Seige of Savannah at Old Jewish Burial Ground - Savannah, GA
N 32° 04.343 W 081° 06.212
17S E 490228 N 3548463
In October of 1779 French and American forces tried to recapture the city of Savannah from the British. On October 9, the French set up cannon here next to the Jewish burial grounds. It is located just south of Cohen Rd in Savannah, GA.
Waymark Code: WM4EWF
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 08/14/2008
Views: 83
The historical marker reads:
"Old Jewish Burial Ground
Established by Mordecai Sheftall on August 2, 1773 from lands granted him in 1762 by King George III as a parcel of land that "shall be, and "forever remain, to and for the use and purpose of a Place of Burial for all persons whatever professing the Jewish Religion."
During the ill fated attempt of the French forces under Admiral Charles Henri, Comte d'Estaing, and the American forces under General Benjamin Lincoln, to recapture Savannah from the British, General Lincoln's Orders of the Day of October 8, 1779 stated that "The second place of rallying, or the first if the redoubt should not be carried, will be at the Jew's burying ground, where the reserve will be placed."
According to the account of Captain Antoine-Francoise Terance O'Conner, a military engineer serving with the French forces, on October 9, 1779, shortly after 4:00 A. M. "The reserve corps, commanded by M. le Vicomte de Noailles, advanced as far as an old Jewish cemetery, and we placed on its right and a little to the rear the four 4-pounders."
From Wikipedia:
"The Siege of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah from September 16, 1779 to October 18, 1779. On October 9, 1779, a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish Count Kazimierz Pulaski, fighting on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint American-French attack, the siege failed, and the British remained in control of Georgia until July 1782, close to the end of the war."