Raid on Tybee Island

On March 25, 1776, Archibald Bulloch, a Patriot military leader in the Province of Georgia, led a force of several dozen militiamen, alongside about 30 Creek soldiers, conducted a raid on the British-controlled Tybee Island during the American Revolutionary War. The primary goal of the raid was to capture runaway slaves who had fled to the island seeking refuge with the British. The raid resulted in the capture of about a dozen runaway slaves, alongside several white Loyalists and one British marine.

In late 1775, following the issuing of Dunmore's Proclamation, a large number of enslaved people in the Thirteen Colonies began to seek refuge with the British. In the Province of South Carolina, a large number amassed on Sullivan's Island, which was protected by a British fleet. However, in December of that year, a Patriot force, fearful of this community, raided the island. In the Province of Georgia, a similar situation was occurring on Tybee Island, located at the mouth of the Savannah River downstream of the port city of Savannah, Georgia, where an estimated several hundred slaves had amassed. While stationed in Savannah, Stephen Bull, a colonel in the Continental Army from South Carolina, wrote to Henry Laurens, a local Patriot leader in South Carolina, to discuss a raid on Tybee Island similar to the one that had occurred on Sullivan's Island. In their correspondence, Bull suggested capturing runaway slaves and massacring any whom they could not capture. Laurens gave his support to the plan, which was largely kept secret due to the sensitive nature of the military operation.

The raid was largely successful for the Patriot forces, with the only casualty on their side being a Creek soldier who was killed during a drunken fight with a militiaman. Meanwhile, several on the British side were killed. Largely due to the lack of primary sources regarding the raid, historians are unsure as to whether or not the proposed massacre ever occurred, with several speculating that the runaway slaves had largely left the island by the time the raid occurred. In the immediate aftermath of the raid, the British stationed near Savannah agreed to a prisoner exchange. Concerning the larger trend of runaway slaves seeking refuge with the British, several historians have highlighted the role that that has played in swaying Patriots towards seeking independence from Great Britain, with references to British-supported slave rebellions being made in both South Carolina's state constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence (both ratified after the raid in 1776).