Battle of Gloucester (1775)

On August 8, Captain Linzee gave chase to two American schooners that were returning to Salem from the West Indies. After capturing one schooner, Linzee chased the other into Gloucester Harbor, and sent his lieutenant and 36 men on two barges and a tender to take the ship.[8] The townspeople mustered some militia, led by their captains, Joseph Foster and Bradbury Sanders, and opened fire on the barges from the shore. Linzee, attempting to distract the townspeople, fired the Falcon's guns on the town, and eventually sent a landing party to try to burn the town. When these tactics failed, he sent the captured schooner into the area in an attempt to recover his men. However, this attempt was unsuccessful; he lost both schooners, two barges, and 35 men.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gloucest...