Georgia's Wright Didn't Get His Due

On the chilly evening of January 18, 1776, Georgia's royal governor, Sir James Wright, summoned Rebel leaders Joseph Clay and Noble Wimberly Jones to his home – on the corner of modern-day Telfair Square in Savannah – to discuss the recent arrival of a British fleet off the coast near Tybee Island. He informed them that the ship's officers had been instructed to treat those in arms “as in a state of rebellion” and, if possible, “destroy their towns & property.”[1] But the governor promised the Rebels that if the ships were allowed safe anchor and were permitted to provision themselves at market value, he would “endeavor to settle” affairs with the British officers in order “to prevent their doing any injury to this town.”[2] The Rebel leaders made haste for Tondee's Tavern, just a few blocks away at the northwest corner of Broughton and Whitaker streets, and informed the Council of Safety. In what was surely a tense discussion, they resolved to plunge Britain's youngest colony deep into the maelstrom of rebellion by ordering the arrest of Governor Wright and the Provincial (royal) Council members John Mulryne, Josiah Tattnall, and Anthony Stokes because they were now deemed a dangerous threat to the liberty of the people.[