After the capture of Savannah, Col. Campbell continued to move up the Savannah River towards Purrysburg.

The Light Infantry of the 71st Highlanders were leading the way when they learned that the Patriots were taking slaves who were the property of Georgia Loyalists to the South Carolina side. Campbell gave "a Confidential Mulatto" a musket and "sent him forward with a Number of Negroes to the Bank of the River to call out to the Rebels for God’s Sake send over the Boats and save his Master’s Slaves from falling into the hands of the King’s Troops."

On the Georgia side, Col. Campbell hid his Light Infantry within the woods. The Patriots took the bait and rowed the ferryboats over to the Georgia side. When the boats reached the shore the Mulatto fired his musket and the Light Infantry sprang out and seized the boats. Col. Campbell did not lose a single man, and eighty-three slaves were "rescued" within site of the 1,000 troops of General Benjamin Lincoln.