One of the most intense battles fought during the American Revolution was the Siege of Savannah. The battle commenced on October 9, 1779, as allied French and American forces began to lay siege to British held Savannah. As it turns out, the British were well-entrenched in the city, and the allied forces under Count Charles Henri d'Estaing and Major General Benjamin Lincoln had their work cut out for them in trying to dislodge the Redcoats.
d'Estaing had demanded the surrender of the city on September 16, 1779, sending a letter of such to British General Augustine Prevost. Prevost asked for 24 hours to respond, and in this 24 hour period, he refortified the city. In fact, it was Lt. Col. John Maitland's 800 troops from South Carolina that were brought in to the city on this day to help back up Prevost and his forces. At the end of the 24 hour waiting period, Prevost signaled that he would not surrender the city, electing to fight instead. However, d'Estaing and the allied forces did not attack any time soon. They waited, and this may have been their costliest mistake.
When the allied forces did attack on October 9, 1779, they launched a ground attack where over 750 of their soldiers were killed; the British lost roughly 18 to death and less than 40 wounded. Included among the dead and wounded for the allied forces was Polish Count Casimir Pulaski, who had joined the Patriot cause and fought gallantly. Fort Pulaski is named in his memory and honor. Also dead was Sergeant William Jasper, the hero of the Battle of Fort Moultrie. The allied forces had no choice but to withdraw. Savannah would remain in British hands for quite some time.
As might be expected, with such high casualties, it was quite a chore to retrieve and properly dispose of bodies. The allied forces called a temporary truce with the British forces so that they could bury their dead. According to James Caskey, author of "Haunted Savannah," many reports surfaced that some of the bodies were buried in mass graves near the locations where they fell. One such place is near the Savannah Visitors Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near downtown. (Caskey 130-131). Caskey goes on to say that there are other reports indicating that when the bodies were being buried that some of the wounded were beyond help and were buried along with the dead-WHILE THEY WERE STILL ALIVE!! He even names a local doctor, Dr. Wells, who was there and witnessed the gruesome spectacle. A friend of Caskey's apparently frequents the Visitor Center and has lunch at a restaurant nearby. She reported that she felt strange and uneasy entering the bathroom of the establishment and reported it to a waitress there. The response was that many of the staff had felt it too and it was agreed that the place was quite haunted (Caskey131).
So were some American and French soldiers who constituted the allied force at the Siege of Savannah buried alive? If so, does this account for some of the unusual and strange activity in the vacinity? The next time you are in Savannah, make a trip to the visitors center, and eat in the restaurant there. It is in an old railroad car. Make sure to take a quick trip to the water works (bathrooms) and see if you find any old soldiers still hanging around....
4 comments:
You know that was a bad part of history when people are buried alive just because they are beyond hope. The same thing happened in other areas even in the Civil War some would even dig their way from shallow graves sometimes expiring and leaving just their arms sticking out from the graves. Now that would be a nasty site. I have read where the Germans buried many people in mass graves alive. They would shoot them and if they didn't die they still were buried. The nasty part of human history that we often overlook is how cruel mankind can be to itself. If there are hauntings from those who are buried alive it would be appropriate. The thought of lying among the dead and having dirt thrown upon oneself is not a pretty picture. Waking oneself to the fact you are buried alive within a pile of death brings horrible pictures to the mind. My grandfather once had to help move a cemetery in Alabama at where Lake Weiss was being built. He said that he remembered one grave where the box came open and you could see where the person had tried to claw their way out. They had been buried alive. That would be a fear that would be in us all. Mr. Lemon of the funeral home in McDonough once picked up a lady at the HMC who had been pronounced dead. He would always check before embalming to see if the corpse is dead. This lady was not. He took her to a hospital in Atlanta and she was still alive a few years ago. This happened several years back. But at least he checked.
Yes, back home near Vidalia, a friend of my grandmother's told me that her husband was good friends with one of the undertakers in town. She told me of a story this man had told her and her husband about a woman in the early part of the 20th century (1900s) who was erroneously buried with some of her jewelry she had willed to a relative. When the mess got straightened out, the end result was that there was an order given to unearth the body and remove the jewelry. When they did this, which was only a few short months after the burial, they opened her coffin to find that she had been pulling her hair, for there were large handfuls of hair in her hands and the hands were near the head as if she were pulling out her hair. This would have NOT been a position in which the corpse was buried, so the conclusion was that she was buried alive. This was before embalming was common, so it makes sense. As they took a closer look at the corpse, she had fabric and other substances under her nails, and the bottom of the coffin lid was scratched. It was confirmed that she was buried alive. BUT, the real mystery is how much that jewelry was worth? (kidding)
I forgot to mention in that last comment, although I am sure it was apparent, that the lady's hands were full of her hair because as she suffocated, she was obviously pulling out her hair in pain and agony. This is certainly one of my many fears, although embalming has now made this an impossibility.
My friend that would make a good horror movie where the family wants the jewels while the corpse is trying to dig their way out. I remember an old movie called Paint Your Wagon where they were burying this gentleman and noticed gold nuggets in the hole. Lee Marvin was saying a few words in respect of the dead gentleman and when he saw the nuggets he said Amen and haul that stiff out of there. The corpse meant nothing but the gold surely did. Remember follow the money.
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