Chapter XXVII (3)

{732}ner to excite the belief that he intended to attack the center and left. This was at three o'clock in the afternoon. This movement was only a diversion in favor of a body of infantry and New York volunteers, commanded by Sir James Baird, who, under the guidance of an old negro named Quamino Dolly, withdrew unperceived, and by a by-path through the swamp at the South, were gaining the American rear. To this by-path Walton had called Howe's attention in the morning, but knowing its obscurity, the general did not think it worthy of regard. Sir James and his party reached the White Bluff' road unperceived, and pressing forward, attacked Walton's Georgia brigade on flank and rear. Walton was wounded and taken prisoner, and such was the fate of a large portion of his command. At the same moment Campbell moved forward and attacked the Americans in front. The patriot line was soon broken, and, perceiving the growing panic and confusion, Howe ordered a retreat over the causeway across Musgrove's Swamp, west of the town. To that point Colonel Roberts, in obedience to early orders, if the contingency should occur, hastened with the artillery, to cover the retreat. Already the enemy was there in force to dispute the passage. By great exertions, the American center gained the causeway and escaped without loss. The right flank also retreated across, but suffered from an oblique enfilading fire; while to Colonel Elbert, with the left, the passage was closed after a severe conflict. He and his troops attempted to escape by the rice-fields, but it being high water in the creek, none but those who could swim succeeded, and these lost their guns and accoutrements. Many were drowned, and the remainder were taken prisoners. While the British were pursuing the Americans through the town toward Musgrove's Creek, many citizens, some of whom had not been in the battle, were bayoneted in the streets; but when the action was over, life and property were spared. Campbell's humanity and generosity as a man were equal to his skill and bravery as a soldier, and the active terrors of war in the city ceased with the battle. * Yet deep sadness brooded over Savannah that night, for many bereaved ones wept in bitter anguish over relatives slain or mortally wounded. ** Those few who escaped across Musgrove's Swamp, retreated up the Savannah and joined Howe, who, with the center, fled as far as Cherokee Hill, eight miles distant, and halted. The whole fugitive force then pushed up the Savannah to Zubley's Ferry, where they crossed into South Carolina. Howe saved three field-pieces in his flight. ***

When Lieutenant-colonel Campbell had secured his prize by garrisoning the fort at Savannah, and by other measures for defense, he prepared to march against Sunbury, the only post of any consequence now left to the Americans, near the Georgia sea-board. He issued orders to the commanders of detachments in the lower part of the state to treat the people leniently, and by proclamation he invited them to join the British standard. These measures had their desired effect, and timid hundreds, seeing the state under the heel of British power, proclaimed their loyalty, and rallied beneath the banner of St. George.

While arranging for his departure southward, Campbell received intelligence that the garrison at Sunbury had surrendered to General Prevost. That officer had left St. Augus-

* Like credit can not be given to Commodore Parker. For want of other quarters the prisoners were placed on board of ships, where disease made dreadful havoc daily during the succeeding summer. Parker not only neglected the comforts of the prisoners, but was brutal in his manner. Among those confined in these horrid prison ships, was the venerable Jonathan Bryan, aged and infirm. When his daughter pleaded with Hyde Parker for an alleviation of the sufferings of her parent, he treated her with vulgar rudeness and contempt. The bodies of those who died were deposited in the marsh mud, where they were sometimes exposed and eaten by buzzards and crows.--See M'Call's History of Georgia, ii., 176.

** About one hundred Americans were either killed in the action or drowned in the swamp, and thirty-eight officers and four hundred and fifteen privates were taken prisoners. The fort; which only commanded the water, and was of no service on this occasion, with forty-eight pieces of cannon, twenty-three mortars and howitzers, eight hundred and seventeen small arms, ninety-four barrels of gunpowder, fifteen hundred and forty-five cannon shot, one hundred and four ease ditto, two hundred shells, nine tons of lead, military stores, shipping in the river, and a large quantity of provisions, fell into the hands of the victors. The British lost only seven killed and nineteen wounded. The private soldiers who refused to enlist in the British army were confined in prison ships; the Continental officers were paroled to Sunbury.

*** Ramsay, ii., 4: Gordon, ii.. 403; Marshall, i., 293; M'Call, ii., 168; Stedman. ii., 66.

[[[Sunbury taken by the British.--Sketch of the Public Life of General Lincoln.]]]

{733}tine with about two thousand men (including Indians) and several pieces of artillery, on the day when Campbell reached Tybee Island. One division took a land route, the other proceeded in armed boats. They reached the vicinity of Sunbury on the sixth of January, and proceeded to attack the fort.

The garrison consisted of about two hundred Continental troops and militia, under Major Lane, who, when Prevost demanded an unconditional surrender on the morning of the ninth, promptly refused compliance. Prevost then placed his cannon in battery and opened upon the fort. Lane soon perceived the folly of resistance, and after considerable parleying he surrendered. The spoils of victory were twenty-four to the command in the Southern department where we find him in the summer of 1779 pieces of artillery, with ammunition and provisions; and the men of the garrison were made prisoners of war. The Americans lost one captain and three privates killed, and seven wounded. The British loss was one private killed and three wounded. Two American galleys in the river were taken by their crews to Assabaw Island, stranded, and burned. The crews escaped in a sloop, but, while on their way to Charleston, were captured and carried prisoners to Savannah.

The fall of Sunbury was the death-blow to Republican power in East Georgia, and the conquest of the whole state now appeared an easy thing. The march of Campbell to Augusta, under the direction of Prevost, who proceeded from Sunbury to Savannah; the establishment of military posts in the interior; Campbell's sudden retreat from Augusta, and the subsequent battle at Brier Creek, we have already considered. Previous to these events, and soon after the failure of Howe's summer campaign against East Florida, General Lincoln * had been appointed [[Sept. 26, 1778]] and Howe was ordered to the North, at Verplanck's Point.

* Benjamin Lincoln was born on the third of February, 1733. He was trained to the business of a farmer, and had few educational advantages. He continued in his vocation in his native town (Hingham, Massachusetts) until past forty years of age, when he engaged in civil and military duties. He was a local magistrate, representative in the Colonial Legislature, and held the appointment of colonel of militia, when, in 1774, he was appointed a major general of militia. He was very active until the close of 1776, in training the militia for the Continental service, and in February, 1777, he joined Washington, at Morristown, with a re-enforcement. On the nineteenth of that month, Congress appointed Lincoln, with Lord Stirling, St. Clair, Mifflin, and Stephen, major general in the Continental army. He was active during the summer and autumn of that year in opposition to Burgoyne, while on his march toward Saratoga. He was severely wounded on the seventh of October, at Saratoga, which kept him from active service until August, 1778, when he joined Washington. He was appointed to the chief command in the Southern department, in September, and arrived at Charleston in December. By judicious management he kept Prévost and his troops below the Savannah River most of the time, until October, when, in concert with D'Estaing, he laid siege to Savannah. The effort was unsuccessful. In May following, he, with the largest portion of the Southern army, were made prisoners at Charleston by the British, under Sir Henry Clinton. He was permitted to return to Hingham on parole. In November he was exchanged, and the following spring he joined Washington on the Hudson. He was at the surrender of Cornwallis, and was deputed to receive that commander's sword. He was elected Secretary of War a few days after this event, which office he held for three years, and then retired to his farm. In 1786-7 he commanded the militia in the suppression of Shays's insurrection. He was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1787. He was appointed collector of the port of Boston in 1789, which office he held for twenty years, when he was succeeded by General Dearborn. He died in Hingham, on the ninth of May, 1810, at the age of seventy-seven years. He lived with his wife fifty-five years. General Lincoln was temperate and religious. No profane word was ever heard uttered by his lips. A great part of his life he was a deacon in the Church.

* The signature of Howe on page 729 is from a letter written by him under date of "Verplanck's Point, July, 1779."

[[[Royal Government re-established.--Appearance of the French Fleet.--Alarm of the British.--Savannah strengthened.]]]

{734}Several minor expeditions were planned and executed both by Prevost and Lincoln, but they had little effect. The latter arrived at Purysburg, upon the Savannah, on the third of January, 1779, and established his head-quarters there. His force consisted of about twenty-five hundred effective men, and it continually augmented by recruits from the militia. The marches and counter marches of these generals in attempts to foil each other will be noticed while considering the attack upon Charleston in May following, and its immediate antecedent events. *

On the twentieth of July,[[1779]] Sir James Wright returned from England and resumed the government of Georgia. It had been under military rule since the fall of Savannah. Governor Wright did not long remain in quiet, for the strong arm of our French ally held the falchion over the head of British power in the South. Early in September, the Count D'Estaing, with twenty ships of the line and eleven frigates, having on board six thousand soldiers, suddenly appeared off the Southern coasts. He had battled successfully with Admiral Byron in the West Indies, and now he came to assist in driving the British out of the Southern States. So sudden was his appearance off Tybee Island[[Sept. 3, 1779]] that four British vessels fell into his hands without a contest. A plan was soon arranged between Lincoln and D'Estaing to besiege Savannah. The latter urged the necessity of early departure from our coast as a reason for prompt action, and he entreated Lincoln to press forward with his army as rapidly as possible.

From the moment when the French fleet appeared off Tybee, Provost felt uneasy. He recalled his detachments from the advanced posts, and directed Colonel Maitland, who, with eight hundred men, was stationed at Beaufort, to be in readiness to leave that post. He began in earnest to strengthen the fortifications of the city; and Colonel Moncrief, the talented chief of the engineers, pressed into his service every hand not otherwise employed, including three hundred negroes collected from the neighboring plantations. Thirteen redoubts and fifteen batteries, with lines of communication, were speedily completed, with strong _abatis_ in front. Upon these batteries seventy-six pieces of cannon were placed, of six, nine, and eighteen pounds caliber. These were manned by seamen from the vessels of war in the harbor. Several field-pieces were placed in reserve, to be used at any required point at a moment's warning, and intrenchments were opened to cover the reserved troops and artillery.

On the evening of the fourth of September the French fleet disappeared, and Prevost rejoiced in the belief that Savannah was not its destination. Still, he continued his preparations for attack. The works on Tybee Island were strengthened, and the garrison there was increased by one hundred infantry under Captain Moncrief. On the sixth the fleet reappeared with increased force; and on the ninth it anchored off Tybee Island, and landed some troops on the south side of it. Moncrief, perceiving resistance to be useless, spiked the guns, embarked the troops, and fled to Savannah. The English shipping near Tybee sailed up to Five Fathom Hole, and the whole British land force in Georgia was now concentrated at Savannah. The next day all the cannons of the armed vessels, except a few which were left to defend the channel, were brought on shore and placed in battery. Every thing was now ready for an attack.

Lincoln marched from Charleston to Zubley's Ferry, where he concentrated his troops on the twelfth of September. Count Pulaski, with his legion, and General M'Intosh, with his

* On one occasion two American galleys went down the Savannah and captured and destroyed two vessels belonging to the English. Prevost on another occasion sent a party to surprise Beaufort, and capture stores there; and on the fourth of June, Colonel Cruger (who afterward commanded at Ninety-Six), with a party of Loyalists, while celebrating the king's birth-day at a plantation at Belfast, on the Midway, was captured by Captain Spencer. Cruger was afterward exchanged for Colonel John M'Intosh. On the south side of the Ogeeehee, at a place called Hickory Hill, a party, under Colonel Twiggs, had a skirmish with some British soldiers, who attacked them. The enemy lost seven killed, ten wounded, and the remainder were taken prisoners. The Americans had two wounded. Major Baker, with thirty men, attacked and defeated a party of British soldiers near Sunbury, on the twenty-eighth of June, the same dav when Twiggs had his engagement near the Ogeeehee. These were Georgia Loyalists.

[[[American Army at Savannah.--Pulaski.--D'Estaing's summons to Surrender refused.--His Error]]]

{735}command, were dispatched toward Savannah, a little in advance of the main army, to attack the British outposts. Both parties had several skirmishes with the enemy before they reached the French army, already landed at Beaulieu, or Beuley.

This junction effected, M'Intosh returned to Miller's plantation, three miles from Savannah, where Lincoln, with the main army, arrived on the sixteenth, and made his headquarters.

While Lincoln and his force were approaching, the French effected a landing at Beuley and Thunderbolt, without opposition. M'Intosh linked D'Estaing to make an immediate upon the attack British works. D'Estaing would not listen, but advanced within three miles of Savannah, [[Sept. 16, 1779]] and demanded an unconditional surrender to the King of France. Prevost refused to listen to any summons which did not contain definite provisions, and asked for a truce until the next day to consider the subject. This was granted by D'Estaing, and, in the meanwhile, twelve hundred white men and negroes were employed in strengthening the fortifications, and mounting additional ordnance. This truce Lincoln at once perceived was fatal to the success of the besiegers, for he had ascertained that Maitland, with eight hundred men, was on his way

* Count Casimir Pulaski was a native of Lithuania, in Poland. He was educated for the law, but stirring military events had their influence upon his mind, and he entered the army. With his father, the old Count Pulaski, he was engaged in the rebellion against Stanislaus, king of Poland, in 1769. The old count was taken prisoner, and put to death. In 1770, the young Count Casimir was elected commander-in-chief of the insurgents, but was not able to collect a competent force to act efficiently, for a pestilence had swept off 250,000 Poles the previous year. In 1771, himself and thirty-nine others entered Warsaw, disguised as peasants, for the purpose of seizing the king. The object was to plaee him at the head of the army, force him to act in that position, and call around him the Poles to beat back the Russian forces which Catharine had sent against them. They succeeded in taking him from his carriage in the streets, and carrying him out of the city; but were obliged to leave him, not far from the walls, and escape. Pulaski's little army was soon afterward defeated, and he entered the service of the Turks, who were fighting Russia. His estates were confiscated, himself outlawed. He went to Paris, had an interview there with Dr. Franklin, and came to America in 1777. He joined the army under Washington, and, as we have seen, was placed in command of cavalry.

* His legion did good service at the North. Early in the spring of 1778 he was ordered to Little Egg Harbor, on the New Jersey coast. His force consisted of cavalry and infantry, with a single field-piece from Proctor's artillery. While on his way from Trenton to Little Egg Harbor, and when within eight miles of the coast, he was surprised by a party of British, and a large portion of his infantry was bayoneted. Julien, a deserter from his corps, had given information of his position; the surprise was complete. His loss was forty men, among them Lieutenant-eolonel Baron De Botzen. Pulaski was ordered to the South in February, 1779, and was in active service under Lincoln until the siege of Savannah, in October of that year, where he was mortally wounded. His banner, as we have noticed on page 392, was preserved, and carried to Baltimore. He was taken to the United States brig Wasp, where he died, and was buried under a large tree on St. Helen's Island, about fifty miles from Savannah, by his first lieutenant and personal friend, Charles Litomiski. Funeral honors were paid to his memory at Charleston, and, on the 29th of November, Congress voted the erection of a monument to his memory. Like other monuments ordered by the Continental Congress, the stone for Pulaski's is yet in the quarry. The citizens of Savannah reared the one delineated on page 720, in commemoration ot the services of Greene and Pulaski.

[[[Arrival of Maitland--Victory lost by Delay.--Plan of the Siege of Savannah.]]]

{736}from Beaufort, to re-enforce Prevost, and that his arrival within twenty-four hours was the object hoped to be gained by a truce for that length of time. Such proved to be the fact; Maitland, under cover of a fog, eluded the vigilance of the French cruisers, and entered the town on the afternoon of the seventeenth. * His arrival gave Prevost courage, and toward evening he sent a note to D'Estaing bearing a positive refusal to capitulate. The golden opportunity was now lost to the combined armies. **

* Finding the French in possession of the only channel at the mouth of the Savannah which was navigable, when he arrived at Dawfuskie, Maitland, conducted by a negro fisherman, passed through a creek with his boats, at high water, and, concealed by a fog, eluded the French. D'Estaing, ignorant of the geography of the country about Savannah, had no idea that there was any other way than by the regular channel for boats to reach the town.

** Lee, in his Memoirs, says, "Any four hours before the junction of Lieutenant-colonel Maitland was sufficient to have taken Savannah."

* Explanation of the Plan.--1, Georgia volunteers, under Major Wright. 2, Picket of the 71st. 3, First Battalion of Delancey's corps, under Lieutenant-colonel Cruger. 4, Georgia militia. 5, Third battalion Jersey volunteers, under Lieutenant-colonel Allen. 6, Georgia militia. 7, Picket of the line and armed negroes. 8, General's quarters; convalescents of the line. 9, South Carolina Royalists. 10, Georgia militia and detachment of the fourth battalion of the 60th, Lieutenant-governor Graham. 11, Fourth battalion 60th dismounted dragoons and South Carolina Royalists, Captain Taws. 12, North Carolina Loyalists, Lieutenant-colonel Hamilton, Governor Sir James Wright. 13, 14, King's rangers, Lieutenant-colonel Brown. A, First battalion of the 71st, Major M'Arthur. B, Regiment of Trombach. C, Second battalion Delancey's corps, Lieutenant-colonel Delancey. D, New York volunteers, Major Sheridan. E. Light infantry, Major Graham. F, Weisenbach's regiment. G, Second battalion 71st, Major M'Donald. II, 60th Grenadiers, three companies and one of marines, Lieutenant-colonel Glazier. I, North Carolina Loyalists, under Colonel Maitland. The working of the artillery during the siege was under the direction of Captain Charlton. This map is copied from one in Stedman's History, drawn under the direction of Colonel Moncrief. Neither the French nor Americans made any drawings, and hence we are unable to give the positions of the various parts of the combined armies, in detail. The city extended, at the time of the siege, on the west to the present Jefferson Street, on the east to Lincoln Street, on the South to South Broad Street, and contained six squares and twelve streets. There were about four hundred and thirty houses in the city.

[[[Operations of the Siege.--D'Estaing's Proposition to Storm the Works.--Remains of the French Lines.]]]

{737}It was now perceived that the town must be taken by regular approaches, and not by assault. To that end all energy was directed. The heavy ordnance and stores were brought up from the landing-place of the French, and on the morning of the twenty-third,[[Sept. 1779]] the combined armies broke ground. The French frigates, at the same time, moved up to the sunken vessels within gunshot of the town, and compelled the British ships to take shelter under the guns of the battery. Night and day the besiegers applied the spade, and so vigorously was the work prosecuted, that in the course of twelve days fifty-three pieces of battery cannon and fourteen mortars were mounted. Prevost, cautious and skillful, did not waste his strength in opposing the progress of the besiegers by sorties, but reserved all for the decisive moment.

During the twelve days, only two sorties were made; one under Major Graham,[[Sept. 24]] and the other under Major M'Arthur.[[Sept. 27]] Several were killed on each occasion, but the general operations were not affected.

On the morning of the fourth of October, the batteries being all completed and manned, a terrible cannonade and bombardment was opened upon the British works and the town. The French frigate Truite also opened a cannonade from the water. Houses were shattered, some women and children were killed or maimed, and terror reigned supreme. Families took refuge in the cellars, and in many a frame the seeds of mortal disease were planted while in those damp abodes during the siege. There was no safety in the streets, for a moment. Day and night an incessant cannonade was kept up from the fourth until the ninth; but, while many houses were injured, not much impression was made upon the British works. Slowly but surely the sappers and miners approached the batteries and redoubts. The beleaguered began to be alarmed, for their guns made very little impression upon the works or camp of the combined armies, and the hope that Admiral Byron would follow and attack D'Estaing's vessels, lying off Tybee, faded away.

Another promised victory was now before the besiegers, and almost within their grasp, when D'Estaing became impatient. He feared the autumn storms, and the British fleet which rumor said was approaching. A council was held, and when his engineers informed him that it would require ten days more to reach the British lines by trenches, he informed Lincoln that forthwith, or an attempt be made to carry the place by storm. The latter alternative was chosen, and the work began on the morning of the following day.[[Oct. 9]] To facilitate it, the _abatis_ were set that afternoon by the brave Major L'Enfant and five men, while exposed to heavy volleys of musketry from the garrison, but the dampness of the air checked the flames, and prevented the green wood from burning.

Just before dawn on the morning of the ninth, about four thousand five hundred men of the combined armies moved to the assault in the midst of a dense fog, and under cover of a heavy fire from all the batteries. ** They advanced in three columns, the principal one

* These remains are in the southeastern suburbs of the city, about half way between the Negro Cemetery and the residence of Major William Bowen, seen toward the right of the picture. The banks have an average height, from the bottom of the ditch, of about five feet, and are dotted with pines and chineapins or dwarf chestnuts, the former draped with moss. The ground is an open common, and although it was mid-winter when I was there, it was covered with green grass, bespangled with myriads of little flowers of stellar form. This view is from the direction of the town looking southeast.

* Three thousand five hundred were French, a little more than six hundred were American regulars (chiefly North Carolinians), and about three hundred were militia from Charleston.

[[[Storming of the Spring Hill Redoubt.--D'Estaing Wounded.--Death of Pulaski and Jasper.]]]

{738}commanded by D'Estaing in person, assisted by General Lincoln; another main column by Count Dillon. The first was directed against the Spring Hill redoubt * (between 11 and 12 on the right side of the map); the second was to move silently along the edge of a swamp, pass the redoubts and batteries, and assail the rear and weakest point of the British lines, toward the river on the east; the third column, under General Isaac Huger, was to make a feigned attack in front, to attract attention from the other two. Fog and darkness allowed D'Estaing and Lincoln to approach very near the Spring Hill redoubt before they were discovered. Terrible was the conflict at this point just as the day dawned. The French column led to the assault, and were confronted by a blaze of musketry from the redoubt and by a cross-fire from the adjoining batteries. Whole ranks were mowed down like grass before the scythe. D'Estaing was wounded in the arm and thigh early in the action, and was carried to his camp. The Americans pressed forward: Lieutenant-colonel Laurens led the light troops on the left of the French, while General M'Intosh, with another column, passed the _abatis_, and entered the ditch north of the Spring Hill redoubt. Regardless of the destructive storm, the gallant troops leaped the ditch, and planted the crescent ** and the _lily_ upon the parapet. The gallant and accomplished Maitland commanded this right wing of the besieged, and was prepared for a vigorous assault. *** His practiced eye at once perceived the peril of the garrison, if this lodgment should be sustained. He united the grenadiers and marines nearest the point of attack, and ordered Lieutenant-colonel Glazier to lead them to a recovery of the lost ground. Within five minutes after receiving this order, Glazier, at the head of his men, rushed to the parapet, and made a furious charge with the bayonet upon the worried ranks of the assailants. This blow by flesh and vigorous men, could not be withstood. The standards of France and of our Carolina were torn down, and the gallant men who had assisted in planting them there were pressed from the parapet into the ditch, and driven through the _abatis_.

While the carnage was occurring at the Spring Hill redoubt, Huger and Pulaski were endeavoring to force the enemy's works on different sides of the town; Huger, with his party, waded almost half a mile through rice-fields, and assailed the works on the east. They were received with a sharp fire of cannon and musketry, and, after losing twenty-eight men, retreated. Pulaski, at the same time, with about two hundred horsemen, endeavored to force his way into the town a little eastward of the Spring Hill redoubt. At the head of his troops he had passed the _abatis_, banner in hand, and was pressing forward, when a small cannon shot struck him in the groin, and he fell to the ground. His first lieutenant seized the banner, and for a few minutes kept the troops in action; but the iron hail from the seamen's batteries and the field artillery, traversing the columns of the assailants in all directions, compelled the whole force of the combined armies to yield, and they retreated to the camp. Back through the smoke, and over the bodies of the dead and dying, some of Pulaski's soldiers returned, found the expiring hero, and bore him from the field. Already the French had withdrawn, and the Continentals, under Lincoln, were retreating. At ten o'clock, after about five hours' hard fighting, the combined armies displayed a white flag, and asked a truce in order to bury the dead. Prevost granted four hours, and during that

* The Spring Hill redoubt was at the entrance of the Augusta road into the town, on the western side. The buildings of the rail-way station now cover its site.

** The American standards were those of the second South Carolina regiment, embroidered and presented to them by Mrs. Susanna Elliott, three days after the battle at Fort Moultrie, in 1776, and were planted by Lieutenants Hume and Bush. The French standard was raised by one of D'Estaing's aids, who, with Hume and Bush, soon fell, mortally wounded, leaving their colors fluttering in the breeze. Lieutenant Gray, of the South Carolina regiment, seeing his associates fall, seized the standards and kept them erect, when he, too, was prostrated by a bullet. Sergeant Jasper, whom we shall meet hereafter, sprang forward, secured the colors, and had just fastened them upon the parapet, when a rifle ball pierced him, and he fell into the ditch. He was carried to the camp, and soon afterward expired. Just before he died, he said to Major Horry, "Tell Mrs. Elliott I lost my life supporting the colors she presented to our regiment."

*** A sergeant of the Charleston grenadiers deserted during the night of the eighth, and communicated the general plan of attack, to Prevost. This gave the garrison a great advantage, for they strengthened the points to be attacked.

[[[The Siege raised.--Withdrawal of the combined Armies.--Effect of the Movement.--Colonel Jackson.]]]

{739}interval D'Estaing and Lincoln consulted in relation to further operations. The latter, although his force was greatly diminished by the action just closed, wished to continue the siege; but D'Estaing, whose loss had been heavy, resolved on immediate departure. * The siege was raised, and on the evening of the eighteenth[[Oct. 1779]]the combined armies withdrew; the Americans to Zubley's Ferry, and the French to Caustin's Bluff, whence they repaired to their ships at Tybee[[Oct. 20]] Lincoln and his little army hastened to Charleston, where we shall meet them again, besieged and made prisoners of war. These events closed the campaigns in the South for that year. **

The result of the siege was a death-blow to the hopes of the South, and never since the beginning of hostilities had such gloom gathered over the prospects of the future, or so much real distress prevailed in Georgia. *** Toward the sea-board every semblance of opposition to royal power was crushed, and only in the interior did the spirit of armed resistance appear. This increased during the following winter and spring, and at last disturbed the quiet of the royal forces in Savannah. These events, sometimes trivial in themselves, but important in the great chain of circumstances, are related in detail by M'Call, Stevens, White, and other chroniclers of the state. The most important we have already considered; let us now glance at the closing events of the war in Georgia.

When General Greene raised the siege of Ninety-Six, Major James Jackson **** was appointed to the command of the garrison at Augusta. Greene also ordered a legionary corps (composed of part cavalry and part infantry) to be raised in Georgia, and appointed Major Jackson its colonel. As soon as it was organized, Jackson went out with it upon active service.

* The whole force of the combined armies was four thousand nine hundred and fifty, of which two thousand eight hundred and twenty-three were French. The whole British force in Savannah, including a few militia, some Indians, and three hundred negroes, was two thousand eight hundred and fifty. The French lost, in killed and wounded, six hundred and thirty-seven men, and the Americans four hundred and fifty-seven. The whole loss of the British did not exceed one hundred and twenty. Lieutenant-colonel Maitland was attacked with a bilious disease during the siege, and died a few days afterward.

** Ramsay, Gordon, Marshall, Moultrie, Steelman, M'Call. Lee.

*** Indescribable were the sufferings of the people of Savannah, particularly the families of the Whigs. The females were exposed to daily insults from the brutal soldiery, and many, reduced from affluence to poverty, unable to bear the indignities heaped upon them, traveled away on foot, some of them even without shoes upon their feet, and took refuge in the Carolinas.

**** James Jackson was born in the county of Devon, England, on the twenty-first of September, 1757. In 1772, he came to America, and began the study ot the law in Savannah. At the age of eighteen, he shouldered a musket and prepared to resist British power. He was active in repulsing the British at Savannah in 1776. In 1778, he was appointed brigade major of the Georgia militia, and was wounded in the skirmish when General Scriven was killed. He participated in the defense of Savannah at the close of the year, and when it fell into the hands of Campbell, he was among those who fled into South Carolina, where he joined General Moultrie's command. While on his way, so wretched was his appearance, that some Whigs arrested, tried, and condemned him as a spy. He was about to be executed, when he was recognized by a gentleman of reputation from Georgia. Major Jackson was in the siege of Savannah in October, 1779. In August, 1780, he joined Colonel Elijah Clark's command, and was at the battle at Blackstocks. In 1781, General Pickens made Jackson his brigade major, and his fluent speech often infused new ardor into the corps of that partisan. He was at the siege of Augusta, and was left in command of the garrison after the expulsion of the British. He subsequently commanded a legionary corps, with which he did good serviee. He joined Wayne at Ebenezer, and was active with that officer until the evacuation of Savannah by the British. The Georgia Legislature gave him a house and lot in Savannah at the close of the war. He married in 1785; was made brigadier in 1786; and in 1788 was elected governor of Georgia, but modestly declined the honor on account ol his youth and inexperience, being only about thirty years of age. He was one of the first representatives in Congress under the Federal Constitution. He was elected a major general in 1792, and during the three succeeding years was a member of the United States Senate. He was chiefly instrumental in framing the Georgia Constitution in 1798. From that year till 1801, he was governor of the state, when he again took a seat in the Senate of the United States. He held that office until his death, which occurred on the nineteenth of March, 1806. He was buried about four miles from Washington City. Subsequently, his remains were deposited in the Congressional burial-ground. The inscription upon the stone which covers them was written by John Randolph, his personal friend and admirer. There never lived a truer patriot or more honest man than General James Jackson.

[[[Operations of Captain Howell.--Chastisement of the Indians.--Arrival of Wayne.--Skirmish near Savannah.]]]

{740}During the spring of 1781, Captain Howell, the Hyler of the Georgia Inlets, captured several British vessels lying in the bays and the mouths of the rivers on the coast, and finally compelled all that escaped to take refuge in the Savannah.

Military matters in Georgia were very quiet during that summer; but in the autumn, the volunteers collected by Colonel Twiggs and his associates became so numerous, that he determined to attempt the capture of British outposts, and confine them within their lines at Savannah, until the arrival of General Wayne, then march-ins from the North.

Twiggs marched toward the sea-board, preceded by Jackson and his legion, who skirmished with patroles all the way to Ebenezer. Jackson attempted the surprise and capture of the garrison at Sun-bury, but was unsuccessful, and returned, when he found Twiggs ready to march westward to quell the Indians and Tories then assembling on the frontier. Twiggs halted at Augusta on learning that Pickens had marehed on the same errand.[[Jan. 1782]]

That brave partisan chastised the Indians severely. Every village and settlement eastward of the mountains was laid in ashes, and nothing but a heavy fall of snow prevented his crossing the great hills and spreading desolation over a wide extent of country.

General Wayne arrived early in February,[[1782]] and established his head-quarters at Ebenezer. His force was inferior to that of the British in Savannah, then commanded by Brigadier-general Alured Clarke, * and he was obliged to content himself with petty warfare upon outposts and foraging parties, while watching an opportunity to attack Savannah at night. Fearing this, Clarke summoned his detachments to the city, to man the extensive fortifications. They came with provisions plundered from the inhabitants, and applying the torch on the way, left a broad track of desolation behind them.

General Clarke, perceiving the gathering strength of the Republicans, and that he was likely to be shut up within the narrow limits of his lines, sent for the Creeks and Cherokees to come in a body to his relief. They were yet smarting under the chastisement of Pickens, and hesitated. A party sent out to keep a way open to the city were attacked by Major Jackson. Colonel Brown was sent to their aid. He was attacked and defeated by Wayne, after a severe skirmish, but he retreated by by-paths in safety to Savannah.

On the night of the twenty-second of June,[[1782]] three hundred Creek Indians, led by Guristersigo, a powerful warrior, approached Wayne's encampment. He intended to fall upon the American pickets, but ignorantly attacked the main body at three o'clock in the morning.[[Jan. 23]] The infantry seized their arms; the artillery hastened to their guns. Wayne was at a house a short distance from camp, when intelligence came that the whole British force from Savannah was upon him. He leaped into his saddle, rode to the aroused camp, and shouting, "Death or Victory!" ordered a bayonet charge. At that moment his horse was shot dead under him, and he saw his cannons seized by the savages. With sword in hand, at the head of Parker's infantry, he led to the recapture of his field-pieces. A terrible struggle ensued. Tomahawk and rifle were powerless against bayonets, and Guristersigo and seventeen of his chief warriors and white guides were slain. The Indians fled when they saw their leader fall, leaving behind them one hundred and seven-

* General Clarke was governor of Canada in 1807.

[[[Treaty with the Indians.--Cessation of Hostilities.--Evacuation of Savannah.]]]

{741}teen pack-horses loaded with peltry. Wayne pursued the fugitives far into the forest, captured twelve of them, and at sunrise they were shot. The Americans lost only four killed and eight wounded.

In September,[[1782]] Pickens and Clarke again chastised the Indians, and completely subdued them.

Tired of the conflict, and fearful of the scourge which Pickens still held in his hand, they gladly made a treaty by which all the lands claimed by the Indians south of the Savannah Rivcr and east of the Chattahoochie were surrendered to the Slate of Georgia, as the price of peace. This established the boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Indian domain.

Early in 1782, the British Parliament, perceiving the futility of attempts hitherto to subdue the Americans, now began to listen to the voice of reason and of humanity, and steps were taken toward the establishment of peace, between the United States and Great Britain, upon the basis of the independence of the former. On the fourth of March,[[1782]] the House of Commons passed a resolution in favor of peace, and active hostilities ceased. Preparations were now made for the evacuation of Savannah, and on the eleventh of July the British army evacuated it, after an occupation of three years and a half. Wayne, in consideration of the services of Colonel James Jackson, appointed him to "receive the keys of Savannah from a committee of British officers." He performed the service with dignity, and on the same day the American army entered Savannah, when royal power ceased in Georgia forever. * A few days afterward, Colonel Posey, with the main body of the Americans, marched to join Greene in South Carolina. Wayne soon followed with the remainder; hostilities ceased, *** and the beams of peace shed their mild radiance over the desolated state, and gave promise of that glorious day of prosperity and repose which speedily followed.

Governor Martin called a special meeting of the Legislature in Savannah,[[Aug. 1782]] about three weeks after the evacuation. They assembled in the house of General M'Intosh, which is yet (1852) standing on South Broad Street, between Drayton and Abercorn Streets. The session was short, but marked by decision and energy. On the first Monday in January following, the constitutional session commenced at the same place. Every branch of the new government was speedily organized, and the free and independent State of Georgia began its Career. *

* Between the twelfth and the twenty-fifth of July, seven thousand persons, according to British accounts, left Savannah, consisting of twelve hundred British regulars and Loyalists, five hundred women and children, three hundred Indians, and five thousand negroes. Governor Wright, and some of the civil and military officers, went to Charleston; General Clarke and part of the British regulars to New York; Colonel Brown's rangers and the Indians to St. Augustine; and the remainder, under convoy of the Zebra frigate, the Vulture sloop of war, and other armed vessels, to the West Indies. It is estimated that nearly seven eighths of the slaves in Georgia were carried off now, and on previous occasions, by the British.

** Colonel Jackson had a skirmish with some forces on Skidaway Island, below Savannah, on the twenty-fifth of July, and this was the last fought battle for independence, in Georgia.

*** This house is the third eastward from Drayton Street, and is said to be the oldest brick house in Savannah. Broad Street, upon whieh it stands, is a noble avenue, shaded by four rows of Pride-of-India-Trees.

**** Lyman Hall, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was chosen governor in January, 1784; George Walton, chief justice; Samuel Stirk, attorney general; John Milton, secretary of state; John Martin, treasurer; and Richard Call, surveyor general.

[[[Revolutionary Remains.--Visit to Jasper's Spring.--Its historical Associations.]]]

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