Raid on Charlottetown (1775)

Raid on Charlottetown (1775)
Part of the American Revolutionary War

Rev. Theophilus Desbrisay, taken prisoner
Date17–18 November 1775
Location
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Result American victory
Belligerents
United States United Colonies  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Nicholson Broughton (Hancock[1][2])
John Selman (Franklin)[3]		 Kingdom of Great Britain Phillips Callbeck (POW)
Kingdom of Great BritainThomas Wright (POW)
Kingdom of Great Britain Peter Higgins (POW)
Strength
2 brigs Militia

The Raid on Charlottetown of 17–18 November 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, involved two American privateers of the Marblehead Regiment attacking and pillaging Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, then known as St. John's Island.[4] The raid motivated Nova Scotia Governor Francis Legge to declare martial law.[5] Despite the raid's success, George Washington immediately freed senior colonial officials the privateers had brought back as prisoners to Cambridge, Massachusetts.[6][7][8][9][10]

  1. ^ "Massachusetts in contention: a chronological survey, 1775-1783". February 12, 1975 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Peabody, Robert E. (Robert Ephraim) (February 12, 1909). "The naval career of Captain John Manley of Marblehead". Salem, Mass., Essex Institute – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ [email protected]. "The Navy of the United States, from the commencement, 1775 to 1853; with a brief history of each vessel's service and fate as appears upon record. To which is added a list of private armed vessels with their services and fate; also a list of the revenue and coast survey vessels, and principal ocean steamers, belonging to citizens of the United States in 1850 : Emmons, George Foster, 1811-1884 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  4. ^ Bumsted, J.M. (Autumn 1983). "The Patterson Regime and the Impact of the American Revolution on the Island of St. John, 1775-1786" (PDF). Acadiensis. 13 (1): 47–67. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  5. ^ "American Archives: Containing a Documentary History of the English Colonies in North America, from the King's Message to Parliament of March 7, 1774, to the Declaration of Independence by the United States. Fourth series". February 12, 1843 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Vol, 3, p. 2" (PDF).
  7. ^ Kerr, Wilfred Brenton (February 9, 2020). "The maritime provinces of British North America and the American Revolution". Sackville, N.B. : Busy East Press – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ "Marblehead Marauders: The (Unauthorized) Invasion of 1775 – Part Three". Isaac L. Stewart. November 20, 2015.
  9. ^ Naval documents of the American Revolution / editor, William Bell Clark ; with a foreword by President John F. Kennedy and an introd. by Ernest McNeill Eller. ... v.3 1775-1776. Naval History Division, Department of the Navy. 1964. hdl:2027/mdp.39015074927107. ISBN 9780160724954 – via HathiTrust.
  10. ^ Roads, Samuel (February 12, 1880). "The history and traditions of Marblehead". Boston, Houghton, Osgood – via Internet Archive.