Georgia Natural Wonder #106 - Savannah – Chatham Co. - Revolutionary (Part 3). 813

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Georgia Natural Wonder #106 - Savannah – Chatham County - Revolutionary (Part 3)

We already covered the natural Wonder of Savannah with visits to the multiple swamps on the Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers. We took a deep dive into Colonial Georgia. Now we focus on the conflict that made Savannah and Chatham County American instead of English.

Revolutionary War Savannah and Georgia

As we discussed in post 2 on Chatham County and Savannah, the Liberty Boys were Georgian colonists who were angered with Great Britain's Acts. They were part of a greater group called the Sons of Liberty. They were an essential part of the American Revolution, and we believe they helped pursue freedom for Georgia colonists. The Stamp Act troubled the group, and they helped enforce a boycott, but had difficulties with finding support. Only one-third of Georgia would side with these liberators, the ones who called themselves Whigs. Whigs were those who believed that Georgia should have self-government for the colonists. The other third of Georgia was loyalists or Tories who were against the Whigs. And yet, the other third were those who did not want to choose side, possibly out of fear of picking the losing side. The Liberty Boys needed more supporters than a third of their colony. I suppose this is why Georgia was never fully with the rebellious congresses or colonial leaders; they hardly could make up their minds as to whose side they were on!


English Savannah.

Georgia was having its own difficulties at this time, with an Indian uprisal that lasted through the first 10 months of 1774. Even so, the Liberty Boys gathered at Tondee's Tavern in Savannah on August 10, 1774, against the warning of England's Royal Governor James Wright, and issued their own proclamation. Among those in attendance were Noble W. Jones (who had repeatedly been elected Speaker of the House of Commons over the preceding years, only to have Governor Wright dissolve the legislature as a result), Joseph Habersham (son of the President of the Royal Council), and Jonathan Bryan (a member of the Royal Council himself, who resigned his seat to join the revolutionary cause). The Liberty Boys also created a committee to send relief aid to Boston. They would end up collecting and sending 579 barrels of rice.



But Georgia was still divided. On September 7, 1774, the Georgia Gazette printed a letter from a hundred leading citizens downplaying the significance of the August 10 meeting. Their sister colonies were calling for a Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia in September. But aware that they did not (yet) speak for the majority of people in the colony, and with an Indian uprising going on in the backcountry, the Liberty Boys decided not to elect delegates.But South Carolina did, with the full sanction of the South Carolina House of Commons, and when the delegates returned home they immediately went about the business of bringing their reluctant neighbors on-board. By this time the Indian uprising in the Georgia backcountry had been put to rest, and the South Carolinians found many willing partners, especially in the coastal region, much like in the Stamp Act days.



In the Spring of 1775, the call went out to elect delegates to a Second Continental Congress, but only 5 of the 12 Georgia parishes complied (all coastal parishes). One delegate, Lyman Hall, from St. John's Parish (present-day Liberty County), chose to attend the Continental Congress anyway as a non-voting member. But the other delegates, feeling they still did not represent the majority of Georgians, sent their embarrassed regrets to the Continental Congress instead. Part of the problem that the Georgia revolutionaries had in getting a quorum to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress was that Governor Wright had once again prorogued (suspended) the state assembly to prevent them from meeting and approving a delegation. But once the danger had passed, the Governor called the assembly back into session on May 9, 1775. This time would be different, however, in that the House of Commons refused to come back.


Hall.

Then, the next day, Georgia received news that changed everything. British troops stationed in Boston had marched into the Massachusetts countryside to seize armaments stored by local militia, and shots were exchanged at Lexington and Concord. Neutrality was now becoming impossible. The Liberty Boys took the bull by the horns the next day and seized 600 pounds of gunpowder, as described yesterday. When news got to Governor Wright, he offered a reward to anyone with information leading to the culprits. Nobody responded. Within a month, revolutionary fervor had gained such a hold in Georgia, that the Governor requested to return home to Britain. At about the same time he wrote a letter to General Gage complaining that the "friends of Government" were "naked and exposed to the resentment of an enraged people", and another letter to Admiral Graves asking for a "sloop of war of some force".



Unfortunately for the Governor, these letters never got through. On their way through South Carolina, which was by now for all intents and purposes operating as an autonomous state, the letters were intercepted by the Liberty Boys and forwarded to the Continental Congress. The Liberty Boys then forged new letters over Governor Wright's signature saying that everything in Georgia was peaceful and calm, and forwarded them to the General and the Admiral.



But of course things were not peaceful and calm, and on June 21 a meeting of the Liberty Boys in Savannah formed its own Council of Safety. Then on July 4, 1775, a provincial Congress gathered in Savannah for the first time with elected representatives from all 12 Georgia parishes. Many of the representatives of this new Congress were the members of the Georgia House of Commons, which would never meet again as a representative body. The new Congress resolved that it would "put this Province upon the same footing with our sister colonies" and promptly elected 5 delegates who would be sent to the Continental Congress.


Heading north to congress.

While the Provincial Congress was in session, the Liberty Boys seized a shipment of gunpowder at Tybee Island. Then on July 14, the congressional delegates agreed on the allocation of representatives among the parishes and gave the franchise to male taxpayers, although those residents who refused to sign a petition supporting the resolutions of the Congress were given eight days to leave the province (and as we have seen with Thomas Brown, a few fared even worse).


We have made several tangents on Thomas Burnfoot Brown in many GNW post already.

In the final months of 1775 and the early months of 1776, the torch passed to a new generation of Georgians. Two well-respected loyalists on the Royal Council died - Noble Jones in November, 1775, and James Habersham (President of the Council and one time Acting Governor) in August 1775. All four of the sons of these two esteemed gentlemen were Liberty Boys. Habersham's three sons were very active revolutionaries, particularly Joseph Habersham, as we've seen already and shall see again below. Noble Jones' son, Noble W. Jones, was a leading revolutionary who had been elected to represent Georgia in the Second Continental Congress. He did not attend, however, so he could tend to his dying father. Instead he stayed in Georgia and served as a leading member of the Council of Safety.



Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, the Georgia delegation to the Second Continental Congress was welcomed with open arms on September 13, 1775. The five Georgia delegates had been appointed in a resolution passed by the Georgia Provincial Congress, and while that resolution had spelled out many grievances against the Mother Country, it also made it clear that Georgia was not yet ready to cut the umbilical cord. But by the time the Georgia delegation arrived, the Continental Congress had already been in session for 4 months, battles had already been fought at Fort Ticonderoga and Bunker Hill, and King George III had issued a Royal Proclamation accusing the Americans of "traitorous conspiracies and attempts against us, our crown, and dignity." So the "thought of a separation" was clearly in the air. This proved hard to swallow for one of the Georgia delegates, Reverend Joachim Zubly. Reverend Zubly was as impassioned as anyone about the protection of American rights, but he was also firmly opposed to independence, believing that "a Republic was little better than a government of devils."



August, 1775: The Council of Safety requests that Governor Wright allow the provincial militia to elect its own officers. Fearing that this would lead to the election of revolutionary officers, the Governor refuses. The militia elect their own officers anyway. Loyalist officers are purged from the ranks and the militia effectively comes under control of the Council of Safety.


Georgia Militia.

September, 1775: The Council of Safety takes control of the Savannah customs house. Another shipment of gunpowder from Britain is seized on Tybee Island (250 barrels this time). Governor Wright writes to the Earl of Dartmouth.



October, 1775: Revolutionaries take over a fort in the "ceded lands" on the Indian frontier, fearing that royal troops there might encourage an Indian uprising. Governor Wright says "The Poison has infected the whole Province, and neither Law, Government, nor Regular Authority has any weight or is at all attended to."



By November 9th, Reverend Zubly had had enough. He refused to sign an Agreement of Secrecy and left the convention, returning to Georgia as a Loyalist. But the rest of the delegation went on, and soon they were joined by two more Georgia delegates, replacements for Reverend Zubly and Noble W. Jones. And as the war persisted, as the British government began to employ the same heavy-handed methods against Georgia as they had elsewhere, the Continental Congress, the colonies, and Georgia moved closer and closer to independence. In December, 1775, The Provincial Congress takes all the provincial courts under its jurisdiction. The British government enacts the Prohibitory Act, which extends the colonial blockade (which had previously been extended from New England to South Carolina), to cover the entire American coast, including Georgia. A letter is sent to Governor Wright directing him to seize all property of the rebels.



January, 1776: At the request of the Continental Congress, Georgia forms a battalion in the Continental Army, led by Colonel Lachlan McIntosh. Joseph Habersham is commissioned a Major, and his younger brother, John Habersham, is commissioned a First Lieutenant.Three British warships arrive at Savannah. The Council of Safety responds by sending a party led by Major Joseph Habersham to arrest Governor Wright. Habersham walks into Wright's home and interrupts a meeting of his council, putting his hand on the Governor's shoulder and telling him, "Sir James, you are my prisoner." The meeting disperses peacefully and Governor Wright remains under house arrest.



February 1776: Governor Wright sneaks out of his house in the middle of the night and takes refuge aboard a British warship. He would remain there for several weeks before sailing back to London.


Wright.

March 1776: British forces in Savannah Harbor attempt to confiscate eleven ships laden with rice and other provisions. They are attacked by a force led by Colonel Lachlan McIntosh and Major Habersham in what came to be known as the Battle of the Rice Boats. On March 1, British ships Scarborough, Tamar, Cherokee, and Hinchinbrook sailed up the Savannah River to Five-Fathom Hole, accompanying transports carrying two to three hundred men under Grant's command. Hinchinbrook and one of the transports then sailed up the Back River. The transport anchored opposite the port area, while Hinchinbrook, in an attempt to take a position above the town, grounded on a sandbank in the river. Gunfire from Joseph Habersham's militia cleared Hinchinbrook's decks, but without suitable boats, Habersham was unable to attempt the taking of the vessel, which floated free on the next high tide. Late on the evening of March 2, Grant's men were landed on Hutchinson Island. They made their way across the island, and, at 4:00 am on March 3, took over a number of the rice boats anchored near the island. Due to their success at remaining quiet, and possibly with the collusion of the ship captains, the alarm was not raised in Savannah until 9:00 am. The arrival of the ships on March 1 prompted the Committee of Safety to issue calls for the defense of the town and the ships, which were forwarded along with a request for assistance to South Carolina's Committee of Safety the next day.



When the alarm was raised, Colonel McIntosh took 300 militiamen and set up three 4-pound cannons on Yamacraw Bluff. He then sent Lieutenant Daniel Roberts and Major Raymond Demeré II under a parley flag to one of the occupied ships; they were promptly arrested. When a second, larger, parley arrived to discuss the release of the two captives and the ships, the situation turned nasty when Captain Rogers, leader of the party, was insulted. After he fired at someone on the occupied ship, the British responded in kind, wounding one and very nearly sinking the parley group's boat. Following that boat's retreat, McIntosh opened fire with the cannons on the bluff, beginning a gunbattle that lasted for four hours.



The Committee of Safety, when it met to discuss the situation, decided that the supply ships should be burned, and a company of militia was assembled to accomplish this task. One supply ship, Inverness, was torched and set adrift toward the occupied vessels, causing a scramble as the British troops hurried to abandon them in the face of the arriving fire ship. During the confusion, the Patriot militia and battery were active, raking the scurrying British crews with musket fire and grape shot. Two of the occupied vessels managed to get away downstream, and two more escaped the flames by going upstream, but were forced to dock, and their crews were taken prisoner. Three ships succumbed to the flames, which burned well into the night. The action was assisted by the timely arrival of 500 South Carolina militia sent in response to the earlier appeal.



April 1776: The Provincial Congress drafts a temporary constitution for the province and elects Archibald Bulloch President and Commander in Chief. Georgia is now effectively an autonomous state.



On April 5, 1776, the Georgia Provincial Congress gave the delegation new instructions, giving them free reign to do as they saw fit. After a dozen years as the laggard and the odd-man-out of the American colonies, Georgia would now leap-frog ahead and join the "radical" camp. It was now Georgia's turn to wait for the moderates to get off the fence and make the move towards "Independency".


Signing Declaration.

Once the Liberty Boys arrested Governor James Wright, the supporters came filing in. Georgia got up the courage to form a petition to send to the king, have leaders like Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton sign the Declaration of Independence (a document declaring independence from Great Britain), and fight in battles. If the Liberty Boys had not helped rid Georgia of the British government rule (its royal colony), Georgia might not have been an independent colony  as the other twelve were. When Great Britain finally surrendered at Yorktown, I am sure that many Georgians could agree that the Georgia colony gained there much needed freedom from the help of the Liberty Boys.



Three men who lived or maintained professional connections in Savannah were Georgia's signers of the Declaration of Independence and we covered them extensively in earlier post: Button Gwinnett (GNW #31 - St. Catherines Island), Lyman Hall ( GNW #33 (Part 2) - Coast of Liberty County Part 2), and George Walton (GNW #58 - Augusta Canal - Savannah River Rapids - Augusta Georgia Part 2)


left side of document where Georgia signed.

News of the signing didn't reach Georgia until August 10. When it did, there were celebrations and readings all over Savannah. A crowd "larger than had ever been congregated in the history of Savannah" carried an effigy of the coffin of King George III to the courthouse, where it was buried and a proclamation was read.



August 1776, 400 South Carolina troops arrive in Savannah to participate in the First Florida Expedition. General Charles Lee reviews the troops on Yamacraw Green and lead elements of the First Florida Expedition leave Savannah. All available troops ordered to Darien, Fort Howe, Beard's Bluff and Fort McIntosh to protect the borders of the state. Lachlan McIntosh orders William McIntosh to build a fort (Fort McIntosh) on the Satilla River to protect settlers from the Florida Rangers.


Lee.

In January of 1777, at the behest of the 2nd Continental Congress, a "Committee of Seven" is appointed to revise the Rules and Regulations of 1776. Button Gwinnett, William Belcher, Joseph Wood, Josiah Lewis, John Adam Treutlen, Henry Jones and George Wells are chosen.


Like Button Gwinnett, Wells was killed in a duel later in Augusta.

February 1777, Glynn - Liberty - Richmond - Wilkes - Chatham - Effingham - Burke - and Camden County were created. And the State constitution was agreed upon unanimously. Archibald Bulloch given the powers of the executive branch of the government; he dies under unusual circumstances the same day just hours after Georgia’s Council of Safety grants him the powers of a dictator in expectation of a British invasion.


Bulloch was a family man.

The cause of his death remains unknown but unsubstantiated rumors of his poisoning persist. he is the grandfather of Teddy Roosevelt.

Battle of Fort McIntosh.

The fort was a square log and earth structure about 100 feet on each side with a bastion at each corner. The fort was garrisoned by 40 men from the 3rd South Carolina Regiment and 20 Continentals from the 1st Brigade Georgia Militia, under command of Captain Richard Winn. On February 17, 1777, the base was attacked by Tories and Indians and forced to surrender the next day. All of the prisoners were released with the exception of two officers who were taken as hostages to St. Augustine, Florida.



March 1777, Georgia's Council of Safety gives President Button Gwinnett the authority to organize the militia and proceed with an attack on Florida. This is known as the Second Florida Expedition. Button Gwinnett, as head of the executive branch of the state of Georgia, orders George McIntosh be arrested on the charge of treason. Unable to raise a militia large enough to accomplish his goals, Button Gwinnett requests the assistance of Continental commander Lachlan McIntosh to help launch the Second Florida Expedition.



Both Armies arrive in Sunbury in April 1777. Gwinnett, as leader of the militia, attempts to call a council of war. McIntosh and his commanders, trained Continental soldiers, cannot believe that a politician with no military experience has called such a council and do not attend. General Lachlan McIntosh begins to move his Continentals south. Gwinnett orders his militia to stay in Sunbury. When McIntosh finds out about Gwinnett's order he tries to draw supplies to which he is entitled from the quartermaster. Gwinnett has the quartermaster refuse the request.



In May 1777,overshadowed by the McIntosh-Gwinnett feud, Samuel Elbert departs from Sunbury heading south to the Georgia-Florida border. General Lachlan McIntosh addresses the General Assembly, denouncing Button Gwinnett by calling him a "scoundrel and lying rascal." John Adam Treutlen becomes the first elected governor of Georgia. Florida Rangers rout Georgians waiting to meet Samuel Elbert on the Florida side of the St. Mary River. Button Gwinnett challenges General Lachlan McIntosh to a duel. Button Gwinnett, with his second George Wells and Lachlan McIntosh, with his second Col. Joseph Habersham square off in a duel just east of Savannah, Georgia. At 12 paces (about 60 feet), the General and Gwinnett fire pistols.



McIntosh sustains an wound in his leg while Gwinnett is shot in the hip. Unaware of the severity of Gwinnett's wound, McIntosh asks if Gwinnett wants to duel again. He dies a few days later. Georgia Whigs were then ambushed at Thomas Creek (present-day site of Jacksonville, Florida) in a decisive battle marking the end of the Second Florida Expedition.



When the Georgia column reached the ambush around 9:00 am, Thomas "Burnfoot" Brown's men delivered a surprise volley at 50 yards from the front and flank. The Georgia men turned to flee, directly into Prevost's oncoming regulars. The Patriots, already shaken, were quickly overwhelmed by the large numbers of rangers and Indians appearing in the underbrush.



In late 1777, Lachlan McIntosh leaves Georgia to report to Continental Army Commander George Washington. Colonel Samuel Elbert takes command of the Georgia brigade.



In January 1778, John Houstoun becomes the first native-born Georgian to be elected Governor. Georgia ship capture three British vessels off the coast of St. Simons Island. GNW #60 - St. Simons Island


Battle of Frederica River.

In June 1778,Decisive battle of the 3rd Florida Expedition fought at Alligator Bridge. After breaching the outer perimeter, American forces under command of Col. Elijah Clark were routed by British Regulars and Florida Rangers.



November 1778, Battle of Bulltown Swamp (near Savannah), Battle of Spencer's Hill. Battle of Midway Church. British troops under the command of Col. Preovst burn Midway Church because of the role the church members played in the American Revolution. Both Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall had attended services at the church. This Midway action was covered extensively in GNW #33 (Part 2).



Under the command of Scotsman Archibald Campbell, a force comprised of the Seventy First Foot, the Wisenbach and Woellwarth Hessian regiments and loyalist battalions from New York and New Jersey set sail for Tybee Island.


Campbell.

Their orders are to take Savannah.In December 1778, Savannah came under British and Loyalist control. Savannah and all of Chatham County was occupied by the British in 1778, until the rest of the American Revolution.

Capture of Savannah

The Capture of Savannah, or sometimes the First Battle of Savannah (because of a siege in 1779), was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on December 29, 1778 pitting local American Patriot militia and Continental Army units, holding the city, against a British invasion force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell. The British seizure of the city led to an extended occupation and was the opening move in the British southern strategy to regain control of the rebellious Southern provinces by appealing to the relatively strong Loyalist sentiment there.



General Sir Henry Clinton, the commander-in-chief of the British forces based in New York City, dispatched Campbell and a 3,100-strong force from New York to capture Savannah, and begin the process of returning Georgia to British control. He was to be assisted by troops under the command of Brigadier General Augustine Prevost that were marching up from Saint Augustine in East Florida.


Prevost.

After landing near Savannah on December 23, Campbell assessed the American defenses, which were comparatively weak, and decided to attack without waiting for Prevost. Taking advantage of local assistance he successfully flanked the American position outside the town, captured a large portion of Major General Robert Howe's army, and drove the remnants to retreat into South Carolina.


Howe

Campbell and Prevost followed up the victory with the capture of Sunbury and an expedition to Augusta. The latter was only occupied by Campbell for a few weeks before he retreated back to Savannah, citing insufficient Loyalist and Native American support and the threat of Patriot forces across the Savannah River in South Carolina. The British held off a Franco-American siege in 1779, and held the city until late in the war.

Background

In March 1778, following the defeat of a British army at Saratoga and the consequent entry of France into the American Revolutionary War as an American ally, Lord George Germain, the British secretary responsible for the war, wrote to Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton that capturing the southern colonies was "considered by the King as an object of great importance in the scale of the war". Germain's instructions to Clinton, framed as recommendations, were that he should abandon Philadelphia and then embark on operations to recover Georgia and the Carolinas, while making diversionary attacks against Virginia and Maryland.


Germain.

British preparations

In June and July 1778 Clinton successfully removed his troops from Philadelphia back to New York. In November, after dealing with the threat of a French fleet off New York and Newport, Rhode Island, Clinton turned his attention to the south. He organized a force of about 3,000 men in New York and sent orders to Saint Augustine, the capital of East Florida, where Brigadier General Augustine Prevost was to organize all available men and Indian agent John Stuart was to rally the local Creek and Cherokee warriors to assist in operations against Georgia. Clinton's basic plan, first proposed by Thomas Brown in 1776, began with the capture of the capital of Georgia, Savannah.


Stuart.

Clinton gave command of the detachment from New York to Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell. The force consisted of two battalions (the 1st and 2nd) of the 71st Regiment of Foot, the Hessian regiments von Wöllwarth and von Wissenbach, and four Loyalist provincial units: one battalion from the New York Volunteers, two from DeLancey's Brigade, and one from Skinner's Brigade. Campbell sailed from New York on November 26 and arrived off Tybee Island, near the mouth of the Savannah River, on December 23.

American defenses

The state of Georgia was defended by two separate forces. Units of the Continental Army were under the command of General Robert Howe, who was responsible for the defense of the entire South, while the state's militia companies were under the overall command of Georgia Governor John Houstoun. Howe and Georgia authorities had previously squabbled over control of military expeditions against Prevost in East Florida, and those expeditions had failed. These failures led the Continental Congress to decide in September 1778 to replace Howe with Major General Benjamin Lincoln, who had successfully negotiated militia participation in events surrounding the British defeat at Saratoga. Lincoln had not yet arrived when word reached Howe that Clinton was sending troops to Georgia.


Lincoln.

During November 1778 British raids into Georgia became more and more threatening to the state's population centers. Despite the urgency of the situation, Governor Houstoun refused to allow Howe to direct the movements of the Georgia militia. On November 18, Howe began marching south from Charleston, South Carolina with 550 Continental Army troops, arriving in Savannah late that month. He learned that Campbell had sailed from New York on December 6. On December 23 sails were spotted off Tybee Island. The next day, Governor Houstoun assigned 100 Georgia militia to Howe.



A war council decided to attempt a vigorous defense of Savannah, in spite of the fact that they were likely to be significantly outnumbered, hoping to last until Lincoln's troops arrived. Due the large number of potential landing points, Howe was forced to hold most of his army in reserve until the British had actually landed.

Battle

The place Campbell selected for landing was Girardeau's Plantation, located about 2 miles below the city. When word reached Howe that the landing had started on December 29, he sent a company of Continentals to occupy the bluffs above the landing site. Campbell realized that the bluffs would need to be controlled before the majority of his forces could land, and dispatched two companies of the 71st Regiment to take control of them. The Continentals opened fire at about 100 yards; the British, rather than returning fire, advanced rapidly with bayonets fixed, denying the Continentals a second shot. The Continentals retreated, having killed four and wounded five at no cost to themselves. By noon, Campbell had landed his army and began to proceed cautiously toward the city.


An 1891 copy of a map depicting the action (note that south is to the top)

Howe held a council that morning, and ground was chosen at which to make a stand. About one-half mile south of the city he established a line of defense in the shape of an open V, with the ends anchored by swampy woods. On the left Howe placed Georgia Continentals and militia under Samuel Elbert, while on the right he put South Carolina Continentals and militia under Isaac Huger and William "Danger" Thomson.


Huger  & Thompson.

The line was supported by four pieces of field artillery, and light infantry companies guarded the flanks. Most of Howe's troops, including the Continentals, had seen little or no action in the war.



When Campbell's advance companies spotted Howe's line around 2:00 pm, the main body stopped short of the field and Campbell went to see what he was up against. He viewed Howe's defenses as essentially sound, but a local slave told him that there was a path through the swamp on Howe's right. Campbell ordered Sir James Baird to take 350 light infantry and 250 New York Loyalists and follow the slave through the swamp, while he arrayed his troops just out of view in a way that would give the impression he would attempt a flanking maneuver on Howe's left. One of his officers climbed a tree to observe Baird's progress. True to the slave's word, the trail came out near the Continental barracks, which had been left unguarded; the Continentals were unaware they had been flanked. When they reached position, the man in the tree signaled by waving his hat, and Campbell ordered the regulars to charge.


Marching into Savannah.

The first sounds of battle Howe heard were musket fire from the barracks, but these were rapidly followed by cannon fire and the appearance of charging British and German troops on his front. He ordered an immediate retreat, but it rapidly turned into a rout. His untried troops hardly bothered to return fire, some throwing down their weapons before attempting to run away through the swampy terrain. Campbell reported that "It was scarcely possible to come up with them, their retreat was rapid beyond Conception." The light infantry in the Continental rear cut off the road to Augusta, the only significant escape route, forcing a mad scramble of retreating troops into the city itself. The Georgia soldiers on the right attempted to find a safe crossing of Musgrove Creek, but one did not exist, and many of the troops were taken prisoner. Soldiers who did not immediately surrender were sometimes bayoneted. Colonel Huger managed to form a rear-guard to cover the escape of a number of the Continentals. Some of Howe's men managed to escape to the north before the British closed off the city, but others were forced to attempt swimming across Yamacraw Creek; an unknown number drowned in the attempt.

Aftermath

Campbell gained control of the city at the cost to his forces of seven killed and seventeen wounded, not including the four men killed and five wounded during preliminary skirmishing. Campbell took 453 prisoners, and there were at least 83 dead and 11 wounded from Howe's forces. When Howe's retreat ended at Purrysburg, South Carolina he had 342 men left, less than half his original army. Howe would receive much of the blame for the disaster, with William Moultrie arguing that he should have either disputed the landing site in force or retreated without battle to keep his army intact. He was exonerated in a court martial that inquired into the event, although the tribunal pointed out that Howe should have made a stand at the bluffs or more directly opposed the landing.


Moultrie second guessing.

Wow that's a lot and we still got three years to go. I am getting a message too large signal, so let's wrap this up for today. We move to 1779 Monday. Damn Savannah captured - Our GNW Colonial girl captures our attention.