Today the story of Revolutionary War Captain James Armstrong, who ordered his own men to fire on other Continental troops in order to prevent the massacre of captured British troops. The story is recounted in the book "Historical Collections of Georgia", by Rev. George W. White. The book refers only to "Capt. Armstrong" without a first name, but from a consideration of other documents it appears that this was Capt. James Armstrong of Pennsylvania, who after the war returned to Georgia to become commander of the Georgia militia. In 1781 Colonel Henry Lee and General Pickens laid seige to Fort Cornwallis in the center of present day Augusta, Georgia. A protracted and ferocious fight ensued in which one of the key figures was Capt. Armstrong, one of Colonel Lee's officers. One of those present is quoted as saying "I have often heard the gallant Armstrong declare that he never had, in his opinion, encountered equal peril with that he experienced on this trying occasion. At every turn preparation was made for death. In every individual who approached, was seen the eager wish to destroy. Resentment was excited to the highest pitch, and called aloud to be appeased by blood." Facing annihilation, the fort's commander, Colonel Thomas Browne, surrendered the garrison troops, a mixed force of British Rangers and American Loyalist militia. A narrative of what happened next was written in 1786 after the war by Colonel Browne: "From Colonel Lee who commanded the Continental Legion, a gentleman of most honourable and liberal sentiments, and from his officers, the King's troops experienced every security and attention; from the militia, under General Pickens, every species of abuse and insult. The King's Rangers were paroled, and quartered at a gentleman's house, with a guard of Continental dragoons under the command of Captain Armstrong. The militia prisoners were confined to a stockade fort, where General Pickens and his militia were quartered." After Colonel Lee left Augusta, two of the Britsh officers were shot, one of them in front of his own family and his body desecrated, in the presence of General Pickens and his officers. "....These outrages served only as a prelude to a concerted plan for murdering all the prisoners. To execute this diabolical design, a hundred of General Picken's unseen marksmen, accompanied by three colonels, marched with drawn swords to the quarters of the King's Rangers. "Captain Armstrong being informed of their intention, threatened, and ordered his guards to oppose them if they advanced. Then, addressing himself to the King's Rangers, he told them, that if attacked, to consider themselves released from their paroles, and defend themselves. The determined spirit of Captain Armstrong and Major Washington, who were present, struck such terror into these ruffians that, apprehending an obstinate resistance, they instantly retired." The book further relates that as the British prisoners were loading into boats on the Savannah River to be evacuated down to Savannah, General Pickens' men positioned themselves on the riverbanks in hopes of shooting them as they passed by. Major Washington and the Continental Dragoons thwarted this plan by posting one Dragoon in each boat so that if fired upon Gen. Pickens' men would be firing upon their own men. The British prisoners were safely transported to Savannah. Jeff Armstrong