How Oglethorpe Saved Georgia From Spain
On the 5th day of July, in the year 1742, unwonted signs of activity
might have been seen in the usually deserted St. Simon's harbor, on the
coast of Georgia. Into that sequestered bay there sailed a powerful
squadron of fifty-six well-armed war-vessels, one of them carrying
twenty-four guns and two of them twenty guns each, while there was a
large following of smaller vessels. A host of men in uniform crowded the
deck
of these vessels, and the gleam of arms gave lustre to the scene.
It was a strong Spanish fleet, sent to wrest the province of Georgia
from English hands, and mayhap to punish these intruders in the
murderous way that the Spaniards had punished the French Huguenots two
centuries before.
In all the time that had elapsed since the discovery of America, Spain
had made only one settlement on the Atlantic coast of the United States,
that of St. Augustine in Florida. But slow as they were in taking
possession, they were not slow in making claims, for they looked on
Florida as extending to the Arctic zone. More than once had they tried
to drive the English out of Charleston, and now they were about to make
a similar effort in Georgia. That colony had been settled, only ten
years before, on land which Spain claimed as her own, and the English
were not there long before hostilities began. In 1739 General
Oglethorpe, the proprietor of Georgia, invaded Florida and laid siege to
St. Augustine. He failed in this undertaking, and in 1742 the Spaniards
prepared to take revenge, sending the strong fleet mentioned against
their foes. It looked as if Georgia would be lost to England, for on
these vessels were five thousand men, a force greater than all Georgia
could raise.
Oglethorpe knew that the Spaniards were coming, and made hasty
preparations to meet them. Troops of rangers were raised, the planters
were armed, fortifications built, and a ship of twenty-two guns
equipped. But with all his efforts his force was pitifully small as
compared with the great Spanish equipment. Besides the ship named, there
were some small armed vessels and a shore battery, with which the
English for four hours kept up a weak contest with their foes. Then the
fleet sailed past the defences and up the river before a strong breeze,
and Oglethorpe was obliged to spike the guns and destroy the
war-material at Fort St. Simon's and withdraw to the stronger post of
Frederica, where he proposed to make his stand. Not long afterward the
Spaniards landed their five thousand men four miles below Frederica.
These marched down the island and occupied the deserted fort.
There may not seem to our readers much of interest in all this, but when
it is learned that against the fifty-six ships and more than five
thousand men of the Spaniards the utmost force that General Oglethorpe
could muster consisted of two ships and six hundred and fifty-two men,
including militia and Indians, and that with this handful of men he
completely baffled his assailants, the case grows more interesting. It
was largely an example of tactics against numbers, as will be seen on
reading the story of how the Spaniards were put to the right about and
forced to flee in utter dismay.
On the 7th of July some of the Georgia rangers discovered a small body
of Spanish troops within a mile of Frederica. On learning of their
approach, Oglethorpe did not wait for them to attack him in his not very
powerful stronghold, but at once advanced with a party of Indians and
rangers, and a company of Highlanders who were on parade. Ordering the
regiment to follow, he hurried forward with this small detachment,
proposing to attack the invaders while in the forest defiles and before
they could deploy in the open plain near the fort.
So furious was his charge and so utter the surprise of the Spaniards
that nearly their entire party, consisting of one hundred and
twenty-five of their best woodsmen and forty-five Indians, were either
killed, wounded, or made prisoners. The few fugitives were pursued for
several miles through the forest to an open meadow or savannah. Here the
general posted three platoons of the regiment and a company of Highland
foot under cover of the wood, so that any Spaniards advancing through
the meadow would have to pass under their fire. Then he hastened back
to Frederica and mustered the remainder of his force.
Just as they were ready to march, severe firing was heard in the
direction of the ambushed troops. Oglethorpe made all haste towards them
and met two of the platoons in full retreat. They had been driven from
their post by Don Antonia Barba at the head of three hundred grenadiers
and infantry, who had pushed through the meadow under a drifting rain
and charged into the wood with wild huzzas and rolling drums.
The affair looked very bad for the English. Forced back by a small
advance-guard of the invaders, what would be their fate when the total
Spanish army came upon them? Oglethorpe was told that the whole force
had been routed, but on looking over the men before him he saw that one
platoon and a company of rangers were missing. At the same time the
sound of firing came from the woods at a distance, and he ordered the
officers to rally their men and follow him.
Let us trace the doings of the missing men. Instead of following their
retreating comrades, they had, under their officers, Lieutenants
Sutherland and MacKay, made a skilful detour in the woods to the rear of
the enemy, reaching a point where the road passed from the forest to the
open marsh across a small semicircular cove. Here they formed an
ambuscade in a thick grove of palmettos which nearly surrounded the
narrow pass.
They had not been there long when the Spaniards returned in high glee
from their pursuit. Reaching this open spot, well protected from assault
as it appeared by the open morass on one side and the crescent-shaped
hedge of palmettos and underwood on the other, they deemed themselves
perfectly secure, stacking their arms and throwing themselves on the
ground to rest after their late exertions.
The ambushed force had keenly watched their movements from their
hiding-place, preserving utter silence as the foe entered the trap. At
length Sutherland and MacKay raised the signal of attack, a Highland cap
upon a sword, and in an instant a deadly fire was poured upon the
unsuspecting enemy. Volley after volley succeeded, strewing the ground
with the dead and dying. The Spaniards sprang to their feet in confusion
and panic. Some of their officers attempted to reform their broken
ranks, but in vain; all discipline was gone, orders were unheard, safety
alone was sought. In a minute more, with a Highland shout, the platoon
burst upon them with levelled bayonet and gleaming claymore, and they
fled like panic-stricken deer; some to the marsh, where they mired and
were captured; some along the defile, where they were cut down; some to
the thicket, where they became entangled and lost. Their defeat was
complete, only a few of them escaping to their camp. Barba, their
leader, was mortally wounded; other officers and one hundred and sixty
privates were killed; the prisoners numbered twenty. The feat of arms
was as brilliant as it was successful, and Oglethorpe, who did not
reach the scene of action till the victory was gained, promoted the two
young officers on the spot as a reward for their valor and military
skill. The scene of the action has ever since been known as the "Bloody
Marsh."
The enterprise of the Spaniards had so far been attended by misfortune,
a fact which caused dissention among their leaders. Learning of this,
Oglethorpe resolved to surprise them by a night attack. On the 12th he
marched with five hundred men until within a mile of the Spanish
quarters, and after nightfall went forward with a small party to
reconnoitre. His purpose was to attack them, if all appeared favorable,
but he was foiled by the treachery of a Frenchman in his ranks, who
fired his musket and deserted to the enemy under cover of the darkness.
Disconcerted by this unlucky circumstance, the general withdrew his
reconnoitering party; reaching his men, he distributed the drummers
about the wood to represent a large force, and ordered them to beat the
grenadier's march. This they did for half an hour; then, all being
still, they retreated to Frederica.
The defection of the Frenchman threw the general into a state of alarm.
The fellow would undoubtedly tell the Spaniards how small a force
opposed them, and advise them that, with their superior land and naval
forces, they could easily surround and destroy the English. In this
dilemma it occurred to him to try the effect of stratagem, and seek to
discredit the traitor's story.
He wrote a letter in French, as if from a friend of the deserter,
telling him that he had received the money, and advising him to make
every effort to convince the Spanish commander that the English were
very weak. He suggested to him to offer to pilot up their boats and
galleys, and to bring them under the woods where he knew the hidden
batteries were. If he succeeded in this, his pay would be doubled. If he
could not do this, he was to use all his influence to keep them three
days more at Fort St. Simon's. By that time the English would be
reinforced by two thousand infantry and six men-of-war which had already
sailed from Charleston. In a postscript he was cautioned on no account
to mention that Admiral Vernon was about to make an attack on St.
Augustine.
This letter was given to a Spanish prisoner, who was paid a sum of money
on his promise that he would carry the letter privately and deliver it
to the French deserter. The prisoner was then secretly set free, and
made his way back to the Spanish camp. After being detained and
questioned at the outposts he was taken before the general, Don Manuel
de Mantiano. So far all had gone as Oglethorpe hoped. The fugitive was
asked how he escaped and if he had any letters. When he denied having
any he was searched and the decoy letter found on his person. It was not
addressed to any one, but on promise of pardon he confessed that he had
received money to deliver it to the Frenchman.
As it proved, the deserter had joined the English as a spy for the
Spaniards. He earnestly protested that he was not false to his
agreement; that he knew nothing of any hidden battery or of the other
contents of the letter, and that he had received no money or had any
correspondence with Oglethorpe. Some of the general's council believed
him, and looked on the letter as an English trick. But the most of them
believed him to be a double spy, and advised an immediate retreat. While
the council was warmly debating on this subject word was brought them
that three vessels had been seen off the bar. This settled the question
in their minds. The fleet from Charleston was at hand; if they stayed
longer they might be hemmed in by sea and land; they resolved to fly
while the path to safety was still open. Their resolution was hastened
by an advance of Oglethorpe's small naval force down the stream, and a
successful attack on their fleet. Setting fire to the fort, they
embarked so hastily that a part of their military stores were abandoned,
and fled as if from an overwhelming force, Oglethorpe hastening their
flight by pursuit with his few vessels.
Thus ended this affair, one of the most remarkable in its outcome of any
in the military history of the United States. For fifteen days General
Oglethorpe, with little over six hundred men and two armed vessels, had
baffled the Spanish general with fifty-six ships and five thousand men,
defeating him in every encounter in the field, and at length, by an
ingenious stratagem, compelling him to retreat with the loss of several
ships and much of his provisions, munitions, and artillery. In all our
colonial history there is nothing to match this repulse of such a
formidable force by a mere handful of men. It had the effect of saving
Georgia, and perhaps Carolina, from falling into the hands of the
Spanish. From that time forward Spain made no effort to invade the
English colonies. The sole hostile action of the Spaniards of Florida
was to inspire the Indians of that peninsula to make raids in Georgia,
and this annoyance led in the end to the loss of Florida by Spain.