By 1775, the revolutionary spirit had reached Georgia through the "Committees of correspondence" and he dismissed the assembly. But a revolutionary congress met that summer in Savannah and elected delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Then, in early 1776, following the arrival of a small British fleet, rebel forces entered his home and briefly took him prisoner. Wright escaped on 11 February 1776, via Bonaventure Plantation and with the assistance of two compatriots, Colonel John Mullryne and Josiah Tattnall (father of future Governor of Georgia, Josiah Tattnall, Jr.), to the safety of HMS "Scarborough", and sent a letter to his council. The congress and the council adjourned without answering him.