Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-08-21

The Darkest Day IN Georgia History.
BY REV. GEO. c. SMITH, vINEWLLE, MACON, GA.

in a hand to hand encounter, he kill
ed him. The whole state was now
given up, all but little fort on the
frontier, and Stephen Heard was the
defeated governor, while Hawley, with
his cabinet. was in South Carolina,
fugitive Stephen Heard was the son
Of John Heard, a Scotch-Irishn1an,
who, with his sons Stephen, John,
Jeffree and Barona, had settled in the
ceded lands and built a fort.
They were sturdy Scotch Irish peo-
pie and evidently were more than usu-
ally intelligent. Col. Heard, as he was
called, does not seem to have been
soldier as much as a statesman. do
not find his military achievements
mentioned, but find him as vice pres
ident of the council and as a de facto
governor and as president of the coun-
ell after this. He was in public life
great deal and was highly honored.
He died in Ebert county about 1917.
AS there were two families of kinsmen
who bore the same names, they are
sometimes COMPOUNDED. He remained in
Georgia as long as possible and then
he. too, was forced to flee over the Wv
er to the Carolinas.
Georgia was thus in the latter part OF
1850 absolutely without a governor, ex-
cept that of Governor Wright or the
vestige of an army.
Walton, Few, Hawley were in Phil
adelphia at the constitutional con
gress. Heard was a fugitive in South
Carolina, Gambler, Clarke and Jackson
were in the Carolina army, but the
Wings were not subdued, and they
crossed the river again.
1t was fight now of partisans.
There was no head TO the army or to
the state. Clarke's ringing note sound
ed among the cabins in Wilkes once
more and he gathered the clans for
an attack on Augusta. 1t cannot be
denied that the temptation to capture
rich stores was a strong incentive to
the poverty stricken, enraged, de-
spoiled people of the frontier and they
flocked to his standard. The attack
was we'll planned but Browne. cruel as
he was, was as brave a Scotchman as
ever welded a broad-sword. and he
held out staunchly. There was no ar
tillery and the house of which Browne
made a fort was too strong to be taken
by storm and at the nick of time help
came to the British and with his
wounded left Behind, Clarke and his
disordered partisans fed again to the
woods. 1t was a sad illustration OF
the condition Of things that Sir Pulaski
Houston, the brother of the governor,
bore the message according to Mccall,
which brought help from Kruger to
Browne. Then came the massacre. I
have expressed in my history a doubt
as to whether all the cruel things
charged to Browne were true, but IL
was bad enough even according to Sir
James Wright, who said thirteen Of
the prisoners were hung at once and
the angry Scotchman who had refused
to leave his command, though shot
through both legs while the battle was
on, had three poor wretches gibbetted
before his eyes. Colonel Jones re-
ceives as true the story Mccall gives
of the other prisoners being butchered
by the Indians.
am forced to doubt this charge.
Lee makes no reference to it and even
Ramsay makes no definite statement
of the fact as Mccall gives il. Browne
Indignantly denied it, and the proof of
an act Of such atrocity should not rest
upon such insufficient proof as Mccall
gives, but the dusky savages were
merciful compared to the Wings and
Tory soldiers. Flight from Georgia
was now the only hope of the con-
quered Wings.
II was just after this that Clarke and
Gambler led the exodus to Tennessee.
These two partisans came back to
South Carolina and plunged into the
thickest OF the fray. Kings noun
tain was fought the tide turned, Nor
gan, Sumter, Twiggs, Clarke, Cand-
Ter Jackson gave brave battle to the
Tories and British in Western South