Because of confusion and delays when the time came, the massive assault was not launched until well after sunrise, when morning fog had cleared and the American and French troops were in plain sight. The British had focused the aim of their cannon fire so as to repel troops, with canister, grape, and chain, and this barrage was strengthened by the muskets of skilled Hessian soldiers. D’Estaing was seriously wounded in the withering fire, and Count Pulaski left his own troops to lead the faltering Frenchmen. He was stricken from his horse almost immediately after he arrived at the front of the battle line. The Americans charged all along the front as planned but were not able to penetrate the British defense.

Finally, after an hour and a half, the allies requested a cease-fire to bury their dead and remove the wounded from the battlefield. It was granted, and during this time a general retreat was ordered. The British had achieved a total victory. Generals Lincoln and McIntosh returned to their former posts, the twice-wounded D’Estaing took his fleet to France after weathering a severe hurricane within a week after sailing, and the heroic Count Pulaski died at sea of gangrene soon after a grapeshot was removed from his groin.

Thomas Brown quickly gathered as much intelligence as possible and reported to his superiors that this was the most costly battle of the Revolutionary War. Of the 1,200 killed or seriously wounded, 469 were Americans and 640 were French, while the British had only 100 casualties. He also learned that, with full approval from George Washington, General Lincoln would now devote all his efforts to the defense of Charles Town.

The Ranger commander had special reason to be exuberant. Not only had the British won a great victory, but for the first time he had been accepted and treated with respect as a vital element in the defense of Savannah. The stream of intelligence information that came in through his militia and Indian Rangers had proven to be reliable, and the revelation of the enemy’s battle plans by his spy, James Curry, had been the crucial factor in the final battle. Now he anticipated relatively unimpeded British forces moving up the river to Augusta, and he hardly needed to state again his own personal desire to command the northeast Georgia region.

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