Occupied Liberty County

Brigadier General Prevost joined the forces of Lieutenant Colonel Campbell in Savannah, Georgia, after the capture of that city. His superior rank placed him in command of all British forces in Georgia. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of major general.

Residents of Liberty County were ordered by British occupation forces to collect their firearms and surrender them to a storekeeper in Sunbury. They were warned that if they attempted to conceal weapons they would be subject to severe punishment as enemies of King George III of England.

Strict price controls and regulations were place on any­thing bought or sold in Liberty County. No merchant could operate his place of business until he swore allegiance to the king.

Eligible males in Liberty County were required to enroll in the Tory militia. Ultimately, all of the Liberty County militia was destroyed or surrendered to the British, except for groups of “refugees” who continued to fight the British inside of and outside Liberty County.

A general amnesty was offered to the Liberty County people if they would swear allegiance to King George III of England. Simon Munro (1750-1790) of Briar Bay Plantation was one of the very few affluent men in the county who took the oath.

Munro emigrated from his native Scotland to Georgia not long before the Revolutionary War. He married Elizabeth West, daughter of Charles West of Westfield Plantation. West owned large tracts of land in Liberty County. He estab­lished Briar Bay Plantation for his daughter and Munro. Munro and his family remained in Liberty County through­out the occupation. He was even a Tory legislator in 1780.

There was resistance by the people of Liberty County to the British both inside of and outside the county until the war ended in 1783. Liberty County citizens like Nathan Brownson and Richard Howley worked constantly in other parts of Georgia to keep the state government operative.