to the western part of Georgia.

Meanwhile some of Clarke's men had gone to visit their families, and
others were more interested in securing plunder than in forwarding
the cause of independence. Colonel Brown, as soon as he heard of the
approach of the Americans, had sent several messengers by different
routes to inform Colonel Cruger of the state of affairs. Cruger, who was
in Carolina at Ninety-six, promptly set his men in motion, and on the
morning of the 18th appeared on the bank of the Savannah, opposite
Augusta. Under the circumstances, Clarke was compelled to retreat. He
had suffered a loss of sixty, killed and wounded. In retreating, he was
compelled to leave twenty-nine of his wounded men behind. Among these
was Captain Ashby, one of the bravest and most humane of the officers
of the American army. This unfortunate officer and the men with him fell
into the hands of the enemy. Colonel Brown was so severely wounded that
he was unable to move about; so he ordered Captain Ashby and twelve of
the wounded prisoners to be hanged on the staircase of the White House,
where he might see their sufferings and gloat over their agonies. These
men were cruelly strangled before Brown's eyes. But their fate was a
happy one compared with that of their wounded companions. Those men were
turned over to the red savages, who were the allies of the British. The
Indians received the prisoners with howls of delight, and began at once
to torture them in every conceivable way. They formed a circle, and
marched around the Americans, cutting and slashing them with their
knives. The end of the unfortunates was most horrible. They were ripped
with knives, scalped, and then burned. No doubt, Colonel Brown enjoyed
this scene more thoroughly than he did the tame and commonplace
spectacle of strangling Captain Ashby and his companions.

Before raising the siege, Elijah Clarke paroled the officers and men
whom he had captured,--fifty-six men, all told. This fact is mentioned
to show that the Georgia militia had not then begun those acts of
retaliation which have attracted the notice of historians. They had
had, as we know, abundant provocation; but after the horrible crimes
perpetrated by Brown reached their ears, they threw off all restraint.
Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and the men who acted
with Elijah Clarke thought that the best way to preserve the lives of
themselves and their families was to destroy the Tories as fast a