As an officer in the colonial militia, he gained statewide fame for his role in the Battle of Point Pleasant of Dunmore's War.

Mathews was unable to claim the territory peacefully, so he created an insurrectionist force that captured Ferninanda Beach and Amelia Island and turned them over to the U.S.

In the fall of 1774, Royal Governor Lord Dunmore assembled an invasion of Native American territory along the Ohio River, culling a thousand troops largely from the Virginia frontier.

The Native Americans, under the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, attacked Virginia militia, attempting to halt its advance into the Ohio Country.

[25] The tide of the battle turned when the militia enacted a flanking maneuver late in the day, initiating Cornstalk's retreat.

Mathews served alongside Samuel McDowell and succeeded Charles Lewis, who had died in battle before the session began.

Jefferson wrote to Mathews to explain his decision to leave him in New York City as a parolee and instead exchange for others still suffering in much worse conditions on the prison ships.

[40] Mathews turned his attention toward the improvement of living conditions for fellow prisoners of war, securing money and provisions for this aim from Congress and the State of Virginia.

[41] He was formally exchanged on December 5, 1781, at which point he was given command of the 3rd Virginia Regiment and went with Major General Nathaniel Greene into the southern theater, though he saw no further action in the war.

When the 3rd Virginia Regiment was formally disbanded on January 1, 1783, he quickly petitioned the Georgia government for land, and received 1,900 acres (770 ha) in Wilkes County.

Irwin was elected governor of Georgia to replace Mathews, and on February 13, 1796, less than two months after taking office, he signed a bill nullifying the Yazoo Act.

[74] Mathews brought this to the attention of President James Madison, who wished to build on the expansionist policies of his predecessor, Thomas Jefferson.

Madison gave Mathews "remarkably vague and general"[76] directions to incite a rebellion among Spanish subjects, if necessary, and in turn to accept any territories controlled by these rebel forces into the domain of the United States.

Though unsettled, Mathews viewed this as an implicit endorsement of his plan, assuming the Madison administration was acting discreetly and desiring not to leave evidence of U.S.

[87] This confirmed to Mathews the Madison administration's support of his plans in lieu of direct correspondence, and additionally proved beneficial to his recruiting efforts.

[90] However, days before the Patriots were to cross into Florida, Major Jacint Laval—Mathews' housemate in St. Mary's -- discovered Mathews's plan to lure men of his division into desertion, and objected, raising alarm.

Fearing his window for a surprise attack was closing, he turned his attention to the lightly guarded city of Fernandina on Amelia Island, just across the river from St.

[93] On the night of March 13, 1812, Mathews, with his Patriots and support from nine U.S. Navy gunboats, entered Florida, and quickly seized rural lands off the coast of Amelia Island.

[95] The Patriots raised a new flag of East Florida designed by a member of Mathews' staff, held the territory for 24 hours, and then turned it over to the United States.

[96] Mathews wrote to Madison of the mission's success, while also requesting additional U.S. military personnel in acknowledgment of the difficulty he had faced in galvanizing local support.

[97] Mathews also revealed to Madison his intention to similarly overthrow Spanish rule of the cities of Mobile and Pensacola in West Florida.

[100] On learning of Mathews' request for further U.S. military support in Florida, as well as Spain's outrage towards the mission, Madison worried about the possibility of provoking Spain and its allies, the British, to join forces against the U.S.[101][102] Further, a scandal had broken in national newspapers about Madison's purchase of dirt on political opponents from a British secret agent in New England mere days before the news of Mathews' seizure of Fernandina broke in the papers.

[105] Madison then assigned Georgia Governor David Mitchell as his new special agent in East Florida, tasked with keeping Mathews' Patriot army intact and preserving its military occupations.

[106] Mitchell quickly informed East Florida Governor Juan José de Estrada that any attempt to drive out the Patriots would not be tolerated by the United States.

Stagg, in George Mathews and John McKee, Revolutionizing East Florida, Mobile, and Pensacola in 1812 (2007), states, "[i]t is now reasonably clear that the actions of Mathews and McKee in Florida and on the Gulf Coast between 1810 and 1812 departed far more from the policies of the [Madison] administration than they fairly reflected them,"[115] and additionally deems the Patriot War, "an embarrassing and shameful moment in the history of early American foreign policy.

"[116] However, James G. Cusick, in The Other War of 1812 (2007), states, "[i]n truth, the administration's displeasure over an attack on East Florida rested on its timing and in the unfortunate publicity it received, not on the results.

He succeeded too well; and, under pressure from several sources, President Madison and Secretary Monroe deemed it necessary to sacrifice Mathews to quell the criticism of their Florida policy.

[118] Similarly, Frank Owsley, in Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800-1821 states, "Mathews probably interpreted Madison's wishes accurately, and very likely had oral instructions from the government assuring him that his understanding of the orders was absolutely correct.

"[121] Rembert Patrick describes his appearance during an 1811 meeting with James Madison as thus: Several historical markers in the United States are dedicated to George Mathews.

The Battle of Point Pleasant monument and memorial in Mason County, West Virginia, lists him as a captain in the army of General Andrew Lewis.