Robert Gould Shaw and the Burning of Darien, Georgia

Dr. Coulter is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Among his published CivU War works are The Confederate States of America and Travels in the Confederate States. He is editor of the "Georgia Historical Quarterly." Robert Gould Shaw and the Burning of Darien, Georgia E. MERTON COULTER one of the most wanton acts of vandalism during the Civil War was committed by Federal troops when they burned the little town of Darien, on the Georgia coast near the mouth of the Altamaha River. The site of Darien had originally been selected by James Edward Oglethorpe , the founder of Georgia, and it had been settled by Scottish Highlanders from Inverness in 1736. It was long the rival of Savannah as the chief town of the colony and state, and during early ante-bellum times it was the financial center of Georgia, being the location of the Bank of Darien with branches in various parts of the state. By the time of the Civil War, it had lost out to Savannah as Georgia's principal port, but it was still a point of departure for much traffic, especially cotton and lumber coming down the Altamaha, Georgia's principal river. Lumber milh were still there, sawing the logs received from the surrounding country and from up the river. In its old age the town had taken on a certain sedate beauty and charm, situated as it was on a bluff above the river. On the morning of June 11, 1863, Confederate pickets stationed above Darien noticed a flotilla of Federal vessels in Doboy Sound, reckoned by them to consist of two gunboats and two transports, making their way down the coast, in the direction of Brunswick; but when the ships reached the mouth of the Altamaha River, they turned up that stream. It was now apparent that the Federals were bent on a major operation against Darien and the hinterland. As quickly as possible the Confederates were concentrated on the road from Darien to a settlement about three miles away known as the Ridge, where for some time most of the 363 364E. MERTON COULTE R Darien citizens had repaired for better protection.1 And so when the fleet steamed up the river, firing into the woods as it proceeded, and landed troops at Darien, it found no opposition at all. Not a gun was fired against the landing, since there were no Confederate troops within two or three miles of the place. The mayor of the town, who was now living about three miles out, hurried in his buggy toward Darien and approached within a mile. He found no Confederate troops, but only the "vandals." When he returned he saw some Confederate pickets in the vicinity of his house. He asked what they were doing there and then immediately told them that thenplace was where the foe was and that if he had had the command, he certainly would have shot at the enemy. The pickets replied that they wished he had been in command.2 After bombarding the town and finding no opposition, the Federals— variously estimated at from 150 to 400—landed and took full possession. They immediately fanned out all over the town, breaking into houses and pillaging them. According to the account of the special correspondent of the New York Tribune, the "few 'crackers' and paupers remaining in the place ran frightened in every direction," and the landing was made made without "a single armed inhabitant to dispute" the way. Continuing his account, he said that within "a few hours all the valuable property ... of a movable character, was transferred" to the ships. Included in this plunder were a great deal of household equipment and enough livestock, corn, and rice to feed this Federal force for at least a month. What could not be carried off was consigned to the flames, for soon the town was put to the torch, "and before the expedition returned , not a single tenantable habitation remained."3 This was not the full story; a nearby planter who viewed the ruins 1 "Report of Brig. Gen. H. W. Mercer, C. S. Army, Commanding Military District of Georgia," Savannah, June 27, 1863...