13 Facts About the 13 Colonies-- Part 2

Again, go to the site for more information.

7.  New Hampshire offered parcels of land in exchange  for one ear of corn each year.  (Sounds like a deal to me.)

8.  Georgia was founded as a new haven for debtors and impoverished people.

9.  New York became  the first target of British trade restrictions -- for exporting fur hats.

10.  South Carolina benefited from the demand for blue dye.

11.  North Carolina was sold back to the British Crown.

12.  Rhode Island played a big role in the slave trade.  (By 1775, slaves made up 11.5% of its population.)

13.  Delaware really wasn't  formed until 1776.

--CootCol

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 8: Johnson to Reagan

36.  LYNDON B. JOHNSON (1963-1969)

His first career was as a teacher.  He worked at a school near the U.S.-Mexican border for four years before  launching a career in politics.

37.  RICHARD M. NIXON  (1969-1974)

He became such a skillful poker player while stationed in the Solomon Islands during World War II that his winnings helped launch his political career upon his return to the United States.

38.  GERALD FORD (1974-1977)

A star football player at the University of Michigan, Ford turned down offers from both the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers.

39.  JIMMY CARTER (1977-1981)

When his father died in 1953, Carter gave up his successful military career to move back to Georgia to run the family's peanut farm.

40.  RONALD REAGAN (1981-1989)

He worked as a life guard and sportscaster before becoming an actor and later a politician.

--CootPres

Tories vs. Patriots, the Battle of Kettle Creek-- Part 2: A Complete British Rout

Col. Boyd's small Tory detachment fought bravely, but were outflanked and driven back.  Before he could reach the rest of his troops, Boyd was hot several times and fell mortally wounded.

As Pickens' Patriots attacked the Tory center, his flanking forces under John Dooly and Elijah Clarke emerged from swampy ground on the left and right to join  the assault on the main Tory line.  Command of John Boyd's regiment now passed on to Major  William Augustus Spurgeon, Jr.

Eventually, despite outnumbering the Patriots  roughly two-to-one and commanding higher ground, the Tories began giving ground.  They began a complete rout retreat, abandoning horses and supplies and fleeing across the creek.

By the time the fighting had ceased, Col. Boyd's Tory regiment was no more.

From beginning to end, the engagement had lasted about four hours  Of the 700 Tories engaged, casualties were roughly 200.  On the Patriot side, Pickens' force had lost about 32 men killed and wounded.  In addition, about 33 Patriots being held captive by Boyd's were freed when their captors scattered.

--Cooter

The Battle of Kettle Creek, Georgia

From the American Battlefield Trust February 2022 calendar.

KETTLE CREEK, GEORGIA

180 acres saved

On February 14, 1779, about 350 Patriot militiamen surprised and routed about 700 British Loyalists at the Battle of Kettle Creek in eastern Georgia.

The victory raised the morale of Georgia Patriots and slowed the British from taking full control of the colony, which was largely populated by Loyalists.

The Trust and its partners --  the Watson Brown Foundation; Wilkes County, Georgia; the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust: and the Kettle Creek Battlefield Association - have saved 180 acres of this Revolutionary War battlefield. 

So, here's another battle I am unfamiliar with so looks like further research will be necessary.

--Cooter

February Events in the American Revolution: Port Royal Island, Allies, Circular Letter, Kettle Creek and Moore's Creek

From the American Battlefield Trust.

FEBRUARY 3, 1779

**  Battle of Port Royal Island, South Carolina.

FEBRUARY 6, 1778

**  The United States and France become allies.

FEBRUARY 7, 1778

**  British General Howe replaced by Henry Clinton.

FEBRUARY 11, 1768

**  Massachusetts Assembly issues Massachusetts Circular Letter, denouncing the Townsend Acts.

FEBRUARY 14, 1779

**  The Battle of Kettle Creek, Georgia.

FEBRUARY 27, 1776

**  Battle of Moore's Creek, North Carolina.

--Cooter

A Native American Timeline-- Part 3: New Mexico, Seven Years' War, Treaties and Sacagawea

**  1680:  A revolt of Pueblo Indians in New Mexico threatens Spanish rule there.

**  1754:  The French and Indian War begins, pitting these two groups against the English settlements in North America.

**  MAY 15, 1756:  The Seven Years' War between the French and British begins, with the Indians siding with the French.

**  MAY 7, 1763:  Ottawa Chief Pontiac leads Indians into battle against the British at Detroit.  The British retaliate by attacking Pontiac's warriors in Detroit on July 31, in what is called the Battle of Bloody Run.  Pontiac and his forces  successfully fend them off, but there are several casualties on both sides.

**  1785:  The Treaty of Hopewell is signed in Georgia, protecting  Cherokee Indians in the United States and sectioning off their land.

**  1788/1789:  Sacagawea is born.

**  1791:  The Treaty of Holston is signed, in which the Cherokee give up all their land outside  of the borders previously established.

**  AUGUST 20, 1794:  The Battle of Timbers, the last major battle over Northwest Territory commences and results in an American victory.

--Cooter

Sears Was the Amazon.com of the 20th Century-- Part 1: "God Almighty, Sears Roebuck and Gene Talmadge"

From the May 14, 2017, Chicago Tribune "Chicago Flashback"  by Ron Grossman.

As I read the nearly weekly accounts of the demise of Sears, this makes for a sad article.  It is a victim of the American people and that guy and his hedge fund who bought it and K-Mart.

From 1906 to 1987, Sears, Roebuck and Co. shipped the ingredients of a middle class life from its sprawling distribution center at 925 S. Homan Avenue in Chicago.  And, sprawling it was.  One of the buildings alone stretched a block wide  and a quarter-mile long with every inch used.

By July 4, 1906, Sears was receiving 75,000 letters a day.  In response, the mail-order company sent its 6 million customers everything from clothing, shoes, furniture, white leghorn chickens, a fully assembled Sears buggy and even kits to build a two-bedroom home.

Many of Sears' early customers were farmers out in rural areas where stores were rare and prices high.  Sears proclaimed itself to be "The Cheapest Supply House on Earth."

"The poor dirt farmer ain't got but three friends on this earth:  God almighty, Sears Roebuck and Gene Talmadge," said Georgia's populist governor in the 1930s and 1940s.

--CootSears

The DAR's Nancy Hart Marker Dedication-- Part 1

From the Daughters of the American Revolution's rootsweb.ancestry site.

Tjhese were remarks made at the unveiling of to monument to Nancy Morgan Hart on October 12, 1930.  Remarks made by Louise Rucker Trafton, Chapter Committee for Marking Historic Spots, General Samuel Hopkins Chapter DAR.

"Georgia, where she lived, in Elbert County, during the Revolution, and where her brave, patriotic deeds were performed, has honored her in many ways, by naming a D.A.R. Chapter for her, a State Highway and other memorials.  Her name in that State is synonymous for patriotism and courage."

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 6: Georgia. Historical Marker

HEROINE OF GEORGIA

NANCY HART

1 1/2 mile.

"On Wahatche (WarWoman) Creek, in Revolutionary times lived Nancy Morgan Hart, her husband,  Benjamin, and their children.  Six feet tall, masculine in strength and courage, Nancy Hart was a staunch patriot, a deadly shot, a skilled doctor, and good neighbor.

"A spy for the colonists, she is credited with capturing several Tories.  Later, her son, John, and her family, she joined a wagon train to Henderson County, Kentucky, where she is buried.

"Hart County, the Nancy Hart Highway, and schools in Elbert and Hart Counties are named for her.  A replica of her log home, with chimney stones from the original, is in Nancy Hart Park, 1 1/2 miles from here."

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 4

She is buried at the Hart Family Cemetery, near Henderson, Kentucky.

On the approximate site of the Hart cabin in Elbert County, the DAR has erected a replica cabin, its chimney using the stones from the original.

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 3

Legacies:

**  Hart County, Georgia named for her.

**  Hart County's county seat is named Hartwell

**  During the Civil War, a group of women called themselves the Nancy Harts after organizing a military group to defend selves after their men had gone off to war.  This was in LaGrange, Georgia.

**  Lake Hartwell and Hartwell Dam in Georgia.

**  The Milledgeville, Georgia, chapter of the DAR is named after her.

**  Nancy Hart Highway in Georgia.  As of 1950, reportedly the only highway in the U.S. named after a woman.  Georgia State Highway 77.

--Cooter

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 2: Killing Tories

It is believed she was born in North Carolina.

It is difficult to prove or disprove the accomplishments credited to her, however.

One of those accounts had 5 or 6 Tories coming to her house and demanding that she cook one of her turkeys for them.  They placed their guns by the door and sat down and began drinking heavily and eating.  While they were distracted, she pushed their guns out a hole and then grabbed one and confronted them.

One came at her and she shot him dead.  She grabbed another gun and when a second one came at her, killed him as well.  She held the remainder captive until her husband and neighbors arrived. Her husband wanted to kill them on the spot, but Nancy demanded that they be taken outside and hanged.  They were hanged.

There are many other stories about her.

Nancy Hart, American Revolution Heroine-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I have been writing about a group of women from LaGrange, Georgia, called the Nancy harts during the Civil War who organized a military unit to defend their town while the men were away fighting.  This has been in my Saw the Elephant Civil War Blog this past week.

I'd never heard of Nancy Hart, so good old Wikipedia to the rescue.

1735-1830

Rebel heroine of the American Revolution, noted for her exploits against Loyalists in the northeast Georgia backwoods.  Reputedly outwitted Tory soldiers and killed some of them.

--More to Come.  --Cooter

Augusta's History

Perusing some brochures about Augusta, Georgia's history at the continental breakfast at the hotel.

Augusta was originally where Native Americans crossed the Savannah River.  In 1735, two years after James Oglethorpe established Savannah, he sent troops up the Savannah River with the order to build at the head of the navigable part of the river.  This was led by Noble Jones.

Oglethorpe named the new settlement Augusta in honor of Princess Augusta, future mother of King George III.  Augusta was the second capital of Georgia.  It is in the area of Georgia referred to as the Black Belt, for the large cotton plantations that grew up in the area.

--Cooter

Fort Morris "Come and Get It"-- Part 2

The fort also protected the town of Sunbury.

The first fort at the site was constructed in 1741 to protect a plantation. In that same year, it was attacked by Indian allies of the Spanish in Florida. Several soldiers were killed and the fort captured. The plantation was ransacked.

A second, 100 yard square fort mounting eight guns was built during the French and Indian War but fell into disrepair after 1762. It was rebuilt for the Revolutionary War.

During the Civil War, it is believed the fort was used occasionally by a small group of Confederates based in Sunbury. After Sherman arrived, Union soldiers removed some of the fort's cannons.

I'll have to visit the next time I go to my sister's place in nearby Richmond Hill.

"Come and Get Your Lead." --Cooter

Fort Morris "Come and Get It"-- Part 1

I had never heard of Fort Morris before reading about Lt. Col. John McIntosh (see May 13th, so had to do some research in Wikipedia.

Fort Morris is a Georgia State Historical Site. In the past, it defended the southern approach to Savannah along the Medway River.

It was most famous for the November 25, 1778 battle between American forces led by Lt. Col. John McIntosh and a British force during the American Revolution. When the British demanded their surrender, McIntosh simply replied, "Come and Get It." The English eventually had to withdraw, but returned 45 days later, on January 9, 1779, with a larger force and did capture it, renaming it Fort George.

Today, the fort is one of the few remaining Revolutionary War-era earthwork fortifications.

However, a fort stood at the site back in 1741 and was attacked by Indians allied with Spain (Florida was a Spanish colony at the time). Also, there was activity at the site during the French and Indian War, War of 1812 and even the Civil War.

In 1812, it was named Fort Defiance.

More to Come. --Cooter

Colonel James S. McIntosh and Georgia's "Fighting McIntoshes"

The son of Lt.-Col. John McIntosh whose third funeral was discussed yesterday.

Col. James McIntosh was a hero of the War of 1812 and Mexican War.

Wounded by bayonets at the Battle of Resaca de la Palma in 1846. When an officer found him and asked if he could be of assistance. Col. McIntosh replied, "Yes, give me some water and show me my regiment."

He recovered and returned to combat where he was mortally wounded leading his brigade storming El Molina del Ray on September 8, 1848.

He was a member of the "Fighting McIntoshes."

His son, James McQueen McIntosh became a general in the Confederate Army and was killed iat the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas. Another son, John Baillie McIntosh, served in the Union Army where he lost a leg at the Third battle of Winchester, Virginia.

Lachlan McIntosh was Georgia's ranking continental officer in the Revolutionary War.

You Want Them on Your Side. --DaCoot

"Come and Take It" McIntosh's Third Funeral

Revolutionary War hero Lt. Col. John McIntosh was reburied October 23, 2010, at a service held at the Mallow Plantation Historic Site in Eulonia in McIntosh County, Georgia. His great, great grandson was at the reburial. This was the colonel's third burial.

On November 25, 1778, British Lt.-Col. Lewis Fuser demanded that McIntosh surrender Fort Morris at Sunbury. McIntosh's reply was simply, "Come and get it." The British withdrew.

In 2006, an 1850s style "Fisk" iron casket was found in a marsh adjacent to a bluff where 1800s records indicate the colonel's body was buried. The Sapelo River washed it out. Since then, it was kept at the Darien funeral home and was not opened.

Records also indicate that McIntosh was the only male buried at the site and a piece of male clothing was found sticking out of the casket.

However, iron caskets were not invented until 1848 and McIntosh died in 1826. However, during the 1850s, six major hurricanes hit the area and it is believed that the colonel's casket was washed out and then his body place in an iron casket.

"Come and Get It" Ranks Right Up There with "Nuts" As far As Surrender Replies Are concerned.

The Colonel's Home at Last. --Cooter

The Tradition Continues at Georgia: Welcome Uga VIII

Today, at the University of Georgia's homecoming game against Vanderbilt, new mascot Uga VIII will make his grand debut.

The Bulldogs have played their last six games with an interim bulldog, Russ. I believe their record this year is an unremarkable 2-4, even with last Saturday's trouncing of Tennessee, so this just might be the ticket for improved play.

So, Uga VIII is the eighth in a continuous line of white English bulldogs to serve as Georgia's mascot.

Uga VIII is registered under the name "Big Bad Bruce" in honor of the university's school of veterinary medicine's Dr. Bruce Hollet who has cared for and treated the Ugas which are owned by the Sonny Seilers family of Savannah, Georgia.

The new Uga is 13 months old and weighs in at 55 pounds and is the grandson of Uga VI. All Ugas have to be direct descendants.

The year I was at Georgia, I think the mascot was Uga III or Uga IV.

Georgia's Gone to the Dogs. --Cooter