All British officers would be sent to Savannah on parole, accompanied by their Indians, with the troops to be considered prisoners of war. British and American doctors would treat the sick and wounded on an equal basis. The fort’s defenders would have the honor of marching out with drums beating and their arms shouldered. The Scot “deserter” was to be treated as a loyal soldier and not executed as a spy. A special arrangement was made concerning Colonel Brown and Grierson: they were to be treated with respect and given personal protection under armed guards, and neither they nor their men would in any way be placed under the control of Elijah Clarke.

While Grierson and the others marched out and stacked their arms, Brown was taken directly to Lee’s quarters, where the two men first exchanged comments about the current engagement and implementation of the surrender terms. Lee stated that Miss Cowan was resting in an adjoining room, having been awake throughout the previous night. Twenty-three Americans had been killed and twenty-eight wounded, while the British casualties were twice as great and their entire force were now prisoners. The two men then began a lengthy discussion about the overall conduct of the war, including past engagements and present circumstances. Lee was amazed at Brown’s knowledge of details concerning events throughout America, including the personal relationship and even some supposedly secret communications between himself and General Nathanael Greene. With some pride, the Ranger commander described the extent of his intelligence network, which still extended from New Orleans to the Great Lakes and from Canada to Florida.

Just as they were concluding their meeting, a captain rushed in and informed Lee that Major Grierson had been taken, tortured, forced to sign a lengthy confession, and then hanged, apparently by a group led by the Alexander brothers, and that they and their father had disappeared. Lee was furious, and deeply embarrassed that his surrender terms had been violated. Brown was placed under a strong protective guard adjacent to Lee’s personal quarters and the following morning was dispatched downriver to Savannah with a troop of men under the command of a trusted colonel. His written instruction said that if any harm came to Brown, “the laurels acquired by the arms of America would be stained by the murder of a gallant soldier who committed himself to his enemy on their plighted faith.” When General Greene heard of Grierson’s death, he wrote Lee that it was “an insult to the Arms of the United States and an outrage upon the rights of humanity,” and offered a reward of one hundred guineas for the capture of the guilty parties.