JACKSON COUNTY. 339 



conduct, did much to animate the soldiers, and insure the suc- 

 cess of the day. He ran the utmost risk of his Hfe in seizing 

 the colours of the 71st British regiment, and afterwards intro- 

 ducing Major McArthur, commanding officer of the British 

 infantry, as a prisoner of war, to Gen. JMorgan." After this 

 battle, he was engaged on a difficult tour of duty in North 

 Carolina, which he executed in a manner so satisfactory to 

 Gen. Greene,* that he authorized him to raise a partisan legion 

 of infantry and cavalry, for service in Georgia. This he ac- 

 complished in a short time, for few officers ever possessed to a 

 greater extent the art of recruiting men. His eloquence on 

 these occasions was powerful. When he described, in burn- 

 ing words, the cruelties of the enemy, the perils and hard- 

 ships of the Georgians — and when he avowed his willingness 

 to share every danger with them, the eiFect upon the crowds 

 that he addressed was irresistible. Shouts of " Liberty 

 and Jackson for ever," rent the air, and forthwith offers of en- 

 listment came from hundreds of lips. Having organized his 

 legion, he received Gen. Greene's commission as Lieut. Colonel 

 commanding, which was afterwards confirmed by Congress. 

 The appearance of his legion, when equipped, must have been 

 singular, for in the Colonel's own description of them, he says : 

 " My dragoons were clothed and armed by themselves, except 

 pistols ; even their caps, boots, and spurs. Their coats were 

 made of deer-skins, dressed, and turned up with the little blue 

 cloth I could procure." But what was dress to such men? 

 They possessed iron hearts. Speaking of the sufferings of his 

 men, the Colonel says : " My whole corps for months were 

 without any thing to quench their thirst but the common swamp 

 water near Savannah, and for 48 hours together without bread, 

 rice, or any thing like it." At the reduction of Augusta, Col. 

 Jackson's services were of the most valuable character. Just 

 before that event, the militia had begun to manifest signs of 

 despondency. Overcome by long service, destitute of almost 

 every necessary of life, and giving up all hope of succours 



* He had been introduced to General Greene by General Morgan in a most 

 shabby dress, for he was poor, and unable to purchase rich military clothing. 

 It is said that his appearance was, to General Greene's eye, so remarkable, 

 that he immediately formed a high opinion of him. 



