fifteen guns from the fort. The Magistrates and towns-people waited upon
him in a body, tendering their congratulations upon his return. Several
Indians were present who assured him that the Upper and Lower Creeks
were in readiness to come and see him so soon as they should be notified
of his presence.[65] In a letter[66] to Sir Joseph Jekyll, under date
19th September, 1738, General Oglethorpe, alluding to the fact that the
Spaniards, although having fifteen hundred men at St. Augustine,—there
being nothing but the militia in Georgia,—had delayed their contemplated
attack until the arrival of the Regular Troops, acknowledges that God had
thus given “the greatest marks of his visible Protection to the Colony.”
He advises Sir Joseph that the passage had been fine,—but one soldier
having died,—and that the inhabitants who had hitherto been so harrassed
by Spanish threats were now cheerful, believing that the worst was over,
and that,—relieved from the constant guard duty which they had been
compelled to perform, some times two days out of five, to the neglect of
their crops and improvements,—they might now prosecute their labors and
make comfortable provision for the future. Realizing the necessity of
opening direct communication between Frederica and the Soldiers Fort at
the south end of the island, on the 25th General Oglethorpe set every male
to work cutting a road to connect those points. So energetically was the
labor prosecuted, that although the woods were thick and the distance
nearly six miles, the task was compassed in three days.
To the Honorable Thomas Spalding[67] are we indebted for the following
description of this important avenue of communication: “This road after
passing out of the town of Frederica in a south-east direction, entered a
beautiful prairie of a mile over, when it penetrated a dense, close oak
wood; keeping the same course for two miles, it passed to the eastern
marsh that bounded St. Simon’s seaward. Along this marsh, being dry and
hard, no road was necessary, and none was made. This natural highway was
bounded on the east by rivers and creeks and impracticable marshes; it
was bounded on the west, (the island side) by a thick wood covered with
palmetto and vines of every character so as to be impracticable for any
body of men, and could only be traveled singly and alone. This winding
way along the marsh was continued for two miles, when it again passed
up to the high land which had become open and clear, and from thence it
proceeded in a direct line to the fort, at the sea entrance, around which,
for two hundred acres, five acre allotments of land for the soldiers had
been laid out, cleared, and improved. I have again been thus particular in
my description, because it was to the manner in which this road was laid
out and executed, that General Oglethorpe owed the preservation of the
fort and town of Frederica.... His fort and batteries at Frederica were so
situated as to water approaches, and so covered by a wood, that no number
of ships could injure them. And he now planned his land route in such a
manner, that again the dense wood of our eastern islands became a rampart
mighty to save. And fifty Highlanders and four Indians occupying these
woods did save.”
We learn from that admirable “History of the Rise, Progress, and
Present State of the Colony of Georgia,” contained in Dr. Harris’
Complete Collections of Voyages and Travels,[68] that “on the arrival
of the Regiment of which Mr. _Oglethorpe_ was appointed Colonel, he
distributed them in the properest manner for the Service of the Colony;
but notwithstanding this was of great Ease to the Trustees, and a vast
Security to the Inhabitants, yet Colonel Oglethorpe still kept up the same
Discipline, and took as much Care to form and regulate the Inhabitants
with respect to military Affairs as ever. He provided likewise different
Corps for different Services; some for ranging the Woods; others, light
armed, for sudden Expeditions; and he likewise provided Vessels for
scouring the Sea Coasts, and for gaining Intelligence. In all which
Services he gave at the same time his Orders and his Example; there being
nothing he did not which he directed others to do; so that if he was the
first Man in the Colony, his Pre-eminence was founded upon old _Homer’s_
Maxims: He was the most fatigued, and the first in Danger, distinguished
by his Cares and his Labours, not by any exterior Marks of Grandeur, more
easily dispensed with, since they were certainly needless.”
The finances of the Trust being in a depressed condition, the General
drew largely upon his private fortune and pledged his individual credit
in conducting the operations necessary for the security of the southern
frontiers and in provisioning the settlers. To Alderman Heathcote he
writes: “I am here” [at Frederica] “in one of the most delightful
situations as any man could wish to be. A great number of Debts, empty
magazines, no money to supply them, numbers of people to be fed, mutinous
soldiers to command, a Spanish Claim and a large body of their Troops not
far from us. But as we are of the same kind of spirit, these Difficulties
have the same effect upon me, as those you met with in the City, had upon
you. They rather animate than daunt me.”[69]
Again, on the 16th of November, 1739, he advises the Trustees:[70] “I am
fortifying the Town of Frederica & hope I shall be repaid the Expences;
from whom I do not know, yet I could not think of leaving a number of good
houses and Merch’ts Goods and, which was more valuable, the Lives of Men,
Women and Children in an open Town at the mercy of every Party, and the
Inhabitants obliged either to fly to a Fort and leave their Effects, or
suffer with them.”
That the Trustees might be fully informed of the condition and needs of
the Province, Mr. Horton,—who commanded the Southern Division during
Oglethorpe’s absence,—was sent to London about the close of the year 1739.
The letter[71] of advice which he bore, contains an interesting account
of the affairs of the Colony. In it General Oglethorpe states that his
Regiment of Foot being unable to perform garrison duty and undertake the
requisite marches on the main to overtake Indians and horsemen, he had
been compelled to associate Indian allies whom he had armed, supplied with
ammunition, fed, and clothed, in consideration of their services. Sixty
Rangers, to act as scouts, had been recruited and mounted. By means of
his boats, and the Colony Periagua,—which had been fitted out with four
guns and a crew of forty men,—he had succeeded in driving the Spaniards
out of the mouth of the St. Johns river. The forts having been originally
built of earth and hastily constructed, had fallen sadly out of repair. To
place them in proper condition was then his earnest endeavor. “Upon the
Hostilities being committed,” so runs the letter, “I thought I should be
answerable for the blood of these people before God and man if I had left
them open to be surprised by Spanish Indians, and murdered in the night
and their houses burnt, and if I did not take all proper means for their
defence, they being under my charge.” With this end in view, he resolved
to enclose the town of Frederica with fortifications. This defensive work
is thus described: “It is half an Hexagon with two Bastions, and two half
Bastions and Towers, after Monsieur Vauban’s method, upon the point of
each Bastion. The Walls are of earth faced with Timber, 10 foot High in
the lowest place, and in the highest 13, and the Timbers from eight inches
to twelve inches thick. There is a wet Ditch 10 foot wide, and so laid out
that if we had an allowance for it, I can by widening the Ditch double
the thickness of the Wall and make a covered way. I hope in three months
it will be entirely finished, and in that time not only to fortify here
but to repair the Forts on Amelia and Saint Andrews. The Expence of these
small above mentioned Works, which is all that I can now make, will not
be great. Frederica will come within £500, St. Andrews £400, and Amelia
£100.”[72]
In the midst of his multifarious engagements and perplexities, in which
General Oglethorpe exhibited the highest executive ability, and an
activity and self abnegation worthy of all admiration, he was embarrassed
by treachery within his camp which well nigh eventuated in the most
serious consequences. A plan,—set on foot by one of the soldiers who had
been in the Spanish service,—to murder the officers and escape to the
enemy with such plunder as could be secured, was discovered in time to
prevent its execution. The ring-leaders were tried, convicted, whipped,
and drummed out of the regiment.
Early in November, 1738, General Oglethorpe took up his temporary quarters
at Fort St. Andrew, on Cumberland island, that he might personally
superintend and encourage the construction of the military defenses
which were being there erected. This island was then garrisoned by the
companies which had been detailed from Gibraltar. In addition to their pay
these troops, for a limited period after their arrival in Georgia, had
been allowed extra provisions from the King’s store. When, in November,
these rations were discontinued, conceiving themselves wronged and
defrauded of their rights, the men became dissatisfied. As the General
was conversing at the door of his hut with Captain MacKay, a turbulent
fellow had the temerity to come up unannounced and demand a renewal of
the allowance. Oglethorpe replied that the terms of enlistment had been
fully complied with: and that if he desired any favor at his hand such
rude and disrespectful behavior was not calculated to secure a favorable
consideration of his application. The fellow thereupon became outrageously
insolent. Captain MacKay drew his sword, which the desperado wrested
from him, broke in half, and, having thrown the hilt at that officer’s
head, rushed away to the barracks. There snatching up a loaded gun and
crying aloud “One and All,” he ran back, followed by five or more of the
conspirators, and fired at the General. Being only a few paces distant,
the ball whizzed close by Oglethorpe’s ear, while the powder scorched
his face and singed his clothes. Another soldier presented his piece
and attempted to discharge it. Fortunately it missed fire. A third drew
his hanger and endeavored to stab the General, who, however, having by
this time unsheathed his sword, parried the thrust. An officer coming
up ran the ruffian through the body. Frustrated in their attempt at
assassination, the mutineers sought safety in flight, but were apprehended
and put in irons. After trial by court martial the ring-leaders were found
guilty and shot.[73]
Thus wonderfully was the General preserved for the important trusts
committed to his care, and so narrowly was a calamity averted which would
have plunged the Colony into the depths of uncertainty and peril. Had she
been deprived, at this trying moment, of Oglethorpe’s guidance, Georgia,
feeble and uncertain, would have been left well-nigh naked to her enemies.
Spanish emissaries from St. Augustine endeavored to inaugurate an
insurrection among the negroes of South Carolina. To them freedom and
protection were promised. Every inducement was offered which could
encourage not only desertion from, but also massacre of their owners.
Of the run-away slaves the Governor of Florida had formed a regiment,
appointing officers from among them, and placing both officers and
enlisted men upon the pay and rations allowed to the regular Spanish
soldiers. Of this fact the Carolina negroes were advised.[74] The
pernicious influence of such tampering with this servile population may be
more readily conjectured than described. Thus did Spain grow daily more
and more offensive in the development of her plans for the destruction
of the English Colonies adjacent to her possessions in Florida. To the
vigilance of Oglethorpe is Carolina largely indebted for her escape from
the horrors of a servile insurrection.[75]
By his personal interview with the Indians at Coweta town, Oglethorpe
had secured the good will of the Creeks, the Cousees, the Tallapousees,
the Cowetas, the Choctaws and the Chickesas, thus thwarting the
machinations of the Spanish and French, and relieving the Colony from
apprehensions of a most serious character. His energies were all directed
to a careful preparation to meet the Spanish storm which was gathering
and almost ready to burst upon the southern frontier of the Province.
Referring to this perilous and protracted journey performed by General
Oglethorpe to propitiate these Indian tribes and secure from them pledges
whose observance was essential to the continuance of the Colony, Mr.
Spalding[76] justly remarks, “When we call into remembrance the then
force of these tribes,—for they could have brought into the field twenty
thousand fighting men,—when we call to remembrance the influence the
French had everywhere else obtained over the Indians,—when we call to
remembrance the distance he had to travel through solitary pathways from
Frederica, exposed to summer suns, night dews, and to the treachery of
any single Indian who knew, and every Indian knew, the rich reward that
would have awaited him for the act from the Spaniards in St. Augustine or
the French in Mobile; surely we may proudly ask what soldier ever gave
higher proof of courage? What gentleman ever gave greater evidence of
magnanimity? What English governor of an American province ever gave such
assurance of deep devotion to public duty?”
But for this manly conference with the Red men in the heart of their own
country, and the admiration with which his presence, courage, and bearing
inspired the assembled Chiefs, Oglethorpe could not have compassed the
pacification and secured that treaty of amity so essential to the welfare
of the Colony now on the eve of most serious difficulties with the
Spaniards in Florida.
On the 5th of October, 1739, at his little town four miles from Savannah,
the venerable Tomo-chi-chi,—Oglethorpe’s earliest and best friend among
the Indians,—yielding to the effects of a lingering illness, died at
the advanced age of ninety-seven years. The General acted as one of the
pall-bearers, and the body of the old Chief, in accordance with his wish,
was interred, with becoming honors, in one of the public squares in
Savannah. In his last moments he expressed no little concern that he was
about to be taken away at a time when his services might prove of special
value to his friends, the English, against the Spaniards, and counseled
his people never to forget the favors he had received, when in England,
from the King, and to persevere in their amicable relations with the
colonists.[77] These injunctions were not unheeded. Toonahowi—the favorite
nephew of the aged Mico—accompanied General Oglethorpe in his expedition
against St. Augustine; and again, leading a party of Creek Indians,
brought off from the very walls of that city Don Romualdo Ruiz del Moral,
lieutenant of Spanish horse and nephew to the late governor of Florida,
and delivered him a prisoner to Oglethorpe. During the memorable and
successful resistance maintained when St. Simon’s island was attacked by
the Spaniards in 1742, this brave Indian, illustrating the valor, personal
courage, and friendship which characterized his distinguished uncle,
remained firm in his attachment to the colonists and rendered valuable
military service. On the 7th of July, although wounded in the right arm by
Captain Mageleto, he drew his pistol with the left, and shot the Captain
dead on the spot. This brave warrior and faithful ally was finally killed
in 1743, at Lake di Papa, while valiantly fighting for the English against
the Yemasee Indians.[78]
The disputes existing between England and Spain culminated in a
declaration of war in October, 1739. On the 15th of November intelligence
was brought to Frederica that a party of Spaniards had recently landed on
Amelia island in the night, and, concealing themselves in the woods, had,
on the ensuing morning, shot two unarmed Highlanders who were in quest
of fuel, and then, in the most inhuman manner, hacked their bodies with
their swords. Francis Brooks,—commanding the scout-boat,—heard the firing
and gave the alarm to the fort, which was garrisoned by a detachment from
Oglethorpe’s regiment. Although pursued, the enemy escaped, leaving behind
them the proofs of their inhuman butchery.[79] Informed of the outrage,
Oglethorpe manned a gunboat and followed in the hope of overtaking the
party. The effort proved futile, and the General, by way of retaliation,
passing up the St. Johns drove in the guards of Spanish horse posted on
that river, and detached Captain Dunbar to ascertain the location and
force of the enemy’s fort at Picolata. This incursion was followed by
another in January, which resulted in the capture of Forts Picolata and
St. Francis, the garrisons being made prisoners of war. In the assault
upon the latter work General Oglethorpe narrowly escaped death from a
cannon shot.[80]
Chafing under these repeated annoyances experienced at the hands of the
Spaniards, advised that the garrison at St. Augustine was suffering for
lack of provisions, and ascertaining that the galleys having been sent
to Havana for reinforcements and supplies, the St. Johns river and the
Florida coast were in a comparatively defenseless condition, the General
deemed it a fitting opportunity to attempt the reduction of St. Augustine
and the expulsion of the Spaniards from Florida. Admiral Vernon was
instructed to assume the offensive against the Spanish possessions in
the West Indies, while General Oglethorpe should conduct all available
forces against the seat of their dominion in Florida. The assistance of
Carolina was urgently invoked, but the authorities at first would not
acquiesce in the feasibility of the enterprise.[81] A rapid movement being
regarded essential to success, General Oglethorpe repaired to Charleston
to urge early and potent co-operation. As a result of the conference which
there ensued, the Legislature, by an act passed April 5th, 1740, agreed
to contribute a regiment of five hundred men to be commanded by Colonel
Vanderdussen, a troop of Rangers, presents for the Indians, and three
months’ provisions. A large schooner,—conveying ten carriages and sixteen
swivel guns, and fifty men under the command of Captain Tyrrell,—was also
furnished for the expedition. Commodore Vincent Price, with a small
fleet, pledged his assistance.
On the first of April General Oglethorpe published a manifesto, in which,
recognizing Alexander Vanderdussen, Esq., as Colonel of the Carolina
regiment, he empowered him for the space of four months to hold regimental
court martials for the trial of all offenders. At the expiration of that
period all connected with that regiment were to be suffered to return to
their homes. To the naval forces uniting in the expedition a full share of
all plunder was guaranteed. To the maimed and wounded, and to the widows
and orphans of such as might perish in the service, was promised whatever
share of the spoils should fall to the lot of the General in Chief. Indian
enemies, if taken captive, were to be treated as prisoners of war, and not
as slaves.[82]
The mouth of the St. Johns was designated as the point of rendezvous.
Runners were sent from the Uchee town to the Indian allies to inform them
of the contemplated demonstration against St. Augustine, and to request a
junction of their forces at Frederica at the earliest moment. This done,
the General returned at once to St. Simons island where he devoted himself
to equipping his forces and collecting the requisite munitions of war.
Anticipating the concentration of his forces, and wishing to reduce the
posts through which the enemy derived supplies from the country, General
Oglethorpe, with four hundred men of his own regiment and a considerable
force of Indians led by Molochi,—son of Prim, the late Chief of the
Creeks,—Raven, war chief of the Cherokees, and Toonahowi, nephew of
Tomo-chi-chi, on the 9th of May passed over into Florida, and within a
week succeeded in capturing Fort Francis de Papa[83] seventeen miles north
of St. Augustine, and Fort Diego[84] situated on the plains twenty-five
miles from St. Augustine. The latter work was defended by eleven guns and
fifty regulars, besides Indians and negroes. Leaving Lieutenant Dunbar
and sixty men to hold this post, the General returned with the rest of
his command to the place of rendezvous where, on the 19th of May, he was
joined by Captain McIntosh with a company of Highlanders, and by the
Carolina troops under Colonel Vanderdussen. The anticipated horsemen,
pioneers, and negroes, however, did not arrive.
From the best information he could obtain,—gathered from prisoners and
otherwise,—General Oglethorpe ascertained that the Castle of St. Augustine
at that time consisted of a fort, built of soft stone. Its curtain was
sixty yards in length, its parapet nine feet thick, and its rampart
twenty feet high, “casemated underneath for lodgings, and arched over and
newly made bomb-proof.” Its armament consisted of fifty cannon,—sixteen
of brass,—and among them some twenty-four pounders. The garrison had
been for some time working upon a covered-way, but this was still in an
unfinished condition. The town of St. Augustine was protected by a line
of intrenchments with ten salient angles, in each of which some field
pieces were mounted. In January, 1740, the Spanish forces in Florida, by
establishment, consisted of the following organizations:[85]
1 Troop of Horse, numbering 100 officers and men.
1 Company of Artillery, ” 100 ” ” ”
3 Independent Companies of old Troops, each ” 100 ” ” ”
2 Companies of the Regiment of Austurias, ” ” 53 ” ” ”
1 Company ” ” ” Valencia, ” 53 ” ” ”
1 ” ” ” ” Catalonia, ” 53 ” ” ”
2 Companies ” ” ” Cantabria, ” ” 53 ” ” ”
2 ” ” ” ” Mercia, ” ” 53 ” ” ”
Armed Negroes, 200 ” ” ”
White Transports for labor, 200
1 Company of Militia, (strength unknown.)
Indians, (number not ascertained.)
It was General Oglethorpe’s original purpose, as foreshadowed in his
dispatch of the 27th of March, 1740,[86] with four hundred regular troops
of his regiment, one hundred Georgians, and such additional forces as
South Carolina could contribute, to advance directly upon St. Augustine,
and attack, by sea and land, the town and the island in its front. Both of
these, he believed, could be taken “sword in hand.” He would then summon
the castle to surrender, or surprise it. Conceiving that the castle would
be too small to afford convenient shelter for the two thousand one hundred
men, women, and children of the town, he regarded the capitulation of the
fortress as not improbable. Should it refuse to surrender, however, he
proposed to shower upon it “Granado-shells from the Cohorns and Mortars,
and send for the Artillery and Pioneers and the rest of the Aid promised
by the Assembly;[87] also for Mortars and Bombs from _Providence;_” and,
if the castle should not have yielded prior to the arrival of “these
Aids,” he was resolved to open trenches and conduct a siege which he
reckoned would be all the easier, the garrison having been weakened by the
summer’s blockade.
About the time of the concentration of the Georgia and Carolina forces
for combined operations against St. Augustine, that town was materially
reinforced by the arrival of six Spanish half-galleys,—manned by two
hundred regular troops and armed with long brass nine-pounder guns,—and
two sloops loaded with provisions.
Warned by the preliminary demonstration which eventuated, as we have seen,
in the capture of forts Francis de Papa and Diego, the enemy massed all
detachments within the lines of St. Augustine, collected cattle from the
adjacent region, and prepared for a vigorous defense.