Battle of Gloucester (1775)

The Battle of Gloucester was a minor battle fought during the American Revolutionary War in Gloucester, Massachusetts on August 8, 1775.

Captain John Linzee, commanding the HMS Falcon, chased two American schooners that were returning from the West Indies. After capturing one schooner, Linzee chased the second one into Gloucester Harbor. The townspeople called together the militia, and drove Falcon away, freeing the schooners and capturing British seamen.

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.