Raid of Nassau

Raid of Nassau
Part of theAmerican Revolutionary War
New Providence Raid, March 1776,V. Zveg
Date March 3–4, 1776 Location Nassau, Bahamas Result American victory
Belligerents
United Colonies	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Esek Hopkins Samuel Nicholas	Montfort Browne
Strength
2 frigates 2 brigs 1 schooner 1 sloop	2 forts

TheRaid of Nassau(March 3–4, 1776) was a naval operation andamphibious assaultbyAmericanforces against theBritishport ofNassau, Bahamas,during theAmerican Revolutionary War.The raid, designed to resolve the issue of gunpowder shortages, resulted in the seizure of two forts and large quantities of military supplies before the raiders drew back toNew England,where they fought anunsuccessful engagementwith a British frigate.

During the American Revolutionary War, thePatriotforces suffered from a shortage of gunpowder. In response to such shortages, theSecond Continental Congressordered an American fleet under the command ofEsek Hopkinsto patrol the Virginia and Carolina coastlines; secret orders were possibly given to Hopkins instructing him to raid Nassau, where stocks of gunpowderremoved from Virginiahad been sent.

The fleet departedCape Henlopen,Delaware,on February 17, 1776, arriving atThe Bahamason March 1. Two days later, two hundredContinental Marinescame ashore, seizingFort Montagubut not advancing upon the town, where the gunpowder was stored. GovernorMontfort Brownehad most of Nassau's gunpowder loaded aboard ships sailing forSt. Augustine.On March 4, the marines captured Nassau.

Occupying Nassau for two weeks, the Americans seized any remaining military supplies they found before departing. The fleet engaged in an unsuccessful action on April 6 withHMSGlasgowbefore returning toNew London, Connecticut.Though the raid was successful, the failure to captureGlasgowand crew complaints led to several investigations andcourts martial,and Hopkins was censured and dismissed in 1778.

Background

A French engraving ofEsek Hopkins

When theAmerican Revolutionary Warbroke out in 1775,Lord Dunmore,thecolonial governorofVirginia,orderedRoyal Navysailors under his command toremove the gunpowderfrom theWilliamsburggunpowder magazine to the island ofNew Providencein the British colony ofthe Bahamas,in order to keep it from falling into the hand ofPatriotmilitia. The colonial governor of the Bahamas,Montfort Browne,was alerted by British generalThomas Gagein August 1775 that the American Patriots might make attempts to seize the gunpowder stored in the Bahamas.

The desperate shortage of gunpowder available to theContinental Armyled theSecond Continental Congressto organize a naval expedition, with the intention of seizing military supplies stored atNassau.While the official orders issued by the Congress toEsek Hopkins,the naval officer selected to lead the expedition, included only instructions for patrolling the Virginia andCarolinacoastlines and raiding British naval targets, additional instructions may have been given to Hopkins in secret meetings held by the Congress' naval committee.The instructions that Hopkins issued to his fleet's captains before it set sail fromCape Henlopen,Delaware,on February 17, 1776, included instructions to rendezvous at theGreat Abaco Islandin the Bahamas.

Hopkins' fleet consisted ofAlfred,Hornet,Wasp,Fly,Andrew Doria,Cabot,Providence,andColumbus.In addition to ships' crews, the fleet carried 200Continental Marinesunder the command ofSamuel Nicholas.In spite ofgale forcewinds, the fleet remained together for two days, whenFlyandHornetbecame separated from the fleet.Hornetwas forced to return to port for repairs, andFlyeventually rejoined the main fleet at Nassau, after the raid took place. Hopkins did not let the apparent loss of the two ships dissuade him; he had intelligence that much of the British fleet was in port due to high winds.

Prelude

Browne received further intelligence in late February that an American fleet was assembling off the Delaware coast, but apparently took no significant actions to prepare a defense.New Providence's harbor had two primary defenses,Fort NassauandFort Montagu.Fort Nassau was located in Nassau, but was poorly equipped to defend the port against amphibious attacks, as its walls were not strong enough to support the action of the fort's 46 cannons. As a result, Fort Montagu had been constructed, in 1742, on the eastern end of the harbor, overlooking its entrance. At the time of the raid, Fort Montagu was equipped with 17 cannons, although most of the gunpowder and ordnance was located at Fort Nassau.

Hopkins' fleet arrived at Great Abaco Island on March 1, 1776. The fleet captured twoLoyalist-ownedsloops,one of which was captained by Loyalist Gideon Lowe ofGreen Turtle Cay,and pressed their owners to serve aspilots.George Dorsett, a localship's captain,travelled from Abaco to Nassau and alerted Browne to the presence of the American fleet.The American landing force was transferred to the two captured sloops andProvidencethe next day, and plans were formulated for the assault on Nassau.While the main fleet held back, the three ships carrying the landing force were to enter Nassau's port at daybreak on March 3, and gain control of the town before the alarm could be raised.

The decision to land at daybreak turned out to be a tactical mistake by Hopkins, as the alarm was raised in Nassau when the three ships were spotted in the morning light, rousing Browne from his bed. He ordered four guns fired from Fort Nassau to alert the colonial militia; two of the guns came off their mounts when they were fired.At 7:00 a.m. he held a discussion with Samuel Gambier, one of his councilors, over the idea that the gunpowder should be removed from the islands onMississippi Packet,a fast ship docked in the harbor. They ultimately refrained from acting on the idea, but Browne ordered thirty mostly-unarmed militiamen to occupy Fort Montagu before retiring to his house to make himself "a little decent".

Battle

Landing and capture

A modern-day view ofFort Montagu

When the guns at Fort Nassau were heard by the attackers, they realized the element of surprise was lost and aborted the assault. The elements of the fleet then rejoined in Hanover Sound, roughly sixnautical mileseast of Nassau. There Hopkins held council, and a new plan of attack was developed.In some accounts, Hopkins' lieutenant,John Paul Jones,suggested a new landing point and then led the action. But one historian argues that this was unlikely, as Jones was unfamiliar with the local waters, unlike many of the captains present in the council.It is also possible that the landing force was led byCabot'slieutenant, Thomas Weaver, who was also familiar with the area. With the force enlarged by 50 sailors, the three ships, withWaspoffering additional covering support, carried it to a point south and east of Fort Montagu, where they made an unopposed landing between 12:00 and 2:00 pm.This was the firstamphibious landingconducted by what would become theUnited States Marine Corps.

A British lieutenant named Burke led a detachment out from Fort Montagu to investigate the American activity. Given that he was severely outnumbered, he opted to send aflag of truceto determine their intentions. From this he learned that their objective was the seizure of powder and military stores.In the meantime, Browne arrived at Fort Montagu with another eighty militiamen. Upon learning the size of the advancing force, he ordered three of the fort's guns fired, and withdrew all but a few men back to Nassau. He himself retired to the governor's house, and most of the militiamen also returned to their homes rather than attempting to resist the Americans.Browne sent Burke out to parley with the American force a second time, in order to "wait on the command officer of the enemy to know his errand and on what account he had landed his troops."

The firing of Montagu's guns had given Nicholas cause for concern, but his men had by now occupied the fort, and he was consulting with his officers on their next move when Burke arrived. They obligingly repeated to Burke that they had arrived to take the powder and weapons, and were prepared to assault the town. Burke brought this news back to Browne around 4:00 pm.Rather than advance further on Nassau, Nicholas and his force, consisting of 200 marines and 50 sailors, remained at Fort Montagu that night.Browne held a war council that evening, in which the decision was made to attempt the removal of the gunpowder. At midnight, 162 of 200 barrels of gunpowder were loaded ontoMississippi PacketandHMSSt John,and at 2:00 am they sailed out of Nassau harbor, bound forSt. Augustine, Florida.This feat was made possible because Hopkins had neglected to post even a single ship to guard the harbor's entrance channels, leaving the fleet safely anchored inHanover Sound.Nicholas' marines occupied Nassau without resistance the next morning after a leaflet written by Hopkins was distributed throughout the town.They were met en route by a committee of the town's leaders, who offered up the town's keys.

Return voyage

An 1803 depiction of Nassau; the harbor entrances are on either side of Hog Island, just north of Nassau

Hopkins and his fleet remained at Nassau for two weeks, loading as much military supplies as would fit onto the ships, including the remaining 38 casks of gunpowder.He pressed into service a local sloop,Endeavour,to carry some of the material.Browne complained that the American officers consumed most of his liquor stores during the occupation, and also wrote that he was taken in chains like a "felon to the gallows" when he was arrested and taken onboardAlfred.

During their sojourn at Nassau,Flyarrived. Her captain reported that she andHornethad fouled their rigging together and thatHornetsuffered significant damage as a consequence.On March 17, the fleet sailed forBlock IslandoffNewport, Rhode Island,with Browne and other colonial officials asprisoners of war.The return voyage was uneventful until the fleet reached the waters ofLong Island.On April 4, they encountered and capturedHMSHawk,and the next day capturedBolton,which was laden with stores that included more armaments and powder. The fleet finally met resistance on April 6, when it encounteredHMSGlasgow,asixth-ratefrigate. In theensuing action,the outnumberedGlasgowmanaged to escape capture, severely damagingCabotin the process, wounding her captain, Hopkins' sonJohn Burroughs Hopkins,and killing or wounding eleven others.The fleet sailed into the harbor atNew London, Connecticut,on April 8.

Aftermath

While Hopkins was initially lauded for the successful raid, the failure to captureGlasgowand crew complaints about some of the captains in the fleet led to a variety of investigations andcourt-martials.As a result of these,Providence'scaptain was relieved of his command, which was given to Jones.Jones, who had performed well in the engagement withGlasgowin spite of a crew reduced in number by disease, thereafter received a captain's commission in the Continental Navy, where he went on toengage in several naval engagements off Nova Scotia.

The manner by which Hopkins distributed the spoils was criticized by several congressmen, and his failure to follow his orders to patrol the Virginia and Carolina coasts resulted in censure from the Continental Congress.After a series of further missteps and accusations, Hopkins wasdismissedfrom the navy on January 2, 1778, having spent the last two yearsblockadedinNarragansett Bayby the British.Reports of Hopkins torturing British prisoners of war, as claimed by fellow naval officersRichard MarvenandSamuel Shaw,contributed to his dismissal.

Browne was eventually exchanged for American generalWilliam Alexander,who had been captured at theBattle of Long Island;after his return, Browne was severely criticized for his handling of the whole affair.Nassau remained relatively poorly defended and was again subjected to the threat of an American attack in January 1778.It was thencaptured by Spanish forcesunder the command ofBernardo de Gálvezin 1782, but wasrecaptured by Loyaliststhe next year; the1783 Treaty of Paris,which ended the war, confirmed the islands as being under British control.

TheU.S. NavyshipUSSNassau(LHA-4),aTarawa-class amphibious assault ship,is named specifically in recognition of this battle, while theOliver Hazard Perry-class frigateUSSNicholas(FFG-47)is named after Samuel Nicholas.

See also

• List of American Revolutionary War battles

References

Books

• Field, Edward (1898).Esek Hopkins, commander-in-chief of the continental navy during the American Revolution, 1775 to 1778.Providence, Rhode Island:Preston & Rounds.OCLC3430958.
• McCusker, John J.(1997).Essays in the Economic History of the Atlantic World.London:Routledge.ISBN0415757215.OCLC470415294.
• Morison, Samuel Eliot(1999) [1959].John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography.Annapolis, Maryland:Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-1-55750-410-4.OCLC42716061.
• Riley, Sandra; Peters, Thelma B. (2000).Homeward Bound: A History of the Bahama Islands to 1850 with a Definitive Study of Abaco in the American Loyalist Plantation Period.Miami:Island Research.ISBN978-0966531022.OCLC51540154.

Websites

• Gresham, John D. (2 April 2021)."Revolutionary War: Battle of Nassau".Defense Media Network.Retrieved14 August2021.
• Stanger, Allison (25 September 2019)."America Needs Whistle-Blowers Because of People Like This".The Atlantic.Retrieved14 August2021.