Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-07-03
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How the Spirit of Liberty Was Kept Alive By an
UncOnquerable People.
By REV. ROBERT LATHAM. ID. ID.

of the French forces, under the COM
mand Of Count d'Estaing, the British
forces under General Provost, could
be either captured or driven from
the south.
The scheme was submitted to
Plombard, the French consul in
Charleston. Plombard approved Of
the plan, and in concert with General
Lincoln and Governor Rutledge,
dispatches were sent Count d'Es-
taing. urging him to form a junction
with the American army under Gen.
eral Lincoln. Count d'Estaing was,
at this time, in the West Indies,
where he had conquered a number Of
the British possessions and out-gen-
eraled Admiral Byron, Of the British
fleet. Flushed, no doubt with his re-
cent victories over the British, and
desiring to make some preparation
for his previous failure in behalf of
| the American colonies, the Count
gladly complied with the request.
Expecting, with the aid of General
Lincoln's army, to annihilate Pre-
from Cape Francois, with twenty
ships Of the line and eleven frigates,
on board of which were ten regi
ments of soldiers, amounting to six
thousand men. His point Of destina-
ton, as previously agreed upon by
him and Lincoln, was Tybee. Two
ships of the line and three frigates
commanded by Major General Fon-
tanges were sent to Charleston to
apprise General Lincoln and Govern
or Rutledge Of his approach. Cen
eral Lincoln set out at once for Sa-
vannah. He crossed the Savannah
river at Zubly's ferry on the 9th Of
September. Governor Rutledge COL
lected all the small boats that could
| be procured, and sent them to Sa-
vannah to assist d'Estaing In landing
| his troops. On the 18th Of Septem-
Der, the French troops, to the num-
Der of three thousand, landed at Beau
| lien. On the 18th Count Pulaski and
his legion joined the French, and on
on the 18th General Lincoln, and the
troops under his command, arrived,
and the two allied armies were join
ed In front of the city of Savannah.
| The enterprise, so far, was, In the
main, we'll conducted. Four British
ships fell into the hands of the French
fleet on its approach to the coast of
Georgia. The British regarded
themselves at that time mistress of
the sea, and feared little from the
naval forces Of the French.
Provost, on the approach of the
French and American forces, began
to make preparations, in earnest, to
defend his post.
D'Estaing's fleet appeared off the
coast of Georgia on the 3rd Of Sep
tember, like an eagle from the sky.
The four British ships already men,
toned were taken by surprise, and
the whole region round about Savan-
nah thrown into confusion. The To-
ries and the loyalists began to trem-
BILE. Provost was a braye man and
skillful officer. He began to make
every preparation in his power to
defend the city. Every man who
could be spared from other service,
was put to work on the fortifications.
Besides, three hundred negroes were
decoyed from the plantations ada
cent TO the city General Provost
called in his troops from the various
posts in the neighborhood.
. On the 4th of September, the
French fleet disappeared, and the
garrison and inhabitants Of the city
began to breathe more freely. Even
General Provost cherished, with de-
light, the hope that d 'Estaing and
his fleet were gone. Preparations
still went on, with energy for an at
tack On Tybee Island was a British
garrison, commanded by Captain
Moncrief, and manned by one hun
dred and fifty soldiers. The fortifi-
cation was strengthened. On the 9Th,
the French fleet again appeared In
greater force than before, and on the
9Th it anchored off Tybee Island and
proceeded to land some troops on the
south side of the island. Captain
Moncrief, seeing that he could effect
nothing by resistance, spiked his can
non, and having embarked his troops
on boats, fled to Savannah.
General Provost was now convinc-
ed that the object which d'Estaing
had in view was the capture of Sa-
vannah During the time that the
armies of the allied powers were
forming a junction, various skir-
mishes took place; but nothing, of
any great importance, was effected
by either party. At this time the
city was prepared for neither storm
nor a siege. Many of the best troops
Of the British had not yet reached
the city, and Lieutenant Colonel
Maitland, without whom IL could not,
perhaps, have been defended, was at
Beaufort Had d'Estaing made an
attack upon the city as soon as he
landed, it is highly probable that a
few hours would have been sufficient
to have reduced it, General Mc1n-
tosh urged that the attack be made
at once, but d'Estaing was in this in
stance, as i'm many others, self-willed.
On the 10th of September, the
forces under General Lincoln and
Count Estaing sat down about three
miles from the city, on the west. BY
this time General Provost had con-
structed thirteen redoubts, fifteen
batteries and a strong abattis in
front of the whole. Still, he was not
prepared for an engagement. Colo
mel Maitland had not yet arrived,
but it had been ascertained that he
| was fastening, by forced marches,
with eight hundred men, to his as
siStance.
On the 10th of September, the very
day that the French forces under
d Estaing and the American forces
under Lincoln formed a conjunction,
but before the arrival of General
Lincoln, for some unaccountable rea-