Ethan drew back as if to strike Brown, restrained himself, and said, “You’re a damned liar, and deserve to die!”

Brown momentarily lost his composure, as his face flushed and he struggled fruitlessly against his bonds. He finally said, “I have spoken the truth. You may do with us as you will.”

With some reluctance, Jackson said to Ethan, “I seem to remember that Major Grierson mentioned a Quaker homestead in his confession.” He turned to Brown and asked, “Are you aware that Grierson made such an attack?”

“Colonel Lee informed me that Major Grierson had signed a written confession while being tortured and before he was summarily executed as a helpless prisoner. I have not seen his confession but can affirm that our forces were under strict orders from both military commanders and Governor James Wright not to violate the Quaker settlement. I will only say that I have never violated these instructions or authorized any of my subordinates to do so.”

Ethan looked directly at Brown, who returned his intense gaze without flinching. Finally convinced that the man was being truthful, he shrugged and turned away, both frustrated and also relieved of a burden of hatred that he had borne against the Ranger commander, along with a personal obligation to kill him.

Still with great care, Colonel Jackson and his men escorted the Ranger group to the Georgia military headquarters, where Brown was taken at gunpoint to General Wayne.

Except for the brief verbal exchange beside the river, Brown had not spoken and seemed completely subdued, but he had been considering how he might save himself and, at the same time, enhance the seemingly hopeless plight of British forces in Savannah. He was familiar with recent decisions made in London to stop funding the war against American troops, and he knew that the new British commander in chief, Sir Guy Carleton, had received secret orders that both Savannah and Charles Town be abandoned. He could only hope that the rebels were not aware of these strategic decisions.