Battle of Nassau
- When
- 1776
- Where
- Cape Henlopen, Delaware, to Great Abaco Island, Bahamas; British port of Nassau, Bahamas
- Episodes
- 2
In March 1776 an American naval squadron under Commodore Esek Hopkins conducted the raid of Nassau, an amphibious assault against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas, during the American Revolutionary War. The fleet left Cape Henlopen, Delaware, on February 17, 1776, reached the Bahamas on March 1, and carried out the operation on March 3–4, 1776.
Episodes
- Voyage to the Bahamas
Hopkins' American fleet sailed from Cape Henlopen on February 17, 1776, and reached Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas on March 1.
- Amphibious Assault on Nassau
On March 3–4, 1776, American forces launched a naval operation and amphibious assault against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas.
Background and detail
Background. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, Patriot forces suffered from a shortage of gunpowder. Lord Dunmore, the colonial governor of Virginia, ordered Royal Navy sailors under his command to remove the gunpowder from the Williamsburg gunpowder magazine to the island of New Providence in the British colony of the Bahamas, keeping it from falling into the hands of Patriot militia.
British Preparations. In August 1775, British General Thomas Gage alerted Montfort Browne, the colonial governor of the Bahamas, that the Americans might attempt to seize the gunpowder stored in the Bahamas. This warning formed part of British preparations against an American raid on the islands.
The Voyage. Before setting sail from Cape Henlopen, Delaware, on February 17, 1776, Commodore Hopkins issued instructions to his fleet's captains, including orders to rendezvous at Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. The fleet departed that day and arrived at the Bahamas on March 1, 1776, reaching Great Abaco Island on that date.
People involved
- Esek Hopkins · Commodore commanding the American fleet
- Montfort Browne · Colonial governor of the Bahamas
- Thomas Gage · British general who warned Governor Browne
- Lord Dunmore · Colonial governor of Virginia who ordered gunpowder moved to New Providence
Sources
- Raid of Nassau Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-11
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.