By Major William Carraway
Historian,
Georgia National Guard
 |
| Crest of the Macon Volunteers with Macon Volunteers, National Guard heritage painting by Jackson Walker. |
Mobilization
On January 13, 1836,
Georgia Governor William Schley, in anticipation of hostile actions by a
combined force Creeks in Alabama and Seminoles in Florida, issued a
proclamation for volunteer companies to be prepared to serve in defense of
their state.[1]
On February 5, 1836, the Macon Volunteers, 92 strong, assembled under the
command of Capt. Isaac G. Seymour in Macon. [2] An 1825 graduate of Yale
University, Seymour was a lawyer and editor of the Georgia Messenger.[3]
 |
| Captain Isaac Seymour's service record in the Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Indian Wars, National Archives. |
The Volunteers were one of
five companies assigned to the 1st Georgia Battalion commanded by
Maj. Mark Anthony Cooper.[4] In addition to the Macon
Volunteers, the battalion was comprised of the Morgan County Guard, Monroe
Musketeers, State Fencibles and Hancock Blues.[5] Governor William Schley
addressed the assembled troops before the Soldiers departed by boat travelling
down the Ocmulgee River.[6]
The battalion travelled to
Florida by way of Darien, Ga. and was mustered into federal service February
18, 1836, at Picolata, Fla. With an aggregate strength of approximately 380
Soldiers, the 1st Battalion was assigned to the federal division of
Brig. Gen. Duncan L. Clinch.[7] The overall commander of
the operation against the Seminoles was Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott.
The Campaign Begins
On March 26, 1836, Clinch,
accompanied by Scott, marched his units from Fort Drane in present-day Marion
County, Fla. with a force of more than 3,000 troops including 1,248 militia.
His objective, as defined by Scott, was to threaten the Seminole stronghold in
the Cove of the Withlacoochee. This area presented foreboding terrain for the
advance with dense pine forests and swamps.
After marching ten miles on
the first day the Soldiers made camp. A detail was dispatched to help retrieve
two baggage wagons that had become stuck along the route of march from Fort
Drane. Part of the detail included Pvts. Turner Bryan, E. B. Cotton, A. J.
Mitchell, and J. W. Thompson of the Macon Volunteers.[8]
Reaching the wagons, the
detachment of Soldiers was attacked by Seminoles. Two of the Volunteers escaped
on horseback while the other two survived by concealing themselves behind
fallen logs before returning to camp.[9]
On March 29, the Seminoles
struck Clinch’s column while the troops were crossing a stream. Acting as the
advance guard for the crossing the Macon Volunteers were swiftly taken under
fire. Three Soldiers of the Macon Volunteers; Pvt. James L. Williams, Pvt.
James M. Danelly, and Pvt. James T. Lewellen, were wounded before the Seminoles
withdrew.[10]
The Bravest Man in the Army
Clinch column continued on
for another 30 miles enroute to Fort Brook in Tampa, but its progress was
slowed by the requirements of the wounded and the need to care for sick men. During
one tense evening, one of many in which the Soldiers expected the Seminoles to
fall on them without warning, pickets posted on sentinel duty raised the alarm
that an attack was in progress. The entire camp sprang to alert only to find
that there was no enemy force, but one Macon Volunteer, Cpl. Eliphalet Edgerton
Brown. Brown had been too ill to accompany the Volunteers when they left
Picolata with Clinch’s Column on March 26 and had been left behind. Yet there
he stood, like an apparition in the moonlight. Taken to headquarters, Brown
presented Gen. Scott with urgent dispatches. When these documents had arrived
at Picolata, Brown volunteered to ride 90 miles alone through enemy territory
to deliver them. Scott promptly offered Brown a drink from his flask and proclaimed
Brown the “bravest man in the Army.”[11]
 |
| Corporal Eliphalet Brown's service record in the Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Indian Wars, National Archives. |
Fort Cooper
Upon reaching a site with
fresh water, Clinch detached the 1st Georgia Battalion including the
Macon Volunteers to protect the wounded and sick while he continued on with the
bulk of his force. Cooper directed the erection of fortifications, and the Volunteers
labored to establish the fort on a bluff overlooking Holathikaha Lake. While
constructing Fort Cooper, the Soldiers were under constant fire from the
Seminoles who surrounded and lay siege to the fortification. The Georgians and
Seminoles exchanged fire though the vegetation was so thick in places that
combatants could scarcely see each other. The Seminoles also targeted the
Soldier’s provisions killing cattle during the night and preventing forage
during the day. With supplies dwindling, Cooper was compelled to kill his horse
to supply meat for the wounded. For more than three weeks, the Soldiers
withstood Seminole attacks on Fort Cooper before being relieved April 27.[12]
Following their engagement,
the longest of the Second Seminole War, The Georgia Battalion and Macon
Volunteers returned to Fort Drane and were mustered out of federal service May
15, 1836. [13]
Welcome Home
Returning to Macon, the
Volunteers were received by the city with a grand dinner. Marching in
procession from the Central Hotel, the Volunteers followed their colors,
recently pierced by enemy projectiles, to a warehouse which had been converted
to a massive dining hall complete with a double row of tables. Speakers
recounted the hardships and sacrifices endured by the Volunteers on campaign
and toasts were raised to honor Macon’s military heroes. Newspaper accounts of
the reception reported that “no lack of provisions or liquors (were) found.[14]
Eliphalet Edgerton Brown,
whom Gen. Scott had lauded as the “bravest man in the Army” was elected magistrate
upon his return, serving for 18 years and was subsequently elected alderman. For
decades, he was a successful hotel owner and operator. In 1880 he built the
Edgerton Hotel. When he died June 12, 1886, he was one of only seven remaining
Macon Volunteer veterans of the Second Seminole War. His funeral was attended
en masse by the Macon Volunteers.[15]
Roster of Seymour’s Company, Macon Volunteers, Second
Seminole War[16]
Seymour, Isaac Gurdun. - Captain
Connor, Zephaniah Turner. - 1st Lieutenant
Council, J. T. -2nd Lieutenant
Ellsworth, John - Ensign
Holmes, Isaac - 1st Sergeant
Shelton, E. L. - 2nd Sergeant
Rowland, W. P. - 3rd Sergeant
Lewis, F. F. - 4th Sergeant
Reid, David - 5th Sergeant
Brown, E. E. - 1st Corporal
Ross, B. F. - 2nd Corporal
Holmes, William, - 3rd Corporal
Robinson, R. P. - 4th Corporal
Carver, Robert - 5th Corporal
Butler, John - Drummer
Almon, B. W.
Barrow, David
Bassett, Richard
Bell, A. W. – enlisted in Fry’s Company Illinois Mounted
Volunteers. Transferred
Bennett, J. R.
Berrecke, C.
Bereck, Cosnard
Blunt, (Blount) Thomas– enlisted in Allen’s Company Georgia
Mounted Volunteers. Transferred
Bourke, (Burke) Philip
Boyce, J. J.
Boyle, J. J.
Brumberlow, C.
Brown, A. D.
Bryan, Turner
Buckley, (Bulkey) E. C.
Burdine, John
Burr, A. P.
Cain, James C.
Caspers, W. C.
Church, R. E.
Clarke, J. C. F.
Cotton, E. B.
Cunningham, James– enlisted in Rogers Company Alabama
Mounted Volunteers. Transferred
Daniel, Amariah
Dannelly, James M.
Delanny, James L.
Earle, R. G.
Edmund
Ellis, James M.
Field, John M.
Finnighan, Solomon
Fitch, Horace
Fort, J. E.
Foster, A. H.
Hansel, Joiner
Harvey, W. H.
Hickman, R. S.
Hill, H. B
Hodgkins, Daniel
Howland, C. L.
Huey A. S.
Hughes, W. H.
Huson, F. A.
Lamar, J. B.
Lewellen, James T.
Mallory, George W.
McCarty, F. W.
McCarty, Francis
McCarty, R. E.
McCarty, R. S.
Mills, H. T.
Mitchell, A. J.
Mitchell, Jesse
Nixon, H. D.
Oliver John– enlisted in Keener’s Company Alabama Mounted
Volunteers. Transferred
Pendleton, P. C.
Redding, H. P.
Robert
Rodgers, D. R.
Rodgers, M.W.
Rodgers, Wiley
Scott, John M.
Sewell, (Sewal) Layton
Sinclair, R.
Smith, J. P.
Stanley, S. H. *listed twice
Saulsberry, J. L.
Saulsberry, T. J.
Thompson, J. W.
Thompson, William– enlisted in Blount’s Company Alabama
Militia Volunteers. Transferred
Tison, W. H.
Toris, F. A.
Warner, B. R.
Wells, Joseph E.
White, Joseph A.
William
Williams, E. D.
Williams, James– enlisted in Coffey’s Company Alabama
Mounted Volunteers. Transferred
Williams, James L.
Wimberly, T. D.
Wood, George
Wright, W. L.
Wyche, C.C.
[1] John C. Butler,
Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke
& Co., 1879), 124.
[2] John C. Butler, Historical Record of
Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke & Co., 1879), 125.
[4] Gordon Burns
Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and
Generals, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 179.
[5] Gordon Burns
Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and
Generals, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 183.
[6] George M. Sparks, Same Spirit To Do and
Dare Now as of Yore is in Breasts of Volunteers,” Macon Telegraph, July
2, 1916, 30.
[7] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861
Volume 1: Campaigns and Generals, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000),
179.
[8] “From
Florida,” The Weekly Telegraph, May 5, 1836, 5.
[9] “On
Tampa Bay, April 6th 1836,” Georgia Journal and Messenger, May
5, 1836, 5.
[10] John
C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga.
J. W. Burke & Co, 1879), 129.
[11] George M.
Sparks, Same Spirit To Do and Dare Now as of Yore is in Breasts of Volunteers,”
Macon Telegraph, July 2, 1916, 30.
[12] Gordon Burns
Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and
Generals, Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000, 180.
[14] The Weekly Telegraph, June 2, 1836, 3.
[15] “Death of Judge E. E. Brown,” Macon Telegraph, June 13, 1886, 7.
[16] National Archives, US Indian War Service Records index, 1815-1858.
No comments:
Post a Comment