The Battle of the Rice Boats, also called the Battle of Yamacraw Bluff, is a land and naval battle of the American Revolutionary War that takes place in and around the Savannah River on the border between the Province of Georgia and the Province of South Carolina on March 2 and 3, 1776.
The battle pits the Patriot militia from Georgia and South Carolina against a small fleet of the Royal Navy.
In December 1775, the British Army is besieged in Boston.
In need of provisions, a Royal Navy fleet is sent to Georgia to purchase rice and other supplies.
The arrival of this fleet prompts the colonial rebels who control the Georgia government to arrest the British Royal Governor, James Wright, and to resist the British seizure and removal of supply ships anchored at Savannah.
Some of the supply ships are burned to prevent their seizure, some are recaptured, but most are successfully taken by the British.
Governor Wright escapes from his confinement and safely reaches one of the fleet's ships.
His departure marks the end of British control over Georgia, although it will be briefly restored when Savannah is retaken by the British in 1778.
Wright again rules from 1779 to 1782, when British troops are finally withdrawn during the closing days of the war.
