#augustine prevost

[yr-obedt-cicero]

Battle of Coosawhatchie memorial mural, [May 3, 1779], by Carroll Nathaniel Jones Jr.

“British General Provost was determined to make a second attempt to capture Charleston. Instead of a small detachment of a 150 men, this time he crossed the savannah river with 2,400 British regulars and once again, William Moultrie was outnumbered 2 to 1. He was determined to make a stand on a slight ridge at the tullifinny river where he left about 200 men to guard the crossing and warn him of the Redcoats arrival. As the enemy drew near, Moultrie was about to send an aide to pull these troops back to the main force when Col. John Laurens offered to lead them back. Moultrie had so much confidence in the officer that he sent along 250 men to help cover the flanks. In direct disobedience of orders Laurens crossed the river and formed the men in line for battle. He failed to take the high ground and his men suffered greatly from well placed enemy fire. Laurens himself was wounded, and his second in command fell back to the main force at tullifinny, where Moultrie was compelled to retreat towards Charleston.”

[bantarleton]

Major General Augustine Prévost born Augustin Prevost was a Genevan-born British soldier who served in the Seven Years' War and the American War of Independence. Prévost was born to a family that was originally from Bossy near Geneva and settled in Geneva in the 14th century.

Like his younger brother Mark Prevost, Prévost joined the 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot as a major on 9 January 1756 at the regiment's establishment. He fought in the French and Indian War, during which he suffered a wound.

In 1763 he briefly acted as the interim military Governor of West Florida.

By the summer of 1776, Prévost, then a colonel, was in charge of a contingent of the 60th stationed in St. Augustine, the capital of British East Florida.

In the winter of 1778, following a proposal of Lord George Germain, Prévost, now a brigadier-general, was given orders by General Sir Henry Clinton to invade Georgia. Prévost dispatched two units north: one under the command of lieutenant-colonel Lewis V. Fuser and the other under his younger brother Mark. Prévost arrived at Savannah, Georgia, on 17 January 1779 which was protected by British Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. Prévost assumed command but also sent the message to General Clinton that he wished to resign, believing that a younger man should take his place. His forces launched an unsuccessful raid against Charles Town, South Carolina, whose indiscriminate looting antagonized ally and enemy alike. The major engagement of the affair was the Battle of Stono Creek, a British victory.

In September 1779 Brigadier General George Garth was sent to replace him, travelling from New York on HMS Experiment. Garth was, however, captured before he could reach Savannah and Prévost remained to defend the town from a combined French and Continental force in an action that came to be known as the Siege of Savannah.

Augustine was married to Anette (Ann) Grand and father of Sir George Prévost, and of Major Augustine Prevost (b. 29 August 1744 Geneva – d. 17 January 1821 Greenville, NY). Major Prevost retired to manage his wife's family estate (Croghan Estates) and died as a citizen of the United States.

Descendents of Prévost settled in the United States and Peru.

[john-laurens]

Though both sides possessed nearly equal manpower, about twenty-five hundred troops apiece, Rutledge and his council heard reports that exaggerated the size of Prevost’s force. Believing he faced a British army of close to eight thousand men and realizing that Charleston’s fortifications were unfinished and weak, Rutledge called a meeting of the Privy Council and a group of officers. At the meeting Laurens argued that the city could be held. He did not believe that Prevost would attempt to storm the city because he could not risk the high casualties. On the other hand, a siege bought time for the Americans, allowing Lincoln to arrive and trap the British army. With characteristic bravado, Laurens assured the others that he would gladly defend ‘the weakest part of the line with the worst troops,’ though his right arm was incapacitated because of his wound. When the meeting concluded, Laurens believed his impassioned appeal had persuaded the civilian authorities to defend Charleston. After Laurens’ departure, however, Rutledge and the council had second thoughts. By a five to three vote, they offered to surrender Charleston and South Carolina on the condition that the state be deemed neutral and that its eventual fate be decided by the outcome of the war. When Moultrie and some council members approached Laurens and requested that he carry the proposal to the British, he responded ‘that he would do any thing to serve his country; but he could not think of carrying such a message as that.’ Two other officers proved willing to carry the neutrality proposal. As he came to Charleston as a military commander, not in a civil capacity, Prevost refused to deal with South Carolina’s civilian leaders and he demanded that the entire city surrender as prisoners of war. That demand called for a response from Moultrie, the ranking military officer in Charleston. He informed Prevost that if the British wanted Charleston, they would have to take it. Laurens immediately exclaimed, ‘thank God! we are upon our legs again.’ The following morning Charlestonians awoke to find their city no longer threatened. The British had withdrawn. Prevost, as Laurens had predicted, decided that storming the city would be too costly and that a siege exposed him to capture once Lincoln had arrived with his army. As soon as the immediate crisis passed, prominent Carolinians circulated stories, asserting that Rutledge and a majority of the council offered to surrender as a ploy, hoping to buy time in negotiations and allow Lincoln to trap Prevost. More plausible were counter arguments that linked the neutrality proposal with John Laurens' black regiment plan. Rutledge and other state leaders had desperately wanted Continental Army reinforcements. Instead Congress responded by sending one young officer with a proposal to arm blacks. Contrary to Laurens' belief that Americans held no separate interests, Rutledge and a majority of the council believed it was against their self-interest to adopt a plan that threatened the bedrock of South Carolina's economy and aroused the frightening image of slave insurrections. These men had a limited commitment to independence, based on the fulfillment of reciprocal obligations between the state and the Confederation government. Believing that Congress had not fulfilled its obligations to South Carolina, they decided that neutrality was preferable to arming slaves.

From "The Political Education of John Laurens" by Gregory D. Massey