- Battle of Nassau
The Battle of Nassau (
March 2 –March 3 ,1776 ) was a naval action and amphibious assault by American forces against British-occupiedNassau in theBahamas during theAmerican Revolutionary War . It is considered the first cruise and one of the first engagements of the newly establishedContinental Navy and theContinental Marines , the progenitor of theUnited States Navy and Marine Corps. The led assault procured the Marines' first amphibious landing in United States' history. It is sometimes known as the Raid of Nassau.Battle
Under the command of Fleet Captain or Commodore
Esek Hopkins ofRhode Island , a task force of four ships, including "Hornet", "Alfred", and "Wasp", rallied nearGreat Abaco Island , north of the Island ofNew Providence , onMarch 1 ,1776 . The force captured twosloops owned by Loyalists, one of those men being Capt. Gideon Lowe of Green Turtle Cay, and pressed their owners to serve as pilots. It is said that the two Abaconians escaped as soon as Nassau was in sight and warned the British of the approaching American shipsOn
March 2 , the force approached Nassau, sending ashore a raiding party of 230 Continental Marines and 50 sailors under the command of CaptainSamuel Nicholas , the first commissioned officer in the Continental Marines. The force captured nearby Fort Montague but were repulsed in their assault on Fort Nassau.On
March 3 at 10:00 in the morning, a landing was again attempted, and this time the Marines captured Nassau without a fight, seizing a sizable store of 103 cannon, mortars and munitions. Much of the preciousgunpowder stores that were the target of the raid had been evacuated after the failed raid onMarch 2 .It marked the first instance in American military history that forces responded to the equivalent modern command of "Land the landing force." [http://www.nassau.navy.mil/history.html]
On
March 17 , the fleet sailed forBlock Island Channel offNewport, Rhode Island , withMontfort Browne , Lieutenant Governor of the Bahamas, as a prisoner. Browne was later exchanged for American generalWilliam Alexander .Legacy
In commemoration of the battle, two ships of the United States Navy have been christened USS "Nassau".
External links
* [http://members.aol.com/tjoschultz/connavcru.html AOL User page with detailed history]
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