Cornelius van Hempstead Vlieland.
The Hempstead may have been standing for either Hemel Hempstead, England or the Dutch city of Heemstede
we heard of the dead of Cornelius together with General Pulaski and the siege of Savannah
Unwaried Patience and Fortitude: Francis Marion's Orderly Book
Door Patrick O'Kelley
from
Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Volume II, K-Z
entered 1777
7/17/1779, a 2nd Lieutenant under Capt. Richard Bohun Baker. Transferred to Capt. Thomas Dunbar in August of 1779. Mortally wounded at Siege of Savannah 10/9/1779.
It was perhaps because of the Siege's reputation as a famous British victory that Charles Dickens chose the Siege of Savannah as the place for Joe Willet to be wounded (losing his arm) in the novel Barnaby Rudge.
Unwaried Patience and Fortitude: Francis Marion's Orderly Book
Door Patrick O'Kelley
from general Pulaski
By the afternoon of October 15, 1779, Captain
Bulfinch had no room to take any more passengers.
When another wounded officer, Lt.
Cornelius Van Vlieland, who had lost an arm
in the siege of Savannah, asked him for passage
to Charleston, Bulfinch arranged to send
him on another ship. In the sequence of events,
it looked as if the visit of Lt. Van Vlieland came
before the death of Pulaski, as Pulaski's death
certainly created a vacancy aboard. Had the
young lieutenant waited, Bulfinch would have
had space for him.
The day I found Bulfinch's letter to him
from Thunderbolt, or "Tunder Bolt" as he
spelled it, was especially important. On
October 15, 1779, Bulfinch wrote:
Sir,
I beg leave to acquaint you
that agreeable to your
orders I took on board nine
pieces of the artillery which
was the most I possibly
could take on. Mo'over, I even
was obliged to put some of
the carriages on board the
Schooner that carry the
French wounded. I likewise
took on board the
Americans that was sent
down one of which died this
day and I have brought him
ashore and buried him. They
have put only one lad on
board to attend the sick. I
should be glad your
Excellency would order some
others on Board to attend
them. Capt. Vlyland (sic)
came down this afternoon.
There was no place to put
him. The Eagle whom he was to have gone on
board, went away this morning and left him. I
made interest with the French Gentleman who
has the directions of putting the wounded on
board the other schooners for Charleston and
got him on board one of them. I am with the
highest esteem,
Sir, your most Re Obdt Sevt
Sam Bulfinch 5
Immediately after the Wasp left Thunderbolt
Bluff at high tide the following morning, quite
possibly the only remaining people who knew
where Pulaski's body was buried were the
denizens of Greenwich plantation, across the
road from Bonaventure, home to Mrs. Jane
Bowen, her four children, her brother, and their
servants. At the time Bonaventure was not
occupied by the plantation owners. During the
British occupation of Savannah, the Tattnalls
and the Mulrynes, who owned the plantation,
fled to Savannah or one of the British islands
in the Atlantic for safety
Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Volume II, K-Z
entered 1777
7/17/1779, a 2nd Lieutenant under Capt. Richard Bohun Baker. Transferred to Capt. Thomas Dunbar in August of 1779. Mortally wounded at Siege of Savannah 10/9/1779.
The foregoing were all of the Continental or Regular regiments which served
during the struggle for independence.
But there were other organizations of Militia which did much good service and aided our cause very considerably. The most celebrated of these was Marion's corps from South Carolina.
When this body was first formed, Francis Marion received from the State of South Carolina the commission of
Lieutenant-Colonel
and subsequently became a Brigadier-General.
The other field officer was Major Horry,
and both of them have been rendered celebrated by the pen of Weems.
This organization would in these days be considered as "mounted infantry," and in the unsuccessful attempt
to storm Savannah, Ga., in the Autumn of 1779, it suffered very much.
Captain Charles Motte, Lieutenants Alexander Hume, James Grey and Cornelius Van Vlieland were
killed, as was the brave Sergeant William Jasper who fell while attempting to plant the
American colors on the parapet of Spring Hill redoubt.
Many of the men were killed and wounded in this sanguinary affair. Here too fell Count Casimir Pulaski,
of Poland Brigadier-General of cavalry in the American service.
After this action Marion retreated to the interior, whence he was able to harass the British for a long time.
The movements and actions of these troops were of a most romantic character, and the
name of their leader is one of the most highly honored in our Nation.
