Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 499
and at the close of the Revolution he re-established his home in Savan
nah, where he was made president of the Georgia Society of the Cin
cinnati. Gwinnett was an Englishman who came to Georgia only four
years prior to the Revolution. He purchased St. Catharine's Island
and became an extensive planter of rice and indigo. His home was just
opposite the old Town of Sunbury, in the parish of St. John.
Two of the most distinguished officers in command of Georgia's
state troops during the Revolution were Col. John Baker and Maj. John
Jones, both of whom were devoted patriots. But they came near shed
ding each other's blood in a most spectacular fashion, while awaiting
an expected encounter with the British soon after the fall of Savannah.
As the result of a misinterpretation of orders they quarreled; and, one
thing bringing on another, they agreed to settle the issue between them
by fighting a duel on horseback. Accordingly they repaired to a grove,
near old Midway Church, somewhat back from the traveled highway;
but, when the hour for combat arrived, an officer whose uniform told
that he was a brigadier-general suddenly appeared upon the scene of
action.
It was Gen. James Screven. Only a few moments before while
seated in camp, a courier had brought him word of the affair; and, put
ting spurs to his horse, he dashed like a bolt of lightning through the
forest. Breathless with excitement, he arrived just in time; for the two
men were already facing each other with deadly intent. Lifting his hand
as he drew rein, he commanded them to desist; and then pleading the
country's sore need he reminded the combatants that it was no time
for brother officers to be seeking each other's life, when the cause of
liberty was imperiled.
High-spirited though both men were, they yielded to the importuni
ties of General Screven, realizing the force of his argument. The spirit
of patriotism prevailed over the mere desire for personal redress; and,
shaking hands on the field of honor, the would-be duellists agreed to
bury their quarrel there on the spot and to reserve their fire for the
British Red-Coats, who were already beginning to swarm over Georgia
like a plague of locusts. But strange are the ways of fate. Within a
few months General Screven was shot from ambush near this same
place, while engaged in reconnoitering.
Old Governor James Jackson—illustrious in the annals of Georgia
for his crusade of fire against the Yazoo conspirators—was the most
inveterate duellist of his day. He was constantly on the war-path.
Growing out of the spectacular part played by him in causing the
famous Yazoo Act of 1795 to be rescinded, he was drawn at frequent
intervals into affairs of honor, from few of which he escaped without loss
of blood. For at least ten years, his life was literally a round of duels.
When the Yazoo measure became a.law in 1795, the old governor
was then serving his first term in the United States Senate. Incensed
at what he considered the trickery by which this legislation was accom
plished, he relinquished his toga of office and took his seat in the Legis-