Battle of Cape Fear River (1718)

Battle of Cape Fear River
Part of the Golden Age of Piracy
An 18th-century map of the Cape Fear River
Date September 26–27, 1718 Location Cape Fear River, North Carolina 33°53′8″N 78°0′46″W / 33.88556°N 78.01278°W / 33.88556; -78.01278 Result British victory
Belligerents
South Carolina	Pirates
Commanders and leaders
William Rhett	Stede Bonnet
Strength
2 sloops	3 sloops 3 canoes
Casualties and losses
30 killed and wounded	12 killed and wounded 41 captured 3 sloops captured 3 canoes captured

The Battle of Cape Fear River, also known as the Battle of the Sandbars, was fought in September 1718 between two sloops from the Province of South Carolina led by William Rhett and a group of pirate ships under the command of Stede Bonnet. Rhett's sloops defeated the pirates in the Cape Fear River estuary which led to Bonnet's eventual execution by hanging in Charleston, South Carolina.