Having achieved much more than he had anticipated, Brown took his leave as soon as possible. He was extremely pleased with the new operating freedom that was now his. Sergeant Baker was waiting outside, and the commander of the newly authorized force said quietly, “Our entire proposal has been approved, but we will be standing alone if we fail. One thing on which we need to concentrate is the collection of information from as many sources as possible.” The prospect of promotion had been insignificant to him, and he did not mention it.

It required less than a week to have ten men ready to ride, with promises of adequate adventure, the pride of service, and the knowledge that Brown had authority to reward them properly. Calling themselves the Florida Rangers, they began what would be, in effect, armed raids on settler families who had shown the slightest inclination to support the Whig cause. There were thousands of cattle and hogs, with their ears marked to indicate ownership, roaming in the swamps and woods of a geographical area that covered more than ten thousand square miles of north Florida and south Georgia. In the best of cases, the Tory farmers and ranchers were eager to sell their goods at a reasonable price, and Brown made certain that they were always treated with an acceptable degree of fairness.

As planned, Brown implemented three different approaches to the settlers, depending on their political inclinations. Those loyal to the king were treated with deference and respect, and their sales were all voluntary and for a fair price. To those whom he knew to support the Whig cause, he soon proved the error of their ways. The settlers in this region were isolated and completely helpless to resist demands of the visiting Rangers for their produce, often at prices far below market value. In addition, the farmers and ranchers rarely detected most of the Rangers’ secret depredations until they would discover at some later time that stocked animals and stored produce were missing. A few confronted those who were taking their property, but this was a fruitless response, and several of the more militant and obdurate men were killed. What Brown wanted was for the word to spread, so that it became clear to the settlers that their expressions of political allegiance were a substantial factor in how they fared. A few of those with strong revolutionary sentiments abandoned their property and moved to Savannah, but over the months others shifted strongly toward the Tory cause. A few of them even volunteered to ride with the Florida Rangers.