By the end of August, news had reached Charles Town that Bonnet's vessels were moored in the Cape Fear River. Robert Johnson, governor of South Carolina, authorised Colonel William Rhett to lead a naval expedition against the pirates, even though the Cape Fear River was in North Carolina's jurisdiction. After a false start due to the appearance of another pirate ship near Charles Town, Rhett arrived at the mouth of the Cape Fear River on 26 September with two eight-gun sloops, the "Henry" and the "Sea Nymph", and a force of 130 militia men. Bonnet initially mistook Rhett's squadron for merchantmen and sent three canoes to capture them. Unfortunately for Rhett, his flagship "Henry" had run aground in the river mouth, enabling Bonnet's canoe crews to approach, recognize the heavily armed and manned sloops as hostile and return uninjured to warn Bonnet. The sun had set by the time the rising tide lifted the "Henry" off the river bottom.