Battle off Yarmouth (1777)

Battle off Yarmouth (1777)
Part of the American Revolutionary War

USS Cabot
Date28 March 1777
Location
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Result British victory
Belligerents
United States United States Kingdom of Great Britain United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
United States Joseph Olney
Lieut. Benjamin Knight		 Kingdom of Great Britain John Burr[1][2]
Strength
140 men 32 guns

The Battle off Yarmouth took place on 28 March 1777 during the American Revolutionary War off the coast of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.[3] The battle is the first American armed vessel to engage the British Navy. The British vessel HMS Milford forced the American USS Cabot aground and the American crew escaped among the inhabitants of Yarmouth.[4][5][6]

Background[edit]

During the American Revolution, Americans regularly attacked Nova Scotia by land and sea. American privateers devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities,[note 1] such as the numerous raids on Liverpool and on Annapolis Royal.[7]

Battle[edit]

Three American vessels (brigantines) – Massachusetts (Captain John Fisk),[8] Tyrannicide (Captain Jonathan Harriden) and the brig Cabot (Captain Olney) - were sailing toward Nova Scotia and were confronted at 11:00 pm by HMS Milford. They waited until morning before they decided to attack. During the morning hours Cabot had been separated from the other two ships. Then the weather became "thick and rainy" until 6:00 pm. When the weather cleared Milford pursued Cabot. The wind and waves remained high and the pursuit lasted for several days and nights. Captain Olney realized Cabot was being overtaken and steered to the Nova Scotia shore and beached the vessel near Chebogue River, a short distance from Yarmouth.[3]

Aftermath[edit]

The crew of 140 got safely to shore and escaped into the village of Chebogue. Local residents Captain Zacharias Foot[9][10] and his nephew Captain Richard Valpey[11][12] housed and fed thirty of the crew for a few weeks until they were able to secure a vessel back to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. One observer noted that Captain Foot's "unbounded liberality to American prisoners is Well known to many."[13] On separate occasions, Foot and Valpey were later imprisoned by the Americans. Captain Olney advocated for Foot's release, which was successful. After this period, Foot continued to trade with Boston the release of American prisoners for other goods and supplies.[14][15] American privateers remained a threat to Nova Scotian ports for the rest of the war. For example, after a failed attempt to raid Chester, Nova Scotia, American privateers struck again in the Raid on Lunenburg in 1782.

Milford took 14 days to get Cabot afloat and then sent it to Halifax.[16]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Benjamin Franklin also engaged France in the war, which meant that many of the privateers were also from France.

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ "John Burr (c.1725-1776)". threedecks.org. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  2. ^ Smith, Charles Richard (1975). Marines in the Revolution: A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution, 1775-1783. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. p. 434.
  3. ^ a b Smith, Charles Richard (1975). "Marines in the Revolution: A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution, 1775-1783". History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. p. 111.
  4. ^ "How Zachariah Foote, of Yarmouth, Endured the American Revolutionary War". yarmouthhistory.ca. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  5. ^ Silverstone, Paul H. (2006). The Sailing Navy, 1775–1854. New York, New York: Routledge. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-415-97872-9.
  6. ^ Maclay, Edgar Stanton (1894). A History of the United States Navy, from 1775 to 1893. Vol. 1. p. 85.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ Marsters, Roger (2004). Bold Privateers: Terror, Plunder and Profit on Canada's Atlantic Coast. pp. 87–89.
  8. ^ "Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the revolutionary war. A compilation from the archives". Office of the Secretary of State Massachusetts. 1896. p. 27. OCLC 1049642859.
  9. ^ The Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. Vol. II. 1978. p. 1635.
  10. ^ "Local History".
  11. ^ "American Maritime Units and Vessels and Their Supporters During the Revolutionary War 1775–1783: Including French and Spanish (H–I)". Granville Hough's Ship Listing. Retrieved 14 August 2022.[unreliable source?]
  12. ^ "The Many Trials of Richard Valpey of Yarmouth, and his Service to American Cause During the Revolution". 16 August 2017.[unreliable source?]
  13. ^ Annals of Yarmouth, p. 56
  14. ^ Annals of Yarmouth pp. 13–16, 56–60
  15. ^ Naval Records of the American Revolution, 1775-1788. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. 1906. p. 262.
  16. ^ Allen, Gardner W. (1913). "A Naval History of the American Revolution In Two Volumes". Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 191.

References[edit]

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