The idea of a rude frontiersman providing the democratic leaven within an association of the rich and powerful has always excited the American imagination, nurtured on stories of Davy Crockett.

Important in any theater of military operations, leadership and organizational ability were particularly needed in the campaigns in the south where a dangerous and protracted struggle against British forces ultimately played a crucial role in the American victory.

Few's dedication to the common good and his natural military acumen quickly brought him to the attention of the leaders of the Patriot cause, who eventually invested him with important political responsibilities as well.

The war profoundly affected Few's attitude toward the political future of the new nation, transforming the rugged frontier individualist into a forceful exponent of a permanent union of the states.

Men of his stripe came to realize during the years of military conflict that the rights of the individual, so jealously prized on the frontier, could be nurtured and protected only by a strong central government accountable to the people.

Like many other western settlers, however, the family became involved with the Regulators, a populist movement that grew up in reaction to the political and economic restrictions imposed on the frontier or back-country farmers by the merchants and planters of the tidewater area and by the local politicians and lawyers.

The uneven fight ended in total victory for the militia, although most of the Regulator's demands for political representation and economic relief eventually would be met by the state legislature.

Both the eastern planters and the new settlers found new taxes and restrictions on western expansion at odds with their idea of self-government, and Patriot leaders were able to unite the state against what they could portray as a threat to the liberties of all parties.

Typically, Few's unit received its tactical instruction from a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, in this case a former British Army corporal who was hired by the company as its drill sergeant.

But when he finally settled the family's accounts the next year and joined his relatives in Georgia, where he opened a law office, he quickly placed his newly acquired military knowledge at the service of the Patriot cause in his new state.

Few, in command of a company of Georgia Militia, watched the collapse of the campaign's logistical support and then the disintegration of the American invaders, as senior officers bickered among themselves and as disease began to decimate the units.

At the end of the year a sudden amphibious invasion by British forces resulted in the capture of Savannah, Georgia, and the annihilation of the rest of the Continental Army troops under Howe's command and most of the eastern militia units.

American successes began to reverse the fortunes of war in Georgia, prompting the recently appointed Continental Army commander in the region, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, to take the offensive.

The result was a bloody defeat for the Franco-American attackers, but Few's militiamen participated in a successful rear-guard action that shielded the retreat of the American units.

In the aftermath of the battle his regiment was posted to the frontier where the Muscogee, interpreting the defeat before Savannah as proof of the Georgians' weakness, had attacked the Americans in concert with British forces.

The area never developed into a secure Loyalist base, and British troops needed for subsequent operations in the Carolinas and Virginia had to be diverted to counter the threat posed by the American militiamen on the frontier.

Experience and innate common sense enabled him to develop patience, preserve his forces for key attacks, and then pick his time and place to engage small enemy parties without unduly risking the safety of his men.