Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe - Thaddeus Mason Harris
Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23
On the 11th the great galley and two small ones, approached within
gun-shot of the town; but they were repulsed by guns and bombs from
the fort, and the General followed them in his cutter, with attendant
boats, well manned, till he got under the cannon of their ships, which
lay in the sound.
This naval approach, as appeared afterwards, was in consequence of a
concerted plot. It seems that, at the commencement of the siege of
St. Augustine, a Spanish officer quitted one of the outer forts and
surrendered himself to Oglethorpe, who detained him prisoner of war.
He was readily communicative, and gave what was supposed important
information. After the close of the war, he might have been exchanged;
but he chose to remain, pretending that the Spaniards looked upon him
as a traitor. He, at length, so artfully insinuated himself into
favor with the magnanimous Oglethorpe, that he was treated with great
courtesy. On this invasion he begged permission to retire into the
northern colonies of the English, saying that he apprehended that
if he should fall into the hands of the Spaniards, they would deal
rigorously with him. The General, not being aware of any treacherous
design, gave him a canoe to go up the river till he was out of danger;
whence he might proceed by land to some back settlement. Some days
past and he came back to Frederica, pretending that he could not
make his way through, nor by, the fleet without being discovered and
captured. Most fortunately, some days after his return, an English
prisoner, who had escaped from one of the ships of war, acquainted the
General with the treachery of this officer, assuring him that he had
been aboard at such a time, and talked over his insidious project
of setting fire to the arsenal which contained all the powder and
military stores, and that its explosion should be the signal to the
Spanish galleys to approach, and, in the confusion of the occasion,
make an assault upon the fort. This disclosure confirmed suspicions
which had been excited by some of his management since his return;
and he was put under guard. In consequence of this precaution, the
concerted signal could not be given; and the ruinous project was most
happily defeated.[1]
[Footnote 1: URLSPURGER, IV. p. 1260.]
July 12th, two English prisoners who had effected an escape, one
from the fleet, and one from the camp, informed the General that the
Spaniards, not having anticipated such vigorous resistance, had become
restless and dispirited, especially since they had ascertained by
their roll how great was their loss of men; and that the state of the
wounded was distressing. They added that these discomfitures were
increased by the want of water on board the ships, which was so great
that the troops were put upon half allowance, which, in this hot
weather was a grievous deprivation, and that several, from the effect
of the climate, were sick and unfit for service. They apprized him,
also, that they had holden a council of war, in which there were great
divisions, insomuch that the troops of Cuba separated from those of
Augustine, and encamped at a distance near the woods.
This latter circumstance suggested the idea of attacking them while
divided; and his perfect knowledge of the woods favored the project of
surprising one of their encampments. In furtherance of this design,
he drew out three hundred regular troops, the Highland company, the
rangers, and Indians, and marched in the night, unobserved within a
mile and a half of the Spanish camp. There his troops halted, and he
advanced at the head of a select corps to reconnoitre the enemy.
While he was using the utmost circumspection to obtain the necessary
information without being discovered, an occurrence of the most
villanous nature, disconcerted the project. As the particulars of this
have been variously narrated, I am happy in being enabled to give the
General's own account of the affair.[1] In his official despatch to
the Duke of Newcastle, dated at Frederica, in Georgia, 30th of July,
1742, he says,--"A Frenchman who, without my knowledge was come down
among the volunteers, fired his gun, and deserted. Our Indians in vain
pursued, but could not take him. Upon this, concluding that we should
be discovered, I divided the drums into different parts, and they beat
the Grenadier's march for about half an hour; then ceased, and we
marched back in silence. The next day I prevailed with a prisoner, and
gave him a sum of money to carry a letter privately, and deliver it to
that Frenchman who had deserted. This letter was written in French, as
if from a friend of his, telling him he had received the money; that
he should try to make the Spaniards believe the English were weak;
that he should undertake to pilot up their boats and galleys, and then
bring them under the woods, where he knew the hidden batteries were;
that if he could bring that about he should have double the reward he
had already received; and that the French deserters should have all
that had been promised to them. The Spanish prisoner got into their
camp, and was immediately carried before the General, Don Manuel de
Monteano. He was asked how he escaped, and whether he had any letters;
but denying he had any, was strictly searched, and the letter found,
and he, upon being pardoned, confessed that he had received money to
deliver it to the Frenchman, (for the letter was not directed.) The
Frenchman denied his knowing any thing of the contents of the
letter, or having received any money, or correspondence with me.
Notwithstanding which, a council of war was held, and they decreed the
Frenchman to be a double spy; but General Monteano would not suffer
him to be executed, having been employed by him. However they embarked
all their troops with such precipitation that they left behind their
cannon, &c., and those dead of their wounds, unburied."
[Footnote 1: Transcribed from the Georgia Historical documents, by my
excellent friend T.K. TEFFT, Esq., of Savannah. The particulars of
this singularly interesting _ruse de guerre_ are detailed in all the
accounts of the Spanish invasion; and in each with some variation, and
in all rather more circumstantially than the above. See _Gentleman's
Magazine_ for 1742, p. 695; _London Magazine_ for 1758, p. 80;
HEWATT'S _History of South Carolina_, Vol. II. p. 117; McCALL'S
_History of Georgia_, I. p. 184; RAMSAY'S _History of the United
States_, I. 167, and MARSHALL'S _History of the Colonies_, p. 289.]
The Spanish General now deemed it expedient to relinquish a plan
of conquest attended with so many difficulties, and the further
prosecution of which would put to hazard the loss of both army and
fleet, and perhaps of the whole Province of Florida.
"On the 14th of July the Spaniards burned all the works and houses on
the south end of St. Simons and Jekyl islands.
"On the 15th the large vessels, with the Cuba forces on board, stood
out to sea; and the Governor and troops from St. Augustine embarked
in the galleys and small vessels, and took the inland passage, and
encamped on the north end of Cumberland island, at Fort St. Andrews.
"The next day the General pursued the enemy, and, landing where
they had encamped, sent an express in the night to Ensign Alexander
Stewart, who commanded at Fort William, directing him, in case of an
attack, to defend the place to the last extremity; and that he would
reinforce him early the next day. At day-light twenty-eight sail of
the Spanish line appeared off Fort William, fourteen of which came
into the harbor, and demanded a surrender of the garrison. Stewart
replied that it should not be surrendered, and could not be taken.
They attacked the works from their galleys and other vessels, and
attempted to land; but were repulsed by a party of rangers, who had
arrived by a forced march down the island. Stewart, with only sixty
men, defended the fort with such bravery, that, after an assault of
three hours, the enemy discovering the approach of Oglethorpe, put to
sea, with considerable loss. Two galleys were disabled and abandoned;
and the Governor of St. Augustine proceeded with his troops by the
inward passage. Ensign Stewart was rewarded, by promotion, for the
bravery of his defence."[1]
[Footnote 1: McCall, Vol. I. p.188.]
"On the 20th, General Oglethorpe sent his boats and rangers as far as
the river St. John. They returned the next day with the information
that the enemy were quite gone."
A few days after, the armed ships from South Carolina came to St.
Simons; but the need of them was then over; and even of the British
men of war upon the American station, though they had a month's
notice, none appeared upon the coast of Georgia until after the
Spanish troops were all embarked, and their fleet was upon its return
to Havana and to St. Augustine.
In the account of the Spanish invasion, by the Saltzburg preachers
at Ebenezer, are these very just reflections: "Cheering was the
intelligence that the Spaniards, with all their ships of war and
numerous military force, had raised the siege in shame and disgrace,
and retired to Augustine! Doubtless they feared lest English ships of
war should approach and draw them into a naval combat, for which they
could have no desire. Nay, they feared, no doubt, that their own
Augustine would suffer from it."
Devoutly acknowledging the protecting and favoring providence of God
in this wonderful deliverance from a most formidable invading foe,
General Oglethorpe appointed a day of Thanksgiving to be observed by
the inhabitants of the Colony.[1]
[Footnote 1: Appendix, No. XXVI.]
Thus was the Province of Georgia delivered, when brought to the very
brink of destruction by a formidable enemy. Don Manuel de Monteano had
been fifteen days on the small island of St. Simons, without gaining
the least advantage over a handful of men; and, in the several
skirmishes, had lost a considerable number of his best troops, while
Oglethorpe's loss was very inconsiderable.[1]
[Footnote 1: McCALL, I. 188.]
The writer of a letter from Charlestown, South Carolina, has this
remark; "that nearly five thousand men, under the command of so good
an officer as the Governor of St. Augustine, should fly before six
or seven hundred men, and about one hundred Indians, is matter of
astonishment to all."[1]
[Footnote 1: Gentleman's Magazine for 1742, p. 895. See also Appendix,
No. XXVII. for an account of the forces.]
The Rev. Mr. Whitefield, in a letter to a noble Lord, says, "The
deliverance of Georgia from the Spaniards, one of my friends writes
me, is such as cannot be paralleled but by some instances out of the
Old Testament. I find that the Spaniards had cast lots, and determined
to give no quarter. They intended to have attacked Carolina, but,
wanting water, they put into Georgia, and so would take that Colony
on their way. But the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the
strong. Providence ruleth all things. They were wonderfully repelled
and sent away before our ships were seen."[1] "A little band chased a
thousand; and a small one overcome a large people."
[Footnote 1: _Letters_, V.I. let. CCCCLXXXIX. p. 467.]
The writer of the _History of the rise, progress, and settlement of
the Colony of Georgia_, so often quoted in this chapter, closes his
account of this invasion with the following remark: "Instead of
raising and heightening their success, to do honor to the General's
character; we ought rather to lessen or diminish some of the
circumstances, to render it, in such an age as this, more credible.
But we have taken no liberties at all. The facts are represented,
step by step, as they happened; and the reader left to make his own
inferences, estimate, and opinion."[1]
[Footnote 1: HARRIS's _Voyages_, II. 345.]
The Governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Virginia and North Carolina, addressed letters to Oglethorpe,
"congratulating him upon the important services rendered to the
Colonies; and assuring him of the interest which they felt in the
honor he had acquired by his indefatigable exertions, constant
exposure, extraordinary courage, and unequalled military conduct; and
offering their humble thanks to the Supreme Governor of nations for
placing the fate of the Southern Colonies under the direction of a
General so well qualified for the important trust."[1]
[Footnote 1: For some of the letters see the work last quoted.]
CHAPTER XVI.
Oglethorpe, informed that the Spaniards were making preparations for
a renewal of hostilities, takes measures to repel them--Meets with an
alarming accident--Lands on the Florida side of St. John's--Proceeds
towards St. Augustine--The Spanish do not venture out to attack
him--Returns to the Islands--Sees that the Forts are repaired--Takes
passage to England to attend a Court Martial on an insidious charge
against him by Lieutenant Cook--Is honorably acquitted, and Cook is
dismissed from the service.
In the beginning of the year 1743, General Oglethorpe, having
had information that the Spaniards of St. Augustine were making
preparations for another invasion of Georgia,[1] took measures to
repel it; and set out, at the head of a force consisting of a company
of grenadiers, a detachment of his own regiment, the Highlanders, and
the Georgia rangers, and a numerous collection of Indians.
[Footnote 1: "They were so apprehensive of this at South Carolina,
that the fortifications of Charlestown were repaired and augmented."
BOYSE's _Historical Review_, Vol. I. p. 381.]
He came very near being killed in his shallop, while sailing to
reconnoitre St. Augustine; but Providence averted the fatality of the
blow which he received. One of his cannon burst, and a piece of a
sail-yard struck the head of the General, and so wounded him that the
blood gushed from his ears and nose. The injury, happily, was not so
great but that he soon collected himself, and cheered up his alarmed
attendants.[1]
[Footnote 1: URLSPURGER, IV. 2073.]
On the 6th of March he landed on the Florida side of St. John's river,
and attacked a much more numerous party of the Spanish troops than
that under his command, quartered at Fort Diego, forty of whom were
killed in the engagement and pursuit, and the rest made their escape
into the castle.
After this he proceeded to the neighborhood of St. Augustine; and,
having placed the greatest part of his troops in ambuscade, marched
with the rest almost to the walls of the fortress, in hopes that the
Spaniards, upon seeing so small a party, would have sallied out
to have engaged it, in which case he was resolved to have made a
retreating fight, in order to draw the enemy into the ambush which he
had prepared for them. But, it seems, that by accident they discovered
the concealment of the troops, and deemed it prudent to remain in
their stronghold. This stratagem having been frustrated, Oglethorpe,
perceiving that an assault would be unavailing, marched back to the
river, where he continued for some time, expecting that the enemy
would come out, and endeavor to drive him from their territory, but,
as they made not the attempt, and as the affairs of the Colony as well
as his own, required his presence in England, he returned, to make
arrangements for going thither.
Having seen that the fortifications on St. Simons and the other
islands were repaired and greatly improved, Oglethorpe took passage
on the 23d of July, 1743, in the guard-ship commanded by Captain
Thompson, having with him Colonel Heron, Mr. Eyre, sub-engineer, and
several others belonging to the regiment, and arrived in London on the
25th of September, where his personal presence was required to meet
and answer an impeachment lodged against him in the War-office by
Lieutenant Colonel William Cook. As soon as Oglethorpe arrived, he
insisted that the allegations should be examined by a board of General
Officers; but, as Cook gave in a list of several persons in Georgia
and some in South Carolina, who, he said, were material witnesses, no
investigation could be had till they should be heard. In consequence
of this, and other delays, the Court Martial was not opened till the
4th of June, 1744. It continued two days in session; when, after a
strict scrutiny into the complaint, article by article of the nineteen
specific charges, the board were of opinion that "the whole and
every article thereof was groundless, false, and malicious." On the
presentation of the Report to his Majesty he was pleased to order that
the said Lieutenant Colonel Cook should be dismissed the service.
This indictment by one who had been treated with great kindness, and
who owed his preferment to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to the
particular favor of the General, was not only ungrateful, but
insidious and base.
The faithful Annalist of America, the Reverend Doctor Holmes, closes
his reference to this transaction with this just and honorable
reflection: "By the decision of this board, the character of this able
General now appeared in resplendent light; and his contemporaries
acknowledged, what impartial history must record, that to him Carolina
was indebted for her safety and repose, as well as Georgia for
existence and protection."[1]
[Footnote 1: _American Annals_, II. 19.]
And here closes the history of the settlement of Georgia; in a great
degree the project and the furtherance of one man, who must be allowed
to possess the foremost rank among those, who, by well-concerted
plans, and judicious and persevering measures for their
accomplishment, have high claims on public gratitude, as warm and
devoted patriots, and enlightened philanthropists. Embracing in one
comprehensive view the effectual relief of the reduced or neglected,
the planting of a Colony, and the promotion of its progressive
improvement and welfare, it is the appropriate praise of the founder
of Georgia, that, with a sagacity and foresight which are never
sufficiently to be admired, a zeal and fortitude never exceeded, and
a devotedness to the object which never relaxed, he commenced and
carried on the arduous enterprise.
In "An account, showing the progress of the Colony of Georgia in
America from its first establishment; published by order of the
Honorable, the Trustees," London, 1741, is the following eulogy of
Oglethorpe, made by those who best knew how truly it was deserved.
"A Gentleman who may be justly termed the Romulus, father and founder
of Georgia; a gentleman who, without any view but that of enlarging
his Majesty's dominions, propagating the Protestant religion,
promoting the trade of his country, and providing for the wants and
necessities of indigent christians, has voluntarily banished himself
from the pleasures of a Court, and exposed himself repeatedly to the
dangers of the vast Atlantic ocean in several perilous and tedious
voyages; instead of allowing himself the satisfaction which a
plentiful fortune, powerful friends, and great merit entitle him to
in England, has inured himself to the greatest hardships that any the
meanest inhabitant of this new Colony could be exposed to; his diet
has been mouldy bread, or boiled rice instead of bread, salt beef,
pork, &c., his drink has been water; and his bed the damp earth,
without any other covering than the canopy of heaven to shelter him:
and all this to set an example to this new Colony how they might bear
with such hardships in their new settlement."
A recent publication bestows also a tribute of commendation, in the
following terms: "As governor of the new Colony, he was exposed to
numberless difficulties and vexations; but persevered with great ardor
in the scheme, and expended large sums out of his private fortune with
a view to ensure its success."[1]
[Footnote 1: GEORGIAN AERA; or _Memoirs of the most eminent persons
who have flourished in Great Britain from the accession of George I.
to the death of George IV_. Lond. 1834. 4 vol. Vol. II. p. 43.]
I give, also, an extract from "lines to General Oglethorpe, on the
settlement of Georgia," published in the _South Carolina Gazette,
June_, 1733.
"The fame of Tyrants should, if justice swayed,
Be bowled through deserts their ambition made;
But OGLETHORPE has gained a well-earned praise,
Who made the heirs of want, the lords of ease:
The gloomy wood to plenteous harvests changed,
And founded cities where the wild beasts ranged.
Then may the great reward assigned by fate
Crown his own wish to see the work complete!"
CHAPTER XVII.
Oglethorpe's residence in England--Marriage--Military appointments--A
Major General under the Duke of Cumberland for the suppression of
the rebellion in 1745--Arraigned at a Court Martial and
acquitted--Domestic and social life, and character--Death.
Having accomplished the great design of settling the Colony of
Georgia, watched over its nascent feebleness, cherished its growth,
defended it from invasion, vindicated its rights, and advanced its
interests and welfare, Oglethorpe resigned the superintendence and
government into other hands, and retired to his country seat at
Godalming, "to rest under the shade of his own laurels."
In March, 1744, he was appointed one of the officers under Field
Marshal, the Earl of Stair, to oppose the expected invasion from
France.
Having been so happy as to form a tender attachment to an amiable
lady, which was reciprocated, he married, on the 15th of September,
1744, Elizabeth, the only daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, Baronet, of
Cranham Hall, Essex.[1]
[Footnote 1: On this occasion some congratulatory verses were written
by the Rev. MOSES BROWN, and printed in the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol.
XIV. p. 558.]
His chief residence was at his country seat; but he spent his winters
in the venerable family mansion in St. James, Westminster, London, to
attend his duties as member of Parliament and enjoy the society of men
of the first respectability for rank, talents, and literature.
On the 25th of March, 1745, he was promoted to the rank of Major
General; and the Rebellion breaking out in that year, he was placed at
the head of four companies of cavalry, one of which bore the title
of "Georgia Rangers."[1] They had been raised at the expense of some
loyal individuals, to act against the insurgents; "and," (says an
Historian who had the best authority for the declaration,)[2] "they
did very signal service to their country." Their uniform was blue,
faced with red; and they wore green cockades. They did not encamp with
the foot, but were quartered in the towns.
[Footnote 1: Marshal Wade, the Commander in Chief, had under him
the following officers, viz.: Lieutenant Generals Lord Tyrawly, and
Wentworth; the Major Generals Howard, Huske, and Oglethorpe; and the
Brigadier Generals Mordaunt and Chemondelly.]
[Footnote 2: See _Impartial History of the Rebellion in 1745, from
authentic memoirs, particularly the Journal of a General Officer; and
other original papers; with the characters of the persons principally
concerned_. By SAMUEL BOYSE. 8vo. Dublin. 1748. p. 80.]
As this expedition was commenced late in the fall, the King's troops
were retarded in their operations by the rigor of the season, their
late forced marches, and a most uncomfortable diarrhoea, which
prevailed among the soldiers; but good quarters, proper refreshments,
and the extraordinary care of their officers, relieved these
difficulties, and put the army into so good a condition as enabled
them to go through the campaign with fewer inconveniences and much
less loss than could reasonably be expected, considering the great
hardships and excessive fatigues to which they were exposed.
As soon as Marshal Wade had intelligence at Newcastle of the route
which the rebels had taken, he resolved, notwithstanding the severity
of the season, to march thence to the relief of Carlisle. Accordingly,
on the 16th of November, the army began to move for that purpose. His
Excellency intended to have begun his march as soon as it was light;
but, moving from the left, the troops which had the van, delayed their
motions several hours, to the great prejudice of the expedition; for
the weather being extremely cold, and the travelling impeded by a deep
snow, or made rough by frozen ground, the troops suffered very
much. The Major Generals Howard and Oglethorpe, and the Brigadiers,
Cholmondley and Mordaunt, marched on foot at the head of the infantry
to encourage the soldiers. It was eight at night and very dark before
the front line got into the camp at Ovington; and though the soldiers
resolutely pressed forward, yet, the roads being terribly broken and
full of ice, it was foreseen that many of the last column might drop,
through excessive fatigue; and therefore the Major Generals Huske and
Oglethorpe sent out countrymen with lights and carts to assist the
rear guard, and bring up the tired men. In this service they were
employed till near nine the next morning.
On the 17th the Marshal continued his march to Hexham, where he
arrived, with the first line, about four in the afternoon, but the
rear of the army did not come up till near midnight. Having received
intelligence that Carlisle had surrendered, he resolved to march back
to Newcastle; but, the weather continuing bad, and the roads become in
a manner impassable, he did not arrive there with his army till the
16th; and, even then, the forces under his command were so exhausted
by fatigue, and lamed by travelling, that, if it had not been for the
great care taken of them by the people of Newcastle, they must have
been, not only disheartened, but disqualified for service.