Raid of Nassau

Raid of Nassau
Part of the American Revolutionary War
New Providence Raid, March 1776, V. Zveg
Date March 3–4, 1776 Location Nassau, Bahamas 25°03′36″N 77°20′42″W / 25.06°N 77.345°W / 25.06; -77.345 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

The Raid of Nassau^[a] (March 3–4, 1776) was a naval operation and amphibious assault by American forces against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas, during the American 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 to New England, where they fought an unsuccessful engagement with a British frigate.

During the American Revolutionary War, the Patriot forces suffered from a shortage of gunpowder. In response to such shortages, the Second Continental Congress ordered an American fleet under the command of Esek Hopkins to patrol the Virginia and Carolina coastlines; secret orders were possibly given to Hopkins instructing him to raid Nassau, where stocks of gunpowder removed from Virginia had been sent.

The fleet departed Cape Henlopen, Delaware, on February 17, 1776, arriving at The Bahamas on March 1. Two days later, two hundred Continental Marines came ashore, seizing Fort Montagu but not advancing upon the town, where the gunpowder was stored. Governor Montfort Browne had most of Nassau's gunpowder loaded aboard ships sailing for St. 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 with HMS Glasgow before returning to New London, Connecticut. Though the raid was successful, the failure to capture Glasgow and crew complaints led to several investigations and courts martial, and Hopkins was censured and dismissed in 1778.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).