After the U.S. Army destroyed Darien, gunboats were used to blockade the port. The troops plundered residents and plantations of McIntosh County for food, as armies lived off the land to a great extent. The only defenders left in the county were a group of men too old for military service. On the night of August 3, 1864, the county's white defenders had met at the Ebenezer Church, north of Darien. Union troops found out about the meeting from the local enslaved people. The troops surrounded the church, opened fire, and captured 23 men. These men were marched to a landing near Darien, put on ships, and taken to prisons in the North.