the conduct of the war and the conservatives' initiative to merge Georgia with South Carolina. The radicals were defeated in their attempts to remove the conservative General Lachlan McIntosh from his position of leadership in the continental army in Georgia when national leaders, such as George Washington, sided with McIntosh. Throughout the war, those political conflicts erupted into violent and tragic confrontations. In February 1777, the conservative Joseph Habersham killed the radical Lieutenant Nathaniel Hughes in a dispute at the opening of the convention that was called to write Georgia's first constitution. On May 16, 1777, the conservative General McIntosh mortally wounded the radical Gwinnett. On February 16, 1780, the conservative James Jackson killed the radical Wells. Treutlen and the radicals lost many of their battles with the conservatives. The Revolutionary War was particularly hard on the Salzburgers at Ebenezer. During the war, "when the English left, the Americans came, when the Americans went, the English came back," but one thing remained the same: no matter who was there, the Salzburgers were plundered. Some were plundered as many as ten times during the years of war. Fall On December 30, 1776, Rev. Rabenhorst died, leaving Ebenezer with no spiritual guidance. Thus, when John Houstoun was elected governor in January 1778, Treutlen dropped out of statewide politics and returned to Ebenezer to see what he could do to help the community and people that had provided him with so much during his three decades in America. At Savannah, he became a Freemason by joining the first Masonic Lodge established in Georgia, named Solomon's Lodge, No. 1., constituted in 1735 by the Grand Lodge of England, was founded in the Georgia Colony by the English Freemason James Oglethorpe on February 21, 1734. Treutlen's name is listed on the Lodge's Masonic membership roles in 1779 along with Archibald Bulloch, George Walton, General Samuel Elbert and many other Georgia leaders of the Revolution. Late in 1781, Treutlen re-entered statewide politics as Ebenezer's elected representative to the Georgia Assembly. He served in the January 1782 session. In 1782, the conservatives, whom Treutlen had opposed five years earlier, controlled the government of Georgia. Treutlen was one of the few radical democrats in the government that year. The imbalance in power between the radicals and the conservatives helped to create an atmosphere where the conservatives felt free to seek revenge for old scores and wounds. Murder On