The Indians rushed into the house; again the foremost warrior was killed by a blow from a hunting-knife in the hands of the resolute boy; the family, however, were speedily overpowered and carried into captivity. The daughter, unable to bear the fatigues of a forced march, was despatched by the Indians at a short distance from the settlement. The mother and son were doomed to a lingering and painful death. When the prisoners reached the Wabash, preparations were made for their execution. Fortunately, the extraordinary heroism of the boy having touched the heart of an influential woman of the tribe, his life was spared at her intercession. Mrs. Hart was also saved from the stake by the intervention of a chief. The mother and son were finally ransomed and returned to their desolate homes. The back settlements of South Carolina were ravaged also by parties of loyalists and Cherokees, the brother of General Pickens being on one occasion made prisoner. At the head of a body of South Carolina and Georgia militia, General Pickens, in return, invaded and laid waste the Cherokee country. In February, General Greene being reinforced by the Pennsylvanian troops under Wayne, despatched him into Georgia, when Clarke, who commanded there for the British, drew in his outposts, and having ravaged and destroyed everything in his way, retired to Savannah. The people of Georgia, republicans and loyalists, were so impoverished by mutual plunder, that even seed-corn was hardly to be had. In June, Wayne’s camp was attacked by a body of Creek Indians, who, however, were repulsed with loss. In July, the British forces evacuated Savannah, carrying with them not less than 5,000 negroes. In October, a new expedition against the Cherokees, undertaken by Pickens, resulted in a treaty by which Georgia obtained all the Cherokee lands south of the Savannah and east of Chattahoochee, and the Creeks shortly after relinquished all claim to the lands east of the Altamaha and Oconee. Skirmishing continued in the neighbourhood of Charleston till near the end of the year, in which some valuable lives were lost, that of the younger Laurens being one. On December 14th, Charleston was evacuated.[55] CHAPTER XIV. FIRST YEARS OF PEACE.