In the Hands of the British

This day [December 29, 1778] the British troops, consisting of about 3,500 men, including two battalions of Hessians under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell of the Seventy-first Regiment of Highlanders, landed early in the morning at Brewton Hill, two miles below the town of Savannah, where they met with very little opposition before they gained the height. At about three o’clock P.M. they entered and took possession of the town of Savannah, when I endeavored, with my son Sheftall, to make our escape across Musgrove Creek, having first premised that an intrenchment had been thrown up there in order to cover a retreat, and upon seeing Colonel Samuel Elbert and Major James Habersham endeavour to make their escape that way.

But on our arrival at the creek, after having sustained a very heavy fire of musketry from the light infantry under the command of Sir James Baird, during the time we were crossing the Common, without any injury to either of us, we found it high water. And my son not knowing how to swim, and we with about 186 officers and privates being caught, as it were in a pen, and the Highlanders keeping up a constant fire on us, it was thought advisable to surrender ourselves prisoners, which we accordingly did. And which was no sooner done than the Highlanders plundered every one amongst us, except Major Low, myself, and son, who, being foremost, had an opportunity to surrender ourselves to the British officer, namely, Lieutenant Peter Campbell, who disarmed us as we came into the yard formerly occupied by Mr. Moses Nunes.

During this business Sir James Baird was missing, but on his coming into the yard, he mounted himself on the stepladder which was erected at the end of the house and sounded his brass bugle horn, which the Highlanders no sooner heard than they all got about him, when he addressed himself to them in Highland language, when they all dispersed and finished plundering such of the officers and men as had been fortunate enough to escape their first search. This over, we were marched in file, guarded by the Highlanders and [New] York Volunteers who had come up before we were marched, when we were paraded before Mrs. Goffe’s door on the Bay, where we saw the greatest part of the army drawn up.

From there, after some time, we were all marched through the town to the courthouse, which was very much crowded, the greatest part of the officers they had taken being here collected and indiscriminately put together. I had been here about two hours, when an officer, who I afterwards learned to be Major Crystie, called for me by name and ordered me to follow him, which I did, with my blanket and shirt under my arm, my clothing and my son’s, which were in my saddlebags, having been taken from my horse, so that my wardrobe consisted of what I had on my back.

On our way to the white guardhouse we met with Colonel Campbell, who inquired of the major who he had got there. On his naming me to him, he desired that I might be well-guarded, as I was a very great rebel. The major obeyed his orders, for, on lodging me in the guardhouse, he ordered the sentry to guard me with a drawn bayonet and not to suffer me to go without the reach of it, which orders were strictly complied with until a Mr. Gild Busler, their commissary general, called for me and ordered me to go with him to my stores, that he might get some provisions for our people, who, he said, were starving, not having eat[en] anything for three days, which I contradicted, as I had victualled them that morning for the day.

On our way to the office where I used to issue the provisions, he ordered me to give him information of what stores I had in town and what I had sent out of town, and where. This I declined doing, which made him angry. He asked me if I knew that Charlestown [South Carolina] was taken. I told him: “No.” He then called us poor, deluded wretches, and said: “Good God! how are you deluded by your leaders!” When I inquired of him who had taken it, and when, he said, General [James] Grant, with 10,000 men, and that it had been taken eight or ten days ago, I smiled and told him it was not so, as I had a letter in my pocket that was wrote in Charlestown but three days ago by my brother.

He replied we had been misinformed. I then retorted that I found they could be misinformed by their leaders, as well as we could be deluded by ours. This made him so angry that when he returned me to the guardhouse, he ordered me to be confined amongst the drunken soldiers and negroes, where I suffered a great deal of abuse and was threatened to be run through the body or, as they termed it, “skivered” by one of the York Volunteers, which threat he attempted to put into execution three times during the night, but was prevented by one Sergeant Campbell.

In this situation I remained two days without a morsel to eat, when a Hessian officer named Zaltman, finding I could talk his language, removed me to his room and sympathized with me on my situation. He permitted me to send to Mrs. [Abigail] Minis, who sent me some victuals. He also permitted me to go and see my son, and to let him come and stay with me. He introduced me to Captain Kappel, also a Hessian, who treated me very politely.

In this situation I remained until Saturday morning, the second of January, 1779, when the commander, Colonel Innis, sent his orderly for me and [my] son to [go to] his quarters, which was James Habersham’s house, where on the top of the step I met with Captain Stanhope, of the “Raven,” sloop of war, who treated me with the most illiberal abuse and, after charging me with having refused the supplying of the King’s ships with provisions, and of having shut the church door, together with many ill-natured things, ordered me on board the prison ship, together with my son. I made a point of giving Mr. Stanhope suitable answers to his impertinent treatment and then turned from him and inquired for Colonel Innis. I got his leave to go to Mrs. Minis for a shirt she had taken to wash for me, as it was the only one I had left except the one on my back, and that was given me by Captain Kappel, as the British soldiers had plundered both mine and my son’s clothes.

This favour he granted me under guard, after which I was conducted on board one of the flatboats and put on board the prison ship “Nancy,” commanded by Captain Samuel Tait, when the first thing that presented itself to my view was one of our poor Continental soldiers laying on the ship’s main deck in the agonies of death, and who expired in a few hours. After being presented to the captain with mine and the rest of the prisoners’ names. I gave him in charge what paper money I had, and my watch. My son also gave him his money to take care of. He appeared to be a little civiller after this confidence placed in him, and permitted us to sleep in a stateroom, that is, the Rev. Moses Allen, myself, and son. In the evening we were served with what was called our allowance, which consisted of two pints and a half [of water?], and a half gill of rice, and about seven ounces of boiled beef per man. We were permitted to choose our messmates, and I accordingly made choice of Capt. Thomas Fineley, Rev. Mr. Allen, Mr. Moses Valentonge, Mr. Daniel Flaherty, myself, and son Sheftall Sheftall.