The Raid on Chester occurred during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

when the US

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, Captain

Noah Stoddard Captain Noah Stoddard (1755–1850) of Fairhaven, Massachusetts was an American privateer who distinguished himself during the American Revolution by leading the Raid on Lunenburg (1782). In the raid, Stoddard led four other privateer vessels and a ...

Fairhaven, Massachusetts Fairhaven (Massachusett: ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor wit ...

, and four other privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at

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 ...

on 30 June 1782. The town was defended by Captain

Jonathan Prescott Dr. Jonathan Prescott was a British officer who fought at the Siege of Louisbourg (1745), became the Captain of the militia at Chester, Nova Scotia and later was involved with the Raid on Chester, Nova Scotia (1782). He was the father of Charle ...

and Captain Jacob Millett.

Background

During the American Revolution,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

was invaded regularly by American Revolutionary forces by land and sea. Throughout the war, American

s devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities. There were constant attacks by privateers, which began seven years earlier with the raid on St. John and included raids on all the major outposts in Nova Scotia. The first raid on Chester occurred in 1779 and the second three years later.

Raid on Chester

On June 30, the day before the raid on Lunenburg, Stoddard and two other privateers descended on

firing cannon from their vessels. Captain of the militia

fired cannon from the blockhouse. (The cannon Prescott used are now located on the grounds of the Chester Legion.) Prescott's cannon fire struck one of the privateers. As a result, the privateers retreated behind Nass' Point. The crews went ashore and requested of Prescott to bury their dead. Prescott indicated that if they disarmed themselves, they would be assisted. Eventually, Prescott invited Stoddard and the two other captains to tea. Realizing the community was still vulnerable to attack, Prescott and his son lied to the privateers that Commander Creighton at Lunenburg had sent 100 soldiers to be billeted at Chester that evening. Upon the privateers' retreat to their vessels, Captain Jacob Millett led women and children marching in red colours, pretending to be British soldiers from Lunenburg. The privateers left Chester to raid Lunenburg the following day.

Aftermath

The day after the raid on Chester, the American privateers redirected their attack on Lunenburg, presumably believing the Lunenburg militia had left the town to defend Chester. Jonathan Prescott was suspected of being an American Patriot sympathizer given that, after the initial hostile engagement, he reportedly allowed Captain

to bury his dead and then had tea with him the day before Stoddard orchestrated the raid on Lunenburg. People were also suspicious of Prescott's allegiance, because a number of Dr. Prescott's family were Patriots in the American Revolution; his nephew Samuel had ridden with

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...

. Samuel eventually was taken prisoner to Halifax where he is reported to have died during the war. Jonathan named one of his sons after Samuel and he is buried at the Old Burying Ground in Halifax. Jonathan's son Joseph joined the Continental Army, fought at

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French mi ...

, and was a founding member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

. Another of Dr. Prescott's sons John fought in the

Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

. His other son was

Charles Ramage Prescott Charles Ramage Prescott (January 6, 1772 – June 11, 1859) was a merchant, noted horticulturalist and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented the town of Cornwallis in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1818 to 1820. He was bor ...

. After the war, Jonathan Prescott was given the blockhouse, the modern-day Wisteria Cottage House, and used it as his home. History of the County of Lunenburg, p. 263
/ref>

References

Bibliography

A Naval History of the American Revolution

DesBrisay, Mather Byles (1895). ''History of the County of Lunenburg'', pp. 62–68

Eastman, Ralph M. (1928) "Captain Noah Stoddard" in ''Some Famous Privateers of New England''. pp. 61–63
* Gwyn, Julian (2003)
''Frigates and Foremasts: The North American Squadron in Nova Scotia Waters, 1745–1815''
University of British Columbia Press. . * MacMechan, Archibald (1923), "The Sack of Lunenburg" in ''Sagas of the Sea''. The Temple Press, pp. 57–72.
A History of American Privateers

Massachusetts Privateers, p. 176

Agnes Creighton, "An Unforeclosed Mortgage," Acadiensis, October, 1905
; Primary documents * ''The Boston Gazette'', and the ''Country Journal'', Monday, July 15, 1782. * ''The Massachusetts Spy: Or, American Oracle of Liberty'' orcester Thursday, July 25, 1782. * ''The Continental Journal'', Boston, Thursday, July 18, 1782.
Joseph Pernette to Franklin, letter, dated at LaHave, July 3, 1782, reprinted in DesBrisay, Mather Byles, ''History of the County of Lunenburg'', Toronto: Wesley Briggs, 1895, pp. 65–67.

Leonard Rudolf's account in ''Invasion of Lunenburg in Acadie and the Acadians''

External links

Sacking of Lunenburg – Primary Sources
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester, Nova Scotia (1782), Raid on Conflicts in Nova Scotia Military history of Nova Scotia Conflicts in 1782 1782 in Nova Scotia Military raids

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...