Georgia in the American Revolution Georgia in the American Revolution refers to the role of the Province ( and later State ) of Georgia , which was a significant battleground in the American Revolution . Its population was at first divided about exactly how to respond to revolutionary activities and heightened tensions in other provinces . When violence broke out in 1775 , radical Patriot s ( also known as Whigs ) took control of the provincial government , and drove many Loyalist s out of the province . Georgia also served as the staging ground for several important raids into British - controlled Florida . Beginning of the revolution . Though Georgians opposed British trade regulations , many hesitated to join the revolutionary movement that emerged in the American colonies in the early 1770s and resulted in the American Revolutionary War ( 1775 – 83 ) . The colony had prospered under royal rule , and many Georgians thought that they needed the protection of British troops against a possible Indian attack . Georgia did not send representatives to the First Continental Congress that met in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in 1774 . The Congress asked all colonies to form a group , called the Association , to ban trade with Great Britain . Georgia delegates gathered in a provincial congress in Savannah on January 18 , 1775 , to discuss whether to join the Association , and to elect representatives to the Second Continental Congress . Those who were elected declined to go to Philadelphia , however , because the delegates were divided on the action to be taken . St . John Parish , acting alone , sent Lyman Hall to the Second Continental Congress . News of the battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts caused many Georgians who were wavering in their allegiance to join the radical movement . A group called the Sons of Liberty broke into the powder magazine in Savannah on May 11 , 1775 , and divided the powder with the South Carolina revolutionaries . Though Georgians continued to drink to the health of the king , they took government into their own hands when the Second Provincial Congress met in Savannah on July 4 , 1775 . The Congress named delegates to the Second Continental Congress , which was already sitting in Philadelphia , and adopted the Association ' s ban on trade with Britain . The single most important democratic action of the Congress was the establishment of local committees to enforce the Association ' s ban . Thus political power devolved upon artisans and farmers , considered by royal governor James Wright to be the " wrong sort " to be allowed in government . The Congress adjourned , leaving executive authority in a standing Council of Safety . Violence in the backcountry . The heavy - handed tactics of the local committee in Augusta led to the first violence in the backcountry . On August 2 , 1775 , members of the committee confronted Thomas Brown at his residence on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River above Augusta . Brown had come to Georgia with seventy or so indentured servants in November 1774 in answer to Governor Wright ' s advertisement of the advantages of the newly Ceded Lands above Augusta and founded a settlement called Brownsborough . He attracted the anger of the Whigs by publicly denouncing the Association and summoning friends of the king to join a counterassociation . When he refused to swear to honor the Association , the crowd of Liberty men tortured him in various ways , scalping and fracturing his skull , burning his feet , and hauling him , unconscious , through the streets of Augusta as an object lesson to those who would denounce the Association . When he recovered , Brown retired into the Carolina backcountry , where he and other leaders enlisted hundreds of Loyalists and threatened a march on Augusta . After much marching about and some skirmishing around the town of Ninety Six , Brown and his friends heeded South Carolina governor Sir William Campbell ' s advice to await the arrival of the British . Brown retreated to East Florida and persuaded its governor , Patrick Tonyn , to allow him to recruit a corps of rangers who would lead Indians to fight on the frontiers in conjunction with the expected landing on the coast . Meanwhile , rumors of a British - instigated plot to enlist slaves and Indians to help defeat the American patriots alarmed Georgians and Carolinians . Though false , the rumors were generally believed , and John Stuart , the Indian Commissioner , fled in fear for his life from Charleston , South Carolina , to Florida . Battle of the Rice Boats . British warships that arrived in the Savannah River in January 1776 caused the first crisis in Savannah . The Council of Safety , convinced that Savannah was to be the object of a British attack , placed Governor Wright under house arrest and instructed Colonel Lachlan McIntosh to take charge of the defense of the city . There followed the so - called Battle of the Rice Boats on March 2 – 3 , 1776 , when British marines seized rice - laden merchant ships in the Savannah harbor , some of which the militia burned . In fact , the object of the British fleet was the acquisition of provisions for the beleaguered army besieged in Boston . The fleet sailed off with some of the rice and with the fugitive Governor Wright and his chief councilors . In the absence of the governor , the next provincial congress met in Augusta and proceeded to draft a simple framework of government called " Rules and Regulations " that went into effect on May 1 , 1776 . The congress elected Archibald Bulloch president and commander in chief of militia . George Walton joined Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett as Georgia delegates to the Philadelphia convention in time to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4 , 1776 . Three invasions of Florida . By August Major General Charles Lee , military commander in the South , allowed himself to be persuaded by Georgians to stage an invasion of British East Florida . Lee had little hope of conquest , but he thought the military demonstration might impress the Indians . Unfortunately , he was recalled to the North , taking his Virginia and North Carolina troops with him , and the expedition got no farther than Sunbury , just south of Savannah , when South Carolina ordered her militia to return . Georgians under Lachlan McIntosh , who was recently promoted to brigadier general , skirmished with the Florida Rangers and their Indian allies on the Satilla River and then abandoned the southern borderlands . Congress recommended that the newly independent states adopt a permanent frame of government . Accordingly , Georgians elected delegates to a state that met in October 1776 in Savannah . Radical leaders of local committees dominated the convention and produced one of the most democratic constitutions of any state . The electorate included all men over twenty - one who possessed property worth ten pounds or were employed as artisans . A one - house assembly enacted legislation , and elected the governor , judges , and other officials . Georgia ' s constitution , adopted on February 5 , 1777 , created the state ' s first counties : Burke , Camden , Chatham , Effingham , Glynn , Liberty , Richmond , and Wilkes , all named for friends of the colonies in British Parliament , except Liberty , a title that honored St . John Parish ' s early zeal for American rights . Button Gwinnett acted as speaker of the convention . He and his fellow radical Whigs suspected many conservative Whigs of being secret Tories . Gwinnett ' s arrest of George McIntosh , the brother of General Lachlan McIntosh , fueled animosity between radical and conservative Georgians . At the height of the controversy , Gwinnett decided upon an invasion of Florida . Gwinnett considered himself commander in chief of the Georgia militia and refused to cooperate with General McIntosh , who commanded the brigade of Continental soldiers . After the failure of the expedition , the two principals quarreled about which one was to blame . They fought a duel , both were wounded , and Gwinnett died . The radical Whigs raised such a cry against McIntosh that Congress transferred him out of Georgia for service under General George Washington at Valley Forge , Pennsylvania . The first two failures did not dissuade Georgians from a third attempt upon Florida in 1778 . This time Governor John Houstoun commanded the Georgia militia , Major General Robert Howe the Continentals , and General Andrew Williamson the Carolina militia . The expedition suffered from the same lack of coordination that doomed the previous assault on the southern borderlands . Howe ' s regulars managed to drive Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Brown and his East Florida Rangers from Fort Tonyn on the St . Marys River . The Georgia militia skirmished with the Rangers and a company of Royal Americans on Alligator Creek . With that limited success , the invaders returned to Georgia . Other than the three abortive invasions of Florida and the patrolling of the western frontier , the Whigs accomplished little during the first three years of independence except survival . However , they gained experience in self - government and a determination not to surrender their new independence , and that was no small achievement . The Indians would have created greater havoc in the backcountry as the result of the instigations of John Stuart and Thomas Brown , but for the efforts of Continental Indian Commissioner George Galphin . Galphin used his enormous influence to persuade many of the Lower Creeks to remain neutral . Return of the British Army . By 1778 the war in the North had reached a stalemate . The British high command decided to try a southern strategy . Southern governors like Sir James Wright had assured Lord George Germain , the American Secretary in Britain , that hundreds of Loyalists bided their time in the backcountry , waiting for the king ' s troops . General Sir Henry Clinton in New York ordered Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell to invade Georgia with 3 , 000 troops , and to restore the state to British rule , thus setting an example for the restoration of other former colonies . Prior to Campbell ' s attack upon Georgia , General Augustine Prévost conducted a cattle raid into the lower Georgia counties . As a diversion , Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Fuser demonstrated against Fort Morris at Sunbury . When Fuser demanded the surrender of the fort , its commander , Lieutenant Colonel John McIntosh bravely answered , " Come and take it ! " Fuser withdrew and Georgia honored McIntosh as a hero . On December 28 , 1778 , Campbell ' s army landed unopposed on a bluff below Savannah , advanced through the swamps by an unguarded path , and overwhelmed General Robert Howe ' s defenders of Savannah . Campbell waited until January 12 for the arrival of Prevost ' s Royal Americans and Brown ' s Rangers from Florida , and on January 24 began a march with Brown ' s Rangers to Augusta in the backcountry . Except for a skirmish at the Burke County courthouse involving Brown ' s Rangers , Campbell was unopposed . Some ninety of George Galphin ' s slaves sought their freedom from Campbell and were escorted to Savannah . Campbell took possession of Augusta on January 31 , 1779 . The southern strategy seemed to be successful when 1 , 400 men came in to Augusta to sign up in the royal militia . However , the British Indian allies were badly delayed , and on February 14 several hundred Loyalists were cut off at Kettle Creek in Wilkes County by South Carolinians under Andrew Pickens and Georgians under Elijah Clarke and John Dooly . Alarmed by the approach of 1 , 200 North Carolinians under General John Ashe , Campbell withdrew from Augusta on the same day as the Battle of Kettle Creek . Ashe ' s troops , Samuel Elbert ' s Georgia Continentals , and Andrew Williamson ' s South Carolina militia followed the retreating British . On March 3 the British , now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Mark Prevost , turned upon the Americans and routed them at the Battle of Brier Creek . If Kettle Creek ensured the continued independence of upper Georgia , Brier Creek meant that the lower part of the state returned to British rule . Campbell named Prevost acting governor until Sir James Wright ' s arrival . Campbell then took passage for England , having succeeded in his pledge to remove a star from the American flag . With the regaining of military control , elected representative civil government was restored to the Georgia colonial Assembly through the British writs of 1779 , and remained as a functioning body until the evacuation of Governor Sir James Wright in 1782 . General Benjamin Lincoln marched his Continentals to Augusta to support the organization of civil government there , whereupon General Augustine Prevost threatened an attack upon Charleston , drawing Lincoln down with all haste . Whig government in Augusta . On July 10 , 1779 , an ad hoc committee met in Augusta and appointed some of its members to a " Supreme Executive Council , " whose purpose was to run the government until January , when a full assembly could meet . The Supreme Executive Council held its first meeting on July 24 , and the following month the council elected John Wereat president . Wereat , a friend of the McIntoshes , had denounced Georgia ' s constitution as too radical . Militia colonel George Wells , who served on the committee that drafted the constitution and acted as Gwinnett ' s second in the fatal duel , refused to recognize Wereat ' s council and called for regular elections . In October Major General Benjamin Lincoln ordered George Walton to go to Augusta , hold an election , and create a constitutional government in order to qualify for a subsidy from the Continental Congress . Walton did so , thereby joining Wells and the radical faction . Elections were held and an assembly met in late November . They chose Walton as governor . Wereat ' s Supreme Executive Council refused to recognize Walton ' s administration , so war - ravaged Georgia endured two Whig governments in Augusta and one royal regime in Savannah at a time when it could hardly afford one government . In the most controversial action of his short - lived administration , Governor Walton dispatched a letter to Congress asking for the second removal of General Lachlan McIntosh from Georgia . McIntosh had returned to the state during the summer to take charge of Georgia ' s Continental forces , but he resided at the house of a suspected Tory , Andrew McLean . The Assembly passed the resolution , but the Speaker , William Glascock , left Augusta before the clerk transcribed the letter . Walton never denied signing Glascock ' s name , and he sent another letter under his own name . However , Wereat and other friends of McIntosh ' s would later carry on an acrimonious investigation of the " forged letter " incident . The radical faction dominated the new Assembly that met in January 1780 . The delegates elected Richard Howley governor and delegate to Congress . The Assembly enacted legislation providing for the rapid growth of the backcountry , including a commission government for Augusta , a new town to be named Washington in Wilkes County , and generous land grants for entrepreneurs who would construct ironworks , grist mills , and sawmills . Howley and Walton traveled as delegates to Philadelphia , and George Wells , president of the executive council , acted as governor . The irascible Wells soon became embroiled in a quarrel with Major James Jackson , a friend of John Wereat ' s . They fought a duel , and Wells died . Thus the two leaders of the radical faction in Georgia , Gwinnett and Wells , were killed in duels . They launched Georgia , however , on a democratic course that had lasting effects on the state ' s history . Siege of Savannah . Governor Sir James Wight returned to Georgia on July 14 , 1779 , and announced the restoration of Georgia to the crown , with the privilege of exemption from taxation . Thus Georgia became the first , and ultimately the only one , of the thirteen states in rebellion to be restored to royal allegiance . Governor Wright had hardly settled to his duties when on September 3 , 1779 , a French fleet of twenty - five ships appeared unexpectedly off the Georgia coast . Count Charles Henri d ' Estaing intended to oblige George Washington by stopping off on his way back to France to recapture Savannah . He disembarked his army of 4 , 000 - 5 , 000 men at Beaulieu on the Vernon River and proceeded to besiege Savannah . Major General Benjamin Lincoln hurried over from South Carolina with his army to join in the siege . D ' Estaing demanded the surrender of Savannah on September 16 , but General Augustine Prevost asked for twenty - four hours to give an answer . During that day , Lieutenant Colonel John Maitland brought 800 British regulars in from Beaufort , South Carolina , to bolster the British defenses . Then Prevost declined to surrender . On October 9 , 1779 , the allies launched a grand assault upon the British lines and suffered 752 casualties , while the British defenders lost only 18 killed and 39 wounded . Count Casimir Pulaski , a Polish nobleman who had volunteered to fight for the cause of liberty , died at the head of the men he led . Sergeant William Jasper , a hero of the 1776 Battle of Sullivan ' s Island , also died . The battered French army withdrew to its ships , and Benjamin Lincoln ' s troops returned to Charleston . Fall of Charleston . Encouraged by the British defense of Savannah , General Sir Henry Clinton brought his army down from New York , made Tybee Island his base , and began the siege of Charleston . Lincoln failed to escape when he might have , and surrendered the city and its defenders on May 12 , 1780 . Clinton then returned to New York , leaving General Lord Cornwallis in charge of the subjugation of the South . Cornwallis sent units to take command of the backcountry posts , including Augusta , Camden , and Ninety Six . Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Brown assumed command in Augusta . On July 10 , 1780 , the Royal Council in Savannah declared that peace had been restored in Georgia , and so it seemed , with a British garrison in Savannah under Lieutenant Colonel Alured Clarke , and British posts in the backcountry . Some Whigs refused to surrender , however , and sought refuge in the mountain country . Two battles of Augusta . Gangs of marauders roamed the region between Savannah and Augusta . More important , Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke came down from his haven in North Carolina , rallied 600 men who had taken a recent oath of allegiance to the king , and attacked Augusta on September 14 , 1780 . In a desperate four - day battle Clarke besieged Brown and his Rangers and Indian allies at the Mackay House outside town . Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger and his New York Loyalists from Ninety - Six came to the relief of Brown ' s garrison . Though tradition blames Brown for hanging thirteen prisoners , Cruger probably gave the order to carry out the punishment mandated by Cornwallis for those who took up arms after swearing allegiance to the king . Clarke beat a hasty retreat to North Carolina , hounded by Indians and Loyalists . Cornwallis dispatched a force of Loyalists under Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Ferguson to cut off Clarke ' s band . Instead , Clarke ' s friends from the mountains swarmed down under their own leaders , caught Ferguson on Kings Mountain , and scored a decisive victory on October 7 , 1780 . Clarke ' s raid upon Augusta triggered the events that led to Kings Mountain . Alarmed by the resurgence of the Whigs under leaders like Clarke , Benjamin Few , and John Twiggs , Brown constructed Fort Cornwallis on the grounds of St . Paul ' s Church . In April Clarke returned to the Georgia backcountry to harass Loyalists and threaten Augusta . Major General Nathanael Greene , the new Continental commander in the South , ordered General Andrew Pickens and his South Carolina militia , and Lieutenant Colonel Henry " Lighthorse Harry " Lee with his legion , to join Clarke in besieging Augusta . Lee captured valuable stores at Galphin ' s plantation at Silver Bluff , and with Pickens and Clark , began the siege of Augusta on May 22 , 1781 . In the course of a two - week battle , Lee ' s engineers constructed a wooden tower from which a cannon could reach the interior of Fort Cornwallis . Brown had no choice but to surrender on June 5 , 1781 . The capture of Augusta gave American peace negotiators in Paris reason to demand the independence of Georgia even though Savannah remained in British hands for the ensuing year . Whig government restored . For the first time in more than a year , the scattered members of the legislature reassembled in Augusta on August 17 and elected Nathan Brownson governor for the remainder of the year . General Greene authorized the creation of 100 horse and 100 foot under the title of the " Georgia State Legion " with Lieutenant Colonel James Jackson in command . On January 9 , 1782 , Greene dispatched Brigadier General Anthony Wayne to Georgia with a regiment of dragoons . General Wayne conducted a war of attrition against the British defenders of Savannah . Andrew Pickens carried the war to the Cherokees and John Twiggs ' s Georgians fought against the Creeks . On January 2 , 1782 , the legislature elected John Martin governor . He issued a proclamation pardoning all loyalists who pledged to support independence by joining the Georgia Legion or the militia . On May 4 , 1782 , the legislature passed the Confiscation and Banishment Act , declaring 277 people guilty of treason , and seizing their property . The property of Loyalists who had left the state was also confiscated . Governor Wright bitterly criticized the British military for not supporting the royal cause in Georgia . On June 4 , 1782 , he staged an elaborate celebration in Savannah to honor the king ' s birthday and to keep up the spirits of Georgia Loyalists . On June 14 , 1782 , however , Wright received orders from General Sir Guy Carleton to evacuate Savannah . Thomas Brown had recruited a new regiment of rangers , and on May 19 , skirmished with Lieutenant Colonel James Jackson ' s Legion in the marshes outside Savannah . At Wright ' s request , Brown had sent a last , desperate appeal to the Upper Creeks to come to his aid . On June 23 , the noted Creek leader Emistisiguo fought through the American lines to reach Savannah . Though most of his band joined Brown , Emistisiguo was killed . Evacuation of Savannah . The British evacuated Savannah on July 11 , 1782 . Lieutenant Colonel James Jackson had the honor of leading Wayne ' s victorious troops into the city . Governor Martin convened the Georgia Assembly in Savannah on July 13 , 1782 . As many as 2 , 000 white Georgians and twice that number of blacks resettled in British East Florida . About 400 whites and 5 , 000 blacks migrated to Jamaica , where Sir Archibald Campbell , who had restored Georgia to the crown , served as governor . The Loyalists in Florida had hardly settled to their new life when they learned that the peace treaty of 1783 returned Florida to Spain . There occurred another mass migration to the Bahamas , Jamaica , and the other islands of the West Indies , as well as to Great Britain . On January 7 , 1783 , the Georgia General Assembly elected Lyman Hall governor . John Twiggs , now raised to the rank of general in the Georgia militia , and Elijah Clarke continued to harass the Cherokee and Creek Indians to insure the possession of land , the great object of the revolution for many Georgians . News of the signing of the preliminary peace treaty reached Savannah in late May 1783 and caused a general celebration . The newly independent state of Georgia , though poor in every other respect , claimed a virtual empire of territory reaching to the Mississippi River , which was disputed by the Creek Indians , who actually possessed the land .