The Raid on Saint John took place on 27 August 1775 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 ...

. The raid involved American

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 ...

s from

Machias, Maine Machias is a town in and the county seat of Washington County in Down East Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,060. It is home to the University of Maine at Machias and Machias Valley Airport, a small publi ...

attacking Saint John,

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 ...

(present day

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) 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. It is the only province with both English and ...

). 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

by land and sea. American

s devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities, such as the numerous raids on

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

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 ne ...

. In June 1775, the Americans had their first naval victory over the British in the

Battle of Machias The Battle of Machias (June 11–12, 1775) was an early naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War, also known as the Battle of the ''Margaretta'', fought around the port of Machias, Maine. Following the outbreak of the war, British a ...

. In response to this defeat, in July 1775, the British sent two armed

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

, ''Diligence'' and ''Tatamacouche'' from Halifax to punish the Americans. On 12 July 1775, the British vessels confronted O'Brien in ''Unity'' and ''Portland Packet'' in the

Bay of Fundy The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is t ...

, where the Americans took the British ships. The Machias Committee of Safety sent Captain Stephen Smith to capture the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

''Loyal Briton'' at St. John, which was loading cattle and other supplies for the Army at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Battle

On 27 August 1775, Captain Stephen Smith, in a 4-gun American privateer from Machias, along with 40 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. He also took a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

and two privates, with two women and five children prisoner. John Anderson Esqr 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. The Governor requested two sloops-of-war to patrol the

. Admiral

Samuel Graves Admiral Samuel Graves (17 April 1713 – 8 March 1787) was a British Royal Navy admiral who is probably best known for his role early in the American Revolutionary War. Ancestry He is thought to have been born in Castledawson, Northern Irelan ...

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

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

s 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
/ref> In retaliation for the raid on St. John, the British executed the

Burning of Falmouth The Burning of Falmouth (October 18, 1775) was an attack by a fleet of Royal Navy vessels on the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts (site of the modern city of Portland, Maine, and not to be confused with the modern towns of Falmouth, Massachuset ...

. American privateers remained a threat to Nova Scotian ports for the rest of the war.

Notes

{{reflist

References

Primary Sources
Documentary history of the State of Maine. Letters of the Committee of Safety at Machias, Vol. 14, p. 310
St. John St. John Privateering in the American Revolutionary War St. John Maritime history of Canada Military history of Nova Scotia Military history of New England 1775 in Nova Scotia St. John

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References