by Patrick Mulgrew, Historical Interpreter
April 13, 2026 – On the morning of February 11, 1776, in Savannah, the third and last Royal Governor of Georgia, Sir James Wright, escaped from house arrest under the cover of darkness. He fled to HMS Scarborough, the flagship of the small British fleet harbored off of Tybee Island. A month later, he would initiate what became called the Battle of the Rice Boats, the first of three Revolutionary War Battles to take place in the city. But what led to this?
James Wright was born in May of 1716 in England. At the age of 9, his family moved to Charleston (then called Charles Town), South Carolina where his father, Robert, was appointed the colony’s Chief Justice. James Wright grew up quite comfortably. As a young man, he embedded himself in Charlestonian Planter society by acquiring plantation properties, and in 1740, entered Gray’s Inn in London, becoming a lawyer. He soon after married Sarah Maidman and together they had 9 children before Sarah and one their daughters, also named Sarah, passed away in 1764 aboard the HMS Epreuve. James Wright would become South Carolina’s chief justice in 1747, and a decade later, became the colony’s agent in London.
In 1760, James Wright was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, and was soon after promoted to Royal Governor after his predecessor Henry Ellis, stepped down due to illness. Under James Wright’s leadership, Georgia thrived, with a booming economic rise and expansion of the colony’s territory, while maintaining peaceful relationships with the various Indigenous peoples that called the colony home. These early years would earn Wright the trust of the colony and garnered him a reputation as a man above reproach. However, with the French and Indian war, came tensions. The fissures in Savannah’s politics began to expand and the Stamp Act of 1765 would cause tensions to boil over as under Wright’s leadership and enforcement, Georgia was the only colony to successfully import and use the revenue stamps. James Wright was caught between two loyalties: loyalty to the Crown and loyalty to his Colony. Ultimately, James was a subject of the Crown first. This act, among others, ruined the years of trust and respect Wright had garnered and the local Sons of Liberty (also known as the Liberty Boys in Georgia) began to voice their displeasure.
During this time, the Liberty Boys were voicing their distaste for the treatment the colonies were receiving by tarring and feathering suspected enemies and threatening not just James Wright, but other members of the colonial government, many of whom Wright thought of as friends, including the then Secretary of Georgia, James Habersham. These tensions came to a head in January 1776, when a small British fleet led by HMS Scarborough arrived at the mouth of the Savannah River looking to purchase rice. On the 18th of that month, James Wright and several of his friends were arrested in Wright’s own house. Their dinner party was interrupted by 200 Liberty Boys and other patriots, led by John Habersham, the son of Wright’s late friend James.
Wright was put under house arrest and was promised parole if he made no contact with the fleet. This offering of parole was seen with great dread by Wright and his fellow prisoners. According to William Moultrie, Governor of South Carolina and General of the Continental Army, “what was called a ‘Georgia parole’ and to be shot down were synonymous.” Fearing execution, Wright and his fellows escaped under the cover of night to HMS Scarborough on the 11th of April 1776.
James Wright left the colony after the Battle of the Rice Boats. But he would return 3 years later to resume his role as governor. Months after his return, he witnessed the Siege of Savannah, being lodged not far from the Spring Hill and Carolina Redoubts. He reported many details of the battle in his diary, including the woundings of Admiral Comte Henri d’Estaing and Count Casimir Pulaski, as well as praising the military engineering of Captain James Moncrief and noting his own son James Wright Jr., now a major in the British army, helped repel an early feint assault on the city’s east end. While the Battle for Savannah was a British victory, the war would, however, be won by the Colonies. After the Revolution, James Wright left Savannah for the final time on July 11, 1782, and retired to England.
Want to learn even more about Sir James Wright? Join us for a free lecture at Savannah History Museum on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Details here.