Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe Part 26

"While Oglethorpe was at Charlestown, in June 1733, an Indian shot himself in the vicinity. His uncle, (who was a war-king,) and his friends, finding him dead, and fancying that he had been murdered by the English, declared that they would be revenged on them. Tomo Chichi, being informed of the uproar, came to the place and strove to quiet the Indians, saying that he was persuaded it could not be the English who had killed him; and therefore desired that they would inquire better into the matter. But the uncle, continuing in a great rage, Tomo Chichi bared his breast and said to him, 'If you will kill any body, kill me; for I am an Englishman.' So he pacified them; and, upon the thorough examination of the matter, it was found that for some days he had been in despair, and desired several different Indians to shoot him; and an Indian boy saw him kill himself in the following manner; he put the muzzle of his gun under his chin, and with his great toe pushed the trigger."[1]

[Footnote 1: _New England Weekly Journal for August_ 23, 1733.]

The visit of Tomo Chichi to England was greeted in some beautiful poetry, of which the following stanza is an extract:

"What stranger this? and from what region far?

This wonderous form, majestic to behold?

Unclothed, yet armed offensive for the war, In h.o.a.ry age, and wise experience old?

His limbs inured to hardiness and toil, His strong large limbs, what mighty sinews brace!

Whilst truth sincere and artless virtue smile In the expressive features of his face.

His bold, free aspect speaks the inward mind, Awed by no slavish fear, by no vile pa.s.sion blind."

Major McCALL, after giving an account of the visit of the Indians to England, makes this declaration: "Tomo Chichi acknowledged that the Governor of the world, or _Great Spirit_, had given the English great wisdom, power, and riches, so that they wanted nothing. He had given the Indians great extent of territories, yet they wanted every thing.

Therefore he exerted his influence in prevailing on the Creeks to resign such lands to the English as were of no use to themselves, and to allow them to settle amongst them; that they might be supplied with useful articles for cultivation, and necessaries of life. He told them that the English were a generous nation, and would trade with them on the most honorable and advantageous terms; that they were brethren and friends, and would protect them against danger, and go with them to war against their enemies." Vol. I. p. 46.

Mr. WESLEY, in his Journal, writes July 1st, 1736: "The Indians had an audience, and another on Sat.u.r.day, when Chicali, their head man, dined with Mr. Oglethorpe. After dinner I asked the grey-headed old man, 'What he thought he was made for?' He said, 'He that is above knows what he made us for. We know nothing. We are in the dark. But white men know much. And yet white men build great houses, as if they were to live forever. In a little time white men will be dust as well as I.' I told him, 'if red men will learn the good book, they may know as much as white men. But neither we nor you can know that book, unless we are taught by Him that is above; and he will not teach you unless you avoid what you already know is not good.' He answered, 'I believe that; He will not teach us while our hearts are not white [pure]; and our men do what they know is not good. Therefore he that is above does not send us the good book.'"

About TOMO CHICHI, the following is given in SPENCE'S _Anecdotes_, p.

318. (Ed. Lond. 1820.)

"When General Oglethorpe was conversing with a sensible old native of Georgia about prayer, the latter said that 'they never prayed to G.o.d, but left it to him to do what he thought to be best for them; that the asking for any particular blessing, looked to him like directing G.o.d; and if so, must be a very wicked thing. That, for his part, he thought every thing that happened in the world was as it should be; that G.o.d, of himself, would do for every one what was consistent with the good of the whole; and that our duty to him was to be content with whatever happened in general, and thankful for all the good that happened to us in particular.'"

The speech of Tomo Chichi, on presenting _the feather of an Eagle_ to Oglethorpe, is very expressive in his own laconic explication. By a little paraphrase it may be understood to import: "The Eagle has a sharp beak for his enemies, but down on his breast for his friend. He has strong wings, for he is aspiring; but they give shelter to feeble ones, for he is naturally propitious."

"TOMO CHICHI died on the 5th of October, 1739, at his own town, four miles from Savannah, of a lingering illness, being aged about 97. He was sensible to the last minutes; and when he was persuaded his death was near, he showed the greatest magnanimity and sedateness, and exhorted his people never to forget the favors he had received from the King when in England, but to persevere in their friends.h.i.+p with the English. He expressed the greatest tenderness for General Oglethorpe, and seemed to have no concern at dying, but its being at a time when his life might be useful against the Spaniards. He desired that his body might be buried among the English, in the town of Savannah, since it was he that had prevailed with the Creek Indians to give the land, and had a.s.sisted in the founding of the town.

The corpse was brought down by water. The General, attended by the Magistrates and people of the town, met it upon the water's edge. The corpse was carried into the Percival square. The pall was supported by the General, Colonel Stephens, Colonel Montaigute, Mr. Carteret, Mr. Lemon, and Mr. Maxwell. It was followed by the Indians, and Magistrates, and people of the town. There was the respect paid of firing minute guns from the battery all the time of the procession; and funeral firing by the militia, who were under arms. The General has ordered a pyramid of stone which is dug in this neighborhood, to be erected over the grave, which being in the centre of the town, will be a great ornament to it, as well as testimony of grat.i.tude."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1740, Vol. X. p. 129, and _London Magazine_, 1758, Vol. LVII. p. 24. The account of the death and funeral of Tomo Chichi, much like the above, is given in the Journal of W. STEPHENS, who was present. Vol. II. p. 153.]

As a frontispiece to one of the volumes of URLSPERGER'S _Journal of the Saltzburg Emigrants_, is an engraving of _Tomo Chichi and Toonahowi_, which bears the inscription, "TOMO CHICHI, _Mico_, and TOONAHOWI, the son of his brother, the Mice, or king of Etichitas; engraved in Augsburg after the London original, by John Jacob Kleinshmidt."

In 1738, a dramatic entertainment in three acts, ent.i.tled Timbo Chiqui, was published by John Cleland. [NICHOLS'S _Literary Anecdotes_, Vol. II. p. 459.]

TOONAHOWI was killed, valiantly fighting for the English against the Yamasee Indians, at Lake di Pupa, in 1743.

XXII.

MANIFEs...o...b.. GENERAL OGLETHORPE.

_Charlestown, April_ 1, 1740.

Whereas upon mature deliberation it is resolved to defend these Provinces by invading the Province of Florida, and attacking St.

Augustine, in order to remove the enemy that from thence may molest his Majesty's subjects in America, which enemy both have and do continue to foment and countenance the slaves to rebellion, burning houses, murders, and other cruelties, of which the circ.u.mstances of the late ma.s.sacre in this Province is too sad a proof; and whereas the General a.s.sembly of this Province hath ordered forces to be raised, so that an army composed of various troops and Indians are to a.s.sist in invading the Spanish dominions of Florida; I, therefore, to prevent any disorders that may arise in the said army by virtue of powers received from his Majesty authorizing and empowering me, (for the better government of the forces during their continuance under my command,) to prepare and publish such rules and ordinances as are fit to be observed by all officers and soldiers: in regard, therefore, to the regiment of foot raised in South Carolina, I do const.i.tute and appoint that Alexander Vanderdussen, Esq., Colonel of the said regiment, paid by the government of South Carolina, shall hold regimental courts martial for the trials of such offences as shall be committed by the officers and soldiers of that regiment; and that the said court martial shall consist of the officers of that regiment only; and that the Colonel of the said regiment shall sit as President of the said regimental courts martial, and make a report to me, and that according to the judgment of the said Courts I shall cause sentence to be p.r.o.nounced, in case I approve of the same, or otherwise suspend the same as I shall see cause. And I do further declare that this authority shall continue for the s.p.a.ce of four months from the commencement of the said expedition, and no longer; and that after the expiration of the said four months, or other sooner determination of the said expedition, every officer and soldier, whether volunteers from, or in the pay of the government of Carolina, shall have free liberty to depart and return to their habitations, and that a free pa.s.s (if by them required,) shall be respectively granted unto them, against being impressed, impeded, enlisted, or detained, by any authority, civil or military, whatsoever, that may be exercised by or derived from me.

And I do further declare that if the officers of his Majesty's s.h.i.+ps of war shall land men to a.s.sist the land forces, one full moiety of all the plunder that shall be taken in such service, shall go to the officers and men in his Majesty's said sea-service, whose s.h.i.+ps are a.s.sisting in the said expedition; and that all plunder taken and accruing to the officers and men in the land service shall be divided among the officers and men of the land service, in the same manner and proportion as prizes are distributed among the officers and men in his Majesty's sea-service, according to the laws and rules of his Majesty's navy.

And I do further declare that whatever share of plunder shall come to me as General and commander of the said forces, I will apply the same totally towards the relief of such men as may happen to be maimed or wounded in the said expedition, and towards a.s.sisting the widows and children of any of the said forces that may happen to be killed in the said service; and for the rewarding of such as shall perform any distinguished brave action.

No Indian enemy is to be taken as a slave, for all Spanish and Indian prisoners do belong to his Majesty, and are to be treated as prisoners, and not as slaves.

JAMES OGLETHORPE.

XXIII.

COLONEL PALMER.

"As no final agreement with respect to the limits of the two provinces had been concluded, the Indians in alliance with Spain continued to hara.s.s the British settlements. Scalping parties of the Yamasees frequently penetrated into Carolina; killed white men, and carried off every negro they could find. Though the owners of slaves had been allowed from the Spanish government a compensation in money for their losses, yet few of them ever received it. At length Colonel Palmer resolved to make reprisals upon the plunderers. For this purpose he gathered together a party of militia and friendly Indians, consisting of about three hundred men, and entered Florida with a resolution of spreading desolation throughout the province. He carried his arms as far as the gates of St. Augustine, and compelled the inhabitants to take refuge in their castle. Scarce a house or hut in the Colony escaped the flames. He destroyed their provisions in the fields; drove off their hogs, cattle, and horses; and left the Floridians little property, except what was protected by the guns of their fort. By this expedition he demonstrated to the Spaniards their weakness; and that the Carolinians, whenever they pleased, could prevent the cultivation and settlement of their Province so as to render the improvement of it impracticable on any other than peaceable terms with their neighbors."[1]

[Footnote 1: HEWATT'S _History of South Carolina_, Vol. I. p. 314, and Dr. RAMSAY'S _History of South Carolina_, Vol. I. p. 137; where it is quoted, word for word, without acknowledgment.]

XXIV.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SIEGE OF ST. AUGUSTINE, IN A LETTER FROM ON BOARD THE HECTOR.

"May 30th, [1740] we arrived near St. Augustine. June 1st we were joined by the Flamborough, Captain Pea.r.s.e; the Phoenix, Captain Fanshaw; the Tartar, Captain Townshend; and the Squirrel, Capt.

Warren, of twenty guns each; besides the Spence Sloop, Captain Laws, and the Wolf, Captain Dandridge. On the 2d Colonel Vanderdussen, with three hundred Carolina soldiers, appeared to the north of the town. On the 9th General Oglethorpe came by sea with three hundred soldiers and three hundred Indians from Georgia: on the which they were carried on sh.o.r.e in the men-of-war's boats, under the cover of the small s.h.i.+ps'

guns. They landed on the Island Eustatia, without opposition, and took the look-out. The 13th Captain Warren, in a schooner and other armed sloops and pettiauguas anch.o.r.ed in their harbor, just out of cannon shot, until the 26th, when the sailors were employed in landing ordnance and other stores, within reach of the enemy's cannon. On which occasion they discovered a surprising spirit and intrepidity.

The same night two batteries were raised; but too far off. The 27th the General summoned the Governor to surrender; who sent word he should be glad to shake hands with him in his castle. This haughty answer was occasioned by a dear-bought victory which five hundred Spaniards had obtained over eighty Highlanders, fifty of whom were slain; but died like heroes, killing thrice their number. The 29th, bad weather, obliged the men-of-war to put to sea, out of which but one man had been killed. Hereupon the siege was raised."

_Letter from General Oglethorpe to Rev. J.M. Bolzius_.

REVEREND SIR,

Though G.o.d has not been pleased to prosper us with the success of taking St. Augustine, yet we are to thank him for the safe return of the greatest part of our men, and that the pride of our enemy has been curbed.

Those men who came from Ebenezer, and that were in the Carolina regiment, I have ordered to be sent up to you again.

I recommend myself to your prayers,

and am, Reverend Sir,

Your most obedient humble servant,

JAMES OGLETHORPE.

_Frederica_, 5 _August_, 1740.

_From the Gentleman's Magazine, for November_, 1740.

A letter in the Daily Post of the 26th, dated from Charlestown, South Carolina, having laid the ill success at Fort St. Augustine on the ill conduct of ----, some particulars of which are: 1st, that the cattle taken at a cow-pen of one Diego, twenty-five miles from the town, May 12, were not distributed to the soldiery; 2d, that the people might have entered the town without opposition, but were not suffered; 3d, that the men were needlessly hara.s.sed; 4th, that Colonel Palmer, who was sent to Negro Fort, two miles from the town, with one hundred and thirty-three men to alarm the Spaniards was not supported by ----, who staid six or seven miles off; 5th, that Colonel Palmer being attacked by five hundred Spaniards, shot three of them after they had entered the fort; 6th, that Captain Warren was the life and spirit of the cause; 7th, that the Volunteers, seeing no prospect of succeeding under such mad conduct, as they called it, daily went off,--the following answer was published.