Battle of Machias (1775) | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
A 1776 nautical chart of Machias Bay; Machias is at the very top |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Great Britain | Massachusetts | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
James Moore † | Benjamin Foster | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
HM schooner Margaretta about 40 Royal Navy seamen |
Private sloops Unity and Falmouth Packet 55 militia (Massachusetts militia) |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
5 killed 9 wounded |
10 killed 3 wounded |
The Battle of Machias (June 11–12, 1775) was the first naval engagement of the American Revolutionary War. Also known as the Battle of the Margaretta, it was fought around the port of Machias (in what is now eastern Maine).
Following the outbreak of the war and the start of the Siege of Boston, British authorities enlisted the assistance of a loyalist merchant, named Ichabod Jones, to aid in the acquisition of needed supplies. Two of Jones' merchant ships arrived in Machias on June 2, 1775, accompanied by a British armed sloop called the Margaretta (sometimes also spelled Margueritta or Marguerite) that was commanded by Midshipman James Moore. The townspeople of Machias disapproved of Jones' intentions and arrested him. They also tried to arrest Moore, but he escaped through the harbor. The townspeople seized one of Jones' ships, armed it alongside a second local ship, and sailed out to meet Moore. After a short confrontation, Moore was fatally wounded, and his vessel and crew were captured.
The people of Machias captured additional British ships, and fought off a large force that tried to take control of the town in the Battle of Machias in 1777. Privateers and others operating out of Machias continued to harass the Royal Navy throughout the war.