“The misery, trouble, and distress were almost indescribably great, since the armies in turn passed through for 4 years, and kept garrisons in Eben Ezer, especially when the looting parties invaded. They killed young Joseph Schubdrein and young Schiele, and wounded George Ziegler, Johann Hangleiter, Lucas Ziegler [Waldhauer’s brother-in-law, a blacksmith, reportedly hidden near the church and fed by his wife while convalescing], and old Schiele, and pillaged so completely that some families could not bake any more and had to go for bread. Aside from that, the fornicator reigned very much. Of the members of the congregation who signed the Eben Ezer church constitution 45 are still alive, of these 31 are still dispersed, and 57 in eternity. . . “

He was persuaded to move back to Ebenezer, but:

  “…this step gave me misery, a cross and distress beyond measure, for apart from what the troops ate almost daily in the house, without paying, they killed cattle and pigs, and one night they took all the poultry, so that except for a few pigeons not a feather was left behind. If I said anything, then I was a rebel; if they were Americans, I had to be a Tory. And so the looting parties came so often. . . 3 came into the house, . . . broke open a trunk, and took from it all the hard money which I had and had received from the estate of Mrs. Rabenhorst and others, consisting of about £568. . . .This loss nearly took away my senses. . . . I was induced to move to Savannah again. . . “