Samuel Elbert, born in Prince William parish, South Carolina, in 1743,
was left an orphan at an early age, and going to Savannah, engaged
in commercial pursuits. In June, 1774, he was elected captain of a
company of grenadiers, and later was a member of the local Committee
of Safety. In February, 1776, he entered the Continental army as
lieutenant-colonel of Lachlan McIntosh’s brigade, and was promoted to
colonel during the ensuing September. In May of the year following, he
was intrusted with the command of an expedition against the British
in East Florida, and captured Fort Oglethorpe in that State in April
of 1778. Ordered to Georgia, he behaved with great gallantry when an
attack was made on Savannah by Col. Archibald Campbell in December
of the same year. In 1779, after distinguishing himself at Brier
Creek, he was taken prisoner, and when exchanged joined the army under
Washington, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. On the
3d of November, 1783, Congress brevetted him brigadier-general, and
in 1785 he was elected Governor of Georgia. In further acknowledgment
of his services in her behalf, that State subsequently appointed him
major-general of her militia, and named a county in his honor. He died
in Savannah on the 2d of November, 1788.