ca.
They also drew in their posts on the Hudson and left Washington free to
strengthen West Point and other defenses by which he was blocking the
river. Meanwhile they were striking staggering blows in the South. On
December 29, 1778, a British force landed two miles below Savannah, in
Georgia, lying near the mouth of the important Savannah River, and by
nightfall, after some sharp fighting, took the place with its stores
and shipping. Augusta, the capital of Georgia, lay about a hundred
and twenty-five miles up the river. By the end of February, 1779, the
British not only held Augusta but had established so strong a line of
posts in the interior that Georgia seemed to be entirely under their
control.

Then followed a singular chain of events. Ever since hostilities had
begun, in 1775, the revolutionary party had been dominant in the South.
Yet now again in 1779 the British flag floated over the capital of
Georgia. Some rejoiced and some mourned. Men do not change lightly
their political allegiance. Probably Boston was the most completely
revolutionary of American towns. Yet even in Boston there had been a sad
procession of exiles who would not turn against the King. The South
had been more evenly divided. Now the Loyalists took heart and began to
assert themselves.

When the British seemed secure in Georgia bands of Loyalists marched
into the British camp in furious joy that now their day was come, and
gave no gentle advice as to the crushing of rebellion. Many a patriot
farmhouse was now destroyed and the hapless owner either killed or
driven to the mountains to live as best he could by hunting. Sometimes
even the children were shot down. It so happened that a company of
militia captured a large band of Loyalists marching to Augusta to
support the British cause. Here was the occasion for the republican
patriots to assert their principles. To them these Loyalists were guilty
of treason. Accordingly seventy of the prisoners were tried before a
civil court and five of them were hanged. For this hanging of prisoners
the Loyalists, of course, retaliated in kind. Both the British and
American regular officers tried to restrain these fierce passions but
the spirit of the war in the South was ruthless. To this day many a tale
of horror is repeated and, since Loyalist opinion was finally destroyed,
no one survived to apportion blame to their enemies. It is probable that
each side matched the other in barbarity.

The Britis