Part 16

He returned to Fort Diego, and ordered Colonel Palmer, with over two hundred Scotchmen and Indians to march to Fort Moosa and scout through the woods to prevent any communication between St. Augustine and the interior of Florida. Colonel Palmer was told to camp each night in a new place, to avoid battle, and to return at once if a larger force than his own appeared. Another officer was sent with the Carolina soldiers to take Point Quartell, which was about a mile distant from the castle of St. Augustine, and build a battery there to command the northern entrance to the harbor.

The general himself set out to capture the Spaniards' battery at Anastasia, and by clever maneuvers there succeeded in driving the enemy to their boats. Oglethorpe set up cannon and sent an envoy to the Spanish governor, calling on him to surrender. The Spaniard replied that he should be glad to shake hands with General Oglethorpe if the latter would come to him in his castle. In answer Oglethorpe opened fire from his new battery, but the distance to the town was too great for his guns and little harm was done the enemy.

Colonel Palmer, meantime, disregarding the general's orders to camp in a new place each night, had kept his men in the partly demolished Fort Moosa. The Spaniards sent six hundred men to attack his small force. Palmer's soldiers resisted desperately, but the Highlanders and the Indians were too much outnumbered by the Spaniards; half of them, including Colonel Palmer, were killed, a few escaped, and the rest were made prisoners.

The commander of the fleet also disregarded the arrangement he had made with Oglethorpe and ordered off the war-ship stationed outside the harbor, with the result that several sloops from Havana with new troops and provisions stole into the channel and reached the Spanish stronghold. The garrison at St. Augustine had begun to feel the pinch of hunger and might soon have surrendered, but these fresh supplies tided them over and enabled them to keep up their defense.

General Oglethorpe, discouraged in his plan of a blockade, decided to make one more attempt at carrying the town by assault. The British commodore, Pearse, was to attack with his fleet while Oglethorpe led his soldiers by land. The colonial troops and Indians were ready to open fire, and only waited the signal from the ships. They waited in vain, however. Instead of keeping his agreement, Commodore Pearse quietly sailed away with all his ships, sending word to General Oglethorpe that it was now the season when hurricanes might be expected off the Florida coast and that he didn't intend to risk His Majesty's fleet there any longer.

Oglethorpe, who alone seemed really in earnest in his desire to fight the Spaniards, deserted by the English fleet, getting very little support from the officers and men of the Carolina regiments, found it impossible to carry on the campaign. Even his own men from Georgia were worn out by fatigue and the heat of Florida. Reluctantly therefore he gave over his expedition, and returned to Savannah. The campaign, however, had shown the Spaniards that the governor of Georgia was a man whose power was to be respected, and they did not renew their raids into his province for some years.

Oglethorpe was a great builder as well as a very skilful military leader, and he used this time of peace to improve the prosperity and beauty of the towns he had settled in his colony. Savannah was already a thriving place, with fine squares, parks, and wide shaded streets. Now he turned his attention to Frederica, a town of a thousand settlers. He meant this to be a strong frontier fort, and designed an esplanade, barracks, parade-ground, fortifications, everything that could be of use to protect Frederica from an enemy.

Not far from Frederica, on the same island of St. Simons, was a small settlement called Little St. Simons. A road connected the two places, running over a beautiful prairie and through a forest, and at the edge of this forest Oglethorpe built himself a small cottage and planted a garden and an orchard of oranges, grapes and figs. Here he made his home, where he could watch the water and keep an eye on Frederica and its forts. A number of his officers built country-seats for themselves near the general's cottage, almost all of them larger and more pretentious than that of the general. Strange as it may seem, the founder of Georgia never claimed or owned any other land in his province but this one small place, and he lived almost as simply as the poorest colonist, a great contrast to the elaborate state kept by the governors of such colonies as Virginia and Maryland or the luxury of William Penn's home at Pennsbury.

Meantime other forts were built in the southern part of Georgia, one on Jekyll Island, another on Cumberland Island, a third at Fort William; and fortunately the governor saw to all this, for his province was to be for some time the buffer between the English and the Spaniards, two peoples who were constantly either on the verge of warfare or actually fighting. The mother-countries of England and Spain were always at swords' points, and those troubles on the other side of the Atlantic were sure to bring the American colonists into the same strife. Each country hectored the other. In the spring of 1740 the British government decided to attack Spain through its American possessions. France also decided to take a hand in the business, and this time joined with Spain. Ships of these two countries set sail for the West Indies and threatened the British colony of Jamaica. The English admiral, Vernon, was despatched with a large squadron to attack the enemy, but instead of sailing to Havana he turned in the direction of Hispaniola to watch the French fleet, and so lost a splendid chance to capture the Spanish stronghold of Havana. General Oglethorpe learned of this, and in May, 1641, he wrote to the Duke of Newcastle in England, explaining how matters stood in that part of America and stating what the colonists would need if they were to carry on a successful war with the Spanish Dons of Florida and the West Indies.

His letter was laid before the proper officers in England, but, as so often happened in such cases, those officers, far though they were from the scene of action, thought they knew more about conditions in Georgia and Florida than Oglethorpe did. The government delayed and delayed, while the general waited for an answer to his requests. Then he had to write again to England. Either the northern colonies or the mother-country was accustomed to supply his province with flour, but now Spanish privateers were capturing the merchant vessels that brought it. Only two English men-of-war were stationed off the coast, and they were insufficient to protect it from privateers. A Spanish rover had just seized a ship off Charleston Harbor with a great quantity of supplies on board. When Oglethorpe heard of this he sent out his guard-sloop and a schooner he had hired, met three Spanish ships, forced them to fly, attacked one of their privateers and drove it ashore. Then he bought a good-sized vessel and prepared it for service on the coast until the English should send him a proper fleet.

A large Spanish ship was sighted off the bar of Jekyll Sound on August 16th. The intrepid governor manned his sloop and two other vessels, the _Falcon_ and the _Norfork_, and started in pursuit. He ran into a storm, and when the weather had cleared the Spaniard had disappeared. The storm had disabled the _Falcon_, and she had to put back, but Oglethorpe sailed on with the other two, laying his course for Florida, and a few days later sighted the Spanish ship at anchor.

The Spaniard was a man-of-war, and with her was another ship, by name the _Black Sloop_, with a record as a daring privateer. But Oglethorpe was equal in daring to any Spanish captain. He ordered his small boats put out to tow his two ships, the weather being now a calm, and as they approached the enemy, gave the command to board. The two Spanish vessels opened fire, but Oglethorpe's guns answered so vigorously that the Spaniards quickly weighed anchor, and, a light breeze coming to their aid, were able to run across the bar of the harbor.

The English followed, and, though they could not board the enemy, fought them for an hour, at the end of which the Spaniards were so disabled that they ran for the town, while half a dozen of their small galleys came out to safeguard their retreat.

Other Spanish vessels were lying in the harbor, but none dared to attack the two ships of Oglethorpe, and the governor spent that night at anchor within sight of the castle of St. Augustine. Next day he sailed for the open sea again, and there cruised up and down outside the bar, as if daring the Spaniards to come out to meet him. When they refused to come he sailed back to Frederica, having spread a proper fear of his small fleet of two ships all along the Florida coast.

Perhaps the greatest service that Oglethorpe rendered to his colony was his retaining the friendship of all the neighboring Indian tribes. This he did by always treating them fairly and impressing them with his sincere interest in their own welfare. Another man might have let the Indians see that he was merely using them to protect his own white settlers, but Oglethorpe convinced them that he was equally concerned in protecting both red men and white from ill-usage by the French and Spanish. Georgia moreover needed the friendship of the native tribes much more than the other English colonies did. It was nearest to the strong Spanish settlements in Florida, and its neighbor to the north, South Carolina, was able to furnish it very little assistance in times of need, and was often barely able to protect itself. Had the Creeks, the Chickasaws and Cherokees been allies of the Spaniards or the French instead of allies of Georgia the English settlers would have found themselves in hot water most of the time.

The general had difficulty in corresponding with England and letting the people there know what he needed. "Seven out of eight letters miscarry," he said. Fortunately no more English merchantmen were captured by Spanish privateers; the Dons had apparently been taught a lesson by the vigorous attack Oglethorpe had made on their own ships.

To keep this lesson in their mind the governor sailed again for St. Augustine, but ran into a storm that almost destroyed his fleet. At nearly the same time a privateer reached the bar outside St. Augustine with large supplies for the garrison. The Spanish governor, as usual in need of fresh supplies, joyfully hailed the privateer, sent out a pilot with two galleys to bring her into the harbor, fired the guns from his castle, and ordered some of his Indians to cut wood and build a welcoming bonfire.

Oglethorpe and his Indian allies were on the alert, however. A party of his Creek friends attacked the Spanish Indians and captured five of them. At the same time one of his ships reached the privateer before the tide was high enough to float her over the bar, seized her, and took her to Frederica. Now the settlers of Georgia, and even of South Carolina, praised the general for his vigilance and dashing courage. A merchant of Charleston wrote, "Our wrongheads now begin to own that the security of our southern settlements and trade is owing to the vigilance and unwearied endeavors of His Excellency in annoying the enemy."

Yet, in spite of this, Carolina continued to fail in providing the men or ships or supplies that Oglethorpe, Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in Georgia and Carolina, requested of it.

Presently the Spaniards, following the policy of England in trying to annoy enemy colonies in America, took the offensive. A Spanish fleet of more than fifty ships, with more than 5,000 soldiers on board, was despatched to attack the English settlements. Fourteen of the ships tried to reach Fort William, but were driven back by the battery there. They then made for Cumberland Sound. Oglethorpe sent out Captain Horton with white soldiers and Indians and followed with more troops in three boats. The Spanish ships attacked him, but he fought his way through their fleet with two of his boats. The third boat made for a creek, hid there until the next day, and then returned to St. Simons with the report that General Oglethorpe had been overpowered and killed. A day later, however, the people of St. Simons were delighted to see their general return safe and sound. He had escaped damage from the Spaniards, but had hit them so hard with his guns that four of their ships foundered on the way back to St. Augustine for repairs.

At once he prepared ships and men for another conflict. His daring had so inspired his crews that as some of them said, "We were ready for twice our number of Spaniards." They soon had their chance. Thirty-six Spanish ships in line of battle ran into St. Simons harbor. The forts and the vessels there opened fire at once. Three times the enemy tried to board the _Success_, a ship of twenty guns and one hundred men, but each time the crew proved that they really were ready for twice their number of Spaniards. After fighting for four hours the Spaniards gave up the battle and sailed up the river in the direction of Frederica.

Oglethorpe called a council of war. In view of the great number of Spanish ships it was decided to destroy the batteries at St. Simons and withdraw all the forces to Frederica. This was quickly done, and that evening some of the enemy landed and took possession of the deserted and dismantled fortifications.

Meantime the general learned from some prisoners captured by the Indians that the Spaniards had land forces of 5,000 men and had issued commands to give no quarter to the English. As Mr. Rutledge of Charleston later wrote, "The Spaniards were resolved to put all to the sword, not to spare a life, so as to terrify the English from any future thought of re-settling." Oglethorpe was now in a most dangerous situation. The enemy had numerous ships, a great many soldiers, and were evidently determined to settle matters once for all with their neighbors. The fate of the English colonies of Georgia and South Carolina might depend on the outcome of the next few days.

Spanish outposts tried to reach the fort at Frederica, but were driven back by Indian scouts. The only road to the town was by the narrow highway, where only three men could walk abreast, with a forest on one side and a marsh on the other. Artillery could not be carried over it, and it was guarded by Highlanders and Indians in ambush. Yet, after many attempts, the Spaniards managed to get within two miles of the town.

Oglethorpe now led a charge of his rangers, Highlanders and Indians, so fiercely that all but a few of the enemy's advance-guard were killed or made prisoners. The Spanish commander was captured. The English pursued the retreating Spaniards for a mile, then posted guards, while the general returned to the town for reinforcements.

The Spaniards again marched up the road and camped near where the English lay hid in ambush. A noise startled them and they seized their arms. The men in ambush fired, many Spaniards fell, and the rest fled in confusion. As a Spanish sergeant said, "The woods were so full of Indians that the devil himself could not get through them." For a long time the place was known as the "Bloody Marsh." Oglethorpe marched his troops over the road to within two miles of the main Spanish encampment, and there halted for the night.

The enemy withdrew to the ruined fort at St. Simons, where they were sheltered by the guns of their fleet. Oglethorpe went back to Frederica, leaving outposts to watch the Spaniards. There he found that his provisions were running low, and he knew that no more could be brought in since the enemy blocked the sound. He told the people, however, that if they had to abandon their settlement they could escape through Alligators Creek and the canal that had been cut through Generals Island, and he assured his little army of 800 men that they were more than a match for the whole Spanish expedition.

Presently Spanish galleys came up the river; but Indians, hid in the long grasses, prevented the soldiers from landing. When they approached the town the batteries opened such a hot fire that the galleys fled down-stream much faster than they had come up.

English prisoners, escaping from the Spaniards, began to bring word that the enemy were much discouraged. Many Spaniards had fallen sick, and the soldiers from Cuba were wrangling with the men from Florida. Oglethorpe therefore planned a surprise for the enemy and marched to within a mile of their camp. He was about to attack when one of his soldiers, a Frenchman who had volunteered but was in reality a spy, fired his gun and ran from the general's ranks.

The Frenchman was not caught, and the general knew that he would tell the Spaniards how few English soldiers there were. So Oglethorpe tried a trick of his own, hoping to make the Frenchman appear to be a double spy. He hired a Spanish prisoner to carry a letter to the spy. "The letter was in French," Oglethorpe later said, "as if from a friend, telling him that he had received the money, and would strive to make the Spaniards believe the English were very weak; that he should undertake to pilot their boats and galleys, and then bring them into the woods where the hidden batteries were. That if he could bring about all this, he should have double the reward, and that the French deserters should have all that had been promised them.

"The Spanish prisoner got into their camp," Oglethorpe said, "and was immediately carried before the general. He was asked how he escaped and whether he had any letters; but denying this, was searched and the letter found. And he, upon being pardoned, confessed that he had received money to carry it to the Frenchman, for the letter was not directed. The Frenchman, of course, denied knowing anything of the contents of the letter, or having received any money or had any correspondence with me. Notwithstanding which, a council of war was held and they decided the Frenchman a double spy, but the general would not suffer him to be executed, having been employed by himself."

While the Spaniards were still in doubt as to the strength of Oglethorpe's forces some English ships arrived off the coast. This decided the Spaniards to leave, and they burned the barracks at St. Simons and took to their ships in such haste that they left behind some of their cannon and provisions.

Hearing that ships had been sighted Oglethorpe sent an officer in a boat with a letter to their commander. But when the officer embarked he found no ships were to be seen. Later the general learned that one of the vessels sighted came from South Carolina, and that the officer in command had orders to see if the Spanish fleet had taken possession of the fort at St. Simons, and if it had to sail back to Charleston at once. Here was further proof that the plucky governor of Georgia could expect little assistance from the sister colony on the north.

By now some of the Spanish ships were out at sea, and others had landed their soldiers at St. Andrews in a temporary camp. A couple of days later twenty-eight of their ships sailed up to Fort William and called upon the garrison to surrender. The English officer there answered that he would not surrender the fort and defied the Spaniards to take it. The latter tried; they landed men, who were driven off by the guns of soldiers hidden in the sand-dunes, their ships fired on the fort, but were disabled by the return-fire of the Georgia batteries. After a battle of three hours the Spaniards withdrew from the scene and returned to their base at St. Augustine.

With a few ships and eight hundred men Oglethorpe had defeated a Spanish fleet of fifty-six vessels and an army of more than 5,000 soldiers. Small wonder that the people of his province couldn't find praise enough for their leader! George Whitefield, a famous clergyman of Savannah, wrote of this war against the Spanish Dons, "The deliverance of Georgia from the Spaniards is such as cannot be paralleled but by some instances out of the Old Testament. The Spaniards had intended to attack Carolina, but wanting water, they put into Georgia, and so would take that colony on their way. They were wonderfully repelled, and sent away before our ships were seen."

The governors of the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina sent letters to Oglethorpe thanking him for his valiant defense of the southern seaboard and expressing their gratitude to God that Georgia had a commander so well fitted to protect her borders. The governor of South Carolina and most of his officers had done little or nothing to help their neighbor, but the people of that colony thoroughly disapproved of this failure to be of assistance and a number of them sent a message to Oglethorpe in which they said, "If the Spaniards had succeeded in their attempts they would have destroyed us, laid our province waste and desolate, and filled our habitations with blood and slaughter.... We are very sensible of the great protection and safety we have so long enjoyed by having your Excellency to the southward of us; had you been cut off, we must, of course, have fallen."

Even after this defeat, however, the Spaniards of Florida continued from time to time to molest the Georgia borders. A party of rangers was killed by Spanish soldiers, the settlement at Mount Venture was burned by Yamasee Spanish Indians. Oglethorpe had to be on the watch constantly lest the French or the Spanish should raid his territory. And the English government, though he wrote them time and again, neglected to send him proper reinforcements.

In the spring of 1743 the general was again camped on the St. Johns River. He heard that a Spanish army was marching against him, and he resolved to attack them before they should attack him. His Indian allies stole up on the enemy, and surprising them, drove them back in confusion. The Spaniards took shelter behind one of their forts, and Oglethorpe could not manage to draw them out to battle. He marched his men back to Frederica, and there by Indian scouts, by sentry-boats, kept an eye on the Spaniards, ready to spring out to meet them should they renew their raids at any time.

His soldiers never faltered in their obedience to the general's orders; his Indian allies, though they were often tempted, never forsook their allegiance to him. The Spaniards tried many times to buy the red men over to their side. Similli, a chief of the Creeks, went to St. Augustine to see what was being done there. The Spaniards offered to pay him a large sum of money for every English prisoner he would bring them, and showed him a sword and scarlet clothes they had given a chief of the Yamasees. They said of Oglethorpe, "He is poor, he can give you nothing; it is foolish for you to go back to him." The Creek chief answered, "We love him. It is true he does not give us silver, but he gives us everything we want that he has. He has given me the coat off his back and the blanket from under him." In return for his loyalty to his English friend the Spaniards drove the Indian from St. Augustine at the point of the sword.

The general had spent all his own money in protecting his people in Georgia, and the English government would not send him the sums he said were urgently needed for the province. Therefore he decided that he must go to England and see what could be done there. He put his forts on the border in the best possible shape for defense, appointed a deputy governor in Savannah, and sailed for England in July, 1743.