“Sir, my personal honor is at stake. Because of a statement I was forced to make under threat of death, it is believed in Augusta and the surrounding area that I am disloyal to the king and a supporter of insurrection. I cannot accept this situation, even in the face of severe punishment. My intention is to send a copy of my report to London, where, as the governor knows, it will be received by high authorities. I am willing to be moved to Florida, but regardless of what else happens, I request that my good name be cleared. I hope you will relay this message to the governor.”

The colonel gave a polite nod and left the room.

It was an hour or two before Brown’s anger cooled enough for him to think rationally. Faced with the inevitability of his transfer, and without any conscious decision, he began to relate his disgrace in Augusta to the disturbing orders he had just received. As he sought an explanation for the governor’s decision, he slowly came to realize that high British officials might well be in agreement with the governor, because a test of strength with the revolutionary forces would have a doubtful outcome. It was better to ignore the tavern incident than to acknowledge that the Sons of Liberty could perpetrate such a crime with impunity. As far as the authorities were concerned, even in London, Brown was best assumed to be a foolish, naive, and perhaps drunken rowdy rather than someone who was actually representing the crown. It seemed clear that officials were letting it be known that they had no interest in his case and wanted to minimize any public knowledge of it.

His next questions were about his own future. What was he going to do? How much of his official status as a lieutenant could he retain? What did he really have to contribute? The last question was the most difficult to be faced. He lay on his bed and, in one of the rare times in his life, made an increasingly frank assessment of his own capabilities. It was difficult for him to acknowledge that his rank of lieutenant had not been earned through any appreciable military competence, but had come to him through his father as benefactor, and partially as a means of removing him from London. Even now, he knew little about the land in which he was living, or of its inhabitants, either the colonists whose families had immigrated from Europe or the natives who still occupied and controlled most of the territory in Florida and all of Georgia except a narrow strip of land along the Atlantic Ocean and just west of the Savannah River. In fact, he had never seen an Indian except around trading posts, nor desired to do so.