However, it was captured and burned by British forces on March 13, 1778, when Colonel Thomas Brown led his Loyalist company of the King's Rangers in an attack on the fort and took 23 Patriots prisoner.

[5][6] For over two centuries the site of Fort Barrington was a vital transportation and communication center of major military and political significance.

Some evidence of the old fort survives: sand breastworks and two bastions can be made out on the left of the sandy road leading to the hunting and fishing club that now occupies the area.

[2][5][6][7] The fort was built on the north side of the Altamaha River about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of present-day Darien, Georgia.

The "sand hills" of Barrington, as they were called after 1750, had been a major Native American trail for centuries and provided the primary coastal route from Savannah to St.