Upon the transfer of active operations to the Carolinas, Sunbury seems to have been but feebly garrisoned by the enemy. At times, and for a considerable portion of the year 1780, it appears doubtful whether any British force was there stationed. The Royal army in Georgia was then so much reduced that the garrison at Savannah did not exceed five hundred men.[219] The truth is, the available forces of the State had been so largely withdrawn for service elsewhere, the entire coast region was so thoroughly impoverished, and so many of the Whig families had moved away, that there was scarcely any necessity for maintaining this post except as a matter of convenience in keeping open the land communication between Savannah and St. Augustine. In this exhausted and comparatively quiet condition did matters remain until the close of the war. We are not aware that any events occurred in Sunbury, during the residue of the struggle, worthy of special mention or calculated to rouse the inhabitants from that quietude born of want and oppression, feebleness and present despair. The successes of General Greene in Carolina enabled him to inaugurate such measures for the relief of Georgia that, in order to escape from the advancing and investing columns under General Wayne and Colonel Jackson, the British garrison embarked on the 11th of July, 1783, and Savannah, after having been more than four years and a half in the possession of the enemy, was formally surrendered to the Patriots who had already virtually achieved the independence of the thirteen Confederated States. Colonel James Jackson was designated by General Wayne as the officer to receive the surrender of the town;—a compliment well merited in view of the patriotism and gallantry which had distinguished him during the whole war, and in recognition of the recent active and hazardous service performed by his command while operating in advance of the army of occupation. Georgia’s losses, particularly along her south-eastern borders, had been very great. Her slave population, although quiet during the struggle, was essentially demoralized and reduced. It is estimated that between the 12th and 25th of July, 1783, not less than five thousand negroes made their escape from Savannah in sailing vessels. Upon the cessation of hostilities the agricultural and commercial interests of the State were in a most disastrous situation. Particularly was this the case in Liberty county where negroes and property of every description had been, from time to time during the continuance of the struggle, carried off, patriotic citizens driven into exile, plantations burned and converted into waste places, and the seeds of poverty and distress sown broadcast.