Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe - Thaddeus Mason Harris
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[Footnote 1: HARRIS's Voyage, II. 340.]
The difficulties which opposed his success, showed the courage that
could meet, and the zeal that strove to surmount them; and, while
we lament the failure, we perceive that it was owing to untoward
circumstances which he could not have foreseen; and disappointments
from a quarter whence he most confidently expected and depended upon
continued cooperation and ultimate accomplishment. Referring to this,
in a speech in the British house of Peers, the Duke of Argyle made
these remarks: "One man there is, my Lords, whose natural generosity,
contempt of danger, and regard for the public, prompted him to
obviate the designs of the Spaniards, and to attack them in their own
territories; a man, whom by long acquaintance I can confidently affirm
to have been equal to his undertaking, and to have learned the art of
war by a regular education, who yet miscarried in the design only for
want of supplies necessary to a possibility of success."[1]
[Footnote 1: "Laudari viris laudatis"--to be praised by men themselves
renowned, is certainly the most valuable species of commendation.]
A writer, who had good authority for his opinion, declares, that,"
though this expedition was not attended with the success some
expected from it, the taking the fortress of St. Augustine, it was,
nevertheless, of no little consequence, inasmuch as it kept the
Spaniards for a long time on the defensive, and the war at a distance;
so that the inhabitants of Carolina felt none of its effects as a
Colony, excepting the loss suffered by their privateers, till the
Spaniards executed their long projected invasion in 1742, in which
they employed their whole strength, and from which they expected to
have changed the whole face of the Continent of North America; and,
even then, the people of Carolina suffered only by their fears."[1]
[Footnote 1: HARRIS's Voyages, Vol. II. page 340.]
In a letter to Lord Egmont, by Governor Belcher, dated Boston, May
24th, 1741, is this remark; "I was heartily sorry for the miscarriage
of General Oglethorpe's attempt on Augustine, in which I could not
learn where the mistake was, or to what it was owing, unless to a
wrong judgment of the strength of the place, to which the force that
attacked it, they say, was by no means equal. I wish that a part of
Admiral Vernon's fleet and General Wentworth's forces may give it a
visit, before the Spaniards sue for peace. It seems to me absolutely
necessary for the quieting of the English possessions of Carolina
and Georgia, that we should reduce Augustine to the obedience of the
British crown, and keep it, as Gibraltar and Mahon."[1]
[Footnote 1: Letter-book of his Excellency JONATHAN BELCHER, in the
archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Vol. V. p. 254.]
CHAPTER XV.
Oglethorpe pays particular attention to internal Improvements--Meets
with many annoyances--The Creeks, under Toonahowi, make an incursion
into Florida--The Spanish form a design upon Georgia--Some of their
fleet appear on the coast--Oglethorpe prepares for defence--Applies
to South Carolina for assistance--Spaniards attack Fort
William--Dangerous situation of Oglethorpe--Spanish fleet enter the
harbor and land on St. Simons--In three successive engagements they
are defeated--A successful stratagem--Enemy defeated at Bloody Marsh--
Retire and attack Fort William, which is bravely defended by Ensign
Stewart--Spanish forces, repulsed in all their assaults, abandon the
invasion in dismay, and return to St. Augustine and to Cuba.
Of the year 1741 but few memorials are to be found. Oglethorpe resided
principally at Frederica; but occasionally visited Savannah; and,
every where, and at all times, actively exerted his powers of
persuasion, his personal influence, or his delegated authority to
reconcile the jarring contests and restore the social accordance
and peace of the community, while with vigilance and precaution
he concerted measures to guard the Colony against the threatening
purposes of the Spaniards. In reference to his peculiar trials and
vexatious annoyances, are the following remarks, copied from a letter
of a gentleman at Savannah, deeply read in the early history of the
Colony.[1]
[Footnote 1: WILLIAM B. STEVENS, M.D., _letter, October_ 19,1840.]
"The difficulties with which General Oglethorpe had to contend,
were peculiarly onerous and perplexing, not only with the
Spanish foes,--with the restless Indians,--with the clamorous
settlement,--with discontented troops,--with meagre supplies,--with
the defection of Carolina,--with the protest of his bills, and with
the refusal of a just naval protection;--but the officers of his
regiment were at enmity with him and with each other, and crimination
and recrimination followed, disturbing the peace, and weakening the
efficiency of the military corps. At a Court Martial, held in the
early part of January, 1739, composed of thirteen officers, they, in
their letter, dated 12th of January, to the General speak thus--'2d.
That we have observed a great spirit of mutiny among the soldiers,
particularly those of Lieutenant Colonel Cochran's company,' and '3d.
That by evidence given in Court, it appears to us that Lieutenant
Colonel James Cochran was in the knowledge of, and concealed a
mutiny.' The wonder is, that, with such opposing influences, and such
discordant materials, he effected _any thing_. That he achieved _so
much_, under such adverse circumstances, proves him to have been a
firm, bold, intrepid, and sagacious man; to have possessed the most
eminent military qualifications, and those sterling virtues which mock
at the petty malice of the envious, and triumph over the machinations
of malignity."
He was, also, fully aware that, as the Spanish of Florida and Cuba
entertained no good will towards him, they would seek an opportunity
to retaliate his "assault and battery," which, though it had proved
on his part a failure, had been to them a grievous annoyance. He,
therefore, kept scout-boats continually on the look out, to give
notice of the approach to the coast of any armed vessel. On the 16th
of August advice was conveyed to him that a large ship had come to
anchor off the bar. He immediately sent out the boat to ascertain
what it was; and it was perceived to be manned with Spaniards, with
evidently hostile purpose. Whereupon he went on board the guard sloop
to go in search of her; took, also, the sloop Falcon, which was in
the service of the Province; and hired the schooner Norfolk, Captain
Davis, to join the expedition. These vessels were manned by a
detachment of his regiment under the following officers: viz.: Major
Alexander Heron, Captain Desbrisay, Lieutenant Mackay, Lieutenant
Tamser, Ensign Hogan, Ensign Sterling, and Ensigns Wemyss and Howarth,
and Adjutant Maxwell; Thomas Eyre, Surgeon and Mate; six sergeants,
six corporals, five drummers, and one hundred and twenty-five
privates. Before they could get down to the bar, a sudden squall of
wind and storm of thunder and rain came on; and when it cleared up the
vessel was out of sight.
Unwilling, however, to lose the object of this equipment, on the next
day he sailed directly towards St. Augustine in pursuit of the ship.
On the 19th the Falcon sloop, being disabled, was sent back, with
seventeen men of the regiment; and the General proceeded with the
guard sloop and schooner. On the 21st, by day-break, they discovered a
ship and a sloop at anchor, about four or five leagues distant; and,
it being a dead calm, they rowed, till they came up to them, about
noon, when they found one to be the black Spanish privateer sloop,
commanded by a French officer, Captain Destrade, who had made several
prizes to the northward; and the other to be a three-mast ship; both
lying at anchor outside of the bar of St. Augustine. The General
issued orders to board them, when the wind freshing up, and the
English bearing down upon them, they began firing with great and small
arms, and the English returning the fire, they immediately left their
anchors, and run over the bar. The sloop and schooner pursuing them;
and, though they engaged them for an hour and a quarter, they could
not get on board. The Spanish vessels then run up towards the town;
and as they were hulled, and seemed disabled, six half-galleys came
down, and kept firing nine-pounders, but, by reason of the distance,
the shot did not reach the sloop or schooner. That night the General
came to anchor within sight of the castle of St. Augustine, and the
next day sailed for the Matanzas; but, finding no vessel there,
cruised off the bar of St. Augustine, and nothing coming out, the
whole coast being thus alarmed, he returned to Frederica.
There were three ships, and one two-mast vessel lying within the
harbor at the time that the English engaged the sloop and ship.[1]
[Footnote 1: _Annals of Europe_, page 404.]
This summer one of the Georgia boats off Tybee saved a three-mast
vessel which the Spaniards had abandoned, leaving eighteen Englishmen
on board, after having barbarously scuttled her, and choked the pumps,
that the men might sink with the ship; but the boat's men, getting on
board in good time, saved the men and the ship.
It seems that the Creeks, in retaliation of some predatory and
murderous outrages of the Florida outposts, made a descent upon them
in return. This is referred to in the following extract from a letter
of General Oglethorpe to the Duke of Newcastle, dated
Frederica, 12th of December, 1741.
My Lord,
"Toonahowi, the Indian who had the honor of your Grace's protection in
England, with a party of Creek Indians, returned hither from making
an incursion up to the walls of Augustine; near which they took Don
Romualdo Ruiz del Moral, Lieutenant of Spanish horse, and nephew to
the late Governor, and delivered him to me.
"The Governor of Augustine has sent the enclosed letter to me by some
English prisoners; and, the prisoners there, the enclosed petition. On
which I fitted out the vessels, and am going myself, with a detachment
of the regiment, off the bar of Augustine, to demand the prisoners,
and restrain the privateers."
In the early part of the year 1742, the Spaniards formed a design upon
Georgia, on which, from the time of its settlement, they had looked
with a jealous eye.[1] For this end, in May, they fitted out an
armament at Havanna, consisting of fifty-six sail, and seven or eight
thousand men; but the fleet, being dispersed by a storm, did not all
arrive at St. Augustine, the place of their destination. Don Manuel
de Monteano, Governor of that fortress, and of the town and region it
protected, had the command of the expedition.
[Footnote 1: Appendix, No. XXV.]
About the end of May, or beginning of June, the schooner, which had
been sent out on a cruise by General Oglethorpe, returned with the
information that there were two Spanish men of war, with twenty guns
each, besides two very large privateers, and a great number of
small vessels, full of troops, lying at anchor off the bar of St.
Augustine. This intelligence was soon after confirmed by Captain
Haymer, of the Flamborough man of war, who had fallen in with part of
the Spanish fleet on the coast of Florida, and drove some vessels on
shore.
Having been apprized of this, the General, apprehending that the
Spaniards had in view some formidable expedition against Georgia or
Carolina, or perhaps both, wrote to the Commander of his Majesty's
ships, in the harbor of Charlestown, urging him to come to his
assistance. Lieutenant Maxwell, the bearer, arrived and delivered the
letter on the 12th of June. Directly afterwards he sent Lieutenant
Mackay to Governor Glenn, of South Carolina, requesting his military
aid with all expedition; and this despatch reached him on the 20th.
He then laid an embargo upon all the shipping in Georgia; and sent
messages to his faithful Indian allies, who gathered to his assistance
with all readiness.
And now the design of the Spaniards was manifest. On the 21st of June
the fleet appeared on the coast; and nine sail of vessels made an
attempt on Amelia Island, but were so warmly received by the cannon
from Fort William, and the guard-schooner of fourteen guns and ninety
men, commanded by Captain Dunbar, that they sheered off. When the
General was informed of this attack, he resolved to support the
fortifications on Cumberland Island; and set out with a detachment of
the regiment in three boats; but was obliged to make his way through
fourteen sail of vessels. This was very venturesome, and, indeed, was
considered as presumptuously hazardous. For, had a shot from one of
the galleys struck the boat in which he was, so as to disable or
sink it, or had he been overtaken by a gun-boat from the enemy, the
colonial forces would have become the weakly resisting victims of
Spanish exasperated revenge. But by keeping to the leeward, and thus
taking advantage of the smoke, he escaped the firing and arrived in
safety.
After having withdrawn the command from St. Andrews, and removed the
stores and artillery that were there, and reinforced Fort William,[1]
where he left one of the boats, he returned to St. Simons.
[Footnote 1: These two Forts were on Cumberland Island.]
He now sent another express to the Governor of South Carolina, by Mr.
Malryne, informing him of his situation, and urging the necessity of
a reinforcement. This application was not promptly complied with, in
consequence of an unfortunate prejudice arising from the failure
of his attempt upon St. Augustine. But as Georgia had been a great
barrier against the Spaniards, whose conquest of it would be hazardous
to the peace and prosperity of South Carolina, "it was thought
expedient to fit out some vessels to cruise down the coast, and see
what could be done for its relief."[1]
[Footnote 1: WILLIAMS's _History of Florida_, p. 185.]
In the perilous emergency to which he was reduced, Oglethorpe took,
for the King's service, the merchant ship of twenty guns, called the
_Success_,--a name of auspicious omen,--commanded by Captain Thompson,
and manned it from the small vessels which were of no force. He also
called in the Highland company from Darien, commanded by Captain
McIntosh; the company of rangers; and Captain Carr's company of
marines.
On the 28th of June the Spanish fleet appeared off the bar below
St. Simons; but from their precaution for taking the soundings and
ascertaining the channel, was delayed coming in, or landing any of the
troops, for several days; in which time "the General raised another
troop of rangers; and, by rewarding those who did extraordinary duty,
and offering advancement to such as should signalize themselves on
this occasion, he kept up the spirits of the people, and increased the
number of enlistments."[1] He was placed, indeed, in a most critical
situation; but he bore himself with great presence of mind, and
summoned to the emergency a resolution which difficulties could not
shake, and brought into exercise energies which gathered vigor from
hindrance, and rendered him insensible to fatigue, and unappalled by
danger. This self-collected and firm state of mind, made apparent in
his deportment and measures, produced a corresponding intrepidity in
all around him; inspired them with confidence in their leader; and
roused the determined purpose with united efforts to repel their
invaders.
[Footnote 1: The passages distinguished by inverted commas, without
direct marginal reference, are from the official account.]
At this critical juncture, his own services were multiplied and
arduous; for Lieutenant Colonel Cook, who was Engineer, having gone
to Charlestown, on his way to London,[1] the General was obliged to
execute that office himself, sometimes on ship-board, and sometimes
at the batteries. He therefore found himself under the necessity of
assigning the command to some one on station, during his occasional
absences; and accordingly appointed Major Alexander Heron; raising him
to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
[Footnote 1: We shall see, in the sequel, that the absence of this
officer, whatever its pretence, was with treacherous purpose, as may
be surmised by the following extract from a letter to the Duke of
Newcastle, dated 30th of July, 1741; where, mentioning the despatches
sent to Governor Glen, earnestly requesting some military aid, the
General informs his Grace that "Lieutenant Colonel Cook, who was
engineer, and was then at Charlestown, hastened away to England; and
his son-in-law, Ensign Erye, sub-engineer, was also in Charlestown,
and did not arrive here till the action was over; so, for want of
help, I was obliged to do the duty of an engineer."]
On Monday, the 5th of July, with a leading gale and the flood of tide,
a Spanish fleet of thirty-six sail, consisting of three ships of
twenty guns, two large snows, three schooners, four sloops, and the
rest half-galleys, with landsmen on board, entered the harbor; and,
after exchanging a brisk fire with the fort, for four hours, passed
all the batteries and shipping, proceeded up the river. The same
evening the forces were landed upon the island, a little below
Gascoigne's plantation. A red flag was hoisted on the mizzen-top of
the Admiral's ship, and a battery was erected on the shore, in which
were planted twenty eighteen-pounders. On this, the General, having
done all he could to annoy the enemy, and prevent their landing, and
finding that the Fort at St. Simons had become indefensible, held a
council of war at the head of his regiment; and it was the opinion of
the whole that the fort should be dismantled, the guns spiked up, the
cohorns burst, and that the troops there stationed should immediately
repair to Frederica, for its defence. He accordingly gave orders for
them to march, and sent for all the troops that were on board the
vessels to come on shore.
As his only measures must be on the defensive, "he sent scouting
parties in every direction to watch the motions of the enemy; while
the main body were employed in working at the fortifications, making
them as strong as circumstances would admit."[1]
[Footnote 1: McCALL, I. 179.]
The Creek Indians brought in five Spanish prisoners, from whom was
obtained information that Don Manuel de Monteano, the Governor of
St. Augustine, commanded in chief; that Adjutant General Antonio de
Rodondo, chief engineer, and two brigades, came with the forces from
Cuba; and that their whole number amounted to about five thousand men.
Detachments of the Spaniards made several attempts to pierce through
the woods, with a view to attack the fort; but were repulsed by
lurking Indians. The only access to the town was what had been cut
through a dense oak wood, and then led on the skirt of the forest
along the border of the eastern marsh that bounded the island
eastward. This was a defile so narrow, that the enemy could take no
cannon with them, nor baggage, and could only proceed two abreast.
Moreover, the Spanish battalions met with such obstruction from the
deep morasses on one side, and the dark and tangled thickets on the
other, and such opposition from the Indians and ambushed Highlanders,
that every effort failed, with considerable loss.
On the morning of the 7th of July, Captain Noble Jones, with a small
detachment of regulars and Indians, being on a scouting party, fell
in with a number of Spaniards, who had been sent to reconnoitre the
route, and see if the way was clear, surprised and made prisoners of
them. From these, information was received that the main army was
on the march. This intelligence was immediately communicated, by an
Indian runner, to the General, who detached Captain Dunbar with a
company of grenadiers, to join the regulars; with orders to harass the
enemy on their way. Perceiving that the most vigorous resistance was
called for, with his usual promptitude he took with him the Highland
company, then under arms, and the Indians, and ordered four platoons
of the regiment to follow. They came up with the vanguard of the enemy
about two miles from the town, as they entered the savannah, and
attacked them so briskly that they were soon defeated, and most of
their party, which consisted of one hundred and twenty of their best
woodsmen and forty Florida Indians were killed or taken prisoners. The
General took two prisoners with his own hands; and Lieutenant Scroggs,
of the rangers, took Captain Sebastian Sachio, who commanded the
party. During the action Toonahowi, the nephew of Tomo Chichi, who
had command of one hundred Indians, was shot through the right arm by
Captain Mageleto, which, so far from dismaying the young warrior, only
fired his revenge. He ran up to the Captain, drew his pistol with his
left hand, shot him through the head, and, leaving him dead on the
spot, returned to his company.[1]
[Footnote 1: _Gentleman's Magazine_, XII. 497.]
The General pursued the fugitives more than a mile, and then halted on
an advantageous piece of ground, for the rest of the troops to come
up, when he posted them, with the Highlanders, in a wood fronting the
road through the plain by which the main body of the Spaniards, who
were advancing, must necessarily pass. After which he returned, with
all speed, to Frederica, and ordered the rangers and boat-men to make
ready, and all to use their utmost endeavors to resist the invaders.
During his temporary absence on this pressing emergency, Captain
Antonio Barba, and two other Captains with one hundred grenadiers,
and two hundred foot, besides Indians and negroes, advanced from the
Spanish camp into the savannah with drums and huzzas, and halted
within an hundred paces of the position where the troops left by
Oglethorpe lay in ambuscade. They immediately stacked their arms, made
fires, and were preparing their kettles for cooking, when a horse
observed some of the concealed party, and, frightened at the uniform
of the regulars, began to snort. This gave the alarm. The Spaniards
ran to their arms, but were shot down in great numbers by their
invisible assailants; and, after repeated attempts to form, in which
some of their principal officers fell, they decamped with the utmost
precipitation, leaving the camp equipage on the field. So complete was
the surprise, that many fled without their arms; others, in a rapid
retreat, discharged their muskets over their shoulders at their
pursuers; and many were killed by the loaded muskets that had been
left on the ground. Generally the Spaniards fired so much at random,
that the trees were pruned by the balls from their muskets.[1]
[Footnote 1: McCALL's _History_, I. 185.]
The General, returning with all expedition, heard the report of the
musketry, and rode towards it; and, near two miles from the place of
action, met some platoons, who, in the heat of the fight, the air
being so darkened by the smoke that they could not see where to
direct their fire, and a heavy shower of rain falling, had retired in
disorder. He ordered them to rally and follow him, apprehending that
immediate relief might be wanting. He arrived just as the battle
ceased; and found that Lieutenant Sutherland, with his platoon, and
Lieutenant Charles Mackay, had entirely defeated the enemy.
In this action Don Antonio de Barba, their leader, was made a
prisoner, but mortally wounded. "In both actions, the Spaniards lost
four captains, one Lieutenant, two sergeants, two drummers, and more
than an hundred and fifty privates. One captain, one corporal, and
twenty men were taken prisoners. The rest fled to the woods, where
many of them were killed by the Indians, who brought in their
scalps."[1]
[Footnote 1: From the great slaughter, the scene of this action has
ever since been called "the bloody marsh."]
Captain Demerey and ensign Gibbon being arrived, with the men they had
rallied, Lieutenant Cadogan with the advanced party of the regiment,
and soon after the whole regiment, Indians and rangers, the General
marched down to a causeway over a marsh, very near the Spanish camp,
over which all were obliged now to pass; and thereby stopped those
who had been dispersed in the fight, from getting back to the Spanish
camp. Having passed the night there, the Indian scouts in the morning
got so near the Spanish place of encampment, as to ascertain that
they had all retired into the ruins of the fort, and were making
intrenchments under shelter of the cannon of the ships. Not deeming
it prudent to attack them while thus defended, he marched back to
Frederica, to refresh the soldiers; and sent out parties of Indians
and rangers to harass the enemy. He now, at a general staff, appointed
Lieutenant Hugh Mackay and Lieutenant Maxwell, Aids de camp, and
Lieutenant Sutherland, Brigade Major.
While signal instances of heroism were thus honored, he warned the
troops of the necessity of union and vigilance, of prompt attention to
orders, and of maintaining an unflinching firmness in every emergency;
for in these, under God, depended their safety.
Although he thus encouraged others, he was himself filled with
perplexity. He began to despair of any help from Carolina. His
provisions were bad and scarce, and, while the enemy commanded the
river and the harbor, no supplies could be expected. Of all this,
however, he gave no intimation, but, firm and self-possessed,
submitted to the same fare with the meanest soldier, exposed himself
to as great fatigue, and often underwent greater privations. At the
same time his fixed resolution and irrepressible zeal in the defence
and protection of his people, nerved him to further and even greater
exertions.