First Expedition

President Gwinnett formulated a plan to invade Florida, drive out the British, and annex that area to Georgia. His plan called for an expedition composed of state militia and Continental troops. He circumvented the command echelon of Colonel McIntosh altogether. This created confusion and dissention among the Continental troops commanded by Colonel McIntosh. There was an uneasy liaison between the state militia and Continental commands. President Gwinnett contended that as commander-in-chief of the state militia he was top commander for all military operations in Georgia. This was not, of course, the case, as Continental Army ele­ments in Georgia, and elsewhere, operated in conjunction with, but separately from, the state militia. President Gwin­nett, however, ignored Colonel McIntosh altogether and planned his expedition as he thought it should be.

The expedition by land and sea got underway at Sunbury on April 30, 1777. It got as far as the Saint Marys River when it met with resistance from British land and sea forces. Presi­dent Gwinnett’s expedition ended in less than a month with absolutely nothing gained. It was, without a doubt, one of the worst planned and executed military operations of the Revolutionary War.