Americans Burn Rice Ships at Savannah to Keep Them from the British
In early March, British warships and troops came to Savannah and seized several shiploads of rice for feeding the troops at Boston. They came to buy rice, but the local American leaders wouldn’t allow the merchant ships loaded with rice to leave Savannah, so British marines secretly boarded and took control of the ships. On March 4th, rather than let the British get away with the ships, the Americans tried to burn them, but only four were actually burnt. There was some skirmishing between the two sides, but few casualties. On the 7th, the British safely left Savannah with several hundred barrels of rice to feed their hungry army.
Colonel Lachlan McIntosh, commander of the American troops at Savannah, reported to General George Washington on March 8:
About the Middle of the same night [March 2-3] (as we were afterwards informed) The Commodore Barkley, & Majors Grant & Maitland with about 300 Men as it was Said, Landed on the back of Hutchinson’s Island with some Howitzers & Field Pieces, and with the assistance & contrivance of all our own Sea faring People & many from the Town crossed the Island & hid themselves aboard of our Merchant ships, which were previously Halled closs to the Island, a little above our Battery at Yamacraw for that Purpose [i.e., the merchant ships had previously been brought close to the island’s shore so that the British would be able to board easily]. early on Sunday the 3d the two Armed Vessels intending to Cover the Enemy’s Landing had come round the Island, & comming down on the South Side were attacked by parties of Riflers ordered for that purpose, & kept Smartly Engaged on both Sides most of the Day, untill they lost the Tide & got aground. while two Sailors (Americans) at the risque of their Lives Stole ashore & informed me, the Enemy were hid on board our Mercht Men, & had taken Jos: Rice prisoner, who was employed to unrigg them that Morning to confirm this inteligence Messrs Demeré & Roberts were ordered to go only along Side the Vessels & without Arms to demand our fellow Citizen Mr Rice, but to our astonishment they were also forced on board & kept, which convinced us our information was true, & immediately our Little Battery of three Guns began to play upon them, which they returned, and was continued very Smartly with Ball, Langrage & Small Arms from both Sides for Several Hours.
Sir James Wright, the royal governor of Georgia, had escaped Savannah with his family in early February. From the safety of HMS Scarborough, anchored near the mouth of the Savannah River, he wrote to British Major General Henry Clinton on March 10:
This day the King’s Troops returned from the Town & brought down with them about 14. or 15. Vessels in all, having on Board about 1600 b[arre]ls of Rice, & Several other things, this was Effected Without the Loss of a Man, but as I well knew it would, so it has, reduced this Province to the most deplorable Situation. — The Rebels are Skulking & increasing every day, Since they found the Troops did not Land, and are now Said to be 700 Strong, and Reported that they have Raised 200 of their Battalion, and have been reinforced by 600 Foot & 60 Horse from So[uth] Carolina, and have Seized on a great Many Negroes who are Employed in throwing up Works & Fortifying the Town, & putting it in the best State of Defence & resistance, Which they Possibly can, and I am perswaded will oppose any Troops, Which may be Sent against, or Attempt to take Possession of the Town & force them from it. — and thus Sir you See what a difference a few days have made in the State of affairs here, and I must beg Leave to Observe that not one barrel of Rice more, can ever be got, in the way this Quantity has been, and their getting the above, was very nearly Prevented, for the Rebels Set fire to a Ship, With an intention to Burn them all, but very happily only 4 were Burnt, and the above Escaped & were brought off. — and unless Troops come, Sufficient to Reduce this Province, no Provisions can be had from here, nor any from So Carolina.
Notes
- Captain Andrew Barkley of the Royal Navy was the commander of the British expedition. Majors James Grant and John Maitland led the British marines.
- The Georgia Council of Safety had decided to take the rigging off of the merchant ships so that they wouldn’t be able to leave with the British. Captain Joseph Rice had been sent to carry out this order.
- “Ball” means cannonballs. “Langrage” consisted of various pieces of metal bound together and fired from a cannon. “Small arms” were muskets, rifles, and pistols.
Sources
De Brahm, John Gerar William, Approximately 1799. A map of Savannah River beginning at Stone-Bluff, or Nexttobethell, which continueth to the sea; also, the four sounds Savañah, Warsaw, Hossabaw, and St. Katharines, with their islands; likewise Neuport, or Serpent River, from its mouth to Benjehova Bluff. [?, 1752] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/gm71000634/.
“To George Washington from Colonel Lachlan McIntosh, 8 March 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives (http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-03-02-0317 [last update: 2015-03-20]). Source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 3, 1 January 1776–31 March 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1988, pp. 435–439.
Naval Documents of the American Revolution, 4:293-94.