The Battle of Block Island, April 6, 1776, was between the British 20-gun frigate HMS Glasgow and the first fleet launched by an infant United Colonies Navy, led by its first commander, Commodore Esk Hopkins. Some scholars considered the contest a British victory, while most concur the battle was a draw. Four American ships, all converted merchantmen and privateers, 30-gun Alfred, 14-gun Andrew Doria, 14-gun Cabot, and 28-gun Columbus, pounded the British frigate as the battle raged for about an hour and a half. Though heavily damaged, the Glasgow held her own as three of the American ships individually withdrew due to damage, but quickly regained the fight.
With three American ships pressing on his quarters and thinking he was about to be boarded, Captain Tryingham Howe of the Glasgow ordered dispatches thrown overboard and a course set for Newport, Rhode Island. As the frigate bore away, the Alfred, Andrew Doria, and Columbus were hot on her heels “within musket shot on…Quarters and Stern.” But even though much of Glasgow’s sails and rigging had been shot up, she distanced herself and escaped. The American ships could not keep up, laden with plunder from their previous raid on Nassau and two forts in the Bahamas. Commodore Hopkins was criticized for having allowed the heavily outnumbered Glasgow to slip from his fingers and was afterwards censored by Congress. The engagement is noted as the first record of marines killed in battle in what would become the U.S. Marine Corps.
Birth of Navy and Marine Corps
The United States Navy’s roots can be traced to October 13, 1775, when Congress authorized the purchase of two vessels to be fitted out as war ships. The first Continental Marines was established on November 10, 1775; two brigades to be recruited from Philadelphia.[1] On October 28th, the newly formed Naval Committee added two more ships to their search for adequate men-of-war. By the end of the month, four ships birthed at Philadelphia on the Delaware River; three were purchased and one leased. One more was added in December and two more anchored off Philadelphia in January, 1776 numbering eight vessels:
- Alfred[2]. Former Black Prince, a new 440-ton merchantman converted to a two decker with 30 guns; 20 nine-pounders on added lower deck, and 10 six-pounders on upper. Captain Dudley Saltenstall. Noted, John Paul Jones served as 1st Lt. aboard the Alfred.
- Columbus. Former Sally, a 200-ton brig with 28 guns added; 18 nine-pounders and 10 six-pounders. Captain Abraham Whipple.[3]
- Cabot. Privateer, 189-ton brig with 14 six-pounders. Captain John Hopkins (Commodore Esk Hopkins’ son).
- Andrew Doria. Former Defiance, 190-ton brig with 14 four-pounders. Captain Nicholas Biddle.
- Providence. Former merchantman and smuggler Katy, a fast sloop of 12 four-pounders was converted to 12 six-pounders. Captain John Hazard. Rhode Island State Ship, she was taken into the Continental Navy’s service on December 3, 1775 whereas she was outfitted and fit to sail on February 17, 1776.
- Fly. Sloop with 6 nine-pounders acted as fleet tender. Captain Hoysteed Hacker.
- Hornet. Sloop with 10 four-pounders arrived from Baltimore just prior to sailing. Captain William Stone.
- Wasp. Sloop with 8 two-pounders. Captain William Hallock. She sailed with the fleet, but was separated during an early storm and returned to Philadelphia.
Expedition to Nassau, Bahamas
January, 1776, Commodore Hopkins received orders from Congress to set sail when his fleet of six ships were ready. His orders were to clear the Chesapeake Bay entrance of any British ships and if feasible, enter the bay and attack Virginia Lord Dunmore’s fleet anchored off Norfolk. If prudent, he was then to set sail for the Carolina coast and destroy and capture any British ships preying on American merchantmen attempting to clear coastal ports. Due to ship provision and river ice delays, the fleet did not clear the Delaware River until February 17, 1776. By then, Hopkins had already decided to disobey orders.
Cruising the Chesapeake and Carolina coastline could put his small fleet of nine- and six-pound cannons in grave danger, especially coming up against England’s powerful blockade ships of the line, sporting eighteen and thirty-two pounders. He was also aware that the American army’s and navy’s need for gunpowder and ammunition was critical. Intelligence claimed that a considerable quantity of powder and military supplies, including around sixty cannon needed to outfit additional ships were stored in two forts on Providence Island at Nassau, Bahamas. With England focused on blockading the American coast, these supplies were poorly protected and basically up for grabs. No sooner did the fleet clear the Delaware Harbor than Hopkins order his ships to change course for Nassau.
On March 1, 1776, three days before General Washington positioned cannon on Dorchester Heights, driving the British out of Boston, Commodore’s fleet anchored off Nassau Harbor. Two days later, on March 3rd, 234 marines and 50 sailors executed the first amphibious landing of what would become the Marine Corps. By the 4th, in a bloodless assault that overwhelmed the militia defense of the Island, both of Nassau’s fortifications, Fort Montague and Fort Nassau, were in American hands. Due to Hopkin’s error to properly guard escape routes from the harbor, British Governor Monfort Browne was able to load 160 barrels of precious gun powder aboard two ships that escaped to East Florida. However, the Americans were able to salvage about 40 remaining barrels of powder that included multiple arms and tons of ammunition, clothing, and supplies, plus about sixty cannon. Once his six ships were weighted down with the plunder, Hopkins ordered the fleet to sail on March 16th. But instead of the Chesapeake, to where he had been originally ordered, he pointed his ships north; to the region of Block Island, Rhode Island.
Fleet Sails North and the Battle of Block Island
On April 4th, Hopkins’ fleet arrived Block Island, at the mouth of the Long Island Sound and off Providence, Rhode Island. They were minus the Fly, which had been separated during a storm and sailed for the Chesapeake, then on to Philadelphia, arriving on the 8th. Hopkins hoped to add to his military plunder, as well as his own purse, by preying on merchantmen and troop transports supplying the British army at Boston and Navy fleet stationed at Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. Hopkins’ gamble to reel in British shipping quickly paid off. His ships immediately captured the British schooner Hawk off Block Island. At dawn on the 5th, they took the bomb ship HMS Bolton that included a transport of 46 marines. That evening, the Americans added a brigantine and sloop to their list of prizes, both from New York. By then, their luck in easy prey had run out.
An hour after midnight, in an exceptionally clear night with nearly a full moon, a large ship thought to be a frigate and another smaller vessel, believed to be its tender, were sighted on the southeast horizon. “All hands to quarters” rang out aboard the twelve American ships that included several captures with prize crews. Aboard Hopkins’ 30-gun flagship Alfred, Captain Samuel Nicholas roused his company of marines. First Lt. Matthew Parke commanded the principal body positioned on the main deck, while 2nd Lt. John Fitzpatrick and Captain Nicholas assembled the rest on the quarterdeck. With the Alfred astern, and the Andrew Doria and Columbus a quarter mile to starboard, the Cabot, former packet and fastest ship, bore off to identify the strange sails.
Within shouting range, the Cabot called out and the unknown ship identified herself. She proved to be the HMS Glasgow; a 451-ton sixth class frigate armed with twenty 9-pounders and a crew of 160 officers and men; Captain Tryingham Howe commanding. She had on board dispatches for London detailing Supreme British commander General Howe’s decision to abandon Boston and sail his fleet for Halifax, Canada. When the Glasgow demanded to know which ships sailed with the Cabot, Captain John Burroughs Hopkins,[4] son of Commodore Hopkins, answered “The Columbus and Alfred, a two and twenty gun frigate.”[5]
At that a grenade was tossed from the rigging onto the Glasgow’s deck that exploded harmlessly. This was immediately followed by a broadside from seven of the Cabot’s 6-pounders which had been fired too high with little effect. But the British were prepared and better shots. They immediately answered with two rapid broadsides of 9-pounders. The Cabot’s master, Sinclair Seymour, was killed outright. So too were two marines, Patrick Kaine and George Kennedy.[6] Eight were wounded including Captain Hopkins and Marine Lt. John Hood Wilson, who would later die of his wounds. The two devastating broadside by Glasgow forced the Cabot to retire from the fight to make repairs.
As the Cabot reeled away from the weight of British cannon, she almost ran afoul of the Andrew Doria who was about to make a pass at the frigate. By the time the Andrew Doria pulled to port to escaped a collision, she was carried from the battle. It would be nearly an hour before the Doria could pull close enough to engage without striking an American ship. By then, Glasgow had her hands full as she came under the guns of the American fleet. Captain Dudley Saltenstall of the Alfred had brought his ship to bear on the enemy, laying his ship broadside to broadside with his enemy.
Flames belched from the former merchantman’s side as she brought her nine and six-pounders into action. The two men-of-war matched broadside with broadside as the battle raged between the two closely matched ships. The Columbus joined the fray, but could only got off a few ineffectual shots at the Glasgow’s stern. Meanwhile the Alfred and Glasgow were locked in a death grip. Ships’ marines rained lead down upon both decks. An early exchange felled 2nd Lt John Fitzpatrick with a musket ball through the head, the first marine officer to be killed in the line of duty. More broadsides splintered gunnels and smashed through hulls, reddening the decks with slippery blood. A lucky shot from the Glasgow carried away the Alfred’s wheel block and lines to the tiller[7] and she lost control. By then the Andrew Doria had come up.
While the Alfred spent several desperate minutes trying to regain control of ship and re-enter the fight, the Andrew Doria closed in on the Glasgow’s port quarter. But she was forced to veer off after several devastating shots crashed through her hull and tore apart rigging. So too, the Columbus once more brought her guns to bear. However, outmatched, she was soon becalmed by the enemy’s battering broadsides. There was no relief for the Glasgow. No sooner than the Columbus was silenced, the Alfred had regained maneuvers. Like a wrestling tag team, the Alfred was right back pounding away at her enemy. Throughout, the sloop Providence, under Captain John Hazard, never got into the fight; content to tack back and forth out of harm’s way. Hazard would later be criticized for cowardice, relinquishing command of Providence to one who would never be accused of pusillanimity, newly promoted Captain John Paul Jones.
The contest raged on for an hour and half before the Glasgow’s Captain Howe saw the writing on the wall. Like a swarm of mosquitoes refusing to give up, the Americans hammered away, drawing ever closer. Fearing he would soon be boarded, dispatches were ordered thrown overboard and sails unfurled. A change of wind and moment of indecision by the Americans, and Glasgow pulled away. She set a new course for Newport Harbor and the protection of the British fleet. Like dogs snapping at heels, the Alfred, Andrew Doria, and Columbus pursued “within musket shot, on…Quarters and Stern.” But the fast frigate employed as packet began to outrun the Americans loaded down with their captured plunder from Nassau. Bow chasers and occasional shifts in wind allowed the Americans to bring guns to bear, harassing the shattered ship. The frigate answered with stern guns, wounding a drummer aboard the Alfred. Though badly cut up, Glasgow widened the distance. By dawn, after a chase of around three and a half hours, ships approached Newport harbor. Hopkins was apprehensive they might come upon a British ship-of-the-line and signaled the ships to give up the chase and steer to the southwest
Casualties
Overall casualties were extremely light considering the intensity and fierceness of battle. The Glasgow had one man killed and three wounded, all by musketry from American marines. Her sails were little more than Swiss cheese with rigging dangling over the sides. Captain David Hawley, Connecticut privateersman held captive on the frigate, reported the main sail had 110 shot through it with 88 through the foresail…her rigging cut to pieces. She entered Newport harbor “under all the sail she could set, yelping from the mouths of her cannon like a broken leg’d dog in token of her being sadly wounded.”[8] With Boston in American hands, the Glasgow later sailed north to Halifax for repairs and refitting. Of the Americans, the Alfred lost five killed and seven wounded. The sloop Cabot, that took the brunt of Glasgow’s first raging challenge, had four killed and seven wounded; while the Columbus and Andrew Doria each had only one man wounded. Compared to the Glasgow, their ships had sustained moderate damage.
The American fleet, along with her prizes that included Glasgow’s tender, had joined up by noon. Signals were issued and the squadron set sail for New London, Connecticut. There, the spoils from Nassau would be unloaded and repairs made. That evening, northwest of Block Island, the fleet ran into a thick fog. By dawn on the 7th, only the Cabot and Andrew Doria were together and by noon, had slipped by the New London lighthouse and anchored the Thames River. By night, the Alfred showed up with prizes in tow. The next morning, April 8, the rest of the fleet sailed up river and anchored at New London.
Aftermath
Initially, Congress was congratulatory when Hopkins returned, though disappointed he offloaded the booty taken from Nassau in Connecticut, rather than Philadelphia. The Marine Committee was still smarting from Hopkin’s total rejection of Congressional orders. Later, when details of the action with Glasgow, resulting in the frigate’s escape, scapegoats were paraded before the public. Within a year, accusations of Hopkins’ poor judgements in loss of precious gunpowder and leadership complaints by fleet captains, led to the commodore’s demise. He was first censored and by 1777, dismissed from the service. Hopkins was not replaced as commodore.
Hawley, captive privateer on the Glasgow, later reported on American gunnery, “most of the shot went about 6 feet above the deck, whereas, if they had been properly levelled, must have soon cleared them of men.” The fact that a single 20-gun ship held her own against the entire American fleet was not lost on Congress and her generals. As badly battered as the Glasgow was, she had escaped relatively light with only one crewman killed and three wounded; all hit by marine sharpshooters rather than cannon fire. It was proof that the American gunnery had been notably ineffective despite the long hours of drill. Though future contests between English and American ships brought occasional bright moments of American brilliance, the night action on April 6, 1776 made it all too clear. Men, money, and ships alone do not make a navy. Tradition, training, discipline, and a heritage of victory are also required; something the British had perfected for centuries.[9]
By 1777, individual ship captains and state legislatures determined American ship missions; focusing on single ship privateers. Fleet actions were rare as the British tightened the blockade noose, forcing the Americans to destroy many of their ships before they fell into British hands. On December 13, 1775, Congress authorized the construction of 13 frigates. Thirteen were laid down with only about eight were completed and put to sea due to shortages of materials, money, and British intervention. Most of these vessels were destroyed, captured, or scuttled by 1781.
The HMS Glasgow would carry on to be a major thorn in America’s side. After repairs to his ship, Captain Howe continued to cruise American waters. The years 1777 and 1778 proved highly successful and profitable for the fast frigate, capturing multiple American merchantmen and privateers. Prowling the Caribbean looking for prey, she crossed paths with and chased two newly constructed Continental frigates. Her career ended abruptly on June 1, 1779 (some sources state June 2nd) when anchored at Montego Bay, Jamaica, a fire aboard ship got out of control and she accidentally burned to the water.
If you would like to read more, we recommend the following books:
Of similar interest on Revolutionary War Journal
Resources
Millet, Allan R. Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. 1991: Free Press, a division of Simon and Schuster, New York City, NY.
McGrath, Tim. Give Me a Fast Ship: The Continental Navy and America’s Revolution at Sea. 2014: NAL Caliber, New York, NY.
Miller, Nathan. Sea of Glory: The Continental Navy Fights for Independence 1775 – 1783.
Smith, Charles R. Marines in the Revolution: A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution 1775-1783. 1975: US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Endnotes
[1] In the fall of 1775, Congress at first wanted two battalions of marines to man ships they authorized to attack Halifax, Canada. (A two-prong invasion of Montreal and Quebec City had been launched during the late summer). The marines were to come from General Washington’s soldiers stationed outside Boston. Washington frowned upon this, claiming he could not release troops necessary for him to maintain his blockade of the British army in Boston. The result, the Halifax invasion was scrapped, but the new fleet in Philadelphia needed marines; therefore, officers were commissioned and rank and file recruited from Philadelphia. Captain Samuel Nickolas was the marine commander who by the end of December, had successfully recruited five companies of marines, around 250 men; to become the Continental Marines and later the United States Marine Corps. November 10, 1775 is recognized by the Marine Corps as its official birthdate.
[2] The Alfred was named after King Alfred the Great. English Anglo-Saxon monarch who reigned from 871-886. He is considered the founder of the British Navy.
[3] Of all the first captains to command the newly establish American Navy, only Captain Nicholas Biddle was chosen by merit alone; considered the finest seaman among those selected to command. Of the rest, nepotism was keen, picked because they were relatives of, or befriended those high in government. When the first Continental frigate USS Randolph was launched, Biddle was given the helm. Scholars believe that had not in 1778, the USS Randolph blown up in action with the 64-gun HMS Yarmouth, Biddle, not John Paul Jones, may have gone onto to claim the legendary title of ‘Father of the American Navy.”
[4] Captain John Hopkins, the son of Commodore Esk Hopkins, like his father, were well-known mariners along the Rhode Island coasts. An early patriot, John Hopkins was involved in the boarding and burning of the HMS Gaspee, June 10, 1772, a despised British customs schooner who attacked American smugglers.
[5] Smith, pg. 72.
[6] Since the affair at Nassau was bloodless, these two marine privates are considered the first official marines to die in combat.
[7] Smith, pg. 72.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Miller, pg. 115.