When the British refused to release the three men, the Georgians decided to arrest all the members of the royal council who were still in Savannah. There was a stalemate until three weeks later, at the end of March, when the British freed the Georgians and paid for the rice taken from the barges. The ships withdrew and Governor Wright and the council members were put on parole, based on their pledge that future transactions would be peaceful, that Savannah would not be damaged, and that they would not leave the city.

Thomas Brown considered it an appropriate time for a brief assessment:

Your Excellency:

I regret to inform you that, because of Insults, physical abuse, and actual threats on his Life by rebellious Whigs, Governor James Wright has departed from Savannah and embarked on the British frigate Scarborough. The Traitors have gained control of the harbor and trade, the Courts, the Militia, and all other aspects of Governance. The so-called Council of Safety has announced an independent effort to deal with the Indians, in direct competition with Indian Superintendent John Stuart. As Your Excellency knows, this is a more blatant act of Rebellion than has been perpetrated in any other Colony, but I can assure you that it has been confined almost exclusively to the immediate Environs of Savannah. Loyalty to the Crown is firm in all other areas of the Colony. Our Rangers will continue to strengthen Loyalists in Georgia and to monitor developments closely.

To conclude my previous report regarding Virginia, British officers reported that Lord Dunmore’s black troops served Heroically, but their services were short-lived. They were heavily afflicted with Smallpox and Coastland fevers, and the Regiment dwindled during the early months of this year. Each of the former slaves who deserted or was discharged from the Ethiopian Regiment was encouraged to return to his former Master, which, tragically (?), may have spread their infections within the colony. I have been informed that Lord Dunmore plans to leave his Base on Gwynn’s island in the near Future and sail with some of his survivors to Saint Augustine. My suggestion is that, if this occurs, the ship be Quarantined, supplied with food and water, and sent on to some Island in the West Indies.

You may be interested in knowing that this same Disease played a major role in General Howe’s wise decision to abandon the port of Boston. The Pox had swept through the city, and the General ordered all his troops inoculated and permitted diseased Citizens to depart. It seems that soldiers from Europe suffered little, but many British troops who had lived in the Colony were lost. There has been no explanation for this Distinction. It is believed that with most of his troops now in Halifax, an Attack on the much more valuable New York may be a prospect.

Respectfully submitted by the Governor’s agent