Some Account of the Public Life of the Late Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart.: Particularly of His Services in the Canadas, Including a Reply to the Strictures on His Military Character, Contained in an Article in the Quarterly ReviewBrenton, E. B.
History
Some Account of the Public Life of the Late Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart.: Particularly of His Services in the Canadas, Including a Reply to the Strictures on His Military Character, Contained in an Article in the Quarterly Review
Brenton, E. B.
Prevost, George, 1767-1816; United States -- History -- War of 1812
It is evident that the writer of the article in the British Critic has
blindly adopted the prejudices and feelings of the Quarterly Reviewer
towards Sir George Prevost, and as he appears to dwell with particular
complacency upon the exposure which he imagines to have been made of that
officer's military character, he is justly entitled to share in the
disgrace which must attend his coadjutor's failure, and in the odium which
will always attach to the anonymous traducer of departed merit.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
_Extract from Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, vol._
iv. _p._ 518-529.
Upon the first alarm of the enemy being on the coast, General Prevost
exerted himself to the utmost, to increase and strengthen the
fortifications of the town of Savannah; and was most ably seconded in his
operations, by Captain James Moncrieffe of the engineers, and Captain Henry
of the navy. Orders were sent to the Hon. Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, who
was posted with a considerable detachment of troops at Beaufort, and to
Captain Christian, of his Majesty's ship Vigilant, to repair as soon as
possible to Savannah, with the troops, ships, and galleys, then at Port
Royal island. Unfortunately, the express with these orders was intercepted
by some of the rebel patrols; and, previous to the arrival of a second
messenger, the enemy had time to seize on the principal communications
between the two places. This rendered the junction of that detachment with
the garrison, upon which alone any hope of defending Savannah could be
reasonably founded, a matter extremely precarious, difficult, and
dangerous. Happily, however, the abilities of Colonel Maitland, and the
zeal of the troops under his command, powerfully aided by the professional
skill of Lieutenant Goldesborough, of the navy, who was thoroughly
acquainted with the various creeks, inlets, and cuts, with which the
interior navigation of this country abounds, overcame every obstacle in
their way. The battery at Tybee was destroyed; the leading marks for the
bar were cut down; and the little naval force there was held in readiness
to run up the river Savannah, as soon as the French fleet were seen making
for the mouth of it.
On the 9th, the whole of the French fleet anchored off the bar: and on the
10th, four frigates weighed and came to Tybee anchorage. M. d'Estaing had
got from Charlestown, a large supply of small craft, into which he put his
troops; and they proceeded into Ossabaw inlet, and made good the
debarkation of their forces at Bowley, 13 miles from Savannah, under cover
of four galleys. The French frigates prepared, at the same time, to advance
up the river.
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