Chatham County GaArchives History .....Savannah Duels - Chapter II ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 25, 2004, 3:40 am CHAPTER II. DUELLING DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD. BUTTON GWINNETT, SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, KILLED BY GEN. LACHLAN McINTOSH —DUEL BETWEEN COLONEL BAKER AND MAJOR JONES STOPPED BY THE PLEAS OF GENERAL SCREVEN— GENERAL HOWE WINGED GENERAL GADSDEN IN THE EAR AND DREW A SATIRICAL POEM FROM MAJOR ANDRE—DUEL WITH SABRES BETWEEN LIEUTENANT-COLONEL McINTOSH AND CAPTAIN ELHOLM. DURING the revolutionary war there was the usual quota of duels fought in each of the contending armies. In the British army duelling had long been the customary way of finally settling personal disputes that did not yield readily to the mediation of friends. One might think, though, that men fighting together, as the Americans were, for liberty, endangering their lives from day to day for the freedom of their home land, and whose lives, in the event of failure, were apt to be forfeited with their properties, would have been drawn in such close ties of friendship that personal mortal combat between them would have been entirely out of the question. But the sacred cause in which they fought did not lessen their ambitions, nor check their animosities, and instances of personal ill feeling deepening into hatred cropped cut in different sections of the country, with resulting appeals to the code. Georgia was no exception to this. With the British duels we have little to do. Suffice it to say that the very first meeting of this character in this period, in or near Savannah, was between officers on one of His Majesty's ships. The "Georgia Gazette" of January 24, 1776, gave this scant information about it: "We are informed that on Thursday morning last a duel was fought with pistols, on the island of Cockspur, between the captain of marines on board the Syren and Mr. Pennington, first lieutenant of said ship, when the latter was killed." Outside of a few copies of the "Royal Georgia Gazette" of 1779 and of 1782, on file in the Congressional Library at Washington, there are no Savannah newspapers available from February 7, 1776, until May 8, 1783, when the publication of the "Georgia Gazette" was resumed and the continuous files are available at the Georgia Historical Society. Much of local historical interest in that thrilling period has undoubtedly been lost through the absence of a weekly chronicler, meagre though the news jottings in that day were. Owing to the prominence of the parties involved, some details are at hand of the first important duel of the Revolution between American officers—the meeting between Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Gen. Lachlan McIntosh, one of Georgia's two brigadiers of the Continental line during the seven years' struggle. Of other hostile meetings of Georgia officers there is an utter absence of information with the exception of three instances told of later, the fatal duel between Col. Jackson and Lieut. Gov. Wells, the adjusted differences between Maj. Jones and Col. Baker, and the sanguinary fight between Col. McIntosh and Capt. Elholm. The duel between McIntosh and Gwinnett was the closing clash between two determined, impetuous, courageous men, both devoted to republican principles, but each also governed by personal impulses and ambitions and little inclined to mediate personal differences when they assumed the nature of a serious affront. Political jealousies lay at the root of their meeting. Button Gwinnett, a merchant first in Bristol, Eng., then in Charleston, S. C., entered the mercantile life of Savannah in 1765. The commercial developments of the port were so unsatisfying that three years later he purchased part of St. Catherine's Island from the Bosomworths and became a planter there, not far from the thriving community of Sunbury, then the promising commercial rival of Savannah. His decision to cast his fortunes with the colonists seems to have been contemporary with the movement against England. He was a delegate from St. John's parish to the Provincial Congress of 1776, and by it was sent as a delegate to the memorable Congress at Philadelphia, where he supported and signed the Declaration of Independence. The same year he became a member of the Georgia Council of Safety, and the following year helped in the framing and passage of the State Constitution of 1777. Jones says he may be regarded as the parent of that instrument. When President Archibald Bulloch died Gwinnett was promptly elected by the Council of Safety as his successor as President and Commander-in-Chief of Georgia. In two years he had come from the position of a private planter to the highest command in the new commonwealth. On the day of his election the Executive Council passed an order requesting President Gwinnett to march into Florida "with a competent force of militia and volunteers, erect the American standard, and proclaim protection and security of person and property to all who would take the oath of allegiance." The idea prevailed that the inhabitants of Florida only needed the opportunity to revolt and enter the union of colonies to the north. Prior to this the General Assembly had created Lachlan McIntosh a brigadier-general, to command three battalions of infantry and a squadron of dragoons to serve in the Continental establishment as a brigade. Gwinnett's aspirations to command this brigade were disappointed and therein lay the seeds of the animosity to McIntosh and the subsequent developments. Anxious for military as well as civic honors, Gwinnett in his office as Commander-in-Chief determined to set aside McIntosh and personally lead the forces against Florida. He called the Executive Council together as a council of war, elaborated his plans, sent Col. Baker and his militia forces by land and Col. Elbert with the Continentals by sea, with a rendezvous on the St. John's river. The expedition was a pitiable and disastrous failure. Historian Jones says: "It was conceived in ambition, planned without due caution, and sadly marred in execution." To add to Gwinnett's humiliation, when the new Assembly gathered to elect the successor to Bulloch, Gwinnett was defeated and Treutlen was elected. It was no more than human for expressions of gratification at this result to be emitted by McIntosh. Nor was it at all unnatural that they should quickly reach the ears of Gwinnett and intensify his wounded pride. When it came to him that McIntosh, in addition, in the presence of members of the Executive Council, had denounced him as a scoundrel, Gwinnett's decision was quickly reached. He challenged Gen. McIntosh to immediate mortal combat. The next morning, May 16, 1777, they met, it is believed on the area now occupied by the children's playground to the south of Colonial cemetery. Four paces, or twelve feet apart, they faced each other. Both men were accustomed to fire arms and at that short distance it is not surprising that both fell at the first exchange of shots. Both men were wounded in the thigh. In the morning of May 19th Gwinnett died, while McIntosh was confined for some time as a result of his wound. Dr. Lyman Hall, who had signed the Declaration of Independence immediately under the name of Gwinnett, and who had been his close friend and supporter, wrote to Roger Sherman, one of the "Signers" from Connecticut, as follows: "Here it was (in Assembly) that the Genl. called him (as 'tis said) a Scoundrell and lying Rascal—I confess I did not hear the words, not being so nigh the parties. A Duel was the consequence, in which they were placed at 10 or 12 foot Distance. Discharged their Pistols nearly at the same Time. Each wounded in the Thigh. - Mr. Gwinnett's thigh broke so that he fell—on wh'h ('tis said) the Genl. Asked him if he chose to take another shot—was Answered Yes, if they would help him up (or words nearly the same). The seconds interposed. "Mr. Gwinnett was brought in, the Weather Extremely hot. A Mortification came on—he languish'd from that Morning (Friday) till Monday Morning following & expired. "0 Liberty. Why do you suffer so many of your faithful sons, your warmest Votaries, to fall at your Shrine. Alas, my Friend, my Friend. "Excuse me, Dr. Sir, the man was VALUABLE, so attached to the Liberty of this State & Continent that his whole Attention, Influence & Interest centered in it, & seemed riveted to it. He left a Mournful Widow and Daugr. and I may say the Friends of Liberty on a whole Continent to deplore his Fall." Dr. Hall and others brought to the Assembly's attention the fact that the law officers had taken no cognizance of the duel. McIntosh then surrendered to the civil authorities, gave bond, was indicted, tried and acquitted. The feeling among many Georgians against him was intense, the Gwinnett faction including many men of prominence and their followers. Joseph Clay, in one of his published letters, refers to the antagonism that existed. Said he: "General McIntosh is called to the Northward, which I am very glad of, both for his own & the State's Sake. Twas impossible for him to have or to give any satisfaction here, prejudice was so strong against him." Accepting the advice of friends, Gen. McIntosh secured a transfer to the North, gave valiant service, and on his return to the South after nearly two years there, Gen. Washington wrote of him, in a letter to the Continental Congress: "General McIntosh's conduct, while he acted immediately under my observation, was such as to acquire my esteem and confidence, and I have no reason since to alter my good opinion of him." Near home he continued to fight bravely for the cause, was second in command of the American forces in the attack on Savannah in 1779, was among the officers taken prisoners by the British when Gen. Lincoln surrendered at Charleston, on his release made his home temporarily in Virginia, and returned to Savannah in 1782, dying at his home on old South Broad street on February 20, 1806. His varied services are too well known to need reiteration. McIntosh county was named in his honor, while Gwinnett county perpetuates the memory of the rival so unfortunately slain in the duel of 1777. Among other recorded American meetings is one in which three Georgians of prominence appear—Gen. James Screven, Col. John Baker and Maj. John Jones, progenitors of many Georgians of to-day. The last two were the antagonists, while Screven was the successful pacificator by an appeal to the patriotic ideals of his angered officers. The affair took place in 1778, near the historic Midway church in Liberty county, the shrine and Mecca of to-day. The cause of the trouble is given as a misunderstanding of orders, precipitating a personal issue, between Baker and Jones. There were no more sterling or braver officers in the patriot forces than Col. Baker and Maj. Jones. Baker was of the old Calvinistic stock that had come to Georgia from Dorchester, S. C., a lineal descendant of those who had left England to find a religious haven in Massachusetts early in the seventeenth century. In common with the others of the Midway settlement, he was1 fervent in antagonism to British domination after the issue was joined between the colonies and the mother country. When the Provincial Congress met at Tondee's tavern on July 4, 1775, he was among those representing St. John's parish, and was among the first to take up arms. As Captain of the St. John's Riflemen, organized by him—the Midway settlement then being in the parish of that name—he participated in the attack on the British ships in the Savannah river in March, 1776. Shortly after, with a band of volunteers he is found attacking the notorious Florida Rangers on the St. Mary's1 river, and in May, 1777, led the militia volunteers in the unfortunate movement into Florida that eventuated in the duel between Gwinnett and McIntosh. In November, 1778, he met the British and Indians invading Liberty from the south and was wounded in the skirmish at Bulltown swamp. In 1779 he attacked and dispersed the Georgia Royalists under Capt. Goldsmith near Sunbury. In 1781 he gathered together the militia of South Georgia and took part in the siege and capture of Augusta. These are some of the incidents in the stirring life led by Baker during the revolutionary period. Defeat never discouraged him nor dampened his ardor. His name was naturally in the list of those proscribed by Governor Wright's Assembly of 1780. The legislature named Baker county in his memory in 1825. Major John Jones was no less ardent in the American cause. After serving in the army in minor positions he is found as aide to Brigadier-General Elbert in 1778. When the American and French forces laid siege to Savannah he was aide to Gen. Lachlan McIntosh and was the bearer under flag of the letter to the British General Prevost, requesting that the women and children be permitted to leave the city. In the fateful attack on October 9, 1779, he sealed his devotion to his country with his life. He was, says Jones, "Literally cut in twain by a cannon shot while within a few paces of the embrasure from which the piece was discharged." In 1839 the City Council of Savannah, then laying out a new street, ordered that it should be named Jones, as the "Georgian" stated, "in compliment to the brave father of Col. Joseph Jones, of Liberty county, who fell within one hundred yards of the spot patriotically dedicated to his name while fighting for the liberties of his country. Thus has posterity been grateful to one of its deliverers of this hemisphere from foreign thraldom." Such was the calibre of the patriots who, with bitterness of heart, met prepared to slay one another in personal combat while the enemy were gathering their forces to take Savannah. The two officers had doubtless known each other for years prior to the uprising of the colonies in the close intimacy that marked the early families of their section. Serious must have been the misunderstanding that forced them to the code duello. The meeting is stated to have been in a grove near Midway church, the two mounted on horses. Just as they prepared for action Gen. James Screven came in post haste upon the scene. His appeal to their patriotism was too strong to be resisted. There was the common enemy of their homes and liberties to be met. Why slay each other in fratricidal strife when their common country demanded their blood sacrifices, if any were to be made? "If you cannot extend to each other the hand of confidence and friendship, for your country's sake do not destroy each other's lives." Reconciliation was effected and the two returned to camp to resume their duties. Soon after, on November 22, 1778, Gen. Screven was mortally wounded in the skirmish near Midway. The next year Jones was killed. Baker survived to enter Savannah after its evacuation by the British, to resume his home life in Liberty, to fight against the Indians under Gen. James Jackson, and passed away in 1792. Doubtless there were other duels between Georgia officers that were bloodless, or prospective affairs of honor that were adjusted without stationing the disputants on the field of honor. The custom and the spirit of the times could hardly have made it otherwise. Out of the unsuccessful defence of Savannah against the British in December, 1778, grew a duel between General Howe, commanding the American forces at that time, and Gen. Christopher Gadsden, of South Carolina, that is not without its amusing features and has a local connection, inasmuch as it developed solely from severe strictures on Howe's failure to hold Savannah against the enemy. Howe's "supineness," as Col. Henry Lee called it, brought a published letter from Gen. Gadsden, analyzing and condemning Howe's whole course, unmercifully. Howe was then with his forces in South Carolina and demanded an apology. Neither retraction nor apology was forthcoming, and a challenge passed. When they met a ball from Howe's pistol grazed Gadsden's ear, Gadsden firing in the air. Blood had been drawn, honor was satisfied, a perfunctory entente cordiale was established. The accounts of the duel drew an amusing satirical poem from Maj. John Andre, then in New York. The last five stanzas are worth repeating: H. missed his mark but not his aim, The shot was well directed; It saved them both from hurt and shame, What more could be expected? Then G., to show he meant no harm, But hated jars and jangles, His pistol fired across his arm, From H. almost at angles. H. now was called upon by G. To fire another shot, Sir; He smiled, and after that, quoth he, No, truly, I cannot, Sir. Such honor did they both display, They highly were commended; And thus in short this gallant fray Without mischance was ended. No fresh dispute, we may suppose, Will e'er by them be started; And now the chiefs, no longer foes, Shook hands, and so they parted. Many another meeting is not inaptly described in Andre's facetious lines. Most romantic of the duels of the revolutionary period, though, was that between John McIntosh, then a lieutenant-colonel, and Captain Elholm, in which both were disabled. McIntosh was the nephew of Gen. Lachlan McIntosh. He was as gallant an officer as ever wore the patriot uniform. Elholm was a Pole who held a commission as captain in Lee's Legion. He had likewise given demonstrations of his bravery. While the American forces were in South Carolina, Elholm was accused of oppressive conduct to some of the inhabitants. When McIntosh protested a quarrel ensued and the outcome was an appeal to their swords under the code. The quarrel between the officers had occurred in the neighborhood of the home of Miss Sarah Swinton, to whom McIntosh was engaged. The men were equal in physical strength, in their prowess as swordsmen, and their difficulty had awakened such bitterness of feeling that the approaching duel was looked upon as almost assured of fatal results. Georgians are indebted to Rev. George White for the story of this meeting. It is told in his "Historical Collections." "As the parties were moving on to the place of combat Miss Swinton requested to see for an instant her intended consort. The friends of the colonel hesitated, fearing the consequences of an interview at such a moment, which he had not the heart to decline, though he had one for a different and desperate encounter. "He called on her, and was met with a serious firmness, and after a little conversation she observed: 'If you are, then, inviolably pledged to meet this man, and feel that your honor is dearer than life, what shall I do ?' "Seeing that his cravat was but loosely bound about his neck, she continued: 'Yes, but let me adjust your cravat'. And having with scrupulous care, as she thought, protected the most vulnerable and exposed part, after a few brief words, feeling the softer susceptibilities of her nature beginning to prevail, she hastily gave him her hand and fled to her room, to conceal there her agitation and the anguish of a devoted heart. "The hostile parties met under a large oak, the ground about which was soon cleared of every obstacle that might impede the movements of the combatants. "At the word 'Ready', they drew, and, advancing with sharp and glittering swords, commenced the battle in good earnest, with firm hearts and sturdy arms. In a little time the right arm of Captain Elholm was nearly severed from his body and fell powerless by his side. "Here it might be supposed that the contest would cease; not so; there was but a temporary pause, for he was a proud, fearless soldier, expert with his weapon, and naturally left-handed. His sword was dexterously transferred to his left hand, which he used with great effect; and the blows came so awkwardly that they were not easily parried by his right-handed antagonist. Both were in a few minutes disabled in such a manner that the friends present felt it proper to interfere, and end this bloody conflict. "They carried to their graves the scars, and deeply furrowed cheeks, as evidences of a once terrible struggle. Miss Swinton was not long in suspense. The combatants were soon taken from the field, disfigured by many deep and dangerous sabre wounds, of which, however, in due time, they both recovered; and the colonel often remarked that he was more indebted to the tender attentions of Miss Swinton for his restoration to health than to the management or skill of his surgeon." Soon after his recovery they were married. Eight years after the war they removed to Florida. Hardly had he succeeded in establishing a home on the St. John's river when, on a visit to St. Augustine, he was treacherously seized and imprisoned, accused of designs against the Spanish government, and later thrown into Moro Castle at Havana. After nearly a year's imprisonment he was released through the efforts of President Washington and others. In 1799 his wife, who had long been blind, died on St. Simon's Island. When the second war came with Great Britain John McIntosh was called into his country's service again, this time as a general to command three regiments of infantry and a battalion of artillery for the protection of Savannah and the seaboard. When the British threatened the Gulf country General McIntosh with his gallant Georgians, including many Savannahians, marched a thousand miles through the wilderness to the defence of Mobile. On their return in June, 1815, Mayor Thomas U. P. Charlton wrote to him: "You had devoted the vigor of manhood in combatting for the liberty and independence of your country, and when that liberty was again menaced by the same foe, an advanced period of life did not prevent you from again unsheathing the sword of seventy-six in defence of the same righteous cause. This consistent patriotism and bravery of conduct exhibits the true features of a character in which love of country and freedom predominates over every other consideration." The Savannah City Council also adopted resolutions of thanks and he retired to private life again, followed by the plaudits of Georgians. When he died in 1826 the editor of the "Georgian" wrote: "Noble soul! How the spirit of Washington will greet thee." Too little is known by the present generation of this heroic Georgian. Savannah might well revive through its school histories the memory of him and many other patriots and men of public service whose lives have been so closely identified with it. Additional Comments: From: ANNALS OF SAVANNAH SAVANNAH DUELS AND DUELLISTS 1733-1877 BY Thomas Gamble COPYRIGHT 1923 REVIEW PUBLISHING & PRINTING COMPANY SAVANNAH, GEORGIA File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/chatham/history/other/gms405savannah.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 23.2 Kb