Chapter I Continued.
My mother’s family were the Barnwells. They played a very significant role in the history of South Carolina. Stephen Barnwell, a history professor at Northern Michigan University, wrote a book entitled The Story of an American Family which was published in 1969. It is out of copyright and in great demand to genealogists and historians. I am taking on the project of scanning portions of the book that apply to my branch of the Barnwells and posting it to this blog. The American story begins with my sixth great grandfather, Colonel John Barnwell. This post is the rest of the first chapter and should be read after the December 10 post. Enjoy!
Chapter I Continued.
My mother’s family were the Barnwells. They played a very significant role in the history of South Carolina. Stephen Barnwell, a history professor at Northern Michigan University, wrote a book entitled The Story of an American Family which was published in 1969. It is out of copyright and in great demand to genealogists and historians. I am taking on the project of scanning portions of the book that apply to my branch of the Barnwells and posting it to this blog. The American story begins with my sixth great grandfather, Colonel John Barnwell. This post is the rest of the first chapter and should be read after the December 10 post. Enjoy!
My mother’s family were the Barnwells. They played a very significant role in the history of South Carolina. Stephen Barnwell, a history professor at Northern Michigan University, wrote a book entitled The Story of an American Family which was published in 1969. It is out of copyright and in great demand to genealogists and historians. I am taking on the project of scanning portions of the book that apply to my branch of the Barnwells and posting it to this blog. The American story begins with my sixth great grandfather, Colonel John Barnwell. This post is the rest of the first chapter and should be read after the December 10 post. Enjoy!
Chapter I
Colonel John Barnwell, Continued
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| Routes of Colonel John Barnwell, Colonel James Moore, Colonel Maurice Moore into North Carolina |
On January 29th the small army captured Fort Torhunta (or Narhantes) in half an hour of direct assault. The Tuscaroras were dismayed at the quick work made of one of their finest strongholds and retreated from several lesser fortifications leaving behind "a fine country full of provisions." This bounty did not last, however, and the persistent lack of provisions haunted the whole operation. Furthermore the sight of all the plunder in the fort was too great a temptation for many of his own Indians. In his report to the government in Charles Town, he noted:
"Our Indians, presently loading themselves with English plunder of which these towns are full, and running away from me, left nothing for the white men but their tired horses & their wounds to comfort them. . .the greatest part of our Indians are unwilling to proceed into unknown Country, where they may be hemd in by a numerous Enemy and not know how to extricate themselves; but my brave Yemassees told me they would go wherever I led them. They will live and die with me, and indeed I have that dependence on them that I would not refuse to give battle to the whole Nation of the Tuscaroras with them. The Enemy can't be less than 12 or 1400 men, which may be easily judged by their large settlements, but extremely cowardly if they have liberty to run. Our Indians outdo the Enemy very much either at bush or swamp but the Enemy are fleeter & has the advantage of knowing the Country." 18
Setting out again for Hancock's Fort, they took the village of Kenta where nine of the enemy were killed and two burned alive. The Commander deliberately was pursuing a policy of terror to frighten the enemy into surrendering. He led the march through five more villages and boasted that "every private man behaved himself so well it was Terror to our heathen friend to behold us; the word was Revenge, which we made good by the Execution we made of the Enemy." He reported destroying 374 houses in the first few days of the campaign.
After these initial victories the little army was bogged down by torrential rains. There were still no guides, and provisions again were running low. His Indians were more and more afraid to go on, but the Colonel felt he could not go back—"for the honour of Carolina I am always ready to sacrifice." When his scouts reported that Hancock's Fort "had some great guns, a great amount of powder, & 300 men," plus those who had fled from the destroyed villages, he finally had to promise even his Yemassees not to attack until they had reinforcements. For this reason he turned northward toward Bath Town on the Pamlico. "I made such a march," he reported, "with 178 Indians & 25 white men, 20 odd whereof were wounded that to the immortal Glory of South Carolina has struck the Dominion of Virginia into amazement & wonder." On the way they burned another abandoned fort, beat off an attack of 50 or 60 Tuscaroras, and almost lost their commander.
As the Colonel noted in his report:
"I encamped all night, and rising at my usual hour which is daily since I had this charge on my hands, at 4 o'clock in ye morning, and at 5 I had just relieved the Centrys and sat at ye fire when ye Enemy poured a volley upon us, and I had reason to believe most of the Shott was directed at me for it made strange work with my things & several shott pluged the tree I leaned against. Our Centrys being very quick, fired at the same juncture, which was followed with 30 or 40 guns more . . . the Enemy was Fled without doing the least damage only the breaking of the stock of one gun wth a bullett."19
They arrived at Bath on the 10th "to ye incredible wonder and amazement of the poor distressed wretches, who expressed such extremity of mad joy that it drew tears from most of our men." He even proposed to the governor to settle the "300 widows and orphans that are here without provision or clothing and ill used" somewhere in South Carolina upon his return.
In camp about 15 miles above the town, they were joined by 67 North Carolinians without any ammunition, and a search of the Pamlico garrisons produced no more than ten rounds for each man. Unprepared as they were, it was necessary to move on to find food. "I waited so long for bread," reported the Colonel, "until half of the men fell sick and willing to preserve the health of the rest, I proceeded to get that of the Enemy's which was delayed by my friends." He now had 94 colonists and 148 Indians with him.
The torrential rains made it rough going, but some food was found in abandoned towns, and they learned something of Hancock's Fort from a captive. Reaching the Neuse on March 4th, they crossed on rafts under fire fromseveral Tuscaroras. The South Carolinians took the lead because they alone would. "I could not prevail with one of this country cowardly crew to venture, which was a presage of what followed," Barnwell wrote. They reached the fort the next day to find it not only well built but excellently positioned.
The Colonel decided to take it by assault, "hoping to finish the war by this stroke, where now all the principal murderers were in a pen." He ordered fascines made, bundles of sticks tied together to serve as shields.
In his words:
"When we got within 10 or 12 yards of the Fort, the enemy made a terrible fire on us without the least damage in the world, but this country base, cowardly people, hearing the Shott strike the Fashines, threw both them & their arms away & ran for life, wch not only left themselves exposed but also those that went under their shelter: this encouraged the enemy to renew the firing, who deservedly shott sevIl of them in their backs. In the meantime my brave South Carolina men & 23 of this country undauntedly kept their order. I ordered them to keep their stations until I brought up the runaways. Butt all my endeavour was in vain, tho' I mauled sevIl wth my cutlass, and as soon as they saw me running towards them they would scamper into the swamp that was hard by. I, seeing the confusion & being afraid that the number that drew the enemy's fire was insufficient to come at the Fort by assault, I ordered a retreat which was gravely managed, for every man got Fashine on his back and of my own number I had but one wounded; the most of them had 10 or more shott in his Fashine, but the runaways there was 1 killed & 18 wounded and of the 23 that stood by my men there were 3 killed & 2 wounded, in all 4 killed and 20 wounded. It rained smartly during the attempt, wch proved a great hindrance."20
The Colonel was unable to get a second attack out of his men: "in vain for I could get but 16 with my own men, who never refused me anything I putt them upon." The next morning, after the wounded were evacuated, he returned to the attack:
"As soon as I returned to the camp I ordered wooden spades to be made & more Fashines & poles got ready, and in the dark of the evening I crept on my belly within 30 yards of the Fort & perceived a curious plan to make a breastwork, that had more command of the enemy's canoes & water than they had themselves. To work I went & by morning had a re-intrenchment that held 50 men. In doing this I had 2 of my own brisk men wounded.
7th (March) The enemy being terrified at our near approach, began to quit the Fort, but my men fired so hard at ye canoes that obliged them to return. I immediately ordered a party over the River, and so blocked up the Fort on all sides, then the enemy when they wanted water would send to the bank one of the English captives to fetch it, our men called to them to have patience, for by next morning they should be delivered, at which the enraged desperate enemy began to torture them and in our hearing put to death a girle of 8 years of Mr. Taylors, upon this the relations of the other captives, came crying & beging of me to have compassion of the innocents, wch was renewed by Cryes & lamentations of the Captives being about 35 or 40 yards of them, at last I was prevailed upon to call to the enemy, who sent Mrs. Perce to me to treat about their delivery, she having 5 children within, wch ye enemy refused on any terms to do but on conditions I would raised the siege, otherwise they would put all to death and fight to the last man & beat us off.
After an hours consideration, having consulted all the officers, upon this I with two more went up to the Fort gates to speak with the head man who dare not come out to me; I preceived two reintrenchments within the Fort & perceived a great number of men. I ordered one of my men to go in but they would not let him, pleading he might have pocket pistols, I perceived ye head man & others to tremble exceedingly. I found that in case I broke in, I should have hard work against a parcel of desperate villains who would do all the mischief they could before their death. I knew I had not 30 men I could entirely depend upon, which if some of them (were) killed or wounded the rest of them would leave me in the lurch. Ammunition was so scarce with the North Carolina men, that some of them had not above 4 charges. I considered that if the place was relieved by the upper towns the enemy bragged of as much as of the assistance of the senicas, most of my men would run away, & it would be 2 nights more before I could penetrate the Fort for want of spades & Hoes, the ground being so rooty our wooden tools worked but slowly. And lastly I had more wounded men than I knew how to take care of, and if the number should increase upon meeting a repulse I should be forced to leave them to the mercy of ye most barbarous enemy. all wch considerations obliged me to agree."21
Under the agreement, twelve captives were to be released immediately with two canoes to carry them to safety.There was to be a truce for twelve days after which the Tuscaroras were to deliver the remaining 22 white and 24 Negro captives to Batchelor's Creek some six miles from New Bern. The chief of the Tuscaroras was to come with them to discuss the terms of the peace treaty.
Colonel Barnwell was unable to meet Hancock on the agreed date because he and most of his men were ill in New Bern. He put the blame on "the wilful neglect, designs & controversies of the government, who starved us here lest we should get provisions to enable us to depart their ungrateful service" He sent Captain Louis Mitchell, "a Swiss brave gentleman, " to go in his place, but the Indians failed to appear.
When he had recovered enough to mount his horse again, the Colonel ordered a reconnaissance to discover "whether the enemy maintained their Fort." He took with him only 15 white men and 30 Indians because he had provisions for only that number, but he also brought drums and trumpets to give the impression of a larger force.
They discovered that Hancock had not only maintained his fort, but enlarged it to include the Colonel's old breastwork. Hearing them approach, the Tuscaroras raised the war cry, and Barnwell replied with his drums and trumpets and a bold sally to within 300 yards of the fort. The ruse was successful. Several of the enemy dropped their corn and fled. But he realized that he could do nothing more iwth his small troop and withdrew to a point seven miles below the fort, to the junction of the Cotechney Creek and the Neuse where he found a place "so naturally fortified that with little Labour 50 men could keep off 5000 men." "It is a very charming place, " he wrote and sent to New Bern for tools and boats. He built several huts and adequate fortifications, which he called Fort Barnwell, and then sent for his Indians who were "dispersed all over the county to subsist the better."
On April 1st, word came from Governor Hyde that Colonel Boyd and seventy men with provisions were on their way from New Bern with assurances that henceforth there would be no more reason to complain. Barnwell then sent out a call for every able bodied man along the Neuse. Among the reinforcements were ten gallons of rum, two casks of cider and one cask of wine. He also received some cannon: "2 three-pounders, 2 patteraros, 7 Grandado shells, 23 Great Shott but hardly enough powder for 10 discharges." His greatest problem, apart from the perpetual food shortage, was insubordination among the new recruits "which putt me," he said, "in such a passion at all kinds of ill usages since I came here that I ordered on of their majors to be tyed neck and heels & kept him so, and whenever I heard a saucy word from any of them I immediately cutt him, for without this they are the most impertinent, imperious, cowardly, Blockheads that ever God created."
Within a week everything was ready to march again. On the night of the 7th, 154 white men and 128 Indians moved out of Fort Barnwell for Hancock's Town. By daybreak they had it surrounded and blockaded, "We were there before ye enemy was aware of us," reported the Colonel.This siege lasted ten days "by which time," he wrote, "we gained ye ditch & sevll times fired ye pallisades wch ye enemy like desperate villains defend at an amazing rate. This seige for variety of action, salleys, attempts to be relieved from without, can't, I believe be paralleled agst Indians." But the lack of food brought the attack to a standstill: ". . . the 15 foot," he wrote, "cost us so much time untill I was, thro' extreme famine, obliged to harken a capitulation for the surrendering thereof upon articles wch leaves above 100 murderers unpunished." The enemy, he later discovered, had been supplied with "400 buckskins worth of ammunition" from Virginia, but the deciding factor was food. He said if only he had had four more days' rations, they could have made "a glorious end of the War." They lost six white men killed and 35 wounded, one Indian killed and one wounded.
Under the new treaty, all the captives were to be released, those in the Town immediately and the rest in ten days at Fort Barnwell, Hancock and three "notorious murderers" were to be surrendered plus all horses, skins, and plunder, three hostages (two brothers of the Tuscarora chief and the chief of the allied Coree tribe), and all the corn in the town. The Tuscaroras were to pay an annual tribute to the government, to restrict their planting area, and to vacate all the land between the Neuse and the Cape Fear.
But not all the terms were fulfilled. Twenty-three children and two Negroes were released, but Hancock had fled to Virginia. His two sons and a brother of the Coree chief were delivered up. They agreed to restrict their planting and to pay the tribute, but most of the horses, skins, and plunder were gone. There was enough corn for forty Indians, and they were sent home.
Under the agreement, twelve captives were to be released immediately with two canoes to carry them to safety.There was to be a truce for twelve days after which the Tuscaroras were to deliver the remaining 22 white and 24 Negro captives to Batchelor's Creek some six miles from New Bern. The chief of the Tuscaroras was to come with them to discuss the terms of the peace treaty.
Colonel Barnwell was unable to meet Hancock on the agreed date because he and most of his men were ill in New Bern. He put the blame on "the wilful neglect, designs & controversies of the government, who starved us here lest we should get provisions to enable us to depart their ungrateful service" He sent Captain Louis Mitchell, "a Swiss brave gentleman, " to go in his place, but the Indians failed to appear.
When he had recovered enough to mount his horse again, the Colonel ordered a reconnaissance to discover "whether the enemy maintained their Fort." He took with him only 15 white men and 30 Indians because he had provisions for only that number, but he also brought drums and trumpets to give the impression of a larger force.
They discovered that Hancock had not only maintained his fort, but enlarged it to include the Colonel's old breastwork. Hearing them approach, the Tuscaroras raised the war cry, and Barnwell replied with his drums and trumpets and a bold sally to within 300 yards of the fort. The ruse was successful. Several of the enemy dropped their corn and fled. But he realized that he could do nothing more iwth his small troop and withdrew to a point seven miles below the fort, to the junction of the Cotechney Creek and the Neuse where he found a place "so naturally fortified that with little Labour 50 men could keep off 5000 men." "It is a very charming place, " he wrote and sent to New Bern for tools and boats. He built several huts and adequate fortifications, which he called Fort Barnwell, and then sent for his Indians who were "dispersed all over the county to subsist the better."
On April 1st, word came from Governor Hyde that Colonel Boyd and seventy men with provisions were on their way from New Bern with assurances that henceforth there would be no more reason to complain. Barnwell then sent out a call for every able bodied man along the Neuse. Among the reinforcements were ten gallons of rum, two casks of cider and one cask of wine. He also received some cannon: "2 three-pounders, 2 patteraros, 7 Grandado shells, 23 Great Shott but hardly enough powder for 10 discharges." His greatest problem, apart from the perpetual food shortage, was insubordination among the new recruits "which putt me," he said, "in such a passion at all kinds of ill usages since I came here that I ordered on of their majors to be tyed neck and heels & kept him so, and whenever I heard a saucy word from any of them I immediately cutt him, for without this they are the most impertinent, imperious, cowardly, Blockheads that ever God created."
Within a week everything was ready to march again. On the night of the 7th, 154 white men and 128 Indians moved out of Fort Barnwell for Hancock's Town. By daybreak they had it surrounded and blockaded, "We were there before ye enemy was aware of us," reported the Colonel.This siege lasted ten days "by which time," he wrote, "we gained ye ditch & sevll times fired ye pallisades wch ye enemy like desperate villains defend at an amazing rate. This seige for variety of action, salleys, attempts to be relieved from without, can't, I believe be paralleled agst Indians." But the lack of food brought the attack to a standstill: ". . . the 15 foot," he wrote, "cost us so much time untill I was, thro' extreme famine, obliged to harken a capitulation for the surrendering thereof upon articles wch leaves above 100 murderers unpunished." The enemy, he later discovered, had been supplied with "400 buckskins worth of ammunition" from Virginia, but the deciding factor was food. He said if only he had had four more days' rations, they could have made "a glorious end of the War." They lost six white men killed and 35 wounded, one Indian killed and one wounded.
Under the new treaty, all the captives were to be released, those in the Town immediately and the rest in ten days at Fort Barnwell, Hancock and three "notorious murderers" were to be surrendered plus all horses, skins, and plunder, three hostages (two brothers of the Tuscarora chief and the chief of the allied Coree tribe), and all the corn in the town. The Tuscaroras were to pay an annual tribute to the government, to restrict their planting area, and to vacate all the land between the Neuse and the Cape Fear.
But not all the terms were fulfilled. Twenty-three children and two Negroes were released, but Hancock had fled to Virginia. His two sons and a brother of the Coree chief were delivered up. They agreed to restrict their planting and to pay the tribute, but most of the horses, skins, and plunder were gone. There was enough corn for forty Indians, and they were sent home.
With this done, the gates of the fort were torn down, and Colonel Barnwell "drew the whole body up before the breach & marched then unto ye Fort. 2 Trumpets, 2 Drumms, South Carolina Standard, Yemassee & Apalatchka, Col. Boyd, Coll. Mitchell, Major Mackay, Major Cole, myself, gentlemen volunteers 2 x 2, South Carolina men 2 x 2, ye Yemassee Capts 2 x 2." Inside the fort, the colors were raised, the guns fired, and Colonel Barnwell made "a short, sharp speech." The Tuscaroras hid their arms and prostrated themselves before the victors. The Colonel was urged to massacre them on the spot, but he refused: "In truth," he said, "they were murderers, but if our Indians found that there could be no dependence in our promises, it might prove of ill-consequences." 22
The victorious army returned to Fort Barnwell where the Colonel made his report to Governor Gibbes asking for more corn for his Yemassees who had supported him when "all others left him in his greatest extremity." Reluctant to leave any of the wounded behind, he remained in North Carolina until July. On his return he was thanked by the assembly and, in time, was dubbed by an admiring posterity "Tuscarora Jack."
Some of his Indians had long been out of control, and, now, hungry and disappointed at the lack of plunder and scalps, they violated the treaty by attacking small parties of Tuscaroras which brought new reprisals on the colonists by the Tuscaroras. By August North Carolina was again pleading for aid. They blamed their failure to support the first expedition on its commander, on the floods and then the drought, the lack of ammunition, and the attitude of the Virginians. In spite of their criticism of Barnwell, he would have received the command of the second expedition simply because "he was the most experienced Indian fighter in the province," but his wounds prevented it. "It is self-evident upon the character of Colonel Barnwell," says Milling, "that, although vilified in Foster's instructions (from North Carolina which were read in the assembly), he advised the committee appointed by the House that further aid be given and personally assisted in planning the second campaign." 23 With a larger and better prepared army, Colonel James Moore, Jr. was able to defeat a still powerful Tuscarora nation. Most of the Tuscaroras abandoned North Carolina and migrated to northern New York to become the sixth nation of the Long House of the Iroquois.
Two years later it was South Carolina's turn to reap the rewards of their exploitive relations with the Indians. This attack came literally at the back door of the family—from the neighboring and once friendly Yemassees. They were, however, only the advance guard of what turned out to be "a far-reaching revolt against the Carolina trading regime," involving all the tribes who had had any trading relations with the Charles Town merchants—Creeks, Choctaws, Catawbas, Yemassees as well as many smaller tribes. It was what Nairne had been warning the colony about for many years.
The Indian Act of 1707 had been largely frustrated by Governor Johnson and the merchants, and when Nairne was replaced by John Wright as Indian agent in June 1708, the whole system of regulation broke down under Wright's mismanagement.
The Yemassees struck on Good Friday, April 15, 1715 at Pocotaligo Town. Among their initial victims was Nairne himself who was tortured to death over several days. Only two or three of the settlers escaped; one of them swam the river to Colonel Barnwell's plantation on the northern end of Port Royal Island and gave the alarm to the unsuspecting planters. About 300 of them with their families crowded onto a ship which had been seized for smuggling and providentially was lying at anchor in the harbor. Among them was Tuscarora Jack's ten year old son Nathaniel who had been rescued from the plantation house minutes before the Indians arrived. St. Bartholomew's Parish to the north was less fortunate because no alarm was given there, but the parishes beyond there received warning in time. By then the other tribes had joined the war and threatened not only the whole of Carolina but, if the conspiracy was allowed to spread to all the tribes, all the English settlements even up to New England.
"That South Carolina escaped complete ruin," Crane concludes, "was due to the energy of a gallant governor, to the skill of seasoned Indian fighters who commanded her militia, to assistance in arms and men from neighboring provinces, and to the conversion of the Cherokees at a critical moment to peace and friendly assistance." 24 Governor Craven proclaimed martial law and organized the forces of the colony under General James Moore, Jr. Colonel John Barnwell and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Mackay, companions-in-arms on the Neuse, were sent to recapture the Yemassee capital at Pocotaligo after securing Port Royal Island. The Governor with 250 militia and settlement Indians marched south to join Barnwell and Mackay, and together they drove the Yemassees into Florida where they found protection under the Spaniards near St. Augustine. But the Creeks and others were still on the warpath. It was not until the Cherokees signed a treaty with the colony in January 1716 that the tide of battle definitely turned. But peace, and an uneasy one at that, did not return until the end of 1717. Altogether over 400 colonists were killed and the growth of the colony was set back several years.
The task of reconstruction began with the re-organization of the Indian trade system by an Act of the Assembly in June 1716. This Act created a public corporation of five commissioners who were given complete control over trade with the Indians. Tuscarora Jack was a member of the first board along with George Logan, Ralph Izard, Charles Hill, and James Moore.25 With minor exceptions he was in regular attendance at their meetings of which there were over 100 during the first year. Each commissioner was paid a salary of £150 a year. John was also given charge of their public store house in Charles Town from March to December 1717 for which he was paid an additional £150 out of the profits of the trade. The new system reflected the victory of the planters, concerned with preventing another uprising, over the merchants. It was an interesting experiment in what was virtually a state monopoly, and naturally the merchants screamed until they got a modified Act in 1717, but the planters remained in control of the regulatory system, and the worst abuses were eliminated.
Tuscarora Jack had other duties during the reconstruction besides the Indian Commission. A member of the assembly from 1717 to 1719, he was put in charge of the southern defense of the colony. A fort was built on Port Royal Island in March 1716 which was to serve as the base for the two scout boats of the "provincial navy." The garrison was divided into two crews, one to remain at the fort, the other to patrol the inland passage between Port Royal and the Atlamaha river in Georgia. He directed all their operations between the Stono and St. Augustine, retrieving runaway slaves, keeping watch on the Spaniards and Indians, and preparing maps of the region.
It is interesting to note that the garrison at Port Royal was reinforced at the time of the Yemassee war with a body of Tuscaroras who had not gone to New York. What irony that they should be brought down to fight against the Yemassees and given vacated Yemassee land. They were placed under the protection of their erstwhile enemy, John Barnwell, who directed all their trading with the merchants. Occasionally he used them to stop the persistent raiding of the Yemassees from Florida. Early in 1719 he personally undertook a peaceful mission to the Yemassees to win them back from the Spaniards but with no success. When a party of Yemassees penetrated into Granville county, killed several settlers, and took others into slavery, he decided to stop this once for all. In September he promoted an expedition against the Yemassees and Spaniards at St. Augustine which he described in his report to the governor as "performed by 50 Indians, Melvin, a Whiteman & Musgrove, & Griffin half-breed or Mustees under ye Leading of Oweeka, a Creek Indian their Generall. Wettly, his Second, a Palachucola Indian."26 The expedition, which left Port Royal in seven canoes on September 28th included local Coosas and some Tuscaroras of the local garrison in one of the scout boats. Upon returning a month later to report their mission accomplished, Colonel Barnwell wrote to the governor: "I congratulate wth yr Honr this dawning of quietness to our poor Southern parts," but he was a little premature. Peace was not to come for many years. In June 1720 another Yemassee raiding party struck St. Helena's Island, killing one planter, capturing a white man and 12 Negro slaves.
One of the most important consequences of the Yemassee War was to reveal more clearly than ever the real inadequacies of proprietary government. For many years the colonists had recognized that their interests were not the same as those of the Lords Proprietors, but it was the inability of the Proprietors to understand and give assistance at the time of the war and during the period of reconstruction which provoked the colony to action. By 1719 the wealthiest and most influential men in the colony were agreed to demand an end to proprietary rule and the establishment of direct royal government. The assembly which met in December of that year converted itself into a convention, and the last proprietary governor, Robert Johnson, seeing the futility of resistance, resigned.
To present their case before the government in London, the assembly chose Colonel Barnwell. As Verner Crane has said, they could not have made a better choice:
"As a veteran of Queen Anne's War, of the Tuscarora War, and of the Indian rising of 1715, John Barnwell had first-hand knowledge of the Indian and Spanish frontiers from Virginia to the neck of Florida, moreover as the greatest planter of the Port Royal district, he had a direct interest in safeguarding the har-rassed southern border. His career in provincial office gave him standing as a colonial expert which the average agent, chosen from the merchant group in London, seldom possessed." 27
Colonel Barnwell sailed from Charles Town in March 1720 and arrived in London at the height of the land speculation craze known as the South Sea Bubble. Upon his arrival he wrote a letter to Sir Robert Montgomery, the chief promoter of the Azilia Company, a scheme to develop the land between the Savannah and the Altamaha rivers, commending his project and expanding on the beauties of the region. His letter was given wide circulation in a pamphlet called "A Description of the Golden Islands," and his advice was eagerly sought, not only by the Board of Trade, the Privy Council and the President of the Council Lord Townshend, but also by hordes of private investors. He could be seen in the Carolina Coffee House at least once a day or at the home of Francis Nicholson who was to become South Carolina's first royal governor.
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| "Mapp of Beaufort in South Carolina 1721" |
Barnwell had two official tasks. The first was to persuade the government to accept the revolution in Charles Town, and the second was to present the case for a better southern defense system. His first assignment was relatively easy to accomplish. His way had been prepared by persistent anti-proprietary propaganda for many years, and now a flood of letters and memorials arrived from Carolina showing the great popularity of the change. His first interview with the Board of Trade on August 11th produced an immediate order taking the government of South Carolina into the King's hands.
"The second purpose of Barnwell's mission," writes Crane, "was to convert the colonial authorities to a vigorous program of frontier defense in the South. Since the death of Captain Nairne no Carolinian, perhaps no American, was better qualified than this Beaufort planter and veteran of numerous Indian campaigns to assist the Board of Trade in laying the groundwork of an Imperial western policy. Though Barnwell based his program upon the Indian system of South Carolina, it was conceived on a truly continental scale; its object was to offset the rapid expansion of French influence all along the back of the English seaboard colonies. The notable reports of the Board of Trade upon South Carolina in 1720 almost literaily reproduced Barnwell's suggestions. His ideas were again incorporated, with those of James Logan, in the great representation upon the state of the colonies of September 8, 1721. With these documents, issuing from Whitehall in 1720-21, British western policy may be said to begin." 28
Colonel Barnwell proposed building a series of forts surrounded by settlement in imitation of the French policy as a means of opposing French encirclement from New Orleans to Quebec. He suggested six strategic locations on the southern frontier where such forts ought to be constructed. Port Royal was to become a port of entry and the supply point for the entire southern frontier. His proposal assumed the jurisdiction of South Carolina to cover all the Indian territory from the Cherokee land along the Tennessee to the Mississippi river and down to the gulf of Mexico. His plan was drawn up in detail for only the southern frontier, but it was applicable to the whole continent including the Bahamas, the maritime frontier.
The plan was endorsed by the Board of Trade and sent to the Lords Justices, but they were more conservative, more aware of the expense involved, and less imperialistic. They approved only "the proposals for the Altamaha garrison, for the allotment of lands for 'the new projected town' on the Altamaha, and for the Indian trade conference (with Virginia to settle the problem jointly)." They urged the command of the Altamaha project be given to Barnwell "whose knowledge of the Country and Experience in matters of this Nature will highly conduce to the promoting a Settlement on this Frontier." Their recommendations were approved by the Privy Council and appropriate instructions were sent to the new royal governor.
Tuscarora Jack's discussions with the Board of Trade continued through November, and he did not return to Carolina for another six months. It would be i nteresting to know whether he returned to Ireland to visit his family, but nothing is known of his activities during this interval. He was paid the enormous sum of Z1,000 from the general levy for his services in London.29
On May 22, 1721 H.M.S. Enterprise with Governor Nicholson, Colonel Barnwell, and the new royal garrison dropped anchor off Charles Town harbor. Within a week, John was appointed Justice of the Peace for Granville county, commander of the county militia including the Port Royal scout boats again, and commander of the expedition to the Altamaha.30 He presented his plans for the expedition to the Council on June 7th. They asked him to write out his own commission and instructions which, with minor changes, were approved and signed on the 10th. He left immediately for Port Royal to begin preparations.31
Hampered by heavy rains, it took nearly three weeks before everything was ready. He had to rely mainly on his scout boat men who, he was afraid, had lost some of their discipline while he was in London. "These Scoutmen," he wrote, "are a wild idle people & continually Sotting if they can gett any Rum for Trust or money. Yet they are greatly usefull for such Expeditions as these if well & Tenderly managed, ffor as their Cheerful Imploy is to hunt the fforest or ffish. So there is Scarce One of Them but understands the Hoe, the Axe, the Saw, as well as their Gun and Oar." He persuaded twenty-six of them to go. He also tried to get six Creek Indians, but they fled just before sailing. He took one Creek and a Tuscarora, but six other Tuscaroras and several Edisto Indians he left behind because of the influence they might have on the Creeks. Preparations were finished by the 6th of July.
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| Colonel Barnwell's preliminary sketch of Fort King George 1721 |
"I furnished myself with all Such Necessarys as I wanted out of the King's store at Beaufort," he reported, "and took Everything belonging to Royal Scout, and putt them on Board the Sloop, the Whale Boat and my perriaugoe, which with that & ye provisions were deep loaded, and having hired one David Duvall & his It was "a 'planked house,' or gabled blockhouse, twenty-six feet square. There were three floors: a magazine floor, a gunfloor at six feet from the ground, with walls pierced for cannon and musketry, and above a 'jetting floor to clear the sides,' with more loopholes for small arms. High in the gable a lookout window commanded a wide view of river and marsh and old Indian fields, and of St. Simon's Island to the east and southeast. On the land side of the blockhouse was defended by an earthen parapet, five to six feet high, with a bastion, and surrounding palisades and a moat. Another parapet of fascines fronted the river, and the palisades were continued along the marsh on the northeast. Within this irregular triangle, in a space measuring two hundred by three hundred feet, stood several palmetto-roofed huts and barracks." 32
Fort King George was the first permanent English penetration into Georgia. The royal garrison at Beaufort was stationed there until the fort burned down in January 1726. The weakness of the government in Charles Town delayed reconstruction until 1736 when General Oglethorpe changed the site to St. Simon's Island and there, with vastly superior resources, built Fort Frederica.
Tuscarora Jack was a leading member of the assembly again from 1721 until his death. He was appointed to the first Committee of Correspondance which served as a liason with the government in London. In 1724 he agreed to undertake a second mission to London when his health began to fail. Returning to Port Royal he made his will on May 4th and died early in June. On the 9th, Governor Nicholson wrote to the assembly:
"I am most cordially concerned for the Great Loss that His Majesty's Province in general and more particularly that part to the Southward hath sustained by the death of the honorable Coll. Barnwell. I have my Self been an Eye and Ear Witness of the Great Services he did for this Country in Great Britain."33
His wife, Anne Berners, who tradition says was the sister of an English merchant living in Charles Town, had died before him leaving two sons and six daughters among whom his estate, amounting to over 6,500 acres, was divided.
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| "A Plan of King George's Fort at Allatamaha South Carolina" |
Tuscarora Jack was buried in St. Helena's Churchyard on Port Royal Island directly behind the church. The apse was enlarged many years later, and so his grave is probably underneath the altar.
Their children:
Margaret Barnwell, b. Feb. 13, 1704; d. Aug. 18, 1750.
Nathaniel Barnwell, b. Mar. 13, 1705; d. Feb. 20, 1775. (My 5 greats grandfather)
Anne Barnwell, b. Aug. 7, 1707; d. Aug. 17, 1770.
Mary Barnwell.
Bridget Barnwell, d. Apr. 18, 1741.
Katherine Barnwell, b. Nov. 4, 1710; d. Oct. 7, 1740.
John Barnwell, b. Mar. 8, 1712; d. Oct. 5, 1782.
Elizabeth Barnwell, d. July 1748.
1 Joseph Walker Barnwell, "Barnwell of South Carolina," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine (Jan. 1901), Vol. II, pp. 47-50 has the Harleston—Page correspondence.
2 Stephen Bull Barnwell, "The Barnewall Family during the 16th and 17th Centuries," The Irish Genealogist, Vol. 3, Nos. 5-8, 10-11 (1960-63; 1965-66), and "The Family of Barnewall (De Berneval) during the Middle Ages," ibid., No. 4 (1959), pp. 124-135.
3 S. B. Barnwell, op. cit., Vol. 3, No. 6 (1961), pp. 206-209.
4 Marion Eugene Sirmans, Colonial South Carolina. A Political History, 1663-1763 (Chapel Hill, 1966), p. 58. Wooden houses continued to be built, however.
5 Alexander Samuel Salley (ed.), Commissions and Instructions from the Lords Proprietors of Carolina to Public Officials of South Carolina. 1685-1715 (Columbia, 1916), p. 159.
6 J. W. Barnwell, op. cit., p. 47n.
7 A. S. Salley (ed.), Journal of the Commons House of Assembly, /707 (Columbia, 1940), p. 42.
8 J. W. Barnwell, op. cit., p. 47n.
9 A. S. Salley (ed.), Warrants for Lands in South Carolina, 1692-1711 (Columbia, 1915), pp. 196-7.
10 Sirmans, op. cit., p. 81.
11 Loc cit.
12 Jack P. Greene, The Quest for Power: The Lower Houses of Assembly in the Southern Royal Colonies, 1689-1776 (Chapel Hill, 1963), p. 475.
13 Sirmans, op. cit., p. 104.
14 Edward McCrady, History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government (New York, 1901), pp. 400-1.
15 Verner Winslow Crane, The Southern Frontier, 1670-1732 (Durham, N.C., 1929), p. 220.
16 William P. Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps (chapel Hill, 1962, 2d ed.), p. 46.
17 Joseph W. Barnwell (ed.), "The Tuscarora Expedition. Letters of Colonel John Barnwell," SCHGM. Vol. IX (1908), pp. 28 54.
18 Ibid., pp. 33-34.
19 Ibid., p. 40.
20I Ibid., p. 44.
21 Ibid., pp. 45-46.
22 Ibid., p. 54.
23 Chapman James Milling, Red Carolinians (Chapel Hill, 1940), p. 128.
24 Crane, op. cit., p. 170.
25 William L. McDowell (ed.), Journals of the Commissioners of the Indian Trade 17/0-1718 (Columbia, 1955), passim.
26 Milling, op. cit. pp. 155-56.
27 Crane, op. cit., p. 228.
28 Ibid., p. 220.
29 Ella Lonn, The Colonial Agents of the Southern Colonies (Chapel Hill, 1945), pp. 280,308.
30 A. S. Salley (ed.), Journal of His Majesty's Colony for South Carolina May 29, 1721-June 10,1721 (Columbia, 1930), pp. 13-25.
31 J. W. Barnwell (ed.), "Fort King George. Journal of Col. John Barnwell (Tuscarora) in the Construction of the Fort on the Altamaha in 1721," SCHGM (1926), Vol. XXVII, No. 4, pp. 189-203.
32 Crane, op. cit., pp. 236-37.
33 Salley, op. cit.,JCHA,June 2-16,1724, p. 17.
1 Joseph Walker Barnwell, "Barnwell of South Carolina," The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine (Jan. 1901), Vol. II, pp. 47-50 has the Harleston—Page correspondence.
2 Stephen Bull Barnwell, "The Barnewall Family during the 16th and 17th Centuries," The Irish Genealogist, Vol. 3, Nos. 5-8, 10-11 (1960-63; 1965-66), and "The Family of Barnewall (De Berneval) during the Middle Ages," ibid., No. 4 (1959), pp. 124-135.
3 S. B. Barnwell, op. cit., Vol. 3, No. 6 (1961), pp. 206-209.
4 Marion Eugene Sirmans, Colonial South Carolina. A Political History, 1663-1763 (Chapel Hill, 1966), p. 58. Wooden houses continued to be built, however.
5 Alexander Samuel Salley (ed.), Commissions and Instructions from the Lords Proprietors of Carolina to Public Officials of South Carolina. 1685-1715 (Columbia, 1916), p. 159.
6 J. W. Barnwell, op. cit., p. 47n.
7 A. S. Salley (ed.), Journal of the Commons House of Assembly, /707 (Columbia, 1940), p. 42.
8 J. W. Barnwell, op. cit., p. 47n.
9 A. S. Salley (ed.), Warrants for Lands in South Carolina, 1692-1711 (Columbia, 1915), pp. 196-7.
10 Sirmans, op. cit., p. 81.
11 Loc cit.
12 Jack P. Greene, The Quest for Power: The Lower Houses of Assembly in the Southern Royal Colonies, 1689-1776 (Chapel Hill, 1963), p. 475.
13 Sirmans, op. cit., p. 104.
14 Edward McCrady, History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government (New York, 1901), pp. 400-1.
15 Verner Winslow Crane, The Southern Frontier, 1670-1732 (Durham, N.C., 1929), p. 220.
16 William P. Cumming, The Southeast in Early Maps (chapel Hill, 1962, 2d ed.), p. 46.
17 Joseph W. Barnwell (ed.), "The Tuscarora Expedition. Letters of Colonel John Barnwell," SCHGM. Vol. IX (1908), pp. 28 54.
18 Ibid., pp. 33-34.
19 Ibid., p. 40.
20I Ibid., p. 44.
21 Ibid., pp. 45-46.
22 Ibid., p. 54.
23 Chapman James Milling, Red Carolinians (Chapel Hill, 1940), p. 128.
24 Crane, op. cit., p. 170.
25 William L. McDowell (ed.), Journals of the Commissioners of the Indian Trade 17/0-1718 (Columbia, 1955), passim.
26 Milling, op. cit. pp. 155-56.
27 Crane, op. cit., p. 228.
28 Ibid., p. 220.
29 Ella Lonn, The Colonial Agents of the Southern Colonies (Chapel Hill, 1945), pp. 280,308.
30 A. S. Salley (ed.), Journal of His Majesty's Colony for South Carolina May 29, 1721-June 10,1721 (Columbia, 1930), pp. 13-25.
31 J. W. Barnwell (ed.), "Fort King George. Journal of Col. John Barnwell (Tuscarora) in the Construction of the Fort on the Altamaha in 1721," SCHGM (1926), Vol. XXVII, No. 4, pp. 189-203.
32 Crane, op. cit., pp. 236-37.
33 Salley, op. cit.,JCHA,June 2-16,1724, p. 17.
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