The First American Siege of Augusta, Georgia (September 14 – 18, 1780) was a partisan militia clash of arms by equal numbers of Georgia and South Carolina against Tory and Native American allies. The siege was called off after a stiff defense by Tory defenders and the sudden expected arrival of a British relief force from Fort Ninety-Six. It was so named the first siege of Augusta after a successful American siege eight months later (May 22 – June 6, 1781) by rebel militia under Colonel Andrew Pickens and Continental troops led by Col. Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee.
The siege pitted two Georgian militia leaders; arch enemies who had clashed several times during the previous four years. Estimates of the rebel force listed 350 Georgia ‘refugees,’ led by Lt. Colonel Elijah Clarke [1742-1799]. These were Georgia militiamen who refused British pardons and rode to South Carolina where they carried on the fight; this after Georgia became the only colony to be reclaimed by the crown. With them were around 80 militia from South Carolina led by Lt. Colonel James McCall. The Loyalists were commanded by Lt. Colonel Thomas ‘Burntfoot’ Brown of Georgia [1750-1825], (former head of the Florida Rangers now renamed the King’s Carolina Rangers) and Col. Thomas Grierson. With them were Native American Creek and Cherokee allies. This totaled approximately 450 defenders. After the rebel force departed, the action was marred by revengeful violence. Several rebel prisoners were hanged while the rest of the captees, including wounded, were horrendously tortured and killed by loyalists and their Creek and Cherokee allies; a common practice in Georgia by both sides in what became a savage civil war between crown and rebel settlers.
Patriots Gain a Hateful Enemy
In 1775, Georgia joined the other twelve American colonies in open revolt against England. From Massachusetts to the deep south, outspoken loyalists like Thomas ‘Burntfoot’ Brown of Augusta, Georgia were dealt with severely. On August 1, 1775, the Augusta chapter of the Liberty Boys dragged Brown from his home. Brown’s skull was fractured by the butt end of a rifle before he was tied to a tree while Sons of Liberty beat him remorselessly. Partially scalped three times, he was stripped naked, his skin scorched with fire, boiling tar poured over him, before feathered and paraded through town. When the boiling tar pooled into his boot, incinerating two toes; he was unceremoniously given the title ‘Burntfoot.’ Brown later escaped and joined other Georgia loyalists in their trek to the British colony of East Florida that decidedly remained loyal to the crown. But Brown never forgot the pain and humiliation of that horrendous experience, harboring a vengeful hatred that would rain terror upon southern patriots throughout the war.
Elijah Clarke and Thomas Brown First Battle it out in East Florida
Royal Governor of East Florida, General Patrick Tonyn, was cognizant of the American attempt to invade Canada and feared his colony would be likewise targeted. With only a small British garrison at St. Augustus, he raised a regiment of militia from among East Florida settlers and loyalists streaming south from Georgia and the Carolinas. By mid-1776, the East Florida Rangers were born; one hundred and thirty men. Led by the incendiary Lt. Colonel Thomas Brown, like Brown, they were mostly refugees hardened by hatred after driven from their homes. Over the next three years, the Georgia legislature launched three successive failed invasions of East Florida; each one led in part by the Georgia rebel firebrand Colonel Elijah Clarke.
The first, August – October 1776 was continually harassed by Brown’s rangers and Seminole allies until it petered out. But not before constructing a series of fortifications along the coast. The second invasion into East Florida resulted in similar failure due to disastrous planning and execution. The invading rebel force was ambushed by Thomas and Seminole allies at the Battle of Thomas Creek, May 17, 1777. It was a total American rout in which Lt. Col. Clarke would receive his first of four wounds during the war. The third invasion was another fiasco of rebel organization and execution; this time involving Continental troops. Once more the two adversaries, patriot Clarke and loyalist Brown faced each other in battle. And once more, at the Battle of Allegator Bridge, June 30, 1778, the Americans withdrew in defeat. It was the final invasion of Florida and Clarke’s second wounding of the war.
British Invade Georgia
When British regulars under Lt. Col. Archibald Campbell (recently exchanged for blowhard former Green Mountain Boy Ethan Allan) arrived in Savannah, Georgia, shortly after Christmas of 1778, Brown and his East Florida Rangers marched north to join crown forces. Savannah fell on December 29, 1778, and Brown rode his rangers north to Augusta. On January 31, 1779, Brown occupied the town, returning to the site of his tar and feathering. Brown’s sweet revenge did not last long. Local patriot leaders of Georgia and South Carolina combined forces to drive the loyalists out of the back country. Once more Colonel Elijah Clarke became Brown’s adversary, this time joining able commander Colonel Andrew Pickens of South Carolina. They met Brown and his Tory forces at the Battle of Kettle Creek, February 14, 1779, in Wilkes County Georgia, about sixty-five miles northwest of Augusta. The loyalists were routed and driven back to Savannah, arriving on February 28th. While retreating to the coast, Campbell and Brown met up and defeated a patriot militia at Brier Creek, March 3, 1779. Little quarter was offered to those captured in which enemy prisoners were executed; a trend that would be adapted by both sides in what was quickly becoming a civil war.
An uneasy stalemate ensued over the next year where the rebel forces controlled the Georgia backcountry west from Augusta while in Savannah, the Royal Government ruled over coastal regions. Partisan bands for both sides roamed the countryside at will in which patriot and loyalist settlements suffered plunder, robbery, and murder.
British Take Charleston. Brown Retakes Augusta. Clarke Rides to Augusta
From September 13 – October 16, 1779, American Continental and militia forces failed in their siege of Savannah. This action helped convince British Commander-in-Chief General Henry Clinton to invade the south in force. He arrived outside Charleston, South Carolina in February, 1780 to begin a siege of the city and the boxed in American Army. After the Continental Army was captured at Charleston, May 12, 1780, many Georgia and South Carolina patriot leaders and militiamen accepted British paroles, including the formidable rebel leader Andrew Pickens [Pickens would renounce this parole in time for the Battle of Cowpens, January 17,1781]. This left the door wide open for Lt. Col. Brown to retake Augusta, Georgia. On June 8, 1780, Brown arrived at his former home at the helm of his Florida rangers, renamed the King’s Carolina Rangers. He could also count of Native American allies for support while acting as the King’s Indian Agent and Superintendent to the Creeks [he had lived with the Creeks for a period during his exile and gained their confidence].
Meanwhile, Colonel Elijah Clarke was quite busy keeping the flame of rebellion alive. Even though a second American Continental Army was destroyed at Camden, August 16, 1780, he continued to lead his Georgia Refugees in guerrilla warfare against British regulars and Loyalists. He joined forces with the Over the Mountain Men leader Colonel Isaac Shelby [of Eastern Tennessee then part of North Carolina] in the Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 18, 1780. It was a bloodbath victory over a Partisan Tory and British regular force twice the size of the rebel militia.
At Augusta, Brown flexed his muscle. He continued to put pressure on and accepted the surrender and parole of various local Georgia militias. More satisfying to the vengeful Georgian, he sought out those who had denounced their parole. He took Commanding British General Lord Charles Cornwallis at his word and subsequently began to hang captured parole violators. Word reached Colonel Clarke in September, 1780, that Brown had removed five prisoners from jail, those he claimed were parole violators, and hanged them “on the gibbet.”
For Clarke, that was the last straw. He vowed swift action against his old enemy. But that was just the spark that drove Clarke to quickly organize a force to take Augusta. He hoped to show Georgian Whigs, especially in Wilkes County, that the rebellion was not defeated. But perhaps even more so, was the tempting supplies and Native American presents and arms stashed at Augusta; considered worth thousands of pounds. And for those settling the southern wilderness, an opportunity to attack Cherokee and Creek; allies of the Tories and British.
Clarke rounded up 350 fellow Georgians, many riflemen, and headed south. As the Reverend Jesse Gordon wrote, “We broke our Paroles joined Col. Clark and attacked Augusta.” Newly commissioned after the Battle of Musgrove, Lt. Col. James McCall of South Carolina appealed to Colonel Alexander Pickens to break his parole, given after the fall of Charleston, May 12, 1780, and join him and Clarke in the attack on Augusta. Pickens refused and McCall could only raise 80 men. The two rebel forces headed south and rendezvoused at Soap Creek, Georgia, forty miles northwest of Augusta. Though both McCall and Clarke knew they fell far short of the men needed to take the town and resist any British reinforcements, Clarke was ecstatic to deal with ‘Burntfoot’ Brown once and for all.
Augusta and The MacKay Trading Post
In 1767, Augusta, named in honor of Princess Augusta, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales, had over 300 residents, two wooden forts, and 80 buildings along the main road to Savannah, now Broad Street. The town was established around 1735 as a trading post along the flat slopes of the Savannah River at its furthest navigational point northwest. Fort Augusta was raised the following year and in 1750, Saint Paul, Augusta’s first Church, was built near the Fort. A second fort or fortified outpost (otherwise called redoubt) was constructed by Brown shortly after arriving in 1780. It was about a quarter mile from Fort Augusta. Built on land owned by an officer in Brown’s corps, Colonel Thomas Grierson, it was named Fort Grierson.
The MacKay Trading Post would play a critical role in the siege. After the initial clash or arms occurred at the Creek Native American camp and the center of town amidst the forts, Brown’s force retired and barricaded themselves in and around what was called Garden Hill; a large stone house with a series of outbuildings leased by Brown to house trading supplies for Native Americans. The plot, also called the “White House Tract,” most likely named for the painted stone house, was built in the 1760’s. It was about a mile and a half west of Augusta, named for Scottish trader and loyalist Robert MacKay who purchased it in 1770. MacKay died in 1775 and at the time of the siege, the house was vacant. MacKay’s son Robert Gordon MacKay places the trading post on the Savannah River Bank, about 80 yards from the river. A large, natural gully ran between the house and outbuildings to a wide garden that lead to the main road leading westward from Augusta.
SIEGE
Much of our information about the first siege of Augusta is obtained from Hugh MaCall’s 1816 text on the History of Georgie; the state’s first history. Hugh McCall (1767-1824) was the son of Lt. Colonel James McCall who fought alongside Colonel Elijah Clarke. The son interviewed many of the militiamen and soldiers, including both sides of the action, in compiling his description of the siege. Additional information was garnished from early 19th century private soldier pension applications, local Augusta citizens at the time, and military correspondence and period secondary sources. So too of importance, was an article published by the Royal Georgia Gazette of Savannah, on September 28, 1780, ten days after the siege. Many later texts and internet articles repeat verbatim Charles Colcock Jones’ 1883 History of Georgia in describing the siege in greater detail.
Siege Begins September 14, 1780
A large portion of casualties for both sides occurred on this first day of the siege when Clarke’s and Brown’s forces clashed on open fields and the woods. According to Hugh McCall, Colonel Clarke’s arrangements to attack Augusta had been made so suddenly and so unexpectedly to the enemy, that he reached Augusta unobserved, finding them unprepared for an attack. Brown wrote to Lt. Colonel John Harris Cruger, commander of Fort Ninety-Six, South Carolina, fifty-eight miles north, that he was “…attacked by a Strong Body of Rebels – of whose march or movements I had not received the Smallest intimation till that moment.” Upon arriving early on the morning of the 14th, Clarke halted outside of town. He divided his command into three divisions: the right, led by Lt. Col. James McCall, approached by a lower road along the eastern portion of town; the left, led by Major Samuel Taylor, proceeded along the upper road along the western part of town; and Col. Clarke drew near the town by a center road.
At 9:00 am, the rebels made first contact with the enemy. Near Hawk’s creek, about three miles to the west of Augusta, Major Taylor’s detachment attacked the Creek encampment. A heated fire erupted with the Native Americans pulling back towards the town. Brown heard the intense fire and ordered Lt. Col. Grierson to gather men and reinforce Captain Andrew Johnson and his company stationed a mile and a half west of town at Garden Hill and the MacKay Trading Post. Brown wrote that “I immediately drew my force and marched with two Field Pieces to Attack the Enemy and Secure the Indians, about three miles distant from my encampment…”
While Taylor pushed the Creek back towards town and Garden Hill and the MacKay Trading Post, and Brown marched to aid his native allies, Clarke’s and MacKay’s men had entered the town from the south. They surprised the garrisons of forts Augusta and Grierson and took both without resistance. Among those guarding the forts were twenty-seven ‘invalids’ from Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Allen’s 3rd battalion of New Jersey Volunteers stationed at Fort Grierson. They were recovering from wounds received at Musgrove’s Mill the previous month, Aug. 19, 1780. Finding themselves once more in battle, they suffered further with one soldier killed, along with a sergeant and five soldiers wounded. Major Robert Drummond, along with eighteen others, were made prisoners. Over 70 jailed rebels were released and given arms from among the seized Indian presents that was valued at 4,000 pounds. With the prisoners secured, a guard was placed and Clarke and McCall marched west to assist Major Taylor.
When Brown arrived to aid his native allies, there is a discrepancy among sources. Had he met the Creeks during their retreat before Taylor’s force, or had the Creeks already joined Captain Johnson’s company stationed at the Trading Post? Brown seemed to indicate that he had joined the Creeks in the field, got news of Clarke having captured the town and was advancing on his rear; then turned about towards the Trading Post. He wrote that “…immediately upon my effecting a junction with the Indians, intelligence was brought me, that the Enemy had entered the Town, by a Back road, which leads into the main road from Savannah – on which we returned instantly to give them battle.” So too, the Royal Georgia Gazette of Savannah wrote ten days after the siege on September 28, 1780, that “Upon this [junction with Creeks] he immediately faced about, and returned by a quick march to attack them. When he got in sight of the place formerly Mackay’s, they had attacked the guard placed there.” But Hugh McCall indicated the Creek were at the Trading House when Brown arrived writing “At this house, [MacKay House or Whitehouse] the Indians joined a company of the king’s rangers, commanded by captain Johnston. Also, “Taylor pressed on to get possession of M’Kay’s trading-house, denominated the Whitehouse, on mile and a half west of the town.”
The answer may lie in both scenarios. Brown may have united with some of the Creek while in route to their camp. Got word of Clarke’s command of the town and the rebel force advancing towards his rear, and immediately turned towards MacKay’s Trading Post. Meanwhile bands of Creek, driven by Taylor who pressed on towards town and the MacKay Trading Post that laid in his path, had taken refuge among Johnson’s company at the Whitehouse along with Lt. Colonel Grierson’s reinforcements.
From what can be gathered from sources, when Brown arrived at Garden Hill and the trading post, Garden Hill and some of the outbuildings were held by rebels. Taylor’s men and the vanguard of Clarke’s main body were most likely present, with more rebels arriving from the town. Brown quickly formed and attacked to drive back the rebels, ultimately having to fall back to form a defensive position at the Whitehouse and banks of the river. He wrote, “After a Smart Conflict of Upwards an hour, we drove them from their ground, and from amongst the Houses where the Indian stores are lodged – and of which we immediately took possession – here we Continued engaged with them for I suppose full two hours longer, when they thought proper to retire.” British Legion commander Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton wrote of the siege in his after-war memoirs: “The British [Brown] directed course towards Garden Hill, a plantation on the Savannah River. When they arrived in site of Mackay’s house, it was discovered that the Americans were already in possession of Garden Hill. After a twenty minute conflict, the British drove the Americans from the buildings on Garden Hill. The British took over the buildings…
The Royal Georgia Gazette was more specific: “Colonel Brown instantly gave orders for the men to be formed in an old field to the left of the road, which being observed by the Rebels drew the fire of their rifles. Two pieces of artillery were then ordered to play,[these were brass three pounder grasshoppers] and the enemy to be charged, to get possession of the Garden Hill, which was immediately complied with. The Indians on the left behaved well. One of the pieces of artillery which was placed to play in a small clearing to the right of that where the Regulars drew up, was surrounded; the other was brought up to the Garden Hill and the best use possible was made of it. The action now became warm, and was well disputed for about a quarter of an hour, when the Rebels gave way, except a party which stole through a thicket to get upon the rear; this party being charged, fled, after giving one fire, which killed some of the men. The Indians scoured the thicket and brought in some killed and wounded. It was then thought advisable to take post at the houses, which had just been effected, when the enemy’s riflemen began again to fire; which was constantly returned for about two hours, and did them much damage.” Lt. Col. Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee later wrote confirming Brown’s use of two small brass cannon.
McCall’s account verified most of Tory and British description: “Several attempts were made [by rebels] to dislodge the enemy, by taking possession of some small out-houses to the eastward; but they failed, from the houses being too small and flanked by the Indians. Finding that these houses furnished little or no defense, they were abandoned. A desultory fire was continued from eleven o’clock [am] until night, but it was found that the enemy could not be dis’lodged without artillery.” McCall added more detail on where Brown sought refuge at the MacKay Trading Post plantation. “The house [Whitehouse] was situated about eighty yards from the river. The Indians, who had not room to fight from the house, took shelter under the banks which furnished them with good breast work; while they were secured by the thick wood between the bank and the waters edge. At the close of the day the firing ceased, and strong guards were posted to keep the enemy in check.”
Though Brown wrote the rebels retired after the two-hour clash of arms, Clarke’s men had remained in the field with riflemen peppering the Tory and Native allies until nightfall. Rebel guards were set, Native supplies captured from the Trading Post outbuildings were secured, and with booty in tow, the main body retired to Augusta. During this early action, McCall wrote that Brown had been shot through both thighs (some secondary sources stated he did not receive his wound until the 15th). He joined the several other wounded who spent the long night in agony without proper medical care. So too, Captain Johnson, whose company was stationed at MacKay’s, had been wounded in the day’s action. He died later that night.
Brown, realizing the precarious situation he and his men were facing, at some point that day dispatched a messenger to Lt. Col. John Harris Cruger of New York Volunteers and commander at Fort Ninety-Six, South Carolina, about fifty-eight miles north. Loyalist Sir Patrick Houstoun, brother of rebel and Whig governor of Georgia, John Houstoun, in the capacity as a citizen, rode hard to Fort Ninety-Six with Brown’s appeal for aide. McCall wrote that Houstoun arrived early the next day, but not before Cruger had drafted a letter to his superior, Commanding General Lord Cornwallis, notifying him that Cruger had received sparce information of an attack on Augusta, yet no word of needed assistance. When Houstoun arrived, Cruger lost no time in preparing to advance to Brown’s relief. Brown later sent a second messenger by another route. One of his Rangers, Captain Joseph Smith, carried a written response of the first day’s actions. Smith probably left under the cover of darkness on the 14th or predawn hours of the 15th. Since Houstoun was recorded as the first to inform Cruger, Smith no doubt showed up while Cruger was still preparing his men, or had already started his march south.
Siege Day Two, September 15, 1780
Amongst the cries and moans of the wounded, Brown’s men were kept busy throughout the night in preparation for the expected morning’s actions. The stone house offered much protection which was improved upon. McCall wrote, “Under the cover of night, Brown added strength to his position, by throwing up some works round the house. The crevices, between the weather boards and ceiling, were filled up with earth, to make it proof against musketry: loop-holes were cut out at convenient distances; the windows were filled up with boards, taken from the floors; and defense rendered as formidable as the materials at command would admit.” Lt. Col Lee added, “Colonel Browne put in requisition all the bales of cloth, osnaburgs, blankets, etc., found in the store at Garden Hill, and converted them, with the assistance of rails and paling, into a breastwork, proof against musketry.
By morning Brown knew his command was in trouble. In Brown’s letter to Cruger, he spoke of casualties, of rebels hauling cannon from Fort Grierson, and his determination to hold out to the end: “Here (at the Indian Store) we stand fast, but from the number that I have had killed, and wounded, I do not think myself sufficiently strong to march out and attack them in their present position viz, at Grierson’s Fort -where, I am now informed, they are at work mounting some of the Cannon, which they have carried from our encampment, I make no manner of doubt, but That your own ideas of my present situation will readily lead you to give such aid as you may Judge to be effectual – till which time I shall maintain my post to the last extremity.”
Clarke’s men returned that morning, and rebel private Joshua Bennett wrote: “After night he returned to the battleground and found many British and Indians slain, and that the enemy had taken quarters in a large stone house on the bank of the Savannah, and before morning so fortified themselves that General Clark deemed a further attack on them not advisable. But Clark raised an entrenchment about 150 yards in front of that of their enemy and we besieged them…” A ditch was also reported by the Royal Georgia Gazette: “Next morning began to throw up a small ditch within.” Two cannon mounted on trucks for garrison use, were hauled the mile and half from Fort Grierson to the Trading Post. McCall wrote, “The next morning two pieces of artillery, six and four pounder, were brought up from Grierson’s Fort, and placed in a position to bear upon the house…” The Royal Georgia Gazette reported that the cannon were not brought to play until later in the afternoon.
Sources differ on how long the rebel cannon bombardment lasted and the reason for it’s premature halting. McCall stated that no sooner than the cannon fired upon the house, it had ended, writing that, “the carriages not being calculated for field service, added to unskillful management, they proved of little use: captain Martin, of South Carolina, the only artillerist attached to colonel Clarke’s command, was unfortunately killed soon after the pieces were brought to bear upon the enemy.” Light Horse Harry Lee stated the problem was lack of ammunition writing, “…availing himself of the two pieces of artillery gained in the first conflict, had not the ammunition belonging to them been nearly exhausted.” Unlike other sources, The Royal Georgia Gazette indicated the cannon fired throughout the day reporting that “The enemy having come up, began to fire with their artillery…every five or six hours a heavy discharge from the enemy’s artillery, which did much damage to the buildings, etc…Warmly engaged till night, and the Rebels fired a number of scattering shot during it, which killed and wounded some officers and men. Tarleton wrote “Colonel Clark fired upon the buildings with cannon,” but did not elaborate for how long. After the war, Mary MacKay, wife of the deceased Robert MacKay and owner of the Whitehouse, stated the house was in ruins from the artillery and rifle fire during the assault.
Either the afternoon or that evening, Brown was reinforced with fifty Cherokee natives. McCall wrote, “On the night of the 15th, Brown was re-enforced by fifty Cherokee Indians, who crossed the river in canoes [other sources state they swam the river which may account for why they did not have weapons upon arriving]: they were armed, and united in defending their beloved man [Brown was Royal Superintendent of Indian Affairs]. The Royal Georgia Gazette reported that the reinforcements arrived in the afternoon, “At one about 50 Cherokee Indians showed themselves on the opposite hill, and got into the garrison, and as soon as they were furnished with arms and ammunition, the Rebels were discovered advancing. The men and Indians were instantly ordered to their posts.” The weapons provided the Cherokee were part of the ‘Indian Presents’ stored at the Trading Post. Clarke’s men fired upon the Whitehouse defenders throughout the day with no luck in “compelling the enemy to abandon the house or surrender.” By nightfall, as the previous night, a rebel guard was placed and the men returned to the town.
Third and Fourth day of Siege; September 16th and 17th
After the failed attempt by cannon to pry Brown from his defenses in and around the Whitehouse, Clarke decided to cut off the loyalist and their allies water supply. McCall incorrectly recorded that the water was cut off prior to dawn of the 15th, but primary sources state the water was cut off after the limited artillery had no effect on the 15th; therefore, this action occurred on the morning of the 16th. He wrote, “On the morning of the 15th,[16th], before day light, the Americans drove the Indians from the river bank, and cut off their communication with the water, by which the wounded, particularly, suffered greatly.” What was hoped would play a key role in forcing Brown to surrender, ultimately only added to the grief suffered by those holed up in the stone house.
Far more legend than true, most historical articles and texts on the siege take as fact that after the water was cut off, Brown ordered all urine to be collected and used for drinking water. Lack of primary sources indicate his did not occur. The only period source to state this, parroted by early and later historical texts, including multiple internet articles, was that by Lt. Col. Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee, who was not present during the siege. His description was brief with secondhand knowledge of events. He wrote in his Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department, Vol 1, pg. 207, published in 1812, that “Colonel Browne ordered all the earthen vessels in the store to be taken, in which the urine was preserved; and when cold, it was served out with much economy to the troops, himself taking the first draught.” Lee did not cite his source for this.Also, unsupported by fact, was the repeated account that Brown’s men subsisting only on pumpkins. This writer could trace no primary nor period secondary sources to verify this. Most accounts concur that the condition within the stone house was horrific; without food or water, men calling out in pain for medical aid, and the offensive stench of the dead men and horses which lay about the house and yards. For the remainder of the 16th, the two sides continued to exchange shots from defensive positions.
On the 17th, Clarke thought conditions within the MacKay house had become unbearable and Brown was ready to surrender. Joshua Burnett was incorrect when he reported some forty years afterwards during his pension application that Brown offered to surrender “…four days [of siege] at the end of which the enemy sent a flag into Clark for capitulation…” Clarke had sent two offers for surrender, one in the morning to be repeated that afternoon, in which Brown twice rejected, stating he was determined to hold to the extreme. McCall wrote, “On the 17th, colonel Clarke sent colonel Brown a summons; but the proposition was rejected…” The Royal Georgia Gazette reported “That a flag of truce to surrender was sent and Brown declined saying he would defend it to the last extremity…” The second offer for surrender was likewise rejected. Again McCall writing, “In the afternoon the summons to surrender was repeated, with the addition that Brown would be held responsible for the consequences of his temerity, and a declared determination to reduce the garrison, whatever might be the requisite sacrifice to accomplish it. Brown replied that it was his determination to defend himself to the last extremity.” The Gazette wrote that after the second rejection, “The rebels opened fire again till nightfall.”
That evening, Clarke faced a critical dilemma. He received word that a large British force was approaching to rescue the besieged Tories and their native allies. To make matters worse, by the 17th, his already small force had been considerably depleted. A good portion of his Georgia command had slipped away to visit relatives in nearby Wilkes County, Georgia, about 40 miles northwest of Augusta. While many others had left, carrying off much of the captured plunder. McCall wrote, “On the night of the 17th, Clarke’s spies informed him of Cruger’s approach, by forced marches, with five hundred British regulars and royal militia, to the relief of the besieged. Many of colonel Clarke’s men had gone to visit their friends and families, in Burke County, from whom they had long been absent: others, who had been actuated by the hope of obtaining plunder, rather than by motives of zeal in the cause of their country; had decamped; laden with the goods which colonel Brown had received not long before for presents to the Indians. With the threat of British reinforcements on the horizon, it can be assumed Clarke spent the night preparing for a possible quick retreat the following morning.
Siege Ends with Arrival of British Relief, September 18, 1780
The Reverand Jesse Jordon of Clarke’s detachment succinctly wrote, “…a reinforcement arrived from Ninety-Six under the command of Col. Cruger who drove us off and followed us to Wilkes County [Georgia].” Rebel David Thurmond added, “Cruger marched from Ninety-Six area of South Carolina to the Savannah River and fired his big guns on us and made us retreat.” While Joshua Burnett mistakenly had the entire rebel force hightail it clear across South Carolina writing, “…This retreat was made through the wilderness to North Carolina.” McCall added some detail to what happened on the morning of Sept. 18th. “About eight o’clock, on the morning of the 18th, the British troops appeared on the opposite side of the river. The weakness occasioned by the loss of men in the action and siege, and by the desertion of those who preferred plunder to the honor and interest of their country, compelled the Americans to raise the siege and retreat about ten o’clock.”
The 500 British Partisans and local Tory militia who came to Brown’s rescue that foggy morning were a substantial portion of the 550-man garrison at Fort Ninety-Six, about ninety miles west of Camden, where British General Cornwallis’ army was preparing to invade North Carolina. Most of the garrison consisted of the 1st Battalion, Delancey’s Brigade, led by Lt. Colonel John Harris Cruger; raised by Loyalist General Oliver Delancey who was Cruger’s father-in-law. Partisans from New York and New Jersey, they were trained and equipped as redcoat regulars; veterans who had seen action from the war’s start on Long Island in 1776.
Facing such a formidable force, Clarke had no option but to retreat as quickly as possible. Before leaving, McCall wrote, “Colonel Clarke paroled the officers and men whom he had captured. Among them were Captain James Smith and forty-one of the King’s Rangers, a commissioned officer and eleven men of DeLancey’s corps, and a surgeon [invalids from the Battle of Musgrove]. In entire disregard of the obligations into which they had entered, these officers and soldiers resumed their arms immediately upon the departure of the Americans.” Knowing they would be pursued by the British and their Native American allies, Clarke and his men would have to travel fast. Therefore, they were forced to leave behind twenty-nine wounded at Fort Grierson. One of the war’s many tragedies, once Brown was rescued, almost all the rebel captives and wounded were killed; either hanged or tortured by revengeful Tories and their native allies.
Casualties and Death of Rebel Captives
Most historians agree with McCall’s estimate that during the siege and subsequent chase by British and native allies, the rebel forces suffered 60 killed and wounded. Twenty-seven were considered missing and captured, bringing the total to 87 of the original approximately 450 maned force. However, of the missing, many could have been among those who left prior to the arrival of the British. McCall mentioned in particular some of those killed; Captains Jourdine, William Martin (artillerist), and William Luckie – killed “early in the contest during the desperate fight to gain possession of the Whitehouse.” Among the Tory forces, the number of casualties varied. It is believed that around 75 were killed and wounded with a considerable percentage among mainly the Creek and some of the Cherokee who arrived the second day of the siege.
Of the rebel wounded, twenty-nine were left at Fort Grierson and would succumb to a gruesome fate. Those who were believed to have broken their parole were hanged while the rest were brutally tortured and killed. Dr. John Winsmith wrote this account on Nov. 26, 1780, later published in Scot’s Magazine, Edinburg: “After Clarke’s retreat, some few prisoners were taken; eleven of whom were hanged on the spot, without even the formality of a trial, some were given up to the savage barbarity of the Indians, who were first scalped and afterwards put to death.” McCall, perhaps somewhat biased, recorded what occurred in more detail writing:
“Such of the Americans as were badly wounded, and not in condition to be removed, were left in the town. Captain Ashby, an officer noted for his bravery and humanity, with twenty-eight others, including the wounded, fell into the hands of the enemy and were disposed of, under the sanguinary order of Lord Cornwallis, in the following manner: Captain Ashby and twelve of the wounded prisoners, were hanged on the staircase of the White-house, where Brown was lying wounded, so that he might have the satisfaction of seeing the victims of his vengeance expire. Their bodies were delivered up to the Indians, who scalped and otherwise mangled them and threw them in the river. Henry Duke, John Burgamy, Scott Reeden, Jordan Ricketson, — Darling, and two youths, brothers of seventeen and fifteen years of age, named Glass, were all hanged.”
Dr. Winsmith also confirmed that Henry Duke was one of those hanged. McCall continued: “All this was merciful, when compared with the fate which awaited the other prisoners; they were delivered to the Indians to glut their vengeance for the loss they had sustained in the action and siege. The Indians formed a circle and placed the prisoners in the centre, and their eagerness to shed blood spared the victims from tedious torture: some were scalped before they sunk under the Indian weapons of war; others were thrown into fires and roasted to death. The record of these transactions is now before the author, from the pens of British officers who were present.” The Royal Gazette reported “the Indians pursued the rebels killing some of the fugitives. Colonel Grierson with some regulars went into the town – finding and killing some rebels.”
Brown has been vilified after he ordered the hanging of those rebels he considered had broken their parole. Legend has it that after the siege, while recovering from his wounds at the Whitehouse at MacKay’s Trading Post, Brown ordered they be hanged in a stairwell where he could watch them die. Historians are divided as if the motive was revenge. Though Brown probably felt an element of retribution for past wrongs, he was following Cornwallis’ previous order to a tea; that all parolees caught fighting with or supporting the rebel cause were to be hanged. This was no different than orders Major James Wemyss was following in the low lands of South Carolina at the same time of the siege. During Wemyss’ two-week, sixty-mile scorch and burn policy while seeking Col. Francis ‘Swamp Fox’ Marion and his band of militia, he too was vilified for hanging those he suspected of violating their paroles.
British accounts of the multiple hangings and prisoner deaths after the siege was mentioned in passing. Cornwallis observed that “the Indians pursued and scalped several of them.” Officers for the most part kept such details out of written reports. James Grierson, who commanded at Augusta after the siege while Brown convalesced from his wounds, reported to Royal Governor James Wright (served 1760-1782) that “many rebels have been killed, wounded & taken & one hanged.” Wright would comment a month later in a follow-up report, confirming that twelve additional parole violators were hanged and that it “will have a very good effect.”
Aftermath
After raising the siege, Clarke retreated northwest to Little River in Wilkes County, Georgia, about 50 miles from Augusta. It was a semi-wilderness region and part of the ‘ceded lands,’ north and west of Augusta where many of the Georgia Refugees had settled. There, Clarke disbanded his force so that his men might return home, prior to be called once more to the field at a later date. While the wounded Brown remained at Augusta, Lt. Colonel Cruger’s British columns organized a pursuit and a punishing raid against Wilkes County Whigs. Wilkes county was viciously and thoroughly scoured. Over 100 Whig homes were torched and the families of Clarke’s men were given a choice of submission or exile. Some accounts state that elderly members of their families were taken and cruelly treated as prisoners while others accused of breaking their paroles were hanged. Before the month was over, Clake was at the head of 300 men with many of their families in an exodus into South Carolina to escape the British retribution for the attack on Augusta.
Besides Cruger’s punitive raid, Brown’s Tories, Creeks, and Cherokee sought revenge for those killed and wounded during the siege. Besides the death of captives at Augusta, they followed Clarke into the upper settlements of Wilkes County. Rebel settlements were attacked while assaulting some of those who were part of the refugee exodus into South Carolina. Elijah Clarke wrote a letter describing these Tory and Native American attacks to Colonel Arthur Campbell of Virginia’s Washington County Militia (Campbell would lead an expedition against the Cherokee in December, two months after the siege). Clarke wrote, “a body of Tories and Indians followed us into the upper settlements of Georgia… finding us out of their reach, fell upon our sick and wounded, together with old men, women and children of the families of those that adhered to, or retreated with me; also several Tory families, I suppose through mistake of the Indians, were all murdered in the most cruel manner, women and children stripped, scalped, and suffered to welter in their gore unassisted, until they expired with hunger and pain; lads obliged to dance naked between two large fires until they were scorched to death; men tripped, dismembered, and scalped, afterwards hung up.”
Colonel Brown and Lt. Col. Grierson would remain at Augusta. Fort Augusta would be enhanced and renamed Fort Cornwallis. With Clarke’s rebels and many of Whig residents were driven north to South Carolina, the Crown reigned supreme in Georgia. However, this rule was short-lived. Raids such as Cruger’s punitive torching of Wilkes County, Georgia and Major Weymss’ torching of South Carolina’s lowlands only enhanced the rebel call for new recruits to wage a guerrilla war against British regulars and Loyalist militias. After the devastating defeat of Loyalists at the Battle of King’s Mountain, Oct. 7, 1780, in which a company from Clarke’s regiment was present, and the further annihilation of a quarter of Cornwallis’ army at the Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781, the tide of war had turned. On June 6, 1781, Clarke, along with General Andrew Pickens and Continental troops under Lt. Colonel Henry ‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee, captured Augusta; along with the revengeful killing of Lt. Colonel Grierson and his men as they raced from Fort Grierson to Fort Cornwallis. Brown surrendered and was given parole.
After the failed first siege, Colonel Clarke and Captain McCall were criticized for unleashing the wrath of South Carolina after the failed siege, which brought British, Loyalists, and Native American wrath against Whig settlements. As 19th century historian Jones noted, “Had they succeeded, praise and not censure would have been the general verdict. By some the expedition was denounced as an ‘ill-timed and a premature insurrection.”
Clarke, as partisan leader, continued to lead frontier guerillas in inflicting a heavy toll on British forces. One of sturdy mental and physical stamina, he survived the war with four wounds, two severe. He served in the Georgia state assembly, 1781 – 1790, and the state constitutional convention of 1789. His military duties carried on in which he defeated the Creeks at Jack’s Creek on Sept., 21 1787. After leaving the Georgia legislature, his reputation was tainted by attempts to form an independent republic from seized Creek lands on the Oconee frontier. Twice he became involved in plots to invade Spanish East Florida. Disenchanted, discredited, and almost bankrupt, Elijah Clarke died in Augusta on December 5, 1799.
After Brown surrendered to Continental troops under Lt. Colonel Lee, he was escorted under heavy guard to Savannah where he was granted parole and later exchanged. Brown lost no time returning to the field as a leader of his regiment of rangers in skirmishes against Continental troops commanded by General Anthony Wayne. After Savannah surrendered in July 1782, Brown joined the thousands of loyalist refugees who evacuated to Florida; only to once more be forced to leave when Florida was turned over to Spain during the Paris Peace Treaty of 1783. . Brown and many of his former rangers settled on Abaco Island in the Bahamas where Loyalists regarded him as a hero.
Ezekiel Harris House
For decades, Augusta residents pointed to the Ezekiel Harris House as the Whitehouse in which Brown, his men, and native allies barricaded themselves during the four-day siege. Much was said of the thirteen ghosts of those hanged which still haunted the stairway and rooms. Martha Norwood’s extensive 1975 research confirmed that the Ezekiel Harris house was built c. 1797 and therefore was not the MacKay Trading post which was constructed in the 1760’s. The MacKay house, according to Mary MacKay was in total ruins by the end of the war and most likely shortly after destroyed. Furthermore, primary sources agree the Whitehouse was constructed of stone and the Harris House is of wood. The original color of the Harris house was a shade of blue, not white. Lastly, the location of the Harris House on Broad Street does not concur with primary sources that state it was within 80 yards of the Savannah River.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE ON THE WAR IN GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH, CHECK OUT THESE RECOMMENDED BOOK PREVIEWS
OF SIMILAR INTEREST ON REVOLUTIONARY WAR JOURNAL
RESOURCE
Buchanan, John. The Road to Guilford Courthouse. 1997: John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, NY.
Cashin, Edward J editor. “The Pension Claim of Joshua Burnett.” Richmond County History. Vol. 10 (Winter 1978): pp. 14-19.
Cashin, Edward J. “Thomas Brown (1750 – 1825)” New Georgia Encyclopedia.
Coleman, Kenneth. The American Revolution in Georgia, 1763-1789. 1958 reissue 2021: University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA.
Commager, Henry Steele & Morris, Richard B. editors. The Spirit of Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution as Told by its Participants: 2002 Edition: Castle Books, Edison, New Jersey.
Crawford, Alan Pell. This Fierce People, The Untold Story of America’s Revolution in the South. 2024: Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.
Davis, Robert Scott Jr., “Elijah Clarke (1742- 1799)” New Georgia Encyclopedia.
Dawson, Henry B. Battles of the United States by Sea and Land…in Two Volumes. 1858: Johnson, Fry, and Company, New York, NY.
Hall, Leslie. Land & Allegiance in Revolutionary Georgia. 2001: University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA.
Johnson, Daniel McDonald. Savannah, Augusta & Brier Creek: The conquest of Georgia in the American Revolution. 2020: Independently Published by Author.
Johnston, Edith Duncan. “Sir Patrick Houstoun, Sixth Baronet.” The Houstouns of Georgia, University of Georgia Press, 1950, pp. 107–30. JSTOR
Jones, Charles Colcock. The History of Georgia. 1883: Houghton Mifflin & Co., Boston, MA.
Kahler, Herbert E. & Lattimore, Ralston B. “Field Notes on Historic Sites, Augusta, Georgia, Oct. 20, 1936.”
Lee, Henry ‘Light Horse Harry.’ Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States, Vol. 1. 1812: Bradford and Inskeep, Philadelphia, PA.
Lynch, Wayne. “Elijah Clarke and the Georgia Refugees Fight British Domination.” All Things Liberty. Sept. 15, 2014.
Lynch, Wayne. “James McCall.” South Carolina Revolutionary War Biographies.
Mayre, P. Thornton. “White House Augusta, Richmond County, GA.” Historic American Buildings Survey. Aug. 8, 1936. District 14, Atlanta, GA. And “MacKay House.” Georgia Historical Commission. Atlanta, Ga 1964
McCall, Hugh. The History of Georgia Containing Brief Sketches of the Most Remarkable Events up to the Present. Vol. 2. 1816: Seymour and Williams, Savannah, GA.
McCall, Mac. “The Fight for Augusta.” January 2020 Augusta Magazine.
Norwood, Martha F. “A History of the White House Tract, Richmond County, Georgia, 1756-1975.” August 8, 1775. Georgia Dept. of National Resources, Atlanta, GA.
Rauch, Steven. “An Ill-timed and Premature Insurrection: The First Siege of Augusta, Georgia Sept. 14 – 18, 1780.” Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution. Vol. 2, No. 9. (Sept. 2005) pp 1-15.
Vickers, Kim. “Hometown History: The American Revolution in Augusta.” July 13,2023: ABC News Channel 6 WJBF.
Ward, Christopher. The War of the Revolution. 1952: MacMillan, New York, NY. 2021: Reissue by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY.