ry sympathies were to be encouraged; but those who
were disaffected were to be dealt with summarily, so as to put an end,
at once and forever, to the disloyalty that had been active in that
region. This plan was carried out promptly and violently. The severest
punishment was the portion of those who refused to take the oath of
allegiance. Plunder and the torch were the portions of those who chanced
to be away from home, fighting for their country. Their helpless
wives and children were left homeless, and destitute of provisions.
Fortunately a great many stanch Liberty Boys had carried their families,
their household effects, and their cattle, into South Carolina as soon
as they heard of the fall of Augusta; but many had remained at home, and
the sufferings of these were severe.

Another explanation of the extreme cruelty with which the war in Upper
Georgia was waged after the fall of Augusta, was the fact that Colonel
Brown, who had been left in command by Colonel Campbell, had some old
scores to settle. At the very beginning of the struggle he had been
arrested in Augusta by some of the Liberty Boys, tarred and feathered,
and paraded through the public streets, on account of his outspoken
loyalty to the King. Still another reason was the fact that Daniel
McGirth, who had been maltreated by an American officer, was among the
officers who had accompanied Colonel Brown. McGirth held every American
responsible for the treatment he had received, and he spared few that
fell into his hands. Thus, between the anxiety of the British to conquer
Georgia completely, and the desires of Brown and McGirth to revenge
themselves, the Americans in Upper Georgia were made the victims of the
most inhuman barbarities.

The Americans under Elijah Clarke lost no time in retaliating, and
thus was begun a contest that may be aptly described as a war of
extermination. Clarke was enabled to defeat the British and the Tories
wherever they opposed him on anything like equal terms, and this fact
added to the rigor with which they treated the Americans who were so
unfortunate as to fall into their hands. Shortly after the affair at
Musgrove's Mill, in which Clarke defeated the British and the Tories,
Lord Cornwallis addressed a circular letter to the officers commanding
the advanced posts. He declared, "The inhabitants of the Provinces who
have subscribed to and taken part in this revolt shall be punished
with the utmost rigor; and also those who w