In the spring of 1778, American leaders both in Philadelphia and in the southern states began to realize that the stalemate in the north might lead to increased British activity in the south. The depredations of the Florida Rangers had become almost unbearable to the Georgians, and the revolutionaries were additionally concerned about continuing activities of British ships along the coast of Georgia, where they frequently sent raiding parties ashore to take food supplies and slaves from the defenseless villages and plantations. Georgia leaders saw the recent destruction of Fort Howe as proof of their own weakness and perhaps the first phase of a broader military operation by the British.

Hearing persistent pleas for more protection from Savannah and having observed naval movements out of New York perhaps toward the south, General Washington finally became convinced that the long-rumored British attacks on Charles Town and Savannah might be coming. Georgia would undoubtedly be the first target, from the British stronghold in Florida. He sent General Benjamin Lincoln to replace General Robert Howe as southern commander of the Continental forces and ordered Howe to Georgia to coordinate the defense of the state. In an attempt to strengthen Whig support, Washington further directed that anyone who could marshal fifteen or more volunteers was free to plunder Tory property in Florida at will, and would be given at least a sergeant’s commission in the Georgia militia. He also offered five hundred acres of free land to any family that would settle south of the Altamaha River or in east Florida, but there were no takers.

As an additional response to British threats, Washington sent a few hundred more troops into Savannah to serve under General Howe, making a total of two thousand Continentals, joined by South Carolina militia under Colonel Andrew Williamson and a Georgia contingent under newly elected Governor John Houstoun. There were also several naval units under Commodore Oliver Bowen, including five galleys, two sloops, and eight smaller ships manned by rowers. In all, it was a formidable force, but General Howe reported that many of the revolutionaries lacked shoes, blankets, and adequate shelter, and most of them carried only the weapons they had brought from home, with little ammunition. For the past eight months there had been no money to pay troops, but now the Continental Congress made $600,000 available to the Georgia militia. Although the inflated currency made minimal purchases possible, this was a welcome recognition of their importance as a buffer between the British forces in Florida and the northern colonies.