Burning of Falmouth

The Burning of Falmouth was a small naval incident that occurred during the American Revolutionary War which was set in the small town of Falmouth, Massachusetts, which is the present city of Portland, Maine.

Falmouth was one site of the colonial rebellion in which two British man-of-war ships under the command of Captain Henry Mowat, dispatched from Boston, arrived off the coast of Falmouth on the morning of October 17, 1775. The British ships opened up a bombardment of the town and its harbor to deny its use to the rebels.

Details of the events are vague but many of the so-called Patriot Rebels fled inland having no shore-mounted cannons to counter the bombardment as well as engage the ship. Incendiary cannonballs by the British set fire to not only the harbor installations, but most of the houses and public buildings of the town itself. Up to 417 buildings and houses were recorded damaged or destroyed by fire as well as 11 small vessels were destroyed in the harbor itself, plus four vessels were taken by four small groups of landing parties the British dispatched to the shore to take whatever supplies and equipment needed. By the end of the day, Captain Mowat, satisfied by the destruction, withdrew back to sea back to Halifax, with the four captured vessels with him. Casualties for both sides were not recorded.

Falmouth was effectively neutralized as a port for the Patriots.

References

*"The Concise Illustrated History of the American Revolution"; Eastern Acorn Press, 1972.