can patriot. The whim of the officer to possess McGirth's mare
was a foolish one at best. It was the cause of great public and private
suffering.

[Illustration: McGirth and his mare 072]

When South Carolina was rescued from the British, McGirth retreated
into Georgia, and finally into Florida. When the Spaniards regained
possession of that territory, he became subject to their laws. For some
reason or other he was thrown into one of the dungeons of the old fort
at St. Augustine, where he was confined for five years. When released,
his health was broken, and it was with great difficulty that he managed
to return to Sumter District, in South Carolina, where his wife lived.

A very queer and eccentric character in the Revolution was Captain Rory
Mcintosh, of Mallow. Though Rory was a kinsman of General Lachlan and
Colonel John Mcintosh, who were among the most active Liberty Boys in
Georgia, he took up arms for the King, and a very devoted Tory he was.
His eccentricities would have been called whims if he had not stuck
to them with such constancy. He was a Highlander and a follower of the
Stuarts. How and why he became loyal to the new line of British kings,
history does not state; but his clan had a chief, and he no doubt
thought that every government ought to have a monarch. When the
Revolution began, he was over sixty years of age, and was living
comfortably on his plantation at Mallow; but he volunteered, and fought
through the war.

A story is told of Rory Mcintosh that once when the Spaniards held
East Florida, he carried to St Augustine a drove of cattle. He received
payment in dollars, which he placed in a canvas bag behind him on his
horse. When near his home, the bag gave way, and a part of the money
fell out. He secured what was left and rode on, paying no attention to
that which had fallen from the bag. When in need of money some years
after, he returned to the place where the dollars had spilled, picked
up as many as he wanted, and went back home. Whenever he could, he went
about accompanied by a piper. Rory was a tall, finely formed man,'with
bristling whiskers and a ruddy complexion: consequently when he appeared
on parade, he attracted great attention.

[Illustration: Captain Rory McIntosh 074]

In 1778 two expeditions were sent from St. Augustine for the purpose
of attacking Savannah,--one by sea, and one by land under command of
Lieutenant Colonel Prevost. This land expedition had been joined by