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Preserving our heritage
Wayne Hodgin | Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 12:30 am
Dec. 9, 1864, must have been cold and desperate for Confederate Col. C.C. Jones and some 600 men as they fought to defend themselves against Union troops at Cuyler's Plantation and Monteith Swamp on the Effingham-Chatham county line.
With a total of four guns to hold at bay Union Gen. William Sherman's 14th and 20th corps, which were approaching Savannah from Augusta and Monteith roads, Jones' orders were to slow Sherman's advance to keep open the vital railway bridge to Charleston for as long as possible. The bridge was the last line of communications and supply with the Confederate Army in South Carolina. Once the bridge fell into Union hands, Savannah was cut off and effectively under siege.
Flanked by muddy swampland on both sides of the Middle-Ground Road and Augusta Road (near today's Rice Hope Plantation on Highway 21) and Monteith Road that crossed over a swamp bearing the same name (near today's Hodgeville Road and Highway 30) Jones set up blocking points behind well-prepared earthworks that would make outflanking difficult. The ground between the two positions was nearly impenetrable forest and swampland, crossed by a few small trails that were picketed by the calvary.
On the afternoon of Dec. 9, 1864, Jones and his men were attacked by Sherman's 20th Corps on Monteith Road, and the 14th Corps hit Jones' troops hard on Augusta Road.
Jones' small band of men managed to hold off some 30,000 Union soldiers at Monteith until a late afternoon fight that resulted in about 20 casualties, including a number of dead on both sides.
Jones' position at Cuyler's Plantation held until after dark. In the fighting at Cuyler's, an artillery duel between Confederate and Union guns resulted in the death of a young Union battery commander, Lt. Coe. Coe was buried near the battlefield, somewhere between Cuyler's Plantation and Mulberry Bluff Plantation, where his body was recovered by his family after the war and shipped home to his widowed bride in New York.
On Saturday, the Historical Effingham Society will mark the battlesites of Monteith Swamp and Cuyler's Plantation.
The marker is sponsored by Effingham County resident Barry Sheehy, an active life member of the Historical Effingham Society, and will be located about 1,200 yards from both battlesites.
Sheehy chose the site of the marker because it is dead center of the defensive arc linking Monteith and Cuyler's Plantation. He covered the cost of the marker and wrote the historical supporting paper, "Forgotten Battles," which was published in the summer 2005 edition of Georgia Historical Quarterly.
"This was really one engagement fought at two locations simultaneously, so a single marker is a good starting point," Sheehy said.
In time, Sheehy said, he hopes additional markers can be placed at both the Monteith and Cuyler's Plantation battlesites, but, "it can take a long time and a lot of effort to acquire the necessary permission, donation of land and financial sponsorship for a historical marker."
Sheehy said given the pace of development in Effingham County, it is vital that these historic sites be identified and, whenever possible, preserved.
"Once they are paved over, they are gone forever," he said.
Cuyler's Plantation is now long gone, subsumed by Rice Hope subdivision, and the site of Monteith Plantation and swamp is threatened by encroaching development.
The field where Monteith Plantation once sat has been preserved by local land owner Gerry Dotson who, Sheehy said, "deserves a medal for resisting developers." To set the example, Sheehy has placed almost all of his 280 acres of land - including the site of the marker - into permanent conservation easement with the Georgia Land Trust. This means the land will remain undeveloped in perpetuity.
Saturday's ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at 450 Moss Loop in Rincon, followed by reception and refreshments at The Gunner's Mess, 420 Moss Loop. The Sons of Confederate Veterans also will have a Civil War encampment on display.
For information and a map, visit www.historiceffinghamsociety.org.
Wayne Hodgin | Thursday, October 4, 2007 at 12:30 am
Dec. 9, 1864, must have been cold and desperate for Confederate Col. C.C. Jones and some 600 men as they fought to defend themselves against Union troops at Cuyler's Plantation and Monteith Swamp on the Effingham-Chatham county line.
With a total of four guns to hold at bay Union Gen. William Sherman's 14th and 20th corps, which were approaching Savannah from Augusta and Monteith roads, Jones' orders were to slow Sherman's advance to keep open the vital railway bridge to Charleston for as long as possible. The bridge was the last line of communications and supply with the Confederate Army in South Carolina. Once the bridge fell into Union hands, Savannah was cut off and effectively under siege.
Flanked by muddy swampland on both sides of the Middle-Ground Road and Augusta Road (near today's Rice Hope Plantation on Highway 21) and Monteith Road that crossed over a swamp bearing the same name (near today's Hodgeville Road and Highway 30) Jones set up blocking points behind well-prepared earthworks that would make outflanking difficult. The ground between the two positions was nearly impenetrable forest and swampland, crossed by a few small trails that were picketed by the calvary.
On the afternoon of Dec. 9, 1864, Jones and his men were attacked by Sherman's 20th Corps on Monteith Road, and the 14th Corps hit Jones' troops hard on Augusta Road.
Jones' small band of men managed to hold off some 30,000 Union soldiers at Monteith until a late afternoon fight that resulted in about 20 casualties, including a number of dead on both sides.
Jones' position at Cuyler's Plantation held until after dark. In the fighting at Cuyler's, an artillery duel between Confederate and Union guns resulted in the death of a young Union battery commander, Lt. Coe. Coe was buried near the battlefield, somewhere between Cuyler's Plantation and Mulberry Bluff Plantation, where his body was recovered by his family after the war and shipped home to his widowed bride in New York.
On Saturday, the Historical Effingham Society will mark the battlesites of Monteith Swamp and Cuyler's Plantation.
The marker is sponsored by Effingham County resident Barry Sheehy, an active life member of the Historical Effingham Society, and will be located about 1,200 yards from both battlesites.
Sheehy chose the site of the marker because it is dead center of the defensive arc linking Monteith and Cuyler's Plantation. He covered the cost of the marker and wrote the historical supporting paper, "Forgotten Battles," which was published in the summer 2005 edition of Georgia Historical Quarterly.
"This was really one engagement fought at two locations simultaneously, so a single marker is a good starting point," Sheehy said.
In time, Sheehy said, he hopes additional markers can be placed at both the Monteith and Cuyler's Plantation battlesites, but, "it can take a long time and a lot of effort to acquire the necessary permission, donation of land and financial sponsorship for a historical marker."
Sheehy said given the pace of development in Effingham County, it is vital that these historic sites be identified and, whenever possible, preserved.
"Once they are paved over, they are gone forever," he said.
Cuyler's Plantation is now long gone, subsumed by Rice Hope subdivision, and the site of Monteith Plantation and swamp is threatened by encroaching development.
The field where Monteith Plantation once sat has been preserved by local land owner Gerry Dotson who, Sheehy said, "deserves a medal for resisting developers." To set the example, Sheehy has placed almost all of his 280 acres of land - including the site of the marker - into permanent conservation easement with the Georgia Land Trust. This means the land will remain undeveloped in perpetuity.
Saturday's ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at 450 Moss Loop in Rincon, followed by reception and refreshments at The Gunner's Mess, 420 Moss Loop. The Sons of Confederate Veterans also will have a Civil War encampment on display.
For information and a map, visit www.historiceffinghamsociety.org.