Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-06-15
SOUTH CAROLINA m
Fak Rkp0hVFt0N
How the Spirit of Liberty Was Kept Alive BY an
UncOnquerable People.
From the Yorkville Enquirer of 1876.
INSTALLMENT vi.
The War In Georgia.


by the surrender of Sunbury. In or
der to join Colonel Campbell, General
Provost left ST. Augustine about the
time that Campbell sailed from Sandy
Hook. His army consisted Of about
two thousand men, together with a
small artillery force. 1t was a mixed
multitude of British regulars. savage
Indians and Tories, who had fled from
South Carolina and Georgia. On the
sixth of January, Provost reached
Sunbury. Major Lane was In COM
mand of the American forces at that
point. His force was not one-tenth OF
that of the enemy. Still. when Pre-
vost demanded an unconditional sur
render, Lane, without hesitation, re-
fused to comply. Provost placed his
forces in order and commenced to
open upon the fort with his cannon
Lane saw at once that 1t was utterly
impossible. with two hundred men,
most of whom were militia, to with
stand the force of the enemy. After
he had lost in killed, one captain and
three privates, and seven wounded
Lane agreed to surrender. Everything
fell into the hands of the enemy. Two
American galleys lay in the river
These the crews took to Assabaw Is
land and there burned them, and tried
to escape in a sloop to Charleston, but
were captured and brought back to
Savannah.
To all human appearances Georgia
was ruined. The whole territory OF
the state was completely In the power
of the British. Flushed with victory
and no doubt confident of final sue
cess, the officers of the royal army
proceeded, without delay to establish
civil government in Georgia. Cruelty
was mingled with lenity. The prison.
ers held by the enemy were crowded
in the ships where they died; some OF
disease, more of neglect and hunger.
Commodore Hyde Parker acted the
part of a vile monster. Wives and
daughters, whilst pleading for mercy
in behalf of their husbands and faith
ers, were vilely insulted. and the dead
were thrown into the swamps to be
devoured by dogs and buzZards. Col
onel Campbell was more lenient, and
his policy was more injurious to the
cause of the Americans and more fa-
vorable to that of his royal master.
Loyalists flocked by the hundreds to
the British standard. and the ardor of
some, who before had been regarded
as staunch Wings, began to cool This
was, in fact, "the time that tried
mems souls" Many of those brave
men who had fought under Moultrie
at Sullivan's Island, had left their
homes in Florida; others were prison
ers, and the remnant of that noble lit
tie band were hotly pursued by a foe
exulting on account of their misfor-
tunes.
Campbell was commanded by Pre-
vost. to march in the direction Of Au-
gusta, that he might be Joined by the
posts were established in the interior,
and agents were sent into the Ninety
Six region to urge the loyalists to arm
themselves and assist in crushing out
the rebellion. This was joyful news
to the loyalists. They had been quiet
for a long time only from necessity and
policy.
General Robert Howe was ruined
He was unable to do anything to i'm
pede the progress Of the enemy, or to
awe and keep the Tories in subsection
General Ebert, together with Colonels
Twiggs and Few, attempted to thwart
the plans of Colonel Campbell, but ir
spite of all their efforts Campbell
reached Augusta on the twenty-nintt
of January Here he found the noted
loyalists, Bowen and Lieutenant Colo
mel McGrith of the British army. Brown
was placed in charge of the garrison
stationed at Augusta. The Tories
both from North and South Carolina
had been collecting in great numbers
under Colonel Boyd. body of eight
hundred Tories, under Boyd, collected
in the western part of South Carolina
marched along the frontier of the
state, plundering and destroying every
thing within their reach and barbar-
ously numbering every one who dared
to object to their depredations.
Georgia, and i'm fact the western Sec
ton of the up-country of South Car
olina, was beneath the heel of the in
vading foe. Many of the Wings OF
Georgia crossed over the Savannah ant
found temporary relief in South Caro-
lima The British and Tories burned
their houses and destroyed their prop
erty. Many. unable to get away, took
the oaths of allegiance to the king.
We are not to conclude that the
cause of liberty was abandoned by al
the people of Georgia and the adjacent
region of South Carolina. There were
several partisan leaders who watched
the movements of the enemy, and were
only waiting for a favorable opportu.
nifty to pounce down upon him. Colo
nels, Ebert, Dooly, Clark and Pickens
were in the field. They were deter.
mined to dispute every step Of the en-
emys progress and make his recent
victories as worthless as possible.
Major Hamilton, a vigilant soldier
under Colonel McGrth, had made his
headquarters at. Carrs Fort. This pc.
sitiOn he had chosen as convenient
both for himself and the surrounding
country, for the purpose of admins
tering the oath of allegiance. Pickens
and Dooly united their forces and de-
termined to besiege Hamilton. They
succeeded i'm cutting off the supply OF
water from the garrison, and every.
thing was favorable for a speedy sur
render but about ten o'clock on the
night of the 10th of February, 1879
Pickens received a dispatch from his
brother, stating that the Tory, Colone
Boyd, was on his way toward the Sa-
vannah river
Pickens thought it important to meet
Boyd as soon as possible. Fort Carr
was full of women and children. who
had fled thither for safety. Pickens
not wishing to jeopardiZe the lives OF
tbaca ra aiSa6 the siege and prpppn6pd r.