Augusta Richmond County History Editorial Committee Dr. Russell K. Brown, Editor Dr. Lee Ann Caldwell Trav Paine Molly Montgomery C. Tom Sutherland The journal is issued twice a year to all members. Cost of the journal to non-members is $6.00 plus postage. Copies are made available to all local middle and high school libraries. Bound copies or copies of back issues may be purchased from the Society ofice. Augusta Richmond County History publishes papers dealing with local and area history. The Editors do not assume responsibility for errors of fact or opinion on the part of the contributors No portion of this journal may be reproduced by any process or technique, without the consent of the editors and publishers. ISSN 99355119 AUGUSTA RICHMOND COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC. c/o Reese Library, Georgia Regents University 2500 Walton Way Augusta, GA 30904-2200 (706) 737-1532 www.theARCHS.org Members are invited to use the Societys collections maintained in the Special Collections Room at Reese Library, Georgia Regents University, telephone (706) 667-4904. Normal hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Annual Dues Individual ............................ $35.00 Family ................................. $45.00 Afiliate ............................... $40.00 Corporate ..........................$250.00 Supporting ........................$100.00 Benefactor.......................$1000.00 Publications of the Augusta Richmond County Historical Society, Inc. Augusta: A Pictorial History Dr. Helen Callahan.........................................Hardback. . .................... $45.00 Confederate City: Augusta, Georgia, 1860-1865 Dr. Florence Fleming Corley .........................Hardback . ..................... $35.00 Historical Markers and Monuments of Richmond County, Georgia Marguerite Flint Fogleman ............................Paperback ........................... $9.95 Reminiscences of Augusta Marines Edited by A. Ray Rowland ............................Hardback .......................... $15.00 Journal of Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell Edited by Colin Campbell .............................Paperback ......................... $15.00 Memories: The Academy of Richmond County, 1783-1983 Alethia E. Nowell ..........................................Hardback .......................... $25.00 Trustees of the Town: The Story of Richmond Academy Trustees Alethia E. Nowell .........................................Hardback .......................... $20.00 From Greenhouses to Green Jackets (Expanded Edition) Compiled and Edited by Dr. Russell K. Brown .....................................Paperback ......................... $20.00 From Balloons to Blue Angels Dr. Edward J. Cashin ....................................Hardback .......................... $25.00 Paperback ......................... $18.00 War Stories: Augusta Area Veterans Remember World War II DVD ................................. $20.00 Check our website for additional titles and ordering information: www.theARCHS.org Or call us at (706) 737-1532. Augusta Richmond County Historical Society, Inc. c/o Reese Library, Georgia Regents University 2500 Walton Way Augusta, GA 30904-2200 Address Service Requested NonProit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Augusta, GA Permit No. 63 Augusta Richmond County Historical Society, Inc. 2014 Executive Committee President President-elect Past President Treasurer Secretary Advisor Administrator Trav Paine Dr. Jim Garvey Charlie Tudor Hamp Manning Julia N. Jackson Dr. Robert R. Nesbit Molly Montgomery Board of Directors 2012-2015 Richard Magruder Dr. Robert R. Nesbit Catherine Wahl 2013-2016 Cobbs Nixon Thomas H. Robertson Corey Rogers 2014-2017 John Bell Elizabeth Henry Robert Osborne Standing Committees Historian Journal Editor Scholarship Special Events Veterans Affairs Web Master Dr. Lee Ann Caldwell Dr. Russell K. Brown Dr. Lee Ann Caldwell Mary Gail Nesbit C. Tom Sutherland Edward M. Gillespie Veterans History Project Coordinators World War II Korea and Vietnam Fred Gehle Bill Tilt and Stan Schrader 1 Augusta and the Civil War Symposium Series hursday, November 6, 2014 At the Morris Museum of Art 1 Tenth Street 6:00 p.m.: Reading by Allan Gurganus, author of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. Reception and book signing follow. Friday, November 7, 2014 Augusta Museum of History 560 Reynolds Street 6:30 p.m.: Dr. Edward J. Cashin Memorial Woodrow Wilson Lecture: “Marching hrough the Heart of Georgia,” presented by Dr. Anne Sarah Rubin, University of Maryland,-Baltimore. Reception to follow. he Friday night event is open to the public free of charge. Symposium Series 1864 Saturday, November 8, 2014 Augusta Museum of History 560 Reynolds Street 9:00 a.m.: Registration (Cost $30.00) 9:30-10:30 a.m.: “Gen. William H.T. Walker of Augusta in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864,” presented by Dr. Russell K. Brown. The War Comes to Georgia 10:30 -10:45 a.m. Break 10:45-11:45 a.m.: “Ella Gertrude Clanton homas,” presented by Dr. Carolyn Curry November 6–8, 2014 11:45 a.m. -1:15 p.m.: Lunch 1:15 to 2:30 p.m.: Eighth Regimental Band “Songs of the Civil War” 2 Augusta Richmond County History The Oficial Journal of the Augusta Richmond County Historical Society, Inc. Volume 45, No. 2 Fall 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS Society Notes .............................................................................................. 4 Devoted to the Kings Service: Loyalist James Grierson of Augusta, Georgia .......................................... 5 Steven J. Rauch His Brothers Keeper: The Life of Major John David Walker, C.S.A. ....................................... 32 Russell K. Brown 3 Society Notes Our President Trav Paine sends a message to our members: We thank you for your interest and support of the Augusta Richmond County Historical Society. Your membership afirms our place as an important cultural entity in Augusta and helps us fulill our mission: to collect, preserve and present the history of Richmond County. The diverse stories of our community and its citizens involve the telling of major nation and international events from our local history. We are sustained by our members and contributions, and we need your continued membership the annual dues are very reasonable and your membership fee will enable us to provide speakers programs, publish our semi-annual journal and expand and maintain our collections at Reese Library. All members receive the journal and invitations to our regular programs and special events. We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to renew your annual membership and reach out to recruit a new member for 2015. You might consider a gift membership for someone you know who cares about local history. For those who want to, membership is now as easy as a phone call to the ofice with a credit card number. Please help us continue to grow and serve our community. This issue brings us articles about two Augusta soldiers who gave their lives for causes they believed in, in both cases ighting against the forces of the United States. Steve Rauch, a name familiar to ARCHS members, brings us the tragic tale of a Revolutionary era murder while your editor digs into his archives for the story of the untimely death of a young Confederate oficer. Reminders about forthcoming and ongoing historically-themed events are also featured in this issued. Our members are encouraged to attend the upcoming Civil War Symposium, 6-8 November this year; the annual Jimmy Dyess Symposium next January; and the regular monthly meetings of the Augusta Civil War Roundtable. See the advertisements at the front and back of the journal for particulars. Our cover illustration is a photo portrait of Major John David Walker, C.S.A., courtesy of Hugh M. Walker of North Augusta, S.C. 4 Devoted to the Kings Service: Loyalist James Grierson of Augusta, Georgia Steven J. Rauch Steven J. Rauch is the Command Historian at the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence at Fort Gordon. He is a former ARCHS board member and a frequent contributor to this journal. On October 4, 1781, readers of the Savannah Royal Georgia Gazette were given the opportunity to read the lyrics of a song entitled The Volunteers of Augusta” that relected the wide range of emotions faced by those living during the turmoil known as the American Revolution.1 The sentiments relected the loyal subjects of the crown; particularly those who took up arms against their fellow countrymen the Whig rebels who sought to impose a radical government upon what had once been an ordered society. The song was to be sung to the tune of the The Lilies of France.” The irst stanza conveyed a universal spirit of camaraderie and military glory that could apply to any group of men, whatever their cause: COME join, my brave lads, come all from afar, Were all Volunteers, all ready for war; Our service is free, for honour we ight, Regardless of hardships by day or by night. The chorus then made clear, this free service was for Great Britain by the lines: Then all draw your swords, and constantly sing, Success to our Troop, our Country, and King. The second stanza relected the destruction and death attributed to the Whig rebels intended to generate raw emotion and hate toward the patriots with the lines: The Rebels they murder, - Revenge is the word, Let each lad return with blood on his sword; See Griersons pale ghost point afresh to his wound, Well conquer, my boys, or fall dead on the ground. 5 For Georgia Loyalists the mention of Griersons wounded ghost needed no further explanation he was a martyred victim of the murdering rebels. As if to stir the baser emotions, the Chorus changed to a more violent tone: Then brandish your swords, and constantly sing, Success to our Troop, our Country, and King. The third stanza relected a crescendo of violence and revenge, perhaps to convince those wavering as to why the Whigs deserved no sympathy: Theyve plunderd our houses, attempted our lives, Drove off from their homes our children and wives; Such plundering miscreants no mercy can crave, Such murdering villains no mercy shall have. With that, the chorus bluntly stated what needed to be done: Then chop with your swords, and constantly sing, Success to our Troop, our Country, and King. So who was Grierson and why was his name used in this song to justify killing the hated rebels? Colonel James Grierson had been the commander of the 2nd Regiment of Royal Georgia militia and was murdered while conined as a prisoner of war at his house in Augusta, Georgia, on June 7, 1781. Grierson was shot to death in the presence of numerous witnesses, to include his young children, by a vengeful Georgia Whig militiaman. A few days later when Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the Southern Department of the Continental Army, demanded to know who committed the crime, no one came forward with any information. Nobody claimed to have seen anything, which perhaps relected the strong bond of local interests, combined with heightened emotions during a period of social disruption that accepted Griersons murder as something that needed to be done. Lt. Col. Henry Light Horse Harry Lee, a Virginian, was so shocked by such internecine violence he encountered during military operations in backcountry Georgia and South Carolina that he concluded, In no part of the South was the war conducted with such asperity as in this quarter. It often sank into barbarity.2 6 James Grierson family bible currently in possession of Willabelle Schyultz. This bible has travelled across the Atlantic three times and provides a valuable record of Grierson and his family during their residence in Augusta from 1767 to 1781. Photo by Willabelle Schyultz, 2007 In the literature of the Revolutionary War in the south, and particularly Georgia, James Griersons death has come to symbolize the violence of civil war. But it was even more tragic because it was also the death of an American family that had already lost their mother and two children, leaving behind three young orphaned boys to the care of strangers. Because of these circumstances very little documentation such as letters, memoirs, or other records remain from which to more fully understand who James Grierson was. However, within the extended Grierson family descendants, an important document has survived - the family bible, which provides a glimpse into the Griersons and the tragedy they suffered while living in Augusta.3 Even with this source, however, information about James Grierson is scarce and must be gleaned from the few direct references by his contemporaries and public records, as well as deductive reasoning based upon the lives of others who shared Griersons loyalist views, and sometimes, fate. 7 Home in Augusta – Grierson and His Family James Grierson was born on January 6, 1741 in Dumfries, Scotland, on the Larbreck Estates manor, the oldest of ive children of Thomas Grierson and Elizabeth Ewart. Two of his younger brothers, Thomas and Robert, would also join James in seeking a life in the American colonies. Exactly when James Grierson arrived in Georgia is not clear, but a record of the Georgia colonial council that convened on September 2, 1766, noted a petition from him in which he stated he had been living in Georgia since June 1762, when he was about 21 years old. In the petition, Grierson sought 1,000 acres of land on the Little River near Upton’s Creek upon which he wanted to build a saw-mill and grist-mill in order to provide back-country settlers, the many Conveniences [that] would accrue to those People from having a Store settled among them.4 On May 14, 1767 James Grierson married Katherine McBurnie, who was also from Dumfries, and later that year they settled in Augusta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, on July 7, 1767, Governor James Wright signed the grant awarding Grierson his 1,000 acres near the Little River in St. Pauls Parish. Grierson petitioned the government for additional Plan of the Town, Common, and Township of Augusta, 1736-1781. Lot 10 was awarded to James Grierson in 1767. Fort Grierson was probably where the number 10 is shown on the map. Map drawn by Thomas Heard Robertson, 2002. 8 land later that year, this time a 50 acre township lot near Augusta. That particular land, identiied as Lot 10 of the township lots, had been owned by John Pettygrew, who died on February 14, 1758, leaving the property to his wife Katherine and his daughter Jane. However, the lot was unoccupied and there was no land grant registered in his name. Thus Grierson sought to obtain this lot through a grant in his and Jane Pettygrews names as tenants in common subject to the powers and limitations of John Pettygrews will.5 The petition awarding the property to Grierson and Pettygrew was granted on December 1, 1767. This lot was situated west of the town of Augusta proper, between two rills of water known as Campbells Gully and Hawks Gully. The location provided important access to the Savannah River with approximately 660 feet of river front property for use. From the river, the lot stretched 3,300 feet south- south west thus forming an elongated rectangular shape. Today this lot is identiied as abutting the Savannah River between 12th and 13th streets with the back, or lower, boundary being approximately along Fenwick Street. The landowners to Griersons east and south were Francis Macartan and Martin Campbell (hence Campbells gully) and to the west the landowner was James Parris.6 On this substantial property, Grierson established an animal pelt wholesale trading company for which he built an extensive complex of buildings that included a large brick dwelling house, two additional houses with brick cellars, several storehouses, or barns, a kitchen, a stable, and a house for accommodating his servants.7 The Griersons thus joined a growing community described by fellow resident Robert Mackay, Jr. as a small town, the houses standing far apart from each other, being few in number, but occupied by very worthy and respectable people.8 Life was good for the Griersons in the early 1770s and their family soon grew. On May 9, 1768, a son, James, Jr., was born followed by another son, Thomas, on November 14, 1770.9 On January 7, 1772, James Grierson, along with James McFarlin, were appointed as Justices of the Peace for St. Pauls Parish, thus indicating the now 31- year-old Grierson was becoming a man of importance and status in Augusta, the greater parish, and the Georgia colony. On January 24, 1773, another son, David, was welcomed into the family, further adding to the growing family, business, and political life of James Grierson. In the fateful year of 1775, the Griersons welcomed a daughter to their family on March 14. They named her Katherine, after her mother, and like most fathers 9 Grierson became strongly attached to her. She would be followed by one more child, a son who they named George on July 2, 1777. Unknown to Grierson at the time, this event was probably one of the last happy occasions he would experience as a husband and father. Danger on the Frontier – The Establishment of Fort Grierson With the opening of new lands for settlement above Augusta in 1773, the chance for conlict between English settlers and the Creek and Cherokee Indians increased, with a concomitant danger to those living near Augusta. Thus the male inhabitants service as members of the militia would be needed should an outbreak of violence occur. In 1772, James Grierson was already serving as a militia oficer in the parish regiment. David Taitt, deputy to British Indian Superintendent John Stuart, was travelling through Augusta and noted his impressions about the readiness of the militia for combat in a journal entry on August 4, 1772 [spelling as in the original]: This being His Majestys Birth Day, I went to see the Malitia of this place Reviewed by their Oficers. The men made a very Sorry Appearance, some having Old rusty irelocks, other Rifles, and some being well Clothed and Others with Osnaburgh Shirts and Trousers; they ired platoons as ununiformly as their Acuttrements and dress. After the Review I went to Drink his Majestys health with the oficers, where a Mr. Greersons, who is Captain of this banditto, came to me to make an Appologey for his brothers behavour in the Creek nation.10 The state of the militias skills was important because in late 1773 bands of Lower Creek Indians began attacking white settlers in the newly Ceded Lands. On December 25, 1773, a white family was massacred on their settlement near the headwaters of the Ogeechee River. The danger to Augusta increased on January 14, 1774, when the Creeks attacked a stockade settlement known as Shirrols Farm west of the Quaker settlement of Wrightsborough. This necessitated calling the militia into service and on January 21, 1774, Grierson detached a small militia unit under Captain William Goodgion to assist the Georgia Rangers, commanded by Captain Edward Barnard, to quell the uprising. Unfortunately, this small unit was ambushed by about 100 black and red painted Indians who drove off the militia who offered little resistance and 10 lost seven men killed in the action. Many settlers then abandoned the Ogeechee River area until defensive forts could be built for protection. The emergency soon ended when British Indian agents arrived to restore order between the Creeks and the Georgians.11 This emergency prompted Grierson and other Augustans to undertake improvements of their property to ensure their physical safety during any future Indian crisis. Grierson fortiied his house with a picketed stockade and bastions, resulting in an extensive structure that became known as Fort Grierson. These improvements included setting slotted wooden posts in which boards up to three inches thick were then stacked to form a ten to twelve foot high wall. Later, in 1779, British commander Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell described Fort Grierson as a stockade work with four bastions and eight small pieces of cannon, . . . about 60 yards from the west side of the principle street.12 These bastions, or pentagonal lankers at the corners of the stockade, were two stories tall and provided enough room for up to 40 men and for positioning small artillery pieces, such as two, three, or four pounder cannon, on the second story of the structure.13 From the information gathered from eyewitnesses such as Campbell, extant maps of the period, and property records research, Fort Grierson would have been located south of the 1200 block of Broad Street and north of Greene Street, between present 12th and 13th streets. Campbell stated Fort Grierson was located 60 yards (or 180 feet) from the west or south side of the principle street.14 This information puts it perhaps on, or just north, of Ellis Street, assuming all measurements were symmetric, something highly unlikely given the distortion resulting from over 240 years of urban development. Never the less, these facts do establish that Fort Grierson was nowhere near the historical marker titled, Fort Grierson purporting to be the approximate location of the site next to the Fire Station on the corner of Reynolds and 11th Street, about one quarter of a mile away.15 In fact, that property was part of Lot 8 or 9 which was not owned or granted to Grierson. Friends Versus Friends Revolution in Augusta In 1774 the British Intolerable Acts elicited protests from the American colonies, including Savannah merchants who objected to the possibility that what was happening in New England could happen in 11 Fort Grierson historical marker next to the ire station on the corner of 11th Street and Reynolds Street in Augusta. This location is about 1/4 mile away from where the fort probably stood. There are two errors in the text. Lt. Col. Henry Light Horse Harry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee, was at Augusta. Richard Henry Lee was a prominent Virginia politician, but did not serve in the military. Grierson was captured on June 5, 1781 after the surrender of Fort Cornwallis, not while leeing during the attack on Fort Grierson. He was murdered on June 7, 1781. Photo by the author, 2005 Georgia as well. However, the backcountry settlers were of a different mind-set, mainly because of the governments recent support of settlers interests over that of the Indians and traders in the Ceded Lands, which resulted in a feeling of harmony with the status quo. In St. Pauls Parish, petitions were signed proclaiming loyalty to the King because of his powerful aid and assistance as none but Great Britain can give, in protection against the Indians which would be jeopardized by those opposing royal authority.16 One of those signing such a petition was James Grierson, now a Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Georgia militia, having been appointed by Governor James Wright in recognition of his ability to handle responsibility over more than a decade living as a productive citizen of St. Pauls Parish. 12 Unfortunately, in the coming struggle for political control of the colonies, this appointment placed Grierson in a dificult position between his friends and neighbors who favored the Whig or Patriot movement and those who rejected such rebelliousness and disloyalty. Here the record does not mention Griersons views or opinions, and perhaps this omission or the absence of any signiicant comment by contemporaries about his position may indicate he was very careful about exposing his true views until certain of the way events were heading. In this regard his connections as a family man, business man, justice of the peace and militia oficer appear to have been regarded favorably by those established residents of Augusta and St. Pauls Parish who knew him and his large family. Thus, he may not have been viewed as a threat or with suspicion by either faction until decisive events or his reaction to them prompted a change in those views. One such event that compelled Grierson to take a stand occurred during the summer of 1775 when loyalist Thomas Brown, a recently arrived English planter who was granted substantial tracts of land northwest of Augusta (in the present Appling area of Columbia County), was treated roughly by a mob of liberty boys to include being tarred and feathered because of his loyalist views.17 On August 6, 1775, Grierson wrote to Governor Wright about the political disturbances near Augusta, speciically the abuse at the hands of the Whigs of Thomas Brown who was, brought to Augusta, and having Tarrd & Featherd him, Carried him through the Town in a Cart, Next morning he was Set at Liberty.18 When Brown led to Ninety-Six, South Carolina, there was a rumor that Col. Thomas Fletchall with 700 loyalist men were going to visit Augusta to take reprisals against Browns assailants. The parish committee requested Grierson to call out the militia against Brown and Fletchall, but he hesitated to do so and on August 6 requested further instructions from Wright as to what action he should take, closing his letter to the Governor with, I shall wait your Excellencys Instructions for my further Conduct.19 Wright replied on August 17 that he thought Grierson acted very properly and ordered him not to call out the militia unless directly instructed by him, the governor. Though the Loyalist threat never occurred, one can deduce from the exchange that Griersons support rested with the existing government, however, the unrest was still in its embryonic stage. The state of affairs became more deined in 1776 when Wright led the colony, allowing the Whigs to gain control of the Georgia political structure. 13 For a period of time Grierson somehow managed to maintain an uncommitted status within the new political environment, but personal tragedies began to overshadow the social unrest. In 1777 Grierson learned his brother Thomas had been killed by Whigs on October 30. Thomas had married a Creek Indian woman and had a son, John Grierson, who James would provide for in his will. It was during this time many loyalists lost hope that any help would be coming and began to uproot and move south to British Florida. Grierson and his family stayed in Augusta, but tragedy struck their family on August 20, 1778, when Katherine died at age 42. As 1778 came to a close, the now 37-year-old Grierson found himself a widower with ive small children to care for and living under a radical government at odds with his political views. Sketch map of Augusta, Georgia in 1779 by Archibald Campbell and engraved by William Faden, 1780. Note the location of Griersons property in relation to the town and other features. Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries 14 On December 28, 1778, a British expedition from New York lead by Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell captured Savannah, prompting the Whig government to lee to Augusta for refuge. There a new executive council, called a committee, formed on January 9, 1779, and used Fort Grierson as their headquarters, but only for a brief time because on January 31, Campbell and his troops arrived in Augusta on a mission to meet loyalist supporters from the backcountry and assure them their government had returned. Unfortunately for Grierson and his fellow loyalists, the British would not stay for long only about two weeks when Campbell, concerned about Whig troops from North and South Carolina gathering across the Savannah River, decided to abandon Augusta and return to Savannah, much to the shock of the loyalists. It is not clear how Grierson fared politically at this time, but his personal life continued to decline on September 7, 1779, when his four and a half-year old daughter Katherine died. Grierson wrote in the family bible, Katherine My dearly beloved and sweet little daughter died. She was a pretty and most promising child my future hope and constant care.20 During the long winter of 1779-1780 Griersons actions are unknown, but surely his neighbors and friends on either side of the political spectrum recognized his grief and he seemed to have weathered the stormy political waters, still retaining his property and, apparently, his loyalty to Great Britain. Return of the Empire – Grierson as a Loyalist Leader After the British victory at Charleston in May 1780, Grierson emerged as a prominent Georgia loyalist leader being commissioned again by Wright in June 1780 as colonel of the 2nd Regiment of militia. When Lt. Colonel Thomas Brown returned to Augusta with his regiment of provincial Kings Rangers, Grierson assisted him in re-establishing royal control of the area. However, that control was tenuous as proved on September 14 when Georgia militia Colonel Elijah Clarke attacked Augusta with about 500 Georgia and South Carolina Whig militia. The attack was such a surprise that Grierson was not able to call out the loyalist militia in time and while the main battle raged to the west of town, a Whig column quickly captured Fort Grierson, to include the cannon, and then made use of the facility as a headquarters during the battle. From September 15 to 18 Griersons exact role in the siege of Mackeys trading post is unknown, but he was with Brown participating in the defense until 15 relieved by loyalist units from Ninety-Six led by Lt. Col. John Harris Cruger. After Cruger broke the siege on September 18, Grierson, along with the provincial troops and some Indians, captured and killed several Whig stragglers. It was during the actions following Clarkes failed attack that Grierson likely incurred the wrath of his fellow Georgians. On September 20, 1780, Cruger led a force of loyalists into Wilkes County in pursuit of Clarke and his fellow rebels. Cruger took his force north-east along the bank of the Savannah River while Grierson marched the Richmond County loyalist militia west toward Wrightsboro. For eight days Griersons and Crugers men searched the countryside for rebels and exacted retribution by burning the courthouse and numerous frontier forts and houses of the most notorious villains. Clarke and 700 Georgia men, women and children escaped beyond the Broad River thereby ending the Georgia loyalist pursuit which was handed off to a loyalist unit in South Carolina commanded by Major Patrick Ferguson. In the course of this punitive expedition, the loyalists seized twenty-one mostly elderly men as hostages who were then marched on foot from Wilkes County to Augusta in order to provide insurance against another attack at the risk of their lives.21 During the fall of 1780 Brown was directed by British general Lord Cornwallis, commanding in the South, to prepare more thorough defenses in case of another Whig attempt on Augusta. Brown organized the construction of a fortiication on the site of Saint Paul’s Church, which he named Fort Cornwallis in honor of his commander.22 The Reverend James Seymour of St. Pauls wrote about this fort on the site of his parish,The Oficers and Engineers thought it advisable to make a Fortress at Augusta to guard against a similar attack; where the Church stands was deemed the most proper ground for that purpose, and the Burying Ground is now made a strong fortiication.”23 As spring 1781 approached, the loyalist base at Augusta became increasingly isolated and harassed by numerous marauding Whig bands. On March 10, 1781, Griersons oldest son James died just shy of thirteen years old. It was also about this time that American Major General Nathanael Greene, commander of the Southern Theater of Operations, embarked upon operations to reduce the British and Loyalist military garrisons in South Carolina and Georgia. The Americans 16 were very successful and by the middle of May, only two major British posts remained to be conquered, Ninety-Six and Augusta. On May 4, 1781, Grierson and Brown wrote to James Wright asking for reinforcements because several hundred rebels had formed a loose cordon around the town which isolated it from other posts. Wright requested help from the military commander in Savannah, Colonel Frederick von Porbeck but was refused as the defense of that city had more priority than the outposts. Meanwhile, Greene ordered South Carolina militia leader Brigadier General Andrew Pickens and Continental Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee, commanding Lees Legion, a mixed force of cavalry and infantry, to join forces with the Georgia militia commanded by Clarke to force the surrender of the garrison at Augusta. Greene would take the main army to besiege Cruger at Ninety-Six. On May 22 Lee joined Pickens and Clarke at their encampment in the woods on the hill northwest of Augusta.24 There, the Patriot commanders studied the Loyalist positions and formed a plan. Lee and Pickens decided to attack Fort Grierson irst, defeat the smaller post, and then turn their effort to the main enemy position at Fort Cornwallis. They observed that Campbells Gully provided good protection for units to maneuver between the two enemy positions and prevent the loyalists from assisting each other. The patriot forces consisted of approximately 1,500-1,700 men. Lee had about 468 Continental troops, including a 6-pounder artillery piece; Pickens had about 550 men from various S.C. militia regiments; and Clarke had about 500 men from various Georgia and backcountry areas, to include a 4-pounder cannon.25 The plan of attack on Fort Grierson called for Pickens and Clarke to attack from the northwest with their Georgia and Carolina militia. Major Samuel Hammond would lead this attack with every second man carrying an ax to cut away the surrounding stockade.26 A detachment of Georgia militia commanded by Major James Jackson was placed under command of Major Pinketham Eaton who along with his North Carolina continentals would assault from the southeast.27 Lee ordered his legion infantry, supported by the 6-pounder cannon, to move parallel to Eaton down Campbells gulley toward the southeast to establish a blocking position to intercept Brown should he decide to save Grierson. Lee ordered Capt. Joseph Eggleston and his mounted troops to positions south of Fort Cornwallis to intercept Brown should he try to advance upon Lee.28 17 The loyalists facing this threat were stuck in two fortiications out of supporting distance (i.e. weapons range) of each other. There were about 236 Kings Rangers,29 a small number of militia, 300 Indians30 and almost 200 slaves31 in Fort Cornwallis along with two artillery pieces. James Grierson had about 80 militia and two artillery pieces with him inside Fort Grierson. The total Loyalist force numbered about 800-900 men. On the morning of May 24, the Whigs attacked Fort Grierson.32 It did not take long for Grierson and his men to realize they were outmatched and they attempted to escape by using the cover of the riverbank to make their way toward Fort Cornwallis. Browns rangers sallied from Fort Cornwallis to cover Grierson’s withdrawal and began to ire upon Lee’s blocking position with artillery. Lee returned ire from his 6-pounder and Sketch of the action during the attack on Fort Grierson, 24 May 1781, overlaid on a contemporary Augusta map. Sequence of events begins with the Whig assault upon Fort Grierson (1) during which Grierson and his men attempt to lee to the safety of the river bank (2). Thomas Brown then engages Henry Lees troops with artillery to distract and provide covering ire for Grierson’s escape (3) and enable the survivors to reach the safety of Fort Cornwallis (4) effectively ending the action for that day. Map by the author, 2014. 18 an artillery duel ensued between Lee and Brown, though it had little effect nor did it inlicted any measurable losses.33 Grierson’s light to Cornwallis was disastrous and resulted in 30 of his men killed, including his second in command, Major Howard.34 Georgia militiaman Samuel Beckaem described the scene as the old Field was Strewed from one fort to the other, with dead loyalists.35 About 45 of Griersons men were made prisoner and some of them were wounded. Lee stated incorrectly in his memoirs that Grierson was made prisoner during this event and was murdered upon surrendering.36 But Grierson, Major Henry Williams and a few others made it to Fort Cornwallis where they joined Brown in continuing the defense.37 During the next several days the Patriots conducted a siege of Fort Cornwallis in European fashion using entrenchments, a task which the Whig militia were not experienced at or enthused about. Lee suggested Illustration of the 2nd battle of Augusta from the perspective of inside Fort Cornwallis which was located on the present site of St. Pauls Church. To the right is the Savannah River, to the front left is the “Maham” tower lying the American lag, and inside are two iring platforms for the Loyalist artillery. Men of the King’s Rangers are wearing their green coats and there are several Indians and slaves portrayed as well. Dick Westcott, Augusta Museum of History 19 an idea employed during the siege of Fort Watson, S.C., in April, which involved building a wooden iring platform so artillery and musket ire could be aimed over Fort Cornwallis walls directly into the fort. This tower could hold a 6-pounder cannon and allow more effective ire on the defenders. Brown was determined to resist and over several days his men sortied from Fort Cornwallis to attack their besiegers. At one point Brown tried to place explosives in an abandoned house hoping the Patriots would try to occupy it so he could blow them up, but the trick was discovered and the plan failed. On May 31 Pickens requested Brown to surrender but he refused and the artillery in the tower began its deadly ire upon Fort Cornwallis. The patriots were prepared to stage a inal assault on June 4, but Brown decided that further resistance was not possible. On June 5, 1781, the British surrendered Fort Cornwallis and the town of Augusta. The loyalists laid down their arms and marched out of the fort. Total casualties of the battle were 40 patriots killed or wounded while the loyalists lost 52 killed and 334 captured. Retribution by the Georgia Patriots Thomas Brown was allowed to surrender inside the fort prior to the oficial ceremony and he was then escorted to Lee’s quarters by a heavy guard from the legion to protect him from the patriot militia. Lee wrote about these measures: This precaution was indispensable . . . Lieutenant-Colonel Brownes life was, we knew, sought with avidity; consequently it became our duty to secure his person before the garrison marched out . . . . The laurels acquired by the arms of America would have been stained by the murder of a gallant soldier, who had committed himself to his enemy on their plighted faith.38 The emotionally charged atmosphere between the patriots and loyalists required extreme precautions to safeguard the oficers of the King’s Rangers, a mission one oficer of Lee’s Legion said was one of the most dangerous he had to conduct during the war.39 Writing after the war, Brown expressed appreciation for the protection, stating: 20 From Colonel Lee, who commanded the Continental Legion, a gentleman of the most honourable and liberal sentiments, and from his oficers, the King’s troops experienced every security and attention; from the militia, under a General Pickens, every species of abuse and insult. Colonel Lee and his oficers exerted themselves in an uncommon degree and took every possible precaution to protect the prisoners from violence.40 Apparently the blanket of protection given to Brown and his oficers was not extended to the loyalist militia. Grierson was conined to his house at Fort Grierson and watched by only a light guard. Meanwhile, Lee was preparing his Partisan Corps (the Legion) to move to Ninety-Six as soon as possible to assist Greene in the siege there, so he appeared to have little time for local concerns, which now belonged to General Pickens. According to Dr. Thomas Taylor, a loyalist who was with Grierson during the battle and subsequent events: [T]hat very Morning I went to see that gallant unfortunate Man [Grierson] & upon my carrying him a drink of Water some of the miscreants about bestowd upon us both the bitter Curses; he told me that his Life was threatened & if not removd from the Place where he then was he was certain the Threat would be executed. He therefore beggd me to represent the matter thro Col: Brown to Col: Lee which I did but in vain.41 On June 8, 1781, two couriers probably passed each other on Martintown road between Augusta and Ninety-Six. The messenger from NinetySix carried a dispatch from Greene to Colonel Elijah Clarke at Augusta intended to address the aftermath of rebel victory over the British garrison. Greenes letter was written on June 7 and arrived at Augusta on June 9. Greene told Clarke: The high reputation you have . . . induces me to address my self to you to use your inluence to restrain two very capital evils which rage in the Country and which if not prevented must soon depopulate it. I mean private murders and plundering, . . . Let me entreat you to exert your self as much as possible to stop the progress of this business, and which if not put an end to very soon, I shall be obliged to . . . inlict capital punishment on such offenders which I will most assuredly do if they do not desist.42 21 Obviously Greene had some concerns he felt needed to be made very clear to Whig militia leaders of the backcountry; that they must keep in mind the ultimate aims of the war and avoid unnecessary bloodshed in the name of retribution for past events. Meanwhile, the letter traveling from Augusta to Ninety-Six intended for Greene was from Brig. Gen. Andrew Pickens, the senior Whig commander at Augusta. Pickens had to inform Greene of a situation that had occurred at Fort Grierson: A very disagreeable and melancholy affair which happened yesterday in the afternoon, occasions my writing to you at this time. I had ridden down to Brownes Fort where I had been but a few minutes, when information was brought me that a man had ridden up to the door of a room here, where Col. Grierson was conined, and, without dismounting, shot him so that he expired soon after, . . . I have given orders for burying Col. Grierson this afternoon with military honors.43 This was exactly the type of incident Greene had implored Clarke to deter. Grierson and Major Henry Williams of Wilkes County were conined to Grierson’s house in the upper quarters while many rank and ile were held in the cellar. Samuel Beckaem identiied Captain James Alexander as the man who called Grierson to the door under the pretense of speaking to him. Alexanders father had been one of the elderly hostages taken from Wilkes County to Augusta during the punitive raid into Wilkes County back in September 1780. Grierson went to meet Alexander who, “saluted him with a rile ball” which killed him. Another account says that Grierson was in an upstairs balcony, but also identiied Alexander as the killer. His murder also may have happened in the presence of his three children. Grierson was then apparently stripped of his clothes, his naked body mutilated, and then thrown into a ditch outside the house.44 Major Williams was shot and wounded by a man named Andrew Shulus, but he (Williams) was given protection and taken to Savannah where he eventually recovered. Thomas Brown later said, Thus fell the brave, unfortunate Colonel Grierson . under the eye of General Pickens, by the hand of a bloody, sanctioned, and protected villain, in shameful violation of a solemn capitulation.45 Loyalist Dr. Thomas Taylor expressed similar outrage, stating Patriots at home may exclaim. . . on the Impropriety of employing Indians, but 22 their cruelties. . . have been exceeded in number at least four-fold by those of the Rebels. Putting a man to Death in cold blood is very prettily nicknamed giving a Georgia parole.46 Grierson was 40 years old when he was killed, having lived almost half his life as a respected resident of Augusta, Georgia. Greene was furious about this episode calling it an insult to the Arms of the United States, as well as an outrage committed upon the rights of humanity deserves the most exemplary punishment.47 He offered a reward of 100 guineas for the arrest of the guilty parties. However, the reward was never claimed and no arrests were made even though there were several witnesses to the murder. Greene, of course, was concerned that Griersons murder might be used to justify retaliatory acts by the British. Governor James Wright wrote to Colonel Nisbet Balfour, British commander at Charleston, Poor Grierson was Basely Murdered after the Capitulation & laying Down his arms. It is to be hoped this worthy Mans Death will not Pass without due Notice.48 Balfour would later invoke Griersons name when Greene protested the hanging of Patriot Colonel Isaac Hayne in Charleston later that summer.49 Lee said of this incident in his memoirs: The militia of Georgia, under Colonel Clarke, were so exasperated by the cruelties mutually inlicted in the course of the war in this State, that they were disposed to sacriice every man taken. Poor Grierson and several others had been killed after surrender, and although the American commandants used every exertion, and offered a large reward to detect the murderers, no discovery could be made.50 In the Grierson family bible someone wrote James Grierson, Esquire, Colnl of the Militia of St. Pauls parish in the province of Georgia was cruelly murdered by the Rebels in Augusta on the 7th day June 1781 two days after he surrendered in consequence of a capitulation.51 On September 20, 1781, Sir James Wright read a memorial offered by Sir Patrick Houstoun and Rev. Seymour, executors of Griersons estate, noting the singular service Grierson has been of, to the public in general, by conducting & transacting all public business at Augusta, not only as Magistrate, but also as Colonel of the Regiment of Militia [2nd regiment], that his whole time and attention were devoted to the public service from 23 May 1780 to June 1781 .The rebels murdered him in cold blood when he was a prisoner of war, and in his own house, merely on account of his Loyalty, Zeal, and great Exertions to Support Government & the laws & authority of the Province against Rebellion.52 First page of the Grierson bible with notations of signiicant family events. The irst notation at the top records the marriage of James Grierson to Katherine McBurnie in 1787. The last notation at the bottom records his death in Augusta at the hands of rebels and was probably written by the Reverend James Seymour in 1781. Photo by Willabelle Schyultz, 2007 24 Griersons murder emphasized the imperative to restore effective civil government to Georgia. Greene was determined to end the internecine warfare between the Whigs and Loyalists, which threatened any post-war reconciliation. He therefore sent Joseph Clay, the armys paymaster, to act as temporary civil authority in Georgia. He addressed both of his concerns in a letter to Clay on June 9, 1781: You are desired to repair to Augusta and collect as many of the Militia and Negroes as you can and employ them in demolishing the works upon the Savannah River. I also wish you to take such measures as may most effectively stop the progress of private murders and plundering.53 However, that action was too late for Grierson and his family. Unfortunately, it would not be the last atrocity as the loyalists and rebels continued killing each other even after the contest was over. The Grierson Children With their parents gone, the three Grierson boys fell under the care of several of their fathers friends. After the capitulation of Augusta the older boys, Thomas and David, were taken to Savannah by the executors of Griersons estate, the Reverend Thomas Seymour and Sir Patrick Houstoun. At some point, word of their fathers death reached Elizabeth Grierson, their grandmother, who requested the children be given passage back to Scotland under the care of a London merchant, James Jackson. At Savannah, Houstoun, Seymour, Jackson, and Governor Wright all sought to provide for their passage and ensure they had clothing and provisions for a voyage to Scotland. They were also given some small personal items, such as their fathers watch, little trinkets and some items belonging to their mother that were rescued from their home before they were forced to leave. Unfortunately, adding to the distress for these boys was that their brother George would not be going with them and instead, according to a letter written by Seymour to Jackson on January 23, 1782: We were very desirous of sending the youngest, George, who was left at Mr. Galphins when the other two came down, but such now & for sometime past has been the situation of the country that he could not be brought here without danger & dificulty, as he is but 25 young & as we think he will be taken care of there, we thought it improper to run any risk. We shall attend to him & when a more convenient opportunity offers he may follow his brothers. The reason why he was left at Galphins is not known, but there is some speculation that he was ill, or had some sort of physical problem and could not easily travel.54 As the war entered into its inal phases and the ensuing chaos of the British evacuation of Savannah in July,1782, little George did not make his passage to Scotland. Instead, he remained in Savannah living in the home of John Milledge, a prominent patriot and later, governor of Georgia, whose wife, Martha Galphin Milledge, was probably a close friend of the Grierson family and felt obligated to care for the orphaned child. George remained with them until his death at age nineteen in 1796. The American born Thomas and David arrived in their parents homeland, which was a new environment to them but had some comfort of family. However, David would not survive beyond age eighteen and his brother Thomas inherited the task of noting in the family bible, David Grierson, son of the late Coln. James Grierson died at Kirkcudbright the 29th day of August 1790. Two years later, Thomas married Louisa Fraser in New Abbey on January 7, 1792, and their daughter Louisa was born on June 6, 1794. Young Louisa would also suffer not knowing her father, Thomas, who died on May 14, 1798 at age 27, only four years after she was born. Thus she would be the only grandchild of the late Colonel Grierson. Sometime in 1816 the now married Louisa Grierson Litt received a package that contained a book once owned by the grandfather she never knew. The letter that accompanied the present was from an old friend of the colonel, a notorious Tory himself, Thomas Manson, who had served in the Royal North Carolina Provincial Regiment.55 In the note to Louisa, Manson wrote: This book was presented to me nearly 40 years ago by your late worthy grandfather James Grierson, Esq., (whose handwriting it bears) an imminent merchant and Col. of the Royal Militia at Augusta in Georgia; a most accomplished gentlemen and sincere friend Whose loyalty to his King and country and upon him the vindictive resentment of a Rebel Assassin when a prisoner of war. 26 I cannot therefore better testify my great respect and esteem for his memory than by requesting your acceptance thereof as a relic which you would value still more had you known him. The book upon which Louisa gazed and in which James Grierson had written his name prominently in large lowing script on the title page was authored by John Milton and was entitled, Paradise Lost. Notes 1. The Volunteers of Augusta were one of three troops of horse, or cavalry, raised by Georgia Royal Governor, James Wright in late 1781. One of the troops was formed by loyalist refugees from Augusta, hence the name they chose for their unit. This poem was published in the Savannah, Georgia, Royal Georgia Gazette, October 4, 1781 under the headline, The Volunteers of Augusta: A New Song, To the Tune The Lilies of France. The song consisted of seven stanzas, but only the irst two are presented here. The song in its entirety can be found in Edward J. Cashin, The Kings Ranger: Thomas Brown and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1989), 142-143. It is also available online at Todd Braisted, Music & Poetry: The Volunteers of Augusta, The Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies, http://www.royalprovincial.com/history/music/voasong.shtml (accessed August 30, 2009). 2. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States (New York: University Publishing Company, 1869; reprint New York: Arno Press, Inc., 1969), 357. 3. In 2007 I came in contact with a descendant, Willabelle Schyultz, whose 7th cousin, Phillip Hamilton-Grierson sent her the bible of Col. James Grierson. He had obtained it from his grandfather who inherited the bible and other Grierson items, many of which were donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. According to Willabelle, she is the only one left of this Grierson family line. From her transcriptions and photographs of the bible notations, which were known by many family genealogists but not substantiated by evidence until now, the history of the family can be more fully developed. Willabelle Schyultz, e-mail message to Steven J. Rauch, October 20, 2007. 4. Allen D. Candler, ed., The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia (Atlanta, GA: The Franklin-Turner Company, 1907), IX: 615-616. Hereafter CRG. 5. Candler, CRG, X: 179-180. In the edited colonial records, the lot is identiied as number 20, but this is likely a transcription error as that township lot had been granted to others in 1765. See Thomas Heard Robertson, Jr., The Colonial Plan of Augusta, Georgia Historical Quarterly 86 (Winter 2002): 539. 6. Thomas Heard Robertson, Jr., The Colonial Plan of Augusta, Georgia Historical Quarterly 86 (Winter 2002): 511- 543. Mr. Robertson, a professional civil engineer and land surveyor, has provided the author with additional information used in research for his article, speciically copies of the original plat images for lots 9, 17 and 18 near Griersons property. Based on his research, Mr. Robertson believes the original plat of lot 27 10 is no longer extant. Thomas H. Robertson, e-mail message to Steven J. Rauch, September 16, 2014. Mr. Robertson agrees with the author that Lot 10 would lie between 12th and 13th streets, and the river and Fenwick Street today. 7. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 20. 8. Quoted in Cashin, Kings Ranger, 20. 9. Grierson Bible. The Grierson family bible would be passed down through Thomas Griersons line of descendants. Thomas received the family bible and continued to keep records in it until his death. His daughter Louisa Grierson married John Litt and their family line lasted until 1946. When that line ended any James Grierson items were passed to those distant cousins descended from one of the brothers of Thomas Grierson, who was Col. James Griersons father. Willabelle received the bible and some other books and papers from her 7th cousin, Phillip Hamilton-Grierson. Willabelle Schyultz, e-mail message to Steven J. Rauch October 20, 2007. 10. Journal of David Taitts Travels from Pensacola, West Florida, to and through the Country of the Upper and Lower Creeks, 1772,” in Newton D. Mereness, ed., Travels in the American Colonies (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916): 563. 11. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 11. This short conlict is more extensively described in Todd Braisted, A History of the Georgia Rangers, The Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies, http://www.royalprovincial.com/military/rhist/garng/garnghist.htm (accessed August 30, 2009). 12. Archibald Campbell, Journal of an Expedition against the Rebels of Georgia in North America under the Orders of Archibald Campbell, Esquire, Lieut. Colol. Of His Majestys 71st Regimt. 1778. ed. Colin Campbell (Darien, Georgia: Ashantilly Press, 1981), 55. 13. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 34. 14. All of these measurements, calculations, and geographic references are based on information found in Robertson, Jr., Colonial Plan of Augusta, 523-533. 15. Georgia Historical Commission, Fort Grierson (Marker 121-4) 1954. 16. Cited in Cashin, Kings Ranger, 13. 17. For details of Browns torture and abuse at the hands of the Liberty Boys of the rebel association for his refusal to join their cause see Cashin, Kings Ranger, 28. 18. Candler, CRG , XII, 434. 19. Ibid, 435. 20. Grierson Bible. 21. Samuel Beckaem, Pension Statement , 1 June 1812, in Peter Force, ed., American Archives. 4th Series, 6 vols. (Washington DC: 1837-46): II: 1010. 22. This had also been the site of the old Fort Augusta from the early colonial days. That fort no longer existed and had long succumbed to termites and humid climate. Fort Cornwallis therefore, was not a reconstruction or improvement, but an entirely new structure. Edward J. Cashin, Colonial Augusta: Key of the Indian Country, (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1986), 63. 23. Cited in Cashin and Robertson, Augusta & the American Revolution, (Darien, Georgia: Ashantilly Press, 1975), 49. 28 24. This was probably the site of Indian Springs, which was in the vicinity of Hickman Road and Heckle Street today. 25. The only other total number discovered in any of the sources related to this battle is given by Boatner, when he stated, Lee was detached with his legion and the newly raised NC militia .to support the 1,300 militia of Pickens and Elijah Clarke besieging Augusta. So his number adding Lee and Eaton would probably be about 1,500 1,600 men as well. Mark M. Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, (New York: David McKay, 1966), 50. 26. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 132. 27. There are two conlicting accounts of the approach of this element for the attack. Lee says Eaton was to pass down the north side of the lagoon and approach Grierson from the south. Pickens in his report to Greene stated Smiths command [not noting Eaton had been killed] marched directly from our battery [the 4 pounder?] towards the post we meant to occupy. McCall states that Eatons battalion and Jacksons militia were to pass down the river and attack the work upon the northeast. I conclude that Eaton did not pass along the river for if he did he would have met Grierson and his men leeing the fort directly head on. I think he approached from the south using Campbells gully as Lee reported. See Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States (New York: University Publishing Company, 1869; Reprint New York: Arno Press, Inc., 1969), 356; Pickens to Greene, Griersons Fort 25th May 1781, in Dennis M. Conrad, ed. The Papers of Nathanael Greene, Volume VIII 30 March 10 July 1781 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995): 311. (Hereafter PNG, VIII); Hugh McCall, The History of Georgia, Containing Brief Sketches of the Most Remarkable Events up to the Present Day (1784), 2 vols. (Savannah: 1811-1816; Reprint Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1969), 518. 28. Pickens to Greene, Griersons fort [Ga.] 25th May 1781, PNG VIII: 310-311. 29. This number is derived from the muster rolls reported on 24 April 1781 at Augusta. Given a month between 24 April and when the siege began, there was probably more attrition but this igure matches fairly closely the inal casualty and prisoner reports. Cashin, Kings Ranger (Appendix: Muster Rolls Kings Rangers, Augusta, April 24, 1781, 61 days, April 25-June 24, 1781), 249-293. 30. This number probably includes all Indians, men, women and children of which various accounts mention. How many were part of the ighting is not clear, but they did participate in counterattacks outside of the fort with the loyalist forces. Boatner identiied these as 300 Creek Indians, but Cashin identiied them as a mixture of Creek, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes. Boatner, Encyclopedia, 50; Cashin, Kings Ranger, 133. 31. The number for the slaves is from an order published by Greene. General Greenes Orders, Camp before Ninety Six, SC, 6 June 1781, PNG VIII: 354. 32. Many accounts of this battle indicate it took place on May 22 but some identify May 24 as the date. Lee does not give a date in his memoirs, but makes a statement where one could believe this battle occurred one day after Fort Galphin. I think that is unlikely as the plan was very complicated, involved almost 1,500 troops, and required units that had little experience working with each other to execute the plan. I conclude that it took them about two days to get organized, issue orders and prepare for action. Also, if the battle occurred on May 22, either Pickens or Lee or both would have reported this signiicant 29 event to Greene the next day to show how they were making progress. However, the Greene papers show that Lee wrote to Greene on May 24 that the connexion of Browne & Griersons forts” make the situation dificult, thus indicating that the loyalists still held both forts at least early on May 24. The irst mention of the battle for Fort Grierson is Pickens letter to Greene on May 25. In that report he stated a battery position opened up against the upper fort yesterday morning [that would have been May 24] and then described the ight that ensued. The histories related to the North Carolina continentals also indicate that Major Eaton died on May 24 during the ighting for Fort Grierson. I therefore conclude the battle of Fort Grierson occurred on May 24, not May 22. See Lee to Greene, Camp before Augusta, Ga., 24 May 1781 and Pickens to Greene, Griersons fort [Ga.] 25th May 1781. PNG, VIII: 309-311. 33. Pickens to Greene, Griersons Fort, 25th May 1781, PNG, VIII, 310. 34. Beckaem, Pension Statement. 35. Beckaem, Pension Statement. 36. Lee, Memoirs, 357. McCall also makes this error and misplaced Griersons death with the events of 24 May. These sources are undoubtedly the reason why this mistake was engraved on the historical marker for Fort Grierson. See McCall, History of Georgia, 519. 37. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 133. 38. Lee, Memoirs, n. 370. 39. George White, Historical Collections of Georgia (New York: Pudney & Russell, 1854), 611. 40. Thomas Browns reply to David Ramsay, Nassau, Bahamas, Dec. 25, 1786, in White, Historical Collections, 618. 41. Robert S. Davis, Jr. ed. A Georgia Loyalists Perspective on the American Revolution: The Letters of Dr. Thomas Taylor, Georgia Historical Quarterly 81 (Spring 1997): 136-137. 42. Greene to Clarke, Camp before Ninety Six [S.C.] June 7th , 1781 in PNG, VIII: 356. 43. Pickens to Greene, Augusta, GA 7 June 1781, Robert Wilson Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, Volume 3 (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1853; Reprint Edition, New York: Arno Press, 1971), 91-92. 44. Brown to Ramsey, Dec. 25, 1786, in White, Historical Collections, 618. 45. The motive was that Alexanders aged father had been made hostage since September 1780 and abused while in captivity. Beckhaem states that his houses all burnt, his property borne off, an aged Mother Sisters & brothers left to starve” justiied the action. See Beckaem, Pension Statement; Cashin, Kings Ranger, 137; and Brown to Ramsey, Dec. 25, 1786, in White, Historical Collections, 618. 46. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 137. 47. A Proclamation. From Camp before Ninety-Six, SC, 9 June 1781. PNG, VIII, 370. 48. James Wright to Colonel Balfour, Savannah the 11th of June 1781 in Ronald G. Killion and Charles T. Waller, Georgia and the Revolution (Atlanta: Cherokee Publishing Company, 1975), 222. 30 49. Cashin, Kings Ranger, 138. 50. Lee, Memoirs, 357. 51. Grierson Bible. 52. James Wright to Colonel Balfour, Savannah the 11th of June 1781 in Ronald G. Killion Waller, Georgia and the Revolution, 222. 53. Greene to Clay, Camp before Ninety-Six, June 9th 1781, PNG, VIII, 361-361. 54. Willabelle Schyultz, e-mail message to Steven J. Rauch October 20, 2007. 55. Memorial of Thomas Manson formerly of Augusta in the Province of Georgia, London, 23rd August 1784. Great Britain, Public Record Ofice, Audit Ofice, Class 13, Volume 36, folio 634-635. Todd Braisted, Claims & Memorial: Memorial of Thomas Manson of Georgia The Online Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies, http://www. royalprovincial.com/military/mems/ga/clmman.htm (accessed August 30, 2009). 56. Willabelle Schyultz, e-mail message to Steven J. Rauch October 20, 2007. 31 His Brothers Keeper: The Life of Major John David Walker, C.S.A. Russell K. Brown A slightly different version of this article appeared in the Journal of Americas Military Past in 2011. General William H.T. Walker of Augusta played many roles in his life: professional soldier, Southern patriot, loving husband and father, entrepreneur. An additional task he took on voluntarily was as guardian of his younger brother, John David Walker. John David, the youngest of the ive children of Freeman and Mary Garlington Cresswell Walker, lived most of his life in the shadow of his older brother but died when he was on his own. A veteran of two wars and a combat casualty in both, at a critical time he made an unfortunate decision, thereby bringing his life to an early end. John David was born in Richmond County, Georgia, near the city of Augusta, in 1825. His father died in heavy debt two years after John was born and the boy was raised in relative poverty, the widow and her children dependent on the charity of her husbands brother Valentine. John had two older brothers and two older sisters.1 The middle brother, William, was a graduate of West Point and became a wounded hero at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee in 1837 during the Second Seminole War. At the start of the Mexican War in 1846, William was a captain commanding a company of the Sixth Major John David Walker, C.S.A. Hugh M. Walker U.S. Infantry. Encouraged by his brother’s service, John, now twenty-one years old, went to Charleston, enlisted in the Charleston Company of Volunteers (which his brother called a fancy company) of the South Carolina Volunteer Regiment (the Palmetto Regiment), and was soon promoted to irst sergeant. On the beach at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in March 1847, the brothers met only long enough to shake hands. The elder Walker told his wife, “John...is full of ighting. His ardor will be a little cooler after a few showers [of bullets].2 32 Both Walkers participated in General Winield Scott’s campaign against Mexico City. At the twin battles of Contreras and Churabusco in August 1847, William had three bullets pass through his clothing and was knocked down but not injured by a spent cannon ball rolling on the ground. John was shot through both thighs. The army doctors, fearful of the onset of gangrene in the wounds, wanted to amputate the young mans legs. William, who had much experience with wounds, took his brother under his own care, intervened with the surgeons, and the legs were spared. Shortly after, William was grievously wounded again at the storming of Molino del Rey. When the brothers returned home in 1848, a ball and reception hosted by the city of Augusta were organized in their honor. At that time William received a presentation sword from the state of Georgia. Then or later, John David was presented with two silver medals in recognition of his military service, one from the State of South Carolina and one from the city of Charleston.3 When the size of the U.S. regular army was expanded in 1855, William H.T. Walker was promoted to major in one of the new infantry regiments. He asked Secretary of War Jefferson Davis for a commission for his younger brother, but such was not forthcoming. Shortly thereafter, John went off to ilibuster with William Walker (no relation) in Nicaragua. In 1857, brother William, on indeinite leave of absence from the army because of his health, bought a plantation some ifty miles south of Augusta. It was a four-thousand-acre tract worked by one hundred slaves. William acted as owner-manager and John was his overseer. By late 1860, John had organized 57 of his neighbors as the Troup Light Infantry, which his brother referred to as a company of minutemen.4 Georgia seceded from the Union in January 1861. William H.T. Walker was soon commissioned colonel of one of the two regiments of infantry of the Georgia Army (William J. Hardee was colonel of the other) and John secured a captains commission. Recruiting for the state army was slow and in April the two regiments were merged into one at Macon and accepted into Confederate service as the 1st Georgia Regulars; John David Walker was captain of Company C, but by July 1861 he had been elected as major of the regiment.5 The 1st Georgia Regulars traveled by train to Virginia and arrived in Richmond only days after the First Battle of Manassas. They were assigned to Robert Toombss Georgia brigade in General Joseph E. Johnstons Confederate Army of the Potomac in the late summer. In September, William, now a brigadier general, arrived in Virginia to 33 command the Louisiana brigade. The brothers were camped near each other and had a few meetings but William resigned his commission in October and returned to Georgia. John soldiered on through the dismal winter of 1861-62.6 Spring 1862 brought activity with McClellans Peninsula Campaign National colors of the and the Seven Days Battles. The 1st 1st Georgia Confederate Regiment Georgia Regulars saw action from National Park Service, Fort Pulaski Yorktown to Malvern Hill. When the ighting shifted back to northern Virginia in August, John commanded his regiment, now in David R. Joness brigade of Longstreets corps, while Col. George T. Tige Anderson of the 11th Georgia led the brigade and Gen. Jones commanded the division. At Thoroughfare Gap, on August 28, 1862, as Longstreets corps marched to Stonewall Jacksons support at Manassas Junction, the Confederates found the road blocked by Yankee forces. After a brief reconnaissance by General Robert E. Lee, D. R. Jones was ordered to press forward, Andersons brigade in the van. Federal batteries swept the deile but Jones could not bring his artillery to bear. The unprotected troops pulled themselves over the barren rock and through the tangled mountain laurel. Finally, the 1st Georgia Regulars got within effective range and made their ire count; an enemy counterattack was repulsed. John D. Walker won commendation from Gen. Longstreet for his leadership. Wrote the corps commander, The conduct of the 1st Georgia Regulars under Major Walker was dashing and gallant. Colonel Anderson added, “The Regulars in this affair (oficers and men) behaved with distinguished gallantry, as they have on every occasion in which they have met the enemy, and I only regret that the [whole] army is not composed of just such men.7 Two days later, the regiment went into action again at Second Manassas and Major Walker was wounded in the leg. Leading his regiment, he was one of seven out of eight ield oficers of Jones’s brigade to be shot down during the battle. He was treated at a ield hospital and then sent to Warrenton, Virginia, to recuperate. First reports of his condition were optimistic. An observer wrote to the Augusta newspaper, Major Walkers wound though severe does not require 34 amputation; he is expected home soon on a visit to his friends. But when gangrene set in, Walker, recalling his experience in Mexico ifteen years earlier and far from the counsel of his big brother, refused the surgeons recommendation to amputate the limb. Sadly, he did not live long to enjoy his recently won laurels. He died in Warrenton of the effects of his wound on October 3 and was buried nearby.8 Regimental colors of the 1st Georgia Confederate Regiment National Park Service, Fort Pulaski On October 4, 1862, the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, reported, Death of Major John D. Walker - We are pained to learn that Maj. John D. Walker, who was severely wounded during the recent battles in Virginia, has died of his wounds. He was a brother of the gallant Gen. William H. T. Walker of this city, and a true and tried soldier. His loss to the service at this time of our countrys peril is very great. The oldest of the three Walker brothers was George Augustus Beverly Walker (1805-1864), who was called Beverly in the family. Beverly and his wife, Arabella Pearson, were the parents of nine children. In 1871, William Pendleton, an Augusta foundry and machinery businessman and Beverlys son-in-law, went to Virginia to bring John Davids remains back to Augusta. The newspaper carried this item: On Thursday the remains of Major John David Walker, a native and for many years a resident of Augusta, and a brother of General W.H.T. Walker, were brought from Virginia to this city. Major Walker was an oficer of the Georgia regiment of regulars and was wounded in the engagement of Thoroughfare Gap, the day before the second battle of Manassas. After the battle he was removed to Warrenton, where he died from the wound and where he was buried. Several days ago, Mr. William Pendleton of this city went for his remains. He was treated with the greatest kindness by the Mayor and citizens of Warrenton. On his return, two of the leading railways refused to charge anything for the transportation of the body. Soon after the remains reached Augusta they were deposited in the burying ground of the Walker family situated in the rear of the U.S. Arsenal.” 35 John Davids gravestone is inscribed Rest, Soldier, rest, thy warfare oer. In death as in life, he lies in the shadow of his older brother and keeper, William, who had fallen at the Battle of Atlanta in 1864. Beverly Walker, who also died in 1864, is buried nearby.9 One of Beverlys Walkers daughters, Lucy Pearson Walker (1841-1873), married her distant cousin, Clarence Valentine Walker, an Augusta auctioneer. Their second child and irst son, born in January 1871, was named John David Grave of John David in honor of his deceased uncle. As an adult, the Walker second John David became a prominent Georgia Photo by the author banker. Although there is no conclusive proof, it seems likely that the two medals for Mexican War service that had been presented to the original John David Walker eventually became the property of his namesake and so passed down through the generations to his great-grandson, Glenn Aderhold, who has them now.10 In an apparent random act of hooliganism in August 1987, two local youths dug up Major John D. Walkers grave in the Walker Cemetery and removed the contents. There is no evidence that the grave was singled out for any particular purpose. A Walker family member reported the incident to local authorities and six months later, in March 1988, a police raid on a mans residence recovered two cardboard boxes containing several loose bones, including John Davids skull and pelvis, and a pair of casket handles said to be his. The irst set of bones returned to the Walkers turned out not to be John Davids but the error was corrected. The Walkers never saw the casket handles. The bones were reburied and the grave has been restored to its former state.11 As of this writing, the only known artifacts of John David Walkers life are his photographic portrait in Confederate army uniform and the two silver medals from his Mexican War service. There is no record that he ever married and all of the relics are in the hands of collateral descendants. Notes 1. Mary Meadows, They Came to Georgia: The Genealogy of the Families ForemonBoisclair, Walker, Beers, Lacy (Easley, S.C.: The Southern Historical Press, 1980), 36 pp. 164, 179; Russell K. Brown, To the Manner Born: The Life of General William H.T. Walker (1994, reprint, Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2005), p. 3. 2. Brown, To the Manner Born, pp. 4, 12, 26, 34; Letter, W.H.T. Walker to Jefferson Davis, July 30, 1855, Jefferson Davis Papers, Transylvania University, Transylvania, Ky.; Letters, W.H.T. Walker to his wife, February 19, March 13, 1847, W.H.T. Walker Papers, Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, N.C. 3. Letters, W.H.T. Walker to his wife, undated [August 1847]; W.H.T. Walker Papers, Duke University; Brown, To the Manner Born, pp. 54-55; Walter A. Clark, A Lost Arcadia, or The Story of My Old Community (Augusta: Chronicle Job Printer, 1909), pp. 75-76; Complimentary Ball to Col. Walker, Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, November 20, 1848; Emails, Glenn Aderhold to the author, June 28, 2009, and subsequent. 4. Letter, W.H. T. Walker to Jefferson Davis, July 30, 1855, Transylvania University; Clark, A Lost Arcadia, pp. 75-76; Brown, To the Manner Born, pp. 77-79; Letter, W.H.T. Walker to Henry C. Wayne, January 8, 1861, Incoming Correspondence to the Georgia Adjutant General, 1861-1865 (Record Group 22), Georgia Department of Archives and History, Morrow, Ga. 5. Brown, To the Manner Born, 89; Lillian Henderson, comp., Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865, 6 vols. (Hapeville, Ga.: Longino and Porter, 1955-1962), 1: pp. 307, 320; William H. Andrews, Footprints of A Regiment: A Recollection of the 1st Georgia Regulars, 1861-1865 (Atlanta, Ga.: Longstreet Press, 1992), p. 13. 6. Andrews, Footprints of A Regiment, pp. 13, 15; Brown, To the Manner Born, pp. 101, 112; Letters, W.H.T. Walker to his wife, September 8, 11, 24, 1861. 7. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Oficial Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 128 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Ofice, 1880-1901), Series I, Vol. 12, pt. 2: pp. 564, 594 (hereafter cited as Oficial Records; all references are to Series I); Douglas Southall Freeman, R. E. Lee: A Biography, 4 vols. (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1943), 2: pp. 312-16; D.S. Freeman, Lees Lieutenants: A Study in Command, 3 vols. (New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1943), 2: p. 120n. 8. Oficial Records, Vol. 12, pt. 2: pp. 580, 595; Clark, A Lost Arcadia, pp. 75-76; Letter of Lewis Kenan in the Augusta Constitutionalist, September 20, 1862: letter of W.W. Paine in the Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel, September 8, 1862. 9. Meadows, They Came to Georgia, pp. 179, 187, 192; Augusta City Directory 1872; Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, January 28, 1871; Ruby Mabry McCrary Pfadenhauer, “U. S. Arsenal Cemetery, Augusta College Campus,” Richmond County History, 12-1 (Winter 1980): p. 17. There is a discrepancy between the newspaper report and other accounts of Walkers wound and death. The gravestone inscription is a variation of a line from Sir Walter Scotts poem, The Soldiers Rest. 10. Meadows, They Came to Georgia, p. 192; Allen D. Candler and Clement A. Evans, ed., Cyclopedia of Georgia, 4 vols. (Atlanta: State Historical Association, 1906), 3: pp. 507-509; Emails, Glenn Aderhold to the author, June 28, 2009, and subsequent. 11. Richmond teen-ager charged with desecrating Civil War grave, March 4, 1988, and Teen-ager charged with theft of skeleton, March 5, 1988, Augusta Chronicle; Emails, Russell Rusty Shearer to the author, June 2 and 25, 2006. 37 Sidebar The medal presented to the soldiers of the Charleston Company is considered extremely rare and is believed to exist in silver only. The obverse shows the seal of the city with two bands of inscription. The inner band has the city motto, Aedes Mores Juraque Curat. [She cares for her temples, customs and rights], and Corpus Politicum [The body politic]. The reverse of the medal has the names of the battles in which the South Carolina Regiment took part. Walkers name is engraved at the bottom of the reverse. The medal for the soldiers of the South Carolina Regiment, authorized by the state in 1848 and presented in 1850, was struck in gold for commissioned oficers and silver for enlisted men. The obverse shows the American landing at Vera Cruz, with the names of the battles in which the regiment was engaged. The reverse has the South Carolina palmetto tree with the names of the regiment’s original three ield oficers. The outer rim of the reverse bears the state mottos, Animus Opibusque Parati (Prepared in spirit and resources), and Dum Spiro Spero (While I breathe I hope). Walkers name is inscribed at the bottom. Note: alanvweinberg Early American Medals (online at http://www.neocollect.com/ coll/68/), accessed November 5, 2009; Charleston Courier, May 16, 1850; The Palmetto Regiment: South Carolina in the Mexican War (on line at http://www.aztecclub.com/ palmetto/pal1a.htm, accessed November 5, 2009. The Charleston Courier article has a detailed description of the state medal. Obverse of the Charleston silver medal Reverse of the Charleston silver medal Obverse of the South Carolina silver medal Reverse of the South Carolina silver medal Coin images courtesy of Glenn Aderhold 38 The Civil War Round Table of Augusta Join this diverse group of people who are passionate about history. You may ind history can actually be exciting! We get pretty excited at our meetings so much good solid information is presented by outstanding speakers! he meetings are on the third (3rd) Monday of the month at he Snelling Center at he Goodwill Center, 3165 Washington Rd at Furys Ferry Rd., just across from Warren Baptist Church. Dinner begins promptly at 6:00 p.m. Please be there by 6:00 to place your order. Order individually from the menu and be responsible for all your own costs. If you do not plan to eat, please be there no later than 6:45 p.m. 2014 Program Schedule November 17 Tad Brown, President of the Watson-Brown Foundation, will speak on the Tom Watson Brown Book Award, presented by he Society of Civil War Historians. he 2015 schedule is under development. 39 Save the Date 5th Annual Dyess Symposium 8 January 2015 On hursday, 8 January 2015, the Augusta Museum of History will host the 5th annual Jimmie Dyess Symposium. Dyess, the only person to have earned America’s two highest awards for heroism, the Medal of Honor and the Carnegie Medal, will be honored at this event. Lieutenant Colonel A. J. Dyess, US Marine Corps Reserve, grew up in Augusta Georgia. Dyess earned the Carnegie Medal when he saved the lives of two women when he was a teenager. Dyess, an Eagle Scout and a strong swimmer, dove into the surf during a big storm of the coast of South Carolina at Sullivan’s Island. Out of sight for a period of time, he emerged through the heavy surf with both women in tow. Each year one or more individuals receive the Dyess Symposium’s Distinguished American Award. In 2014, three will be saluted for a lifetime of service to their nation, their community and their fellow citizens: Medal of Honor recipient Barney Barnum, Susan Eisenhower, the grand-daughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and two extraordinary citizens of Augusta: Mr. Brian Mulherin and Mrs. Neita Mulherin. he event will take place at 5 PM on 8 January 2015 at the Augusta Museum of History (corner of Reynolds and 6th street in downtown Augusta). he public is invited and there is no charge. However, sponsorships are welcome. Please contact the Museum at (706)722-8454. Checks should be made out to the Augusta Museum of History and sent to the Museum at 560 Reynolds Street, Augusta, Ga. 30901. Questions? Please contact Major General Perry Smith, US Air Force (ret.) at [email protected] or tel 706-399-9754, or Nancy J. Glaser, Executive Director at [email protected] Medal of Honor Boy Scout Emblem 40 Carnegie Medal
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