When Martin began his term as governor, the British held Savannah as part of the southern theater of the American Revolution which, though near an end, was still being fought in Georgia. Martin wrote to General Anthony Wayne, "Nothing but the present deplorable situation of this country, & the starving condition of the greatest part of the inhabitants, many of whom have not tasted bread kind for more than a month past, could have induced me to trouble your Excellency on this occasion; but impressed with the idea that our distresses, which have been owing to the accumulated horrors of war this country has experienced for this four years past, might entitle us to hope for some small relief for the present from our sister State, has encouraged me to make this application."