Raid On St. John (1775)

The Raid on Saint John took place on 27 August 1775 during the American Revolutionary War. The raid involved American privateers from Machias, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay attacking Saint John, Nova Scotia on the northeast shore of the Bay of Fundy(in present day New Brunswick). The privateers intended to stop the export of supplies being sent to the loyalists in Boston. This raid was the first hostile act committed against Nova Scotia and it resulted in raising the militia across the colony.

Background

During the American Revolution, Americans regularly attacked Nova Scotia, the coasts of modern day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by sea and land. American privateers devastated these small maritime economies by raiding many of the coastal communities, such as the numerous raids on Liverpool and on Annapolis Royal.

Barely a month after Lexington & Concord, there was a great naval success by 30 American militia men in the sloop ''Success'' on 14 May 14 1775 who recaptured two ships and their Royal Navy crews, totaling 15. These vessels had been taken by HMS ''Falcon''. This was on Buzzards Bay at the Battle off Fairhaven MA. A month later, 55 American militia men, led by Jeremiah O'Brien took control of two merchant vessels and on June 12, using them, captured the armed coastal patrol sloop (sometimes called a schooner, sometimes a frigate), the HMS ''Margaretta'' and her crew of 40 at the Battle of Machias, actually happening 12 miles down the bay off Machiasport.

In response to this defeat, in July 1775 the British sent two armed sloops, HMS ''Diligence'' and HMS ''Tatamagouche'' from Halifax to intercept the American rebels. However, O'Brien and his fellow captain, Benjamin Foster, captured both vessels in ''Unity'' and ''Portland Packet'' (aka the Falmouth Packet) on the Bay of Fundy.

In August, the Machias Committee of Safety sent Captain Stephen Smith to capture the brig ''Loyal Briton'' at St. John, which was loading cattle and other supplies intended for the British army at Boston.

Battle

On 27 August 1775, Captain Stephen Smith, in a 4-gun American privateer from Machias, along with 40 militia men raided St. John and burned Fort Frederick and took the brig ''Loyal Briton'' under the command of Captain Frederick Sterling. The brig had 120 tonnes of sheep and oxen for the British forces in Boston. Sterling also took a corporal and two privates, with two women and five children prisoner. John Anderson Esq. was also on board the brig. The brigantine was owned by John Sempill (Semple) and the navigator was David Ross, who both escaped. The prisoners were released at Boston and sent back to St. John.

Aftermath

Captain Edward Le Cras of HMS ''Somerset'' and HMS ''Tartar'' proceeded immediately to Annapolis Royal to protect the town on the southeast shore of the Bay of Funday. The Governor requested two sloops-of-war to patrol the Bay of Fundy. Admiral Samuel Graves assigned Captain William Duddingston of HMS ''Senegal'' to the task. Graves also sent Le Cras to protect Halifax for the winter. Governor Legge of Nova Scotia also called up militias from across the colony to be stood up. Faibisy, John Dewar, "Privateering and piracy : the effects of New England raiding upon Nova Scotia during the American Revolution,. 1775–1783." (1972).p. 26
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In retaliation for the raid on St. John, the British executed the burning of Falmouth, modern day Portland, Maine. American privateers remained a threat to Nova Scotian ports for the rest of the war.

See also

*
* Military history of Nova Scotia

Notes

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References

Primary Sources
Documentary history of the State of Maine. Letters of the Committee of Safety at Machias, Vol. 14, p. 310

Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving Great Britain
Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving the United States
Privateering in the American Revolutionary War
St. John
Maritime history of Canada
Military history of Nova Scotia
1775 in Nova Scotia
St. John