The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-08-16

A feature of The Programme of the
on The Military Spirit of Savannah,
written by Lieut.. Col. ]. H. Estill,
Georgia Volunteers. retired, at the re-
quest of the Military Rifle Range As
ISOLATION. 1t deals briefly with the his
tory of the military of the city, as fol-
| lows:
Savannah is headquarters of the
First Regiment Infantry, Georgia State
| Troops, Col. Thos. S. Wylly Jr.; First
Regiment Cavalry, Georgia State
Troops. Col. P w. Meldrim; First
Battalion Heavy Artillery, State
Troops. (the Savannah Volunteer
| Guards, Maj W. W. Williamson; the
Georgia Hussars. (of the First Regi-
ment Cavalry. Capt. w. w. Gordon.
Jr., and the Chatham Artillery. Capt.
George P. Walker, Second Division,
Naval Battalion, Lieut.. T. II.
| Gignilliat 1t is splendid
military force, and it is not egotistical,
for it is simply the truth, to assert
that in proportion to population it ex-
ceeds in number that of any city of its
size in the republic.
The First Regiment Infantry, the
Guards Battalion (First Battalion
Heavy Artillery. the Georgia Hussars
and the Chatham Artillery, have hand
some and commodious armories, owned
and maintained by themselves.
The military spirit of Savannah is
the outcome of necessity and environ
ment. There has not been quarter of
q century since it's settlement during
which Savannah has not heard war
alarms; the roll of the drum and the
shrill notes of the fife: the clatter of
swords. and arms. and the tramp of
the soldiers marching on to war.
With the birth of the colony was
born it's military spirit. The hostility
of their Kings made Englishmen of
Georgia and Spaniards of Florida, enc
mics. In the little army under Ogle-
| thorpe that defeated the Spaniards in
their attack on Frederick were soldiers
| from Savannah. In the numerous con-
flicts with the Creeks prior to and
subsequent to the revolution. Savan-
nah's volunteers and militia were fore
most in the fray.
In 1918 Savannah's soldiery unsuc.
cessfully defended their town against
the British, and in the following year,
| 1879, it was besieged by the Americans
and French, and in the assault on the
9Th of October, those patriots, whom
history has made famous, Pulaski,
Jasper, and Jones, fell in the attack.
| Later the American army under Gems.
| Green and Wayne, m the closing
months of the Revolution, fought the
enemy on every acre of ground he
| tween the Ogeechee and the Savannah
rivers, and kept them within the walls
| of the town.
Nor did the call for Savannah SOL
diers cease with the establishment of
the Republic. There were the after
maths in the way of depredations by
Indians which called out the military
Then there was the quickly passing
speck of war with France, and little
later the second war with England.
The military of Savannah were under
arms for three years, and sent hither
and thither to points threatened by the
| enemy.
Then came the Indian wars in Geor-
| gia and Alabama. which were followed
| by the Seminole war in Florida, all of
which had their contingents of Savan-
nah soldiers. The Texas revolution
fired the military spirit, and Savannah
gave her sons to that cause. The Mex
lean war followed that for Texan In
dependence and Savannah sent its
quota. Every Volunteer Corps of the
city sought the honor of representing
Georgia on the field of battle, but the
choice fell to the Irish Jasper Greens.
and its captain became colonel of the
Georgia Regiment, and. in later years,
was, Gen. Henry K. Jackson.
The younger soldiers who had seen
service in Mexico were not in their
prime when the long roll called the
South to arms. Savannah's sons were
early at the front. The city became a
fortified camp. In April, 1862, one of it's
outposts, Fort Pulaski after heroic
defense was captured and it's garrison,
| the First Volunteer Regiment of Geor-
gia, the Savannah Regiment, was TAX
en- prisoners. The regiment was after
wards exchanged and did splendid
service in the field. The details of what
the city, of Savannah and the adjacent
country underwent in those four years
of war are not german to this brief
| story The remains of Notifications
throughout the country attest 10 its
| warlike preparations.
In 1864, the city, after a siege of
two weeks. during which 1900 Confed-
crates, State Militia and Volunteers,
defended its attenuated lines, extend
ing from Brampton plantation on the
| northwest to Belmont plantation on
the south against 10000 men under
Sherman, was successfully evacuated.
In the years of reconstruction, when
our people were not permitted to bear
arms, the old military organizations
were maintained as social clubs.
On the restoration of Georgia TO it's
own people, many of the old COM
mands reorganized. and since then
several new military corps have been
formed.
The present organizations comprise
the commands mentioned in the first
| paragraph of this sketch.
During the Confederate war Savan-
nah and Chatham county contributed
| their full quota of soldiers, namely:
The list Vol. Regt. of Ga.
| Part of the 63rd Ga. Regt.
One Company, Savannah Cadets, 54th
Ga. Regt.
One Company. Mitchell Guards, 47th
Ga. Regt.
One Company. Oglethorpe Light In
fantry. sth Ga. Regt.
Mz