Howe hastened to his camp at Savannah to prepare for the invasion. His little army was encamped southeast of the town, near the eastern extremity of the present remains of the French works. There he anxiously awaited promised re-enforcements from South Carolina, under General Lincoln. The militia from the surrounding country came in very slowly, day after day; and on the morning of the battle which ensued, his whole force was about nine hundred men. Believing the British army to be really weaker than it appeared, he resolved to defend the town; and when, on the morning of the twenty-eighth, the fleet appeared at Five-fathom Hole, where Fort Jackson now is, he prepared for battle. On that morning, Colonel Elbert, perceiving the necessity of keeping the enemy from the advantageous position of Brewton's Hill, offered to defend it with his regiment; but Howe, believing they would march immediately toward the town, rejected the proposition. He placed his center at the head of the causeway; his left, under Colonel Elbert, fronted the rice-fields, and was flanked by the river: and his right, commanded by Colonel Isaac Huger, covered the morass in front, and was flanked by the wooded swamp and one hundred Georgia militia, under Colonel George Walton. Having made this disposition, he detached Captain J. C. Smith, of South Carolina, to occupy and defend Brewton's Hill. His little force proved inadequate; and soon after landing, the British took possession of that eminence. Howe now perceived the superiority of the British force, and at ten o'clock in the morning called a council of war to consider the expediency of abandoning the town. It was then too late to deliberate, for the enemy were forming for attack. It was resolved first to fight, and then to retreat, if necessary.
After Campbell had formed his army on Brewton's Hill, he moved forward, and took a position within eight hundred yards of the American front, where he maneuvered in a man-
* These troops consisted of the 71st regiment of foot, two battalions of Hessians, four of provincials, and a detachment of the royal artillery.
** From the landing-place (which was the nearest the ships could approach) a narrow causeway, with a ditch on each side, led through a rice swamp six hundred yards, to firm ground. The 7lst regiment of royal Scots led the van across the causeway, and was attacked by some Americans. Captain Cameron and two of his company were killed, and five were wounded. The Highlanders were made furious, and, rushing forward, drove the Americans into the woods.
*** More clearly to understand the nature of the attack, defense, and result, it is necessary to know the position of the town at that time. It is situated upon a high bluff of forty feet altitude, and then, as now, was approachable by land on three sides. From the high ground of Brewton's Hill and Thunderbolt on the east, a road crossed a morass upon a causeway, having rice-fields on the north side to the river, and a wooded swamp, several miles in extent, on the south of it. It was approached from the south by the roads from White Bluff, on Vernon River, and from the Ogeechee Ferry, which unite near the town; and from the westward by a road and causeway over the deep swamps of Musgrove's Creek, where, also, rice-fields extend from the causeway to the river on the north. From the western direction, the Central Rail-way enters Savannah. From the eastern to the western causeway was about three fourths of a mile.
Battle.—Defeat of the Americans.—Disastrous Retreat.—The Loss.
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.