered that the advance was supported, they retired
into their works, bearing off the scalp of the dragoon, with which they paraded the streets of Savannah, headed
by the lieutenant-governor and other British officers who gave an entertainment to the Indians and had a dance
on the occasion.
" Nor did their barbarity rest here. They mangled and disfigured the dead body in a manner that none but wretches
inured in acts of cruelty would possibly be capable of, and ordered it to remain unburied. But the Ethiopians,
more humanized, stole it away and deposited it in the ground; for the commission of which crime a reward of five
guineas is offered for the discovery of any person or persons concerned in that act of humanity."
Are we to believe that association with the red savage, a desire to conciliate his barbaric friendship, and a bitter
hatred of the descendants of Englishmen struggling to be free had thus brutalized the sensibilities and depraved
the conduct of British soldiery ?
Ever since Savannah passed into the hands of the enemy it bad become a favorite resort of the Creeks and Cherokees.
There were deputations entertained. There were royal presents distributed, and there were hatched schemes for the
annoyance of the republicans. Knowing that Indian parties were still visiting that town, and desirous of either
winning them over to the American cause or of inducing them to remain neutral in the pending straggle, General
Wayne dispatched Major John Habersham, accompanied by Major Francis Moore in command of some South Carolina cavalry
and attended by some mounted militia led by Captain Patrick Carr, to intercept and conciliate them. Representing
himself to be Colonel Brown, with whose name and reputation the red nations were quite familiar, Major Habersham
was at first successful in his efforts. His plan was subsequently foiled by the indiscretion and disobedience of
a lieutenant who, with a portion of the mounted militia, slew several of the Indians and then, making a rapid descent
upon Sunbury, killed eleven loyalists, residents of that town.
Major Moore, too, learning that the Creek Indians had stolen some horses on the frontier of Liberty County, selecting
fifteen men, went in pursuit of them. Overtaking them at Reid's Bluff, he attempted at first to circumvent them
by offers of amity. Undeceived by the stratagem, the savages sought the protection of a log house, and, in the
skirmish which ensued, Moore was killed and Smith wounded. Captain Nephew, second in command, then ordered a retreat.
Smith, upon the departure of his companions, was seized and put to death by the Indians. These and similar transactions
defeated Habersham's mission. Henceforward the sword, and not diplomacy, was needed to interrupt the relations
existing between the British and the Indians. In April General Wayne was reinforced by one hundred and fifty Virginians,
commanded by Colonel Posey. This accession was very opportune, as the terms of service of many of the Georgia and
South Carolina militiamen had expired, and they required, in the language of the commanding general, " some
respite from duty and fatigue which they had gone through with cheerfulness and fortitude becoming the virtuous
citizens of America." These Virginians, having marched three hundred miles, were destitute of shoes, shirts,
and overalls, and there were no stores at hand from which their wants could be supplied. Even the governor of the
State and his family were dependent for subsistence upon rations issued by the commissary. Since his induction
into office he had not received from the public treasury money sufficient to procure the necessaries of life. His
poverty and the inability of the State to pay his salary evoked from the legislature on the 4th of May a resolution
empowering Governor Martin to take ten negroes belonging to any person or persons who had forfeited the same, and
appropriate the proceeds arising from their sale to the support of himself and family while he continued in the
administration of governmental affairs. A committee of the House, having inspected certain articles forwarded by
Captain Ignatius Few to the governor on public account, found them to consist of seventy-five pounds of sugar,
nine bushels of salt, and twenty-three gallons of rum. The following disposition of them was ordered: To the president
of the council, two gallons of rum, ten pounds of sugar, and two quarts of salt; to each member of council one
gallon of rum, five pounds of sugar, and one quart of salt; to the messenger of the board, five pounds of sugar,
a quart of salt, and a half gallon of ram; and the rest to the governor to be disposed of as he might deem proper.
In this season of extreme poverty the South Carolinians voted some rice to the Georgians. So difficult of procurement
was transportation that one third was allowed aa compensation to those who brought it from Pocotaligo to Ebenezer.
When called upon for her quota of the expense incident to the support of the continental government, Georgia, at
the moment wholly unable to respond, replied through her agent, " There is not a quarto part of the money
in the State without the enemy's lines, neither is there produce to raise it from, or a sufficient provision to
last the people until harvest."
In the face of such general want Wayne was greatly embarrassed in securing food for his command, but he bore up
patiently and cheerfully under all difficulties. Encouraged by his temper and fortitude his men failed not in their
duties, but in the midst of privations and dangers illustrated all the virtues which appertained to the patriot
and the soldier.
Finding that his territorial command was practically limited to the fortified lines around Savannah, General Alured
Clarke by messengers communicated with the Creeks and Cherokees and invoked their assistance. The blows delivered
by Pickens, Clarke, and Anderson staggered those Indian nations, distracted their counsels, and delayed a ready
response to these entreaties. Finally, the 15th of May was named as the time when a force of Indians would approach
the southern frontier of Georgia to render to the British general the aid which he supplicated. In anticipation
of this accession, and to prevent General Wayne from intercepting the free passage of these Indians, General Clarke,
on the 19th of May, sent out a detachment of one hundred men under the command of Captains Ingram and Corker. Crossing
the Great Ogeechee the next morning and seeing nothing of the expected savages, the men of this command busied
themselves in collecting cattle. Upon recrossing the river they were attacked by Colonel Jackson who drove the
advance guard back upon the main body. Then retreating about three miles, to Struther's plantation, he posted his
men in a swamp on each side of the road and, as Atwood's dragoons approached, saluted them with a volley.
Apprehending that some misadventure might befall his detachment, General Clarke, ordered Colonel Brown (who had
been See Stevens' exchanged shortly after his capture at Augusta) with two hundred and sixty infantry and eighty
dragoons to move to its support. A junction was formed between the two commands at Little Ogeechee causeway, some
eight miles from Savannah.
Informed of these movements General Wayne advanced with his entire available force to intercept Brown, His van
consisted of sixty infantry under Captain Parker, and thirty dragoons commanded by Lieutenant Bowyer. Parker was
ordered to march as rapidly as he could and take possession of Baillou's causeway. Just as he reached the end of
this causeway he perceived, in the darkness, a small body of cavalry in his front. As the opposing forces met,
Parker demanded the countersign. Either through mistake or confusion the British officer " advanced in the
attitude of friendship until it was too late to correct his error." He and eighteen dragoons were there captured.
One escaped and gave the alarm to Brown who, with his cavalry in front, was just entering upon the further end
of the causeway. Lieutenant Bowyer, charging vigorously, caused the cavalry to recoil upon the infantry. The entire
command, thrown into confusion, fell back with a loss of five killed and several wounded. Among the latter was
Colonel Douglass, second in command.
Securing all the direct avenues of retreat toward Savannah, Wayne hoped, on the morrow, to capture Brown, but that
wily officer, conducted by guides having a thorough knowledge of the region, led his command by private ways at
right angles with the direct road until he reached the highway connecting White Bluff with Savannah. Pursuing that
route he reached Savannah in safety at an early hour the next morning.
Some weeks prior to this affair Wayne had overtaken a party of Creek Indians on their way to Savannah for the purpose
of trade. Treating them kindly, and explaining to them the fact that the British force was now closely confined
within Savannah and that the Americans would soon compel either an evacuation or a surrender of that town, he dismissed
them with presents and sent Mr. Cornell with them to confirm at their own homes the good talk which he had given
them. Many of the Indians were thus influenced in behalf of pacific measures. There was one among them, however,
Guristersigo by name, a chief of valor and of control, who, summoning about him three hundred warriors, determined
to march to Savannah in response to the request ofGeneral Clarke. For the following account of what transpired
we are indebted to the accomplished author of " Memoira of the War in the Southern Department of the United
States" —
"This warrior, accompanied by his white men, his guides, passed through the whole State of Georgia unperceived
except by two boys who were taken and killed; and, having reached the neighborhood of Wayne on the 23d of June,
he determined to strike at a picquet of the American corps stationed, as he was informed, at Gibbons' plantation,
directly on the route to and not far distant from Savannah.
" There were two plantations, so called, in the same range of country, both of which were occasionally stations
for pur troops. At this time Wayne himself, with the main body, occupied one, while the other was on the same day
(22d) held by a picquet guard. Not only to avoid Wayne, but to carry this picquet became the object of Guristersigo;
and he acquired through his white conductors the requisite intelligence, with negro guides for the execution of
his purpose.
" Wayne, in pursuance of a system adopted to avoid surprise (of which the Indian Chief was uninformed), moved
every night; and consequently the calculation that he would be on the 23d where he had been on the 22d was unfounded.
The reverse was the fact, which would undoubtedly have been perceived by Guristersigo had he been acquainted with
the custom of the American General, and his plan of attack would have been modified accordingly. Decamping from
Gibbons' late in the evening of the 22d, Wayne exchanged positions with his picquet, and thus fortunately held
the very post against which the Indian warrior had pointed his attack.
"Here the light infantry under Parker (who had been for several days close to Savannah) joined, and being
much harassed by the late tour of duty was ordered by the Brigadier to take post near to his artillery, in the
rear. Knowing but one enemy (the garrison of Savannah), Wayne gave his entire attention to that quarter; and conscious,
from his precautions, that no movement could be made by the enemy in Savannah without due notice, he forbore to
burden his troops with the protection of his rear, because in his opinion unnecessary. A single sentinel only from
the quarter-guard was posted in the rear, on the main road leading through the camp to Savannah, and the very road
which Guristersigo meant to take.
"Soon after nightfall the Indian Chief, at the head of his warriors, emerged from the deep swamps in which
he had lain concealed, and gained the main road. He moved in profound silence, and, about three in the morning,
reached the vicinity of our camp. Here he halted and made his disposition for battle. Believing that he had to
deal with a small detachment only, his plan of attack was simple and efficient. Preceded by a few of the most subtle
and daring of his comrades, directed to surprise and kill the sentinel, he held himself ready to press forward
with the main body upon the signal to advance. This was not long delayed. His wily precursors, haying encompassed
our sentinel, killed him, when Guristersigo, bounding from his stand, fell with his whole force upon our rear.
Aroused from sleep, the light infantry stood to their arms, and the matrossefl closed with their guns.
" But the eneftny was amongst them; which being perceived by Parker, he judiciously drew off in silence and
joined the quarter-guard behind Gibbons' house at headquarters. The General had about this time mounted, and, concluding
that the garrison of Savannah was upon him, he resorted to the bayonet, determined to die sword in hand. Orders
to this effect were given to Parker, and despatched to Lieutenant-Colonel Pogey, commanding the camp, distant a
few hundred yards. Captain Parker, seconded by the quarter-guard, advanced upon the foe; and Posey moved with all
possible celerity to support the light troops, but did not arrive in time to share in the action. Wayne, participating
with his light corps in the surrounding dangers, was now dismounted, his horse being killed; the light troops,
nevertheless, continued to press forward, and Parker drove all in his way back to our cannon, where the Indian
Chief with a part of his warriors was attempting to turn our guns to their aid. Here Guristersigo renewed the conflict
and fought gallantly; but the rifle and the tomahawk are unavailing when confronted by the bayonet in close quarters.
We soon recovered our artillery, and Guristersigo, fighting bravely, was killed. Seventeen of his warriors, and
his white guides fell by his side. The rest fled.
" Now it was discovered that the assailing foe was not from Savannah. Although surprised at the extraordinary
occurrence, Wayne adapted with promptitude his measures to the occasion, and, scattering his troops in every direction,
pursued the flying-Indians. Twelve of them were taken and, after a few hours* captivity, were put to death by order
of the general. One hundred and seventeen pack-horses, laden with peltry, fell into ob hands; and, although every
exertion was made to capture the surviving Indians, they all got back to their distant country. Our loss was small,
not exceeding twelve killed and wounded.
"This bold and concluding scene, though highly honorable to the unlettered Chief, did not surpass those which
preceded it ia the progress of his daring enterprise. The accuracy of the intet ligence obtained respecting the
interior of Georgia, the geographical exactitude with which he shaped his course, the control he established over
his rude band,—repressing appetite for plunder when opportunity for gratification hourly occurred, — and the decision
with which he made his final arrangements, alike merit applause. Guristersigo died, as he lived, the renowned wain
of the Overhill Creeks."
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