TWIGGS COUNTY. 565 



enjoyed under this free government, were purchased at a dear 

 rate, and the memory of those brave men, by w^hose prowess 

 they were obtained, should never be effaced from our minds. 

 General Twiggs is eminently deserving the gratitude of the 

 people of Georgia ; /or never did soldier serve them with more 

 steadiness and fidelity. He was born in Maryland, on the 5th 

 of June, 1750, and came to Georgia some time before the 

 American Revolution, and settled in Burke county. His pa- 

 rents were poor, and were unable to give him any more than 

 a few months' schooling ; after which, he learned the trade of 

 a carpenter. Upon coming to Georgia he followed his trade, 

 and married Miss Ruth Emanuel, sister of the Hon. David 

 Emanuel, a lady of great firmness of character, and who, dur- 

 ing the Revolution in which her companion was soon to figure, 

 endured many sufferings, with a fortitude becoming the wife 

 of an American patriot. After his marriage he removed to 

 Richmond county, and built a mill, near which he resided, 

 until his oppressed country called him to the battle-field. To 

 that call he promptly responded. About the time he joined 

 the army, the Cherokee Indians were giving much trouble to 

 the frontier settlements, and an expedition under Colonel Jack 

 was ordered to proceed against them. Twiggs, as captain of 

 a company, joined this expedition, and by his bravery and 

 skill secured the confidence of Col. Jack. In 1779, when 

 Lieut. Col. Campbell was on his way to Augusta, he detached 

 400 men against Burke county jail. With the assistance of 

 Col. Few, Twiggs raised an inconsiderable force, and defeated 

 the enemy in two diflferent actions. 



A short time after the memorable battle at Kettle Creek, 

 Col. Twiggs and Col. John Mcintosh surprised a British post 

 at Herbert's, not far from Augusta, consisting of seventy men, 

 and compelled them to surrender. Between this period and 

 that of the attack upon Savannah by the combined forces of 

 Gen. Lincoln and Count D'Estaing, he was constantly employed 

 in skirmishes with the enemy and cutting off" their supplies. 

 One among the most splendid achievements in which he was 

 engaged, took place in June, 1779, when he was attacked at 

 Butler's plantation, on the Ogeechee river, having only thirty 

 men under his command, by Capt. Muller, of the GOth regi- 



