The gunfight and the improvised fire ship

McIntosh brought roughly 300 militiamen and three or more four-pounder guns to Yamacraw Bluff after the British seizure of merchant vessels. An initial delegation was detained, and a second parley deteriorated when an American officer fired from the boat and the British replied. McIntosh’s battery then began a four-hour exchange with the occupied ships. The Committee of Safety converted the supply ship Inverness into an improvised fire ship and sent it downstream. Its approach forced British troops to abandon exposed vessels while militia swept the area with musketry and grapeshot. The confused action damaged warships and destroyed or displaced rice cargoes, although the surviving accounts do not establish reliable casualty totals.