1775 skirmish fought early in the American Revolutionary War at Gloucester, Massachusetts
A colonial militia repelled a Royal Navy seizure attempt at Gloucester Harbor, contributing to events that led Congress to establish the Continental Navy.
Key Facts
- Date
- August 8 or 9, 1775
- British commander
- Captain John Linzee, HMS Falcon
- British vessel
- HMS Falcon (sloop-of-war)
- Origin of targeted schooners
- Returning from the West Indies
- Outcome
- Militia captured British seamen; recovered seized schooner
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Royal Navy Captain John Linzee, commanding the sloop-of-war HMS Falcon, spotted two colonial schooners returning from the West Indies. He captured one and pursued the second into Gloucester Harbor, where it ran aground, prompting him to send sailors ashore to seize it.
Gloucester townspeople mustered their militia in response to the British landing party. The colonists captured the British seamen who had come to take the grounded schooner and successfully recovered the previously seized vessel, forcing the Royal Navy to withdraw empty-handed.
The skirmish was one of several colonial actions that provoked a retaliatory cruise by Royal Navy Captain Henry Mowat in October 1775. His expedition culminated in the Burning of Falmouth, which the Second Continental Congress cited as justification for establishing the Continental Navy.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
John Linzee.