1782 “The British Intend an Evacuation” — General Anthony Wayne’s June Savannah Field Dispatch to Colonel James Jackson
An exceptionally important Revolutionary War military communication written by Brigadier General Anthony “Mad Anthony” Wayne to Lieutenant Colonel James Jackson, future governor and United States senator from Georgia. Written from Wayne’s headquarters at Mrs. William Gibbons’s Sharon plantation near Savannah on June 17, 1782, the dispatch announces newly received intelligence that “the British intend an evacuation.”
Wayne informs Jackson that a flag of truce had just arrived with a request for protection of the prison, private property, and those Savannah inhabitants who intended to remain after the British departure. He approves Jackson’s proposed withdrawal, directs him to take up a designated position, and asks for the “earliest Intelligence” should anything material occur.
This remarkable field message was written during the closing operations of the Revolution in Georgia. Wayne’s small American force had spent months isolating British-occupied Savannah. Only six days after this dispatch, Wayne’s encampment at Gibbons’s plantation was attacked by British-allied Creek warriors in the Battle of Sharon. The British formally evacuated Savannah on July 11, 1782, and Colonel Jackson received the honor of leading the victorious American troops into the city.
Accompanied by what appears to be the original military watchword and countersign slip, prominently including the word “Reformation.” Contemporary docket on the integral portion: “17th June 1782 / to Colo. Jackson.”
Autograph manuscript in Wayne’s hand, unsigned in its surviving form. Expected folds, toning, edge wear, separations and minor losses consistent with an actively transmitted eighteenth-century military dispatch. A rare, highly displayable firsthand record of the approaching liberation of Savannah and the end of British rule in Georgia.
An exceptionally important Revolutionary War military communication written by Brigadier General Anthony “Mad Anthony” Wayne to Lieutenant Colonel James Jackson, future governor and United States senator from Georgia. Written from Wayne’s headquarters at Mrs. William Gibbons’s Sharon plantation near Savannah on June 17, 1782, the dispatch announces newly received intelligence that “the British intend an evacuation.”
Wayne informs Jackson that a flag of truce had just arrived with a request for protection of the prison, private property, and those Savannah inhabitants who intended to remain after the British departure. He approves Jackson’s proposed withdrawal, directs him to take up a designated position, and asks for the “earliest Intelligence” should anything material occur.
This remarkable field message was written during the closing operations of the Revolution in Georgia. Wayne’s small American force had spent months isolating British-occupied Savannah. Only six days after this dispatch, Wayne’s encampment at Gibbons’s plantation was attacked by British-allied Creek warriors in the Battle of Sharon. The British formally evacuated Savannah on July 11, 1782, and Colonel Jackson received the honor of leading the victorious American troops into the city.
Accompanied by what appears to be the original military watchword and countersign slip, prominently including the word “Reformation.” Contemporary docket on the integral portion: “17th June 1782 / to Colo. Jackson.”
Autograph manuscript in Wayne’s hand, unsigned in its surviving form. Expected folds, toning, edge wear, separations and minor losses consistent with an actively transmitted eighteenth-century military dispatch. A rare, highly displayable firsthand record of the approaching liberation of Savannah and the end of British rule in Georgia.
