The Battle off Yarmouth took place on 28 March 1777 during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

off the coast of

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Yarmouth is a town in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. A port town, industries include fishing, and tourism. It is the terminus of a ferry service to Bar Harbor, Maine, run by Bay Ferries. History Originally inhabited by the Mi'kmaq, the regi ...

. The battle is the first American armed vessel to engage the British Navy. The British vessel forced the American aground and the American crew escaped among the inhabitants of Yarmouth.

Background

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,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

also engaged France in the war, which meant that many of the privateers were also from France. such as the numerous raids on

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and on

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the n ...

Battle

Three American vessels (

brigantine A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts. Older ...

s) – ''Massachusetts'' (Captain John Fisk), (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.

Aftermath

The crew of 140 got safely to shore and escaped into the village of Chebogue. Local residents Captain Zacharias Foot and his nephew Captain Richard Valpey housed and fed thirty of the crew for a few weeks until they were able to secure a vessel back to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. One observer noted that Captain Foot's "unbounded liberality to American prisoners is Well known to many." 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. 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 Chester is a village on the Chester Peninsula, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. The nearby waters of Mahone Bay and its numerous islands are well known for yachting and have made the Chester Yacht Club into a cruising destination. A provi ...

, 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.

Notes

Citations

References