Rice secured too late to help Boston

Some merchant ships had to lighten cargo to navigate the shallow Back River channel, and the British eventually transferred 1,600 barrels of rice to transports at Tybee Island. The river ships carrying the rice probably relied on cargo instead of carrying much dedicated ballast, so shedding weight also meant surrendering provisions. Delay continued while prisoner negotiations and prize-taking kept the squadron near Savannah. After Barclay rejected a proposed exchange, Georgia’s Committee of Safety arrested remaining members of Wright’s council until the governor helped secure a settlement, illustrating how irregular political coercion prolonged the operation. Barclay’s convoy departed north on 30 March, met resistance rather than assistance at Newport, and proceeded to Halifax. By then Boston had been evacuated on 17 March, so the provisions could not serve their intended purpose. Sea power alone could not solve a supply problem when communications, preparation, and timing failed. Wright’s departure also marked the end of British control in Georgia until Savannah’s recapture in 1778.