The dead towns of Georgia

by Jr. Charles C. Jones

Frederica was visited on the 21st, and there Oglethorpe was saluted with 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]