The Burning of Falmouth
16-18 OCTOBER 1775
THE BURNING OF FALMOUTH
Royal Navy North American theater commander, VADM Samuel Graves, took a hardline against the rebellious activities of Patriots in New England’s coastal towns. He ordered Royal Navy LT Henry Mowat in HMS CANCEAUX, 6, to, “lay waste, burn and destroy” the seaports of Marblehead, Salem, Newbury, Cape Ann, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Saco, and Falmouth—seaports that had been the sites of anti-British stirrings. Mowat saw this as revenge for an embarrassment he suffered five months earlier when CANCEAUX had been forced to flee Falmouth (modern Portland, Maine) under threat of numerically superior rebel militia (see story of 9 May). Falmouth became the first target for Mowat’s squadron comprised of CANCEAUX, HMS HALIFAX, 12, HMS SPITFIRE (bomb barge), HMS SYMMETRY, and the privateer CAT, 20. From Falmouth’s outer harbor on 16 October, Mowat sent a LT ashore with word that in two hours Mowat would “execute a just punishment” against their town “guilty of the most unpardonable rebellion.” Negotiations subsequently granted a delay if the townspeople would swear loyalty to King George III and surrender small arms and gun carriages. No oath was forthcoming, and only a few small arms were handed over. At 0900 on this day the deadline passed.
At 0940 Mowat ran up the Red Ensign to begin the bombardment. For eight hours British ships hurled 3000 projectiles–solid shot, grape, shell, bombs, carcasses, and musket shot. As evening fell, Royal Marines were sent ashore to torch what remained. They encountered scant resistance. The earlier pause had given many residents the chance to flee. Only one citizen was killed and one wounded. Falmouth’s 400 structures were laid utterly waste, leaving 1000 homeless as winter approached. Fifteen small vessels in Falmouth harbor were burned or captured. Mowat moved next to Boothbay but had to call off that attack as the decks of his ships proved too weak for the recoil of guns in a prolonged bombardment. In the four months that followed, Graves similarly struck: Stonington, Connecticut; Bristol, Rhode Island; and on 1 January 1776, Norfolk, Virginia.
International condemnation ensued as the Continental Congress authorized, on 30 October, the purchase of two additional warships. The French Foreign Minister proclaimed, “I can hardly believe this absurd and barbaric procedure on the part of an enlightened and civilized nation.” Even the British home office was alarmed at the brutality unleashed on those who were still British citizens. VADM Graves was relieved two months later, in part from the backlash over this raid. Mowat, too, was repeatedly passed over for promotion.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 21-22 OCT 25
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Leamon. James S. Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine. Amherst, MA: Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1993, pp. 70-74.
“Letter from Rev. Jacob Bailey.” IN: Clark, William Bell, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 2 1775. Washington, DC: GPO, 1966, p. 500.
“Master’s Log of H.M. Armed Vessel CANCEAUX.” IN: Clark, William Bell, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 2 1775. Washington, DC: GPO, 1966, pp. 501-02.
“Narrative of Daniel Tucker of Falmouth.” IN: Clark, William Bell, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 2 1775. Washington, DC: GPO, 1966, pp. 500-01.
Sweetman, Jack. American Naval History: An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3rd ed. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, p. 1.
“Vice Admiral Samuel Graves to Lieutenant Henry Mowat, H.M. Armed Vessel, CANCEAUX.” IN: Clark, William Bell, (ed.), Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Naval Documents of the American Revolution Vol 2 1775. Washington, DC: GPO, 1966, pp. 324-26.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: “Carcasses” are hollow balls filled with flammable material and holed so the firing from a howitzer would ignite the incendiary. Upon impact the projectile shatters, spreading the flames.
