Site Visit Saturday: Darien, Georgia

 

   It is easy to miss the exit for Darien, Georgia, while zipping along I-95. Yet while the Federals did not have Eisenhower’s interstate system to work with, they did not miss Darien in 1863.

   Settled in 1736 by Scottish Highlanders, the community was originally known as New Inverness. The name was changed to Darien in honor of Darien Scheme, another Scottish colony in Panama. The new colony was seen as being on the edge of the frontier between the Spanish and the English, and hence there were two forts built at different times to protect the frontier: Fort St. Georgia, followed by Fort Frederica. In 1739, the colonists in Darien signed the first petition in Georgia against the introduction of slavery into the colony.  During the American Revolution, Darien became an important port town. Rice and cotton were rafted down the Altamaha River for export. The port town continued to grow following independence, and the county seat was moved to Darien, which was incorporated in 1816. Later, yellow pine was rafted down the river and shipped North to meet a growing demand for building materials.

   In June 1863, Darien was raided by two African-American regiments stationed at nearby St. Simons Island. Those two regiments were the 2^nd South Carolina Infantry (US), commanded by Col. James Montgomery, and the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry, commanded by Col. Robert G. Shaw. Most of the town was looted and destroyed, including the homes of black residents and slaves and the First African Baptist Church, reported to be the oldest African-American church in the country. Colonel Shaw would later call the raid on an undefended site of little strategic importance, a “Satanic Action.” Local citizens fled to the nearby community of Jonesboro as refugees. The burning of Darien was featured in the movie Glory (1989).

   Some parts of the town were later rebuilt, but there are still ruins visible, ever after 160 years.

   As an aside, John McIntosh Kell (1823-1900), a Confederate naval officer on both the Sumter and the Alabama, was born nearby at Laurel Grove Plantation.

   I last visited Darien in December 2013.