Aaron was not surprised to see that some of the men were becoming uncomfortable with what Clarke had said. He knew the ones in his platoon quite well and had participated in conversations with them about the controversies that were arising in the north. He estimated that almost half of them would oppose any armed actions against British troops. He noticed some murmurs of agreement but decided that he would have to be the one to speak up so those in opposition would feel that they had a voice in the discussion.

“Captain, I feel the same way you do about freedom and our right to protect ourselves, but it seems to me that the British troops in Georgia are here to keep the Indians under control, and I think we’re a lot better off under Governor Wright than Carolina has ever been under their royal governors. I’m ready to fight the savages, but I wouldn’t feel right lining up to shoot one of the king’s soldiers unless I thought they was planning to hurt me and mine.”

Aaron had shared his views with Clarke privately the previous evening. Clarke had then made it clear to Aaron and Micajah that he was ready to draw a line between the militiamen, once and for all.

He looked at Hart, a strong man like himself and a good leader, and said, “Aaron, I hear what you say, but it don’t suit me none. We all know that John Stuart stirs up the Creeks and Cherokee ag’in’ us, tellin’ them that all us settlers wants is to steal their land. The division is comin’ or is already here between savages and settlers, our own freedom and being pushed around by folks in London, and between bein’ a man and a coward. I know some of you feel different, but I don’t think we can walk a fence rail no longer, and we’ll have to take a stand one way or the other.”

Clarke was a shrewd leader and didn’t want to lose any more men than necessary. He looked around and continued, “We ain’t fightin’ the Redcoats yet, so y’all will have a chance to decide that later. You’ve probably been knowin’ how I feel. I want to keep us all together, irregardless of how you might be headin’ now, and I’d like for all of us to keep on learnin’ how to fight as a group, even if it turns out to be ag’in’ the Indians. For now, let’s just say that we’ll be protectin’ our women and chillun against whoever might bother them. Anybody who don’t agree on this is welcome to leave.”