With a little squadron composed of the Guard sloop, the sloop “Falcon,” and Captain Davis’ schooner “Norfolk” carrying a detachment of his regiment under command of Major Heron, General Oglethorpe on the 16th of August, 1741, bore down upon a large Spanish ship lying at anchor, with hostile intent, off the bar of Jekyll sound. A heavy storm intervening, the Spanish vessel put to sea and was lost to sight. Unwilling to dismiss his miniature fleet until he had performed more substantial service, the General boldly continued down the coast, attacked and put to flight a Spanish man-of-war, and the notorious privateer “Black-Sloop” commanded by Destrade, a French officer, challenged the vessels lying in the inner harbor of St. Augustine to come out and engage his small squadron, remained at anchor all night within sight of the castle, cruised for some days off the Matanzas, and, after having alarmed the whole coast, returned in safety to Frederica.
In the midst of these labors and anxieties incident upon his preparations to resist the threatened Spanish invasion, and at a time when harmony and content were most essential to the well-being of the Colony, Oglethorpe was annoyed by sundry complaints from evil-minded persons. Most of them were frivolous, and a few quite insulting in their character. The publication of two tracts, one entitled “An Impartial Enquiry into the State and Utility of the Province of Georgia,”[105] and the other “A State of the Province of Georgia attested upon Oath in the Court of Savannah, November 10, 1740,”[106]—both presenting favorable views of the Colony and disseminated in the interest of the Trust,—irritated these malcontents and gave rise to several rejoinders, among which, as particularly reflecting upon the conduct of the commander-in-chief and his administration of affairs, may be mentioned “A Brief Account of the Causes that have Retarded the Progress of the Colony of Georgia in America, attested upon Oath, being a Proper Contrast to ‘A State of the Province of Georgia attested upon Oath,’ and some other misrepresentations on the same subject.”[107] The charge was openly made that some of the magistrates at Savannah and Frederica (the principal towns in Georgia) had wilfully injured the people by declaring “from the Bench that the Laws of England were no laws in Georgia,” by causing “false imprisonments,” by “discharging Grand Juries while matters of Felony lay before them,” by “intimidating Petit Juries,” and, in short, “by sticking at nothing to oppress the people.” It was further alleged that there was no way of applying for redress to his Majesty. General Oglethorpe was accused of partiality and tyranny in his administration. In support of these charges various affidavits were obtained from parties claiming to be residents of Frederica, Darien, Savannah, Ebenezer, and Augusta,—most of them, however, being sworn to and verified outside the limits of Georgia. Those who are curious with regard to the contents of these affidavits, so far as they reflect upon the conduct of the Frederica magistrates, are referred to the depositions of Samuel Perkins, John Roberson, and Samuel Davison.[108]
A desire to sell forbidden articles, and to ply trades for which special permission had been granted to others, opposition to the regulation which prohibited the owners of hogs and cattle from allowing them to run at large on the common and in the streets of Frederica, alleged misfeasance in the conduct of bailiffs and under-magistrates in the discharge of their duties, the unprofitableness of labor, overbearing acts committed by those in authority, and similar matters formed the burthen of these sworn complaints. While they tended to distract the public mind and to annoy those upon whose shoulders rested the administration of affairs, they fortunately failed in producing any serious impression either within the Colony or in the mother country. We allude to the subject in its proper connection simply as a matter of history, and to show how ill-judged and ill-timed were these efforts of the malcontents, among whom Pat Tailfer, M. D., Hugh Anderson, M. A., and Da: Douglas should not be forgotten.
The utter destruction of the provinces of Georgia and South Carolina was the avowed object of the Spaniards, who promised to extend no quarter to English or Indians taken with arms in their hands. The struggle was to be desperate in the extreme. To the urgent applications for assistance forwarded by General Oglethorpe, Lieutenant-Governor Bull turned a deaf ear; and the Carolinians, instead of furnishing supplies and munitions of war, and marching to the south to meet the invader where the battle for the salvation of both Colonies was to be fought, remained at home, leaving the Georgians single-handed to breast the storm.[109]
The Gentleman’s Magazine[110] contains the following estimate of the Spanish forces under the command of Don Manuel de Monteano, Governor of Augustine and Commander-in-Chief of the expedition, and Major General Antonio de Rodondo, Engineer General, participating in the attack upon St. Simons island:
“2 Colonels with Brevits of Brigadiers.
“One Regiment of Dragoons, dismounted, with their Saddles and Bridles.
“The Regiment call’d The Battalion of the Havannah.
“10 Companies of 50 each, draughted off from several Regiments of Havannah.