ill not turn out shall be
imprisoned, and their whole property taken from them or destroyed. I
have ordered," he goes on to say, "in the most positive manner, that
every militiaman who has borne arms with us, and afterwards joined the
enemy, shall be immediately hanged. I desire you will take the most
vigorous measures to punish the rebels in the district in which you
command, and that you obey in the strictest manner the directions I have
given in this letter relative to the inhabitants in this country."

Here was authority broad enough to cover every crime that the British
and the Tories might see fit to commit, and they stretched it to the
utmost limit. They burned houses and destroyed property. They insulted
and inhumanly treated women and children. They hanged the innocent. They
went about the country practicing every barbarity that their savage and
bloodthirsty natures could suggest. It was no wonder that the Americans
retaliated whenever they had the opportunity. It was no wonder that
Elijah Clarke, naturally independent and irritable, should fail to see
the justice or necessity of treating the Tories he captured as prisoners
of war.

The situation of the Americans became so serious that Clarke determined
to strike a heavy blow. He returned from Carolina to Wilkes County in
September, 1780, and in two days succeeded in placing in the field
three hundred and fifty men. With this force, strengthened by eighty men
recruited in Carolina, he boldly marched on Augusta. The movement was so
unexpected, that, but for the fact that the advance guard fell in with
an Indian camp which it was compelled to attack, Colonel Brown would
have been taken completely by surprise. But the retreating Indians gave
him notice, and he took refuge with his command in a strong building
known as the White House. The siege began on the 14th. By daylight on
the 16th Clarke had succeeded in cutting the garrison off from its water
supply. The sufferings of the men, especially the wounded, became most
intense. The Americans could hear their cries for water and for medical
aid. Brown appears to have been as brave as he was cruel. Though he was
shot through both thighs, he remained at the head of his men; and his
great courage sustained the spirits of his followers. Clarke summoned
him to surrender on the 17th. He not only refused, but warned the
American commander that the demonstration he was making against the
King's men would bring destruction