Back in Savannah, the cavalrymen learned that the women and children were returning from the Watauga Valley to their homes in north Georgia, and Colonel Jackson directed that men with such families were free to meet them in Augusta, where all were scheduled to assemble.

Ethan Pratt had mixed emotions when he received permission to leave his post. He was grateful that the fighting was over, that the Americans had prevailed, and that he would soon be going back to his own property, but now he was faced with a different life. His challenging and gratifying service as an active militiaman would be replaced by the mundane duties of a farmer, almost penniless and with a cabin destroyed and crop and livestock operations to be begun once again. He was now a changed man, no longer compatible with the pacifist commitments of his wife and his Quaker neighbors, but he presumed that he could accommodate a peaceful life and relegate to a distant memory the extreme savagery of the battles in which he had fought.

Relieved of his military duties, Ethan rode with a dozen other men up the trail on the west side of the river. Now thirty-seven years old but feeling much older, he tried to focus on what his life would be as he took his wife back to their homestead and began rebuilding everything that had been lost. He could see little joy in his future. He owned as much land as two people could manage but had no money with which to buy livestock or equipment. Although slaves would be available in Georgia, he had neither the desire nor means to own them. There would be two potential sources of financial assistance, but he didn’t relish the thought of turning to them. Joseph Maddock would certainly help to outfit his farm in exchange for a binding mortgage on the property. The other option would be assistance from Georgia’s government leaders, who would be devising ways to assist thousands of potentially productive citizens as the state struggled toward a new life of independence. There was little doubt that James Jackson was destined to play a major role in these decisions, and he had already offered to help Ethan in the future. As usual, Mavis intruded into his thoughts, and he decided to give Wrightsborough a wide berth, knowing that he could not control his emotions if he and Mavis were together. In his own way, he prayed—without much fervor—that time would assuage his hunger for her.