Part 19

It would be no easy matter to describe the various hardships which this little army endured in the wilderness, from heat, thirst, watching, danger and fatigue. Thirty days did Colonel Grant continue in the heart of the Cherokee territories, and, upon his return to Fort Prince George, the feet and legs of many of his army were so mangled, and their strength and spirits so much exhausted, that they were utterly unable to march farther. He resolved therefore to encamp at that place for a while, both to refresh his men and wait the resolutions of the Cherokees, in consequence of the heavy chastisement which they had received. Besides the numberless advantages their country afforded for defence, it was supposed that some French officers had been among them, and given them all the assistance in their power. It is true the savages supported their attack for some hours with considerable spirit; but being driven from their advantageous posts and thickets they were wholly disconcerted, and though the repulse was far from being decisive, yet after this engagement they returned no more to the charge, but remained the tame spectators of their towns in flames, and their country laid desolate.

Such engagements in Europe would be considered as trifling skirmishes, scarcely worthy of relation, but in America a great deal is often determined by them. It is no easy matter to describe the distress to which the savages were reduced by this severe correction. Even in time of peace they are destitute of that foresight, in a great measure, which provides for future events; but in time of war, when their villages are destroyed and their fields laid desolate, they are reduced to extreme want. Being driven to the barren mountains, the hunters furnished with ammunition might indeed make some small provision for themselves, but women, children, and old men, must perish, being deprived of the means of subsistence.

[Sidenote] Peace with the Cherokees

A few days after Colonel Grant's arrival at Fort Prince George, Attakullakulla, attended by several chieftains, came to his camp, and expressed a desire of peace. Severely had they suffered for breaking their alliance with Britain, and giving ear to the deceitful promises of France. Convinced at last of the weakness and perfidy of the French, who were neither able to assist them in time of war, nor supply their wants in time of peace, they resolved to renounce all connection with them for ever. Accordingly terms of peace were drawn up and proposed, which were no less honourable to Colonel Grant than advantageous to the province. The different articles being read and interpreted, Attakullakulla agreed to them all excepting one, by which it was demanded, That four Cherokee Indians be delivered up to Colonel Grant at Fort Prince George, to be put to death in the front of his camp; or four green scalps be brought to him in the space of twelve nights. The warrior having no authority from his nation, declared he could not agree to this article, and therefore the Colonel sent him to Charlestown, to see whether the Lieutenant-Governor would consent to mitigate the rigour of it.

Accordingly Attakullakulla and the other chieftains, being furnished with a safeguard, set out for Charlestown to hold a conference with Mr. Bull, who, on their arrival, called a council to meet at Ashley Ferry, and then spoke to the following effect. "Attakullakulla, I am glad to see you, and as I have always heard of your good behaviour, that you have been a good friend to the English, I take you by the hand, and not only you but all those with you also, as a pledge for their security whilst under my protection. Colonel Grant acquaints me that you have applied for peace; now that you are come, I have met with my beloved men to hear what you have to say, and my ears are open for that purpose." Then a fire was kindled, the pipe of peace was lighted, and all smoked together for some time in great silence and solemnity.

Then Attakullakulla arose, and addressed the Lieutenant-Governor and Council to the following effect. "It is a great while since I last saw your honour; now I am glad to see you, and all the beloved men present--I am come to you as a messenger from the whole nation--I have now seen you, smoked with you, and hope we shall live together as brothers.--When I came to Keowee, Colonel Grant sent me to you--You live at the water side, and are in light--We are in darkness, but hope all will be yet clear with us.--I have been constantly going about doing good, and though I am tired, yet I am come to see what can be done for my people, who are in great distress." Here he produced the strings of wampum he had received from the different towns, denoting their earnest desire of peace; and then added, "As to what has happened, I believe it has been ordered by our Father above.--We are of a different colour from the white people--They are superior to us--But one God is father of all, and we hope what is past will be forgotten.--God Almighty made all people--There is not a day but some are coming into, and others are going out of, the world.--The great King told me the path should never be crooked, but open for every one to pass and repass.--As we all live in one land, I hope we shall all live as one people." After which peace was formally ratified and confirmed by both parties, and their former friendship being renewed, all hoped that it would last as long as the sun shall shine and the rivers run.

[Sidenote] A quarrel between the commanding officers.

Thus ended the Cherokee war, which was among the last humbling strokes given to the expiring power of France in North America, and Colonel Grant returned to Charlestown to wait further orders. But no sooner was peace concluded, and the province secured against external enemies, than an unhappy difference broke out between the two principal commanders of the regular and provincial forces. Colonel Grant, a native of Scotland, was naturally of an high spirit, to which he added that pride of rank which he held among those British soldiers who had carried their arms triumphant through the continent. During this expedition it is probable that he scorned to ask the advice of a provincial officer, whom he deemed an improper judge of military operations, and claimed the chief glory of having restored peace to the province. Colonel Middleton was equally warm and proud, and considering such neglect as an affront, resented it, and while some reflections were cast upon the provincial troops, being the chief in command, he thought himself bound to stand forth as a champion for the honour of the province. This ill-humour, which appeared between the officers on their return to Charlestown, was encouraged and fomented by persons delighting in broils, who, by malicious surmises and false reports, helped to widen the difference. The dispute became serious, and was carried on for some time in the public papers by mutual charges of misconduct, and at length terminated in a duel. Mr. Middleton called out Colonel Grant to the single combat, after they had both given the best proof of their courage against the common enemy. The duel, however, happily terminated without bloodshed, and not a little to the credit of the Scots officer, though his antagonist shewed no less spirit in the field of honour, falsely so called, than in defence of his country. The citizens of Charlestown seemed interested in the dispute, and each spoke of the conduct of the two officers as they were differently affected. Indeed, however much we may applaud the brave man who is first in the field in defence of his country, with justice we with-hold our praises from him that is first at the single combat with a private friend. Colonel Grant, with great reason, considered such treatment, after having brought the enemies of the colony to the most advantageous terms of peace, as a base recompence for his services. From this period a party-spirit appeared in Carolina. All the malicious aspersions and inflammatory accusations against the inhabitants of North Britain, which were at this time wantonly and wickedly published in England, were greedily swallowed by one party in the province, and industriously propagated. Prejudices were contracted, cherished, and unhappily gained ground among the people. Terms of reproach and abuse were collected from those factious publications in London, and poured indiscriminately upon all the natives of Scotland, who were by no means backward in retorting the abuse. In a growing province, where the utmost harmony and liberality of sentiment ought to have been cherished by all, as the most certain means of promoting the public strength and prosperity, such a party-spirit was attended, as might have been expected, with the most pernicious consequence.

[Sidenote] A whirlwind at Charlestown.

I have already observed, that the province is subject to whirlwinds, especially among the hills in the back country; but this year one of those, which was indeed the most violent and dreadful that had ever been known, passed Charlestown in the month of May. It appeared at first to the west of the town, like a large column of smoke, approaching fast in an irregular direction. The vapour of which it was composed resembled clouds rolling one over another in violent tumult and agitation, assuming at one time a dark, at another a bright flaming colour. Its motion was exceedingly swift and crooked. As it approached the inhabitants were alarmed with an uncommon sound, like the continual roaring of distant thunder, or the noise made by a stormy sea beating upon the shore, which brought numbers of people to witness the dreadful phenomenon. While it passed down Ashley river, such was its incredible velocity and force, that it plowed the waters to the bottom, and laid the channel bare. The town narrowly and providentially escaped, but it threatened destruction to a fleet consisting of no less than forty sail of loaded ships, lying at anchor in Rebellion road, about four miles below the town, and waiting a fair wind to sail for England. When it reached the fleet, five vessels were sunk in an instant by it, and his Majesty's ship the Dolphin, with eleven others, were dismasted. Such was the situation of the fleet, and so rapid was the motion of the whirlwind, that though the seaman observed it approaching, it was impossible to provide against it. In its oblique course it struck only a part of the fleet, and the damage, though computed at L. 20,000 sterling, was by no means so great as might have been expected. Nor were many lives lost, for the channel of the river not being very deep, while the ships sat down in the mud and were covered by the waves, the sailors saved themselves by running up the shrouds. The whirlwind passed the town a little before three o'clock, and before four the sky was so clear and serene, that we could scarcely have believed such a dreadful scene had been exhibited, had it not left many striking proofs behind it. Its route was not only marked in the woods, having levelled the loftiest trees, or swept them away before it like chaff, but its effects were visible in the fleet, by the number of vessels sunk and dismasted.

It has been also remarked, that the province is subject to violent storms of lightning and thunder throughout the year; but from the end of April until October they are very frequent and terrible. There are few nights during the summer in which lighting is not visible in some part of the horizon. Sometimes indeed those storms are of short duration, particularly when they come attended with brisk gales of wind; but when that is not the case, they will often last for four or five hours. While the clouds are gathering, it is surprising how quickly the atmosphere, which was formerly serene, will be covered with darkness. To the inhabitants, accustomed to view such appearances, the thunder-shower is rather welcome than alarming, as it cools the air and earth, and enables them to live comfortably during the remainder of the day; but to every stranger it is exceedingly grand and awful. As the flashes of lightning from the clouds commonly strike the highest objects, and the whole country is covered with woods, the fury of the storm for the most part falls upon them, and its amazing effects are visible from the vast number of blasted trees every where appearing throughout the forest. The country being as yet but thinly peopled, the inhabitants do not suffer so severely as might be expected, considering the violence of these storms; yet few years pass without some accidents from lightning. I never knew more than five houses in the town, but others have observed nine, two churches and five ships struck with lightning during one thunder-shower. Such storms often occasion considerable damage, particularly to the ships in the harbour, and sometimes they are attended with showers of hail, or rather solid pieces of ice, which fall with such force as to beat down the corn in the fields, to break glass windows, and occasion danger to children exposed to them. But since the inhabitants have found out the method of erecting iron rods on their houses, less damage has been done to them, and fewer lives have been lost by lightning in this province.

[Sidenote] Of the heat at Savanna.

The climate of Georgia, like that of Carolina, is more mild and pleasant in the inland than maritime parts. Governor Ellis has left us the following account of the heat of the summer at Savanna. In the 7th of July, while he was writing in his piazza, which was open at each end, he says the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 102 in the shade. Twice had it risen to that height during the summer, several times to 100, and for many days together to 98; and in the night did not sink below 89. He thought it highly probable, that the inhabitants of Savanna breathed a hotter air than any other people upon earth. The town being situated on a sandy eminence, the reflection from the dry sand, when there is little or no agitation in the air, greatly increases the heat; for by walking an hundred yards from his house upon the sand, under his umbrella, with the thermometer suspended by a thread to the height of his nostrils, the mercury rose to 105. The same thermometer he had with him in the equatorial parts of Africa, in Jamaica, and in the Leeward Islands; yet by his journals he found that it had never in any of these places risen so high. Its general station was between 79 and 86. He acknowledges, however, that he felt those degrees of heat in a moist air more disagreeable than at Savanna, when the thermometer stood at 81 in his cellar, at 102 in the storey above it, and in the upper storey of his house at 105. On the 10th of December the mercury was up at 86, on then 11th down as low as 38, on the same instrument. Such sudden and violent changes, especially when they happen frequently, must make havock of the human constitution; yet he asserts that few people die at Savanna out of the ordinary course, though many were working in the open air, exposed to the sun during this extreme heat.--As this governor was a man of sense and erudition, and no doubt made his observations with great accuracy, we shall not presume to call in question the facts he relates; but we must say, we never saw the mercury rise so high in the shade at Charlestown, and believe it very seldom happens to do so in Georgia. We may add, that such is the situation of Savanna, surrounded with low and marshy lands, and so sudden and great are the changes in the weather there, as well as in Carolina, that the maritime parts of both provinces must be ranked among the most unhealthy climates in the world.

CHAP. XI.

[Sidenote] A peace, and its happy effects respecting America.

The peace of Paris, though condemned by many in England as inadequate to the amazing success that attended the British arms during the bloody war, and below the expectation of the British nation, unquestionably placed America in the most advantageous situation. As the flames of war first kindled in that continent, by a contest about the limits of the British and French territories, to prevent all disputes of this kind for the future was made one of the first objects of attention in framing a treaty of peace. By the seventh article of this treaty it was agreed, "That, for the future, the confines between the dominions of his Britannic Majesty and those of his most Christian Majesty in that part of the world should be fixed irrevocably, by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi, from its source to the river Iberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the middle of the river and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain to the sea." By the twentieth article, "His Catholic Majesty ceded and guarantied in full right to his Britannic Majesty, Florida, with Fort Augustine and the Bay of Pensacola, as well as all that Spain possessed on the continent of North America to the east or south-east of the river Mississippi, and in general every thing depending on the said countries and lands, with the sovereignty, property, possession, and all rights acquired by treaties or otherwise, which the Catholic King and the Crown of Spain have had till now over the said countries, lands, places, and other inhabitants." By these articles the southern provinces were rendered perfectly secure, and, considering the nature of the country, no frontiers could be more distinctly defined.

But as the French colonies in the northern district had been the chief seat of war, the conquest of which had occasioned such an immense waste of blood and treasure to Britain, it was also judged proper to guard against the return of any danger on that side. Experience had shewn the nation, that while France possesses a single stronghold on that continent, the British subjects could never enjoy perfect repose, but must be in danger of being again plunged into those calamities from which they had been with so much difficulty delivered. Therefore it was determined to remove this ambitious and enterprising enemy entirely from the neighbourhood of these colonies, and secure them beyond a possibility of future molestation. Accordingly, by the fourth article of the treaty, "His most Christian Majesty renounced all pretensions which he had heretofore formed, or might form, to Nova Scotia, or Acadia, in all its parts, and guarantied the whole of it, with all its dependencies, to the King of Great Britain; as also Canada, with all its dependencies; Cape Breton, and all the other islands and coasts in the Gulf of St. Laurence, and every thing that depends on these countries, islands, lands, places and coasts, and their inhabitants; so that the most Christian King ceded and made over the whole to the said King and Crown of Great Britain, and that in the most ample manner and form, without restriction, and without any liberty to depart from said cession and guaranty under any pretence, or to disturb Great Britain in the possessions above mentioned; reserving only the island of New Orleans, and liberty of fishing in the Gulf of St. Laurence, which was granted, upon condition that the subjects of France do not execute the said fishery but at the distance of three leagues from all the coasts belonging to Great Britain, as well those of the continent as those of the islands situated in the Gulf of St. Laurence."

We do not pretend to pass any judgment on the value of these conquests in America, which were preferred to those of the West India islands at the peace. By giving up a little of the sugar trade, it was thought the nation lost only a luxury, and could be sufficiently supplied with all the sugar and rum she wanted from the islands which she possessed before the war; and therefore the precious conquests in the West Indies were sacrificed to the security of America. The vast territory to the east and south east of the great river Mississippi formed the British empire on the continent, which, for variety of climate as well as of soil was exceeded by no empire upon earth. As the trade of the mother country had uniformly increased with the population of her colonies, it was hoped that by freeing them from all molestation, they must increase in a still more rapid manner than they had hitherto done, to the great advantage of Britain; for while the colonists had liberty to extend their culture to the remotest desert, the trade of the mother country would be increased, her debt diminished, and at the same time the demand for manufactures would be so great, that all the hands she employed would scarcely be able to furnish the supply. These were thought to be the probable consequences which would flow from the security of our American colonies at the peace.

[Sidenote] Boundaries of East and West Florida.

With respect to the new acquisitions, great pains were taken to acquire an exact knowledge of them, not only to establish proper regulations, but also to render them as useful and flourishing as possible. They were divided into three separate independent governments, which were given to officers who had distinguished themselves during the war. The government of East Florida was bounded to the westward by the Gulf of Mexico and the river Apalachicola; to the north by a line drawn from that part of the above-mentioned river where the Catabouchee and Flint rivers meet, to the source of St. Mary's river, and by the course of the same river to the Atlantic Ocean; and to the east and south by the Atlantic Ocean; and the Gulf of Florida, including all islands within six leagues of the sea coast. The government of West Florida was bounded to the southward by the Gulf of Mexico, including all islands within six leagues of the sea coast, from the river Apalachicola to Lake Pontchartrain; to the westward by the said lake, the lake Maurepas, and the river Mississippi; to the north by a line drawn due east from that part of the river Mississippi which lies in thirty-one degrees of north latitude, to the river Apalachicola, or Catabouchee; and to the east by the said river. All the lands lying between the rivers Alatamaha and St. Mary's were annexed to the province of Georgia.

[Sidenote] The southern provinces left secure.

The possession of these two provinces of East and West Florida, though of themselves little better than an immense waste, was of great importance to the neighbouring provinces of Georgia and Carolina. It robbed the Spaniards of a strong-hold from which they could send out an armed force and harass these provinces, and of an easy avenue through which they had often invaded them. It removed troublesome neighbours out of their way, who had often instigated the savages against them, and made Augustine an asylum for fugitive slaves. It opened some convenient ports for trade with Britain and the West Indies, and for annoying French and Spanish ships coming through the Gulf of Florida, in case of any future rupture. It formed a strong frontier to the British dominions in that quarter, and furnished an immense track of improveable land for reduced officers, soldiers, and others, to settle and cultivate.

[Sidenote] Encouragement given to reduced officers and soldiers.