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BANCROFT LIBRARY 
 
 THE SEPULTURE 
 
 OF 
 
 MAJOR GEN. NATHAN AEL GREENE, 
 
 AND OP 
 
 BRIO. GEN. COUNT CASIMIR PULASKI. 
 
 I. On the 20th of April, 1786, 
 General Nathanael Greene was in- 
 terred, with all the pomp and cir- 
 nimstance at command, in the old 
 cemetery in Savannah. After a 
 short and violent illness he had 
 died at his plantation on the Savan- 
 nah river, a few miles above Savan- 
 nah, and his body was transported 
 by water to that town for sepul- 
 ture. As the boat conveying his 
 remains neared the wharf, and until 
 his coffin was deposited in the 
 tomb, minute guns were discharged 
 from Fort Wayne. The ships in 
 port displayed their .colors at half- 
 mast. All the shops were closed; 
 and the inhabitants, suspending 
 their customary avocations, united 
 in testifying universal sorrow at the 
 death of one who, among the Gen- 
 erals of the Revolution, occupied in 
 the public esteem a place second 
 only to that conceded to Washing- 
 
ton. The procession, then formed, 
 consisted of 
 
 The Chatham Artillery: 
 
 The Light Infantry: 
 
 The Militia of Chatham County: 
 
 Clergymen and Physicians: 
 
 A Band of Music: 
 
 The corpse and pall-bearers, es- 
 corted on each side by a company of 
 dragoons: 
 
 The chief mourners: 
 
 The membeis of the Order of Cin- 
 cinnatus: 
 
 The Speaker of the House of As- 
 sembly and other civil officers of the 
 State; and lastly, of citizens and 
 strangers. 
 
 Meeting the corpse with its im- 
 mediate attendants at the land- 
 ing, the funeral cortege, about 
 5 o'clock in the afternoon, took 
 up the line of march for 
 the cemetery, the band playing the 
 Dead March in Saul, and the artillery 
 firing minute guns as it advanced. 
 When the graveyard was reached 
 the military formed on the right and 
 left, and rested on reversed arms. In 
 the absence of an Episcopal clergy- 
 man, the funeral service of the 
 Church of England was read by the 
 Honorable William Stephens, and 
 the corpse deposited in a vault. The 
 ceremony was terminated by a sa- 
 lute of thirteen guns from the artil- 
 lery, and three volleys from the in- 
 fantry. In the language of an eye- 
 witness of this impressive rite, "the 
 whole was conducted with a solem- 
 nity suitable to the occasion." 
 
 Contemporaneous accounts do not 
 
specify the precise vault in which 
 the coffin of General Greene was 
 lodged. 
 
 It will be remembered that in 
 consideration of his distinguished 
 services during the war of the Revo- 
 lution, and as an acknowledgment 
 of the gratitude entertained by the 
 people of Georgia for his conduct 
 while in command of the Southern 
 Department, and especially for his 
 good offices in detaching General 
 Wayne to expel the King's forces 
 from the limits of the State, the 
 General Assembly adopted the fol- 
 lowing preamble and resolutions; 
 
 "Whereas, the Honorable Major 
 General Greene hath, since his 
 taking the command of the South- 
 ern Army, rendered high and im- 
 Eortant services to the Southern 
 tates, by wresting them from the 
 hand of British oppression, and es- 
 tablishing the foundation of their 
 independence and prosperity: 
 
 And, whereas, services so glo- 
 rious and honorable to the Uni- 
 ted States in general, and this 
 State in particular services which 
 at once characterize the able and ju 
 dicious General as well as the in- 
 trepid asserter of American freedom 
 call for the distinguished approba- 
 tion of the Legislature of this State ; 
 
 Be it therefore resolved ; That the 
 sum of five thousand guineas be 
 granted to three commissioners, to 
 be appointed by the House, for the 
 purpose of purchasing an estate for 
 Major-General Nathan ael Greene in 
 
6 
 
 such part or parts of the State as he 
 shall appoint. 
 
 Resolved; That the said commis- 
 sioners be empowered and author- 
 ized to draw on, and receive the said 
 sum of five thousand guineas from, 
 the public treasury of the State." 
 
 These resolutions were carried in- 
 to effect by the commissioners ap- 
 pointed for that purpose, who in due 
 course reported that they had, upon 
 the sale of confiscated estates, pur- 
 chased for General Greene, at a cost 
 of 7,097 19s., Mulberry Grove 
 plantation, containing two thousand 
 one hundred and seventy-one acres, 
 late the property of John Grahame, 
 royal Lieutenant Governor of the 
 Province of Georgia. 
 
 So soon as his public duties per- 
 mitted, and his family could be con- 
 veniently removed from Rhode 
 Island, General Greene here fixed his 
 home and gave to the cultivation of 
 these lands his earnest and intelli- 
 gent attention. In happy mood did 
 he, at this time, write to his friends 
 of the interest he took in his 
 agricultural operations, of the attrac- 
 tions of his new abode, of its gardens, 
 its flowers and forests, of the mock- 
 ing birds from morning until even- 
 ing filling the air with sweetest mel- 
 ody, of the balmy atmosphere, and 
 of the hospitable attentions of his 
 neighbors. 
 
 Lieutenant-Governor Grahame had 
 builded a family vault in the Savan- 
 nah cemetery and, by many, this 
 possession was regarded as appur- 
 
tenant to Mulberry Grove planta- 
 tion. BANCROFT LIBRARY 
 
 While the proof is not conclusive, 
 the tradition lives and is generally 
 accepted that upon the conclusion of 
 the funeral services of the 20th of 
 April, 1786, the coffin of General 
 Greene was deposited in the 
 Grahame vault, which was sub- 
 stantially constructed of brick. 
 That coffin, of wood, strongly 
 made, was surmounted by a metal 
 plate whereon were engraven the 
 name, rank, data of birth, and time 
 of death of the Revolutionary hero. 
 Here all that was mortal of this 
 friend of Washington was supposed 
 to be resting in undisturbed repose. 
 
 Anxious to testify by an enduring 
 monument their respect for the 
 memory alike of General Greene and 
 of Count Pulaski, the citizens of Sa- 
 vannah, early in the present century, 
 endeavored to raise a fund sufficient 
 for that purpose. In 1820 a commit- 
 tee was empowered by the Mayor 
 and Aldermen of the town to search 
 for and locate the remains 
 of General Greene, with a 
 view to placing them beneath 
 that monument when the necessary 
 arrangements for its erection should 
 have been completed. That com- 
 mittee failed to find any trace of the 
 coffin of that famous General. All 
 inquiries instituted by its members 
 in explanation of the cause of its dis- 
 appearance remained unsatisfied. 
 
 Deeming the visit of General La- 
 fayette most opportune for con- 
 summating a purpose long delayed, 
 
8 
 
 the citizens of Savannah invoked his 
 services in laying the corner stones 
 of two monuments one in memory 
 of General Greene and the other in 
 honor of Count Pulaski/ On the 21st 
 of March, 1825, with appropriate 
 ceremonies and patriotic addresses, 
 the Marquis laid, in Johnson 
 square, the corner stone of a 
 monument to be erected in perpetu- 
 ation of the memory of General 
 Greene, and another in Chippewa 
 square to designate the spot upon 
 which a shaft should lift its enduring 
 head in honor of Count Pulaski. 
 The former bore this inscription: 
 "This corner-stone of a monument 
 to the memory of Maj. Gen. Nathan- 
 ael Greene was laid by General 
 Lafayette, at the request of the citi- 
 zens of Savannah, on the 21st of 
 March, A. D. 1825." The latter 
 was inscribed as follows: "On the 
 21st day of March, A. D. 1825, was 
 laid by General Lafayette, at the re- 
 quest of the citizens of Savannah, 
 this Foundation Stone of a monu- 
 ment to the memorv of Brigadier 
 Count Pulaski." 
 
 The effort to collect funds for the 
 erection of mortuary shafts is often 
 accompanied by perplexing delays 
 and disappointments. To facilitate 
 the matter in the present insta-ice, 
 the General Assembly of Georgia, on 
 on the 30th of November, 1826, pass- 
 ed an act empowering certain com- 
 missioners to raise by lottery the sum 
 of thirty -live thousand dollars "for 
 the purpose of aiding the erection of 
 monuments to the memory of Gen- 
 
9 
 
 eral Greene and of Count Pulaski in 
 the city of Savannah the place al- 
 ready consecrated by the blood of 
 the one and the ashes of the other." 
 
 About twelve years after the 
 laying of the corner stones 
 by General Lafayette, suffi- 
 cient moneys having been realized 
 to defray the cost of its construction, 
 the monument now standing in 
 Johnson square was builded in hon- 
 or both of General Greene and of 
 Count Pulaski, and continued to be 
 known as the Greene and Pulaski 
 monument until, in 1853, the corner 
 stone was laid in Monterey square 
 of a monument in honor of Count 
 Pulaski. From that time to the 
 present day the simple structure in 
 Johnson square has remained conse- 
 crate to the memory of Gen. Greene 
 alone. 
 
 The corner stone laid by General 
 Lafayette in 1825, in Chippewa 
 square, of the monument intended 
 to commemorate on that spot 
 the virtues and the devotion 
 of the gallant Pole, was removed 
 and united to the Greene corner stone 
 in Johnson square when the present 
 shaft was there constructed in joint 
 memory of Greene and Pulaski. In 
 1853, however, this Pulaski corner 
 stone was detached from the Greene 
 and Pulaski monument in Johnson 
 square, and was placed, with impos- 
 ing ceremonies, in association with 
 another corner stone beneath the 
 beautiful mortuary structure which 
 now, in Monterey square, by its pres- 
 ence embodies the gratitute of sue- 
 
10 
 
 ceeding generations and enkindles a 
 generous emulation of that disinter- 
 ested devotion to, and lov.e of, free- 
 dom and right which glowed in the 
 breast and marked the career of 
 Pulaski. 
 
 It has been suggested that the 
 search for the remains of General 
 Greene, instituted by the committee 
 appointed for that purpose, was not 
 thorough. Judge Johnson, when 
 writing in 1820, intimated that a 
 more careful inquiry might have ac- 
 complished more satisfactory re- 
 sults, and hinted that the coffin 
 might have been removed from the 
 Grahame vault to that of the Jones 
 family. 
 
 There is another explanation of 
 the disappearance of the remains of 
 General Greene. It rests upon 
 tradition and is not devoid of prob- 
 ability. The Grahames, who adher- 
 ed to the cause of their King, and 
 who departed from Georgia 
 when the British troops were 
 withdrawn, were necessarily in- 
 censed at the loss of their es- 
 tates, and the confiscation of their 
 property by the successful Revolu- 
 tionists. Their personal misfortunes 
 intensified the hatred which, as loyal 
 subjects, they entertained towards 
 those who had been instrumental in 
 compassing the overthrow of singly 
 rule in Georgia. The thought that 
 a rebel Major General should lie en- 
 tombed in their vault was revolting 
 and harrowing to their feelings. It 
 is believed that some member of 
 that family caused a secret removal 
 
11 
 
 of the remains of General Greene 
 from that vault, and their reinter- 
 ment in an unmarked grave. After 
 the lapse of so many years it is en- 
 tirely probable that their present 
 resting place will never be discover- 
 ed. 
 
 II. While the assault, launched 
 by the combined armies of Count 
 d'Estaing and Gen. Lincoln against 
 the British lines around Savannah 
 on the morning of the 9th of Octo- 
 ber, 1779, was raging, Count Pu- 
 laski,with the approval of the Amer- 
 ican commander, attempted, at the 
 head of some 200 cavalrymen, to 
 force a passage between the ene- 
 my's works. His purpose was to 
 penetrate within the town, pass in 
 rear of the hostile lines, and carry 
 confusion and havoc into the Eng- 
 lish camp. In the execution of this 
 design he advanced at full speed un- 
 til arrested by the abattis. Here his 
 command encountered a h avy cross- 
 tire from the batteries, which threw 
 it into confusion. The Count him- 
 self was unhorsed by a can- 
 ister shot which, penetrating 
 his right thigh, inflicted a 
 mortal wound. He was borne 
 from the bloody field, and, after the 
 conflict was over, was conveyed on 
 board the United States brig Wasp 
 to go round to Charlestown. He was 
 so terribly wounded that he could not 
 withdraw with the American forces 
 under Lincoln. Delayed by head- 
 winds,the ship remained several days 
 in Savannah River. During this time 
 he was attended by skillful surgeons 
 
12 
 
 from the French fleet. It was found 
 impossible to establish suppura- 
 tion, and gangrene supervened. 
 As the Wasp was leaving 
 the river on her wav to Charles- 
 town, Pulaski breathed his last. 
 His corpse became so offensive that 
 Colonel Bentalou, his officer in at- 
 tendance, "was compelled, though 
 reluctantly, to consign to a watery 
 grave all that was now left upon 
 earth of his beloved and honored 
 commander." 
 
 Such, in a word, is a statement of 
 the death and burial of this dashing 
 officer who, unable to win the inde- 
 prudence of his own country, lost 
 his life in the brave effort to achieve 
 the liberties of the American col- 
 onies. 
 
 We have already alluded to the 
 early efforts made in Savannah to do 
 honor to his memory. They culmi- 
 nated at first in the erection of the 
 joint monument to General Greene 
 and himself in Johnson square. 
 Subsequently, the corner-stone of the 
 new monument in Monterey square 
 was laid; and, in December of the 
 following year, the admirable mem- 
 orial structure, designed and erected 
 by Launitz, was completed. Early 
 in January, 1855, it was committed 
 to the keeping of the Mayor and 
 Aldermen of Savannah as a part of 
 the public property of the city. 
 
 Beneath this monument were de- 
 posited human remains exhumed 
 at Greenwich, on Augustine creek 
 which were represented to be those 
 of Count Pulaski. Accompanying 
 
13 
 
 the published account of the cere- 
 monies observed upon laying 
 the corner-stone, and also upon 
 the dedication of the Pulaski 
 monument, is a statement by 
 Colonel Bowen of the circumstances, 
 traditions, and arguments which led 
 him to believe that the skeleton, re- 
 moved from Greenwich and interred 
 beneath the monument, was indeed 
 that of Count Pulaski. Curious as 
 the narrative is, there can be no 
 doubt but that the bones unearthed 
 on the bluff of Augustine creek were 
 those of some unknown individual, 
 and not of the Polish cavalry leader. 
 He did not die at Greenwich, and 
 was not there interred. He sleeps 
 where the ebbing tide of the Savan- 
 nah meets and commingles with 
 the waters of the broad Atlantic. 
 Fit resting place for a hero of such 
 expansive soul ! He sleeps where the 
 praises in honor of his great deeds, 
 sung by the waves of the Savannah 
 a? they kiss the shore consecrated 
 by his valorous deeds, are caught up 
 by the billows of ocean and are by 
 them joyfully repeated in wider 
 circles, in more heroic strains. He 
 sleeps where the ambient air, fra- 
 grant with the perfumes of a land 
 whose freedom he died to achieve, 
 tells to Atlantic breezes the story of 
 his martyrdom that they too, in a:lad 
 acclaim, may answer back to the 
 farthest coast the greatness of his 
 fame. By a strange coincidence the 
 beloved of Mars rests in the embrace 
 of Neptune. 
 
 HI. It thus appears that neither of