Thomas Browne

Background

Thomas Browne's date and the place of birth are unknown, but he is described as a young man residing in Augusta, Georgia, at the beginning of the war.

Career

Thomas Browne early declared his opposition to the Revolution, and ridiculed the Continental Congress in toasts given at dinner. Following this action he fled from the town, but was brought back; he was tarred, feathered, and carried for several miles in a cart, but refused to retract. Vengeance for this treatment was henceforth a controlling motive with him.

He began raiding in 1776, and took part in an attack on Fort McIntosh in the southeastern part of the state in 1777. His importance began with his organization in Florida in 1778 of a regiment called the King's Rangers; of this regiment he was lieutenant-colonel, and he was soon notorious for his raids in Georgia.

In the following year he was defeated in two engagements near Waynesboro by an inferior force led by Colonel Twiggs, Colonel Benjamin Few, and Colonel William Few. He was present at the successful defense of Savannah.

In 1780 he occupied Augusta, a strategic point on the Savannah River, banished the Whigs, and sequestrated their property. Here he was repeatedly attacked by Colonel Clarke in September of that year. He was wounded, and nearly on the point of surrender, when the siege was raised by the arrival of British forces under Colonel Cruger.

In 1781 he repulsed a night attack by Colonel Harden, and soon afterward he was again besieged in Augusta by Pickens and Lee. By the use of a tower of logs which commanded his defenses, they compelled his surrender with about 300 men, June 5, 1781.

So intense was the hatred felt toward Browne that he was especially guarded from avenging Whigs on his journey to the coast. That he was treated as a prisoner of war and exchanged was probably due to the British threat of hanging six Whig captives.

After his release he was colonel of Queen's Rangers of South Carolina and superintendent of Indian Affairs in the South. His last conflict was on May 21-22, 1782; in an attempted sortie from Savannah he was defeated in a night attack by Wayne, who charged with the bayonet. Browne's rangers were dispersed in Florida and elsewhere, his estates in South Carolina and Georgia were confiscated, and he went to the Bahamas. From there in 1786 he wrote a criticism of Ramsay's history of the war which had severely condemned his cruelty.

He received a grant in the island of St. Vincent in 1809, and died there in 1825.

Achievements

• Thomas Browne, whose force comprised Florida Rangers, Creeks, and Cherokees, showed bravery, skill, and determination in the defense. The turning point in his career began with the organization of a regiment called the King's Rangers, which he organized in Florida in 1778. Despite his defeated in two engagements near Waynesboro, he took part in the successful defense of Savannah. However, his chief achievement came in 1780 when he occupied Augusta, a strategic point on the Savannah River and banished the Whigs by sequestrating their property.

Politics

In his political affiliation Browne was a Tory, so in late 1782 he, along with several thousand Tory refugees from Charleston and Savannah, relocated to British territory at St. Augustine, Florida.

Views

After the successful defense of Augusta, some of Browne's prisoners were hanged in his presence, and others were given to the Indians to be tortured to death.

Quotations: One biographer says, "Of all the human characters developed during this abnormal period none can be named more notorious than Thomas Brown. "

Personality

The period of irregular partisan warfare in the South abounded in atrocities, and Browne had an unenviable preeminence in this respect. Browne undoubtedly had the qualities of bravery and good discipline, but he was revengeful and cruel.

Quotes from others about the person

• According to Charles C. Jones, History of Georgia, he was convicted of forgery in London in 1812 (doubted, with good reasons, by Sabine in his Loyalists).

References

• Andrew Pickens: South Carolina Patriot in the Revolutionary War by William R. Reynolds Jr. (2012-08-02)
• Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World by Maya Jasanoff (2011-02-15)
• The King's Ranger: Thomas Brown and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier by Edward J. Cashin (1989-06-30)