Thomas Brown was delighted that bold action finally would be taken against the rebels and concealed his disagreement with British higher authorities concerning amnesty for the Whigs. He had an extensive dossier that included almost every frontier settler family in Georgia and felt that it was his responsibility, and not London’s, to determine their fate. His Rangers were the king’s men, who would be riding into the yards and fields to confront the settlers, and no superior was likely to learn the exact result of each encounter. Brown’s raids became more aggressive than ever, and many loyal Whig families decided to abandon their homes and move to Savannah or farther into the pioneer areas in north Georgia, where rebel strength still prevailed. By October 1778, Georgia Whigs controlled only a narrow area extending along the west side of the Savannah River and down the coast, in most places not more than thirty miles wide.

CHAPTER 33

Quash Dolly, Slave Woman

It was in late November that Colonel Augustine Prevost started northward from Florida by land, and Lieutenant Colonel Campbell sailed from New York at the same time with seven warships and several transports carrying 3,500 men to join in the attack on Savannah. American leaders were thoroughly informed about the impending assault on Savannah but were confident of its defense, depending primarily on its natural protection of marshland and water. General Howe was now in overall command of about five hundred Continentals remaining from the recent incursion into Florida, supplemented by about 150 South Carolina troops who had not returned home. In addition, Captain Elijah Clarke returned to Savannah with his militia, and Governor Houstoun marshaled other available Georgia militia. These were considered more than adequate, since Savannah was impervious to a quick attack and General Howe had assurances of strong support from Charles Town if a tedious siege operation was begun.

Because of the doubtful loyalty of so many people, military decisions on both sides were hardly made before being widely known, both among the revolutionaries and the British. The problem was in interpreting accurately the plethora of information that was available.

The Florida Rangers were ordered to collect as much intelligence as possible about Whig strength and deployment. Brown had a number of informants in Savannah. Some were members of the American military and others were merchants or other private citizens whose secret loyalty to the crown had never wavered. He was able to provide British authorities with descriptions of the various military units, and reported that the defenders were perfectly confident of the invulnerability of the city. He knew the Savannah area well and was quite worried when he considered how easy it would be to defend. The only encouraging news was that the three Georgia commanders had, as always, failed to accept any one as leader and each was acting as an independent command.