Unfortunately for them, they chose the cabin of Nancy Hart and demanded that she prepare food for them. Nancy and her husband, Benjamin, had moved from Carolina to Georgia with the Clarkes, and she had proven to be quite self-sufficient after her husband was killed on one of the militia raids into Indian territory. She was a rough frontier widow with two daughters and had joined Hannah Clarke in organizing the safest life possible for the frontier women, who were often left behind to care for themselves. They devised a system of communication so they could share warnings when danger was approaching, and decided which cabin would be chosen as a common home until their husbands could return. Nancy was an expert with a rifle and insisted that all the women who remained in their homes should become familiar with firearms. She liked to join the men in telling ribald stories, and delighted in incorporating her own flaming red hair and crossed eyes in some of the jokes. She had long been a fervent revolutionary, and at every opportunity she dressed in men’s clothing and joined the militiamen in their forays against the enemy.

After barging into the ramshackle cabin, the Tories stacked their rifles in the corner and began drinking their jug of corn spirits. At first Nancy claimed that she had no food, but then she said, “I do have one old gobbler left, but he’s too tough even for Tory teeth.” One of them shot the turkey and ordered that she clean and prepare it for a meal. Nancy agreed and told her daughter, with a secret wink, to go to the spring for water. The Tories ignored the woman, who soon learned from their bragging that they had murdered her neighbor. The men became suspicious when the girl did not return with the water, and demanded that Nancy call her daughter.

She put them off as long as possible, and finally backed into the corner, picked up one of the rifles, and told the Tories not to move. One of them laughed and started toward her. She coolly shot him between his eyes and picked up another rifle. She was so cross-eyed that no one could tell where she was looking. Her daughter soon returned, shouting that the neighbors were on the way. When another Tory bolted through the door and ran across the yard to escape, Nancy killed him also, with a bullet in his back, and then forced the others to lie down on the floor to avoid further trouble. All three were immediately hanged when the Whigs arrived.

CHAPTER 44

Georgia Militia to Carolina

After attending a simple burial ceremony for John Dooly in his yard, Elijah Clarke proceeded with his plan to muster all Georgians, and about two hundred men assembled. Despite Clarke’s request for men to go to western Carolina, just a few were willing to respond.