Raid on Annapolis Royal (1781)

1781 battle

Raid on Annapolis Royal

John Ritchie House, "Governor of Annapolis" was taken captive in the raid

Date	29 August 1781
Location	Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
Result	American victory

Belligerents

United States

Great Britain

Commanders and leaders

William Morgan

John Curtis (naval officer)

Commander Phineas Lovett

John Ritchie (POW)

Thomas Williams (POW)

Strength

80 privateers

Local militia; 3 soldiers

Casualties and losses

1 killed (Acadian pilot)

No casualties

v t e Atlantic naval theatre
Nassau Block Island Turtle Gut Inlet Barbados Yarmouth Capture of USS Hancock Frederica North Channel Charles Town 1st Long Island 1st Cape Henry Cape Split Cape Breton Capture of USS Trumbull Cape Ann 1st Chesapeake Capture of HMS Savage 1st Delaware Bay Halifax 2nd Cape Henry Hudson Bay 2nd Long Island 2nd Delaware Bay Kedges Strait 3rd Delaware Bay 2nd Chesapeake Bay

Atlantic naval theatre

v t e Northern coastal theater
Ridgefield Sag Harbor 2nd Machias Setauket Mount Hope Bay Newport Grey's raid Chestnut Neck Little Egg Harbor Tryon's raid (Norwalk, Fairfield) Penobscot Expedition Cape Split Fort St. George Annapolis Royal Cape Ann Groton Heights Fort Slongo Lunenburg

v t e American Revolution Nova Scotia theatre
Saint John Charlottetown Yarmouth 1st Canso Maugerville Rebellion Fort Cumberland Yarmouth 2nd St. John River Capture of USS Hancock Liverpool Raid on Miramichi 1st Halifax Blomindon Cape Breton Annapolis Royal Blonde Rock 2nd Halifax Chester Lunenburg

The Raid on Annapolis Royal took place on 29 August 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. The raid involved two American privateers - the Resolution (commanded by William Morgan) and the Reprisal (commanded by John Curtis) - attacking and pillaging Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia in revenge of the defeat of the Penobscot Expedition. The privateers took captive the commander of the militia John Ritchie, described as the "Governor of Annapolis." One historian described it as "one of the most daring and dramatic raids upon Nova Scotia."

Background

During the American Revolution, Americans regularly attacked Nova Scotia by land and sea. American privateers devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities, The raids intensified after the British victory over the Penobscot Expedition, such as the numerous raids on Liverpool and Lunenburg.

On 31 March 1781, a British ship off Halifax, Nova Scotia captured Captain Amos Potter of the American privateer Resolution (6 guns, 25 men), while his crew escaped. Captain William Morgan took command of the Resolution. Five months later, Potter's crew sought revenge on the British by sacking Annapolis Royal.

Battle

Captain William Morgan on Resolution was joined by another American privateer Reprisal (8 guns, 10 swivels, 60 men) under the command of Captain John Curtis, totalling 80 men. They secured the blockhouse from the three soldiers in the town. Over the next hours, the privateers rounded up the militia, under the command of John Ritchie and lieutenant-colonel Phineas Lovett, and disarmed and imprisoned them. They spiked the town cannon. The privateers then pillaged the valuables from the whole town, taking silverware, provisions, furniture, bedding, clothing and so forth. Ritchie's black servant (whether she was a free black or a black slave is unknown) pleaded on behalf of Ritchie's sick wife to leave some provisions and the privateers gave her tea and sugar.

They retreated to Goat Island and took prisoner both Thomas Williams, the senior ordinance storekeeper and commissary of provisions to the garrison at Fort Anne (and grandfather of Sir Fenwick Williams), and John Ritchie who the Boston Gazette referred to as the "Governor of Annapolis." They also took captive a Sergeant and 5-6 others. They later exchanged "the Governor" for their former commander Captain Potter and returned to Boston the following month.

Aftermath

American privateers remained a threat to Nova Scotian ports for the rest of the war. Captain William Chair Burnaby was in command of the sloop Merlin at Annapolis Royal.

On 1 January 1782, British Captain John Curtis captured an armed schooner in the Bay of Fundy commanded by Captain Hodgkins. The privateer Lively under the command of John Augusta Dunn fell in with armed schooner.

On 8 May 1782, Buckram (8 guns, 40 men) captured the privateer sloop Lively under the command of John Augustus Dunn (8 guns) and the crew escaped. The Buckram rescued Captain Mowatt who was being chased by the American privateer close to Goat Island. Mowat and his crew escaped in the woods.

On March 15, 1782, Potter returned from Boston in Resolution and captured the schooner Two Sisters off Pearl Island, Mahone Bay (formerly Green Island), stole all the provisions on board and released it.

Notes

There was a Governor of Nova Scotia and a Governor for the town of Annapolis.
Boston
Beverly
Cato
p.86
p. 92
p. 258
p. 258
p. 254
"Capt. William BISHOP b. 1732 New London, New London, Connecticut, United States d. 21 Feb 1815 Greenwich, Kings, Nova Scotia, Canada".
Dunn, Brenda (2004). A History of Port-Royal-Annapolis Royal, 1605-1800. Nimbus. pp. 222–223. ISBN 978-1-55109-740-4.
John Dewar Faibisy. Privateering and Piracy: The Effects of New England Raiding Upon Nova Scotia During the American Revolution, 1775-1883. University of Massachusetts. 1972. p. 185
"Massachusetts Historical Society Collections". Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society. 1792.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.ca/&httpsredir=1&article=2321&context=dissertations_1
Benjamin Franklin also engaged France in the war, which meant that many of the privateers were also from France.
Roger Marsters (2004). Bold Privateers: Terror, Plunder and Profit on Canada's Atlantic Coast" , p. 87-89
"Massachusetts Historical Society Collections". Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society. 1792.
Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the revoluntionary war. A compilation from the archives prepared and published by the secretary of the commonwealth ... V.12, Pea-Raz. Wright and Potter Printing Co., State Printers.
Massachusetts soldiers and sailors of the revoluntionary war. A compilation from the archives prepared and published by the secretary of the commonwealth ... V.11 Mor-Paz. Wright and Potter Printing Co., State Printers.
thesis p. 183-184 “the most spectacular of the raids upon Nova Scotia” between 1780-1781, in revenge of the Penobscot Expedition (p. 186)
Thesis, P. 184
Massachusetts Privateers, p. 258
p. 415
p. 164
"HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca".
"Massachusetts Historical Society Collections". Boston, Massachusetts Historical Society. 1792.
Murdoch, Beamish (1866). A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie. Vol. II. Halifax: J. Barnes. p. 619.
Massachusetts Privateers, p. 258
"The John Ritchie Family of Annapolis Royal, c. 1774".
"HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca".
Naval Documents of the American Revolution, p.449
pp. 452-455
p. 49
Murdoch, Beamish (1867). A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie. Vol. III. Halifax: J. Barnes. p. 2.
Murdoch, Beamish (1867). A History of Nova-Scotia, Or Acadie. Vol. III. Halifax: J. Barnes. p. 4.

References

Secondary Sources

Dr. Pitt Brechin "The Western Chronicle" of Kentville, NS, 4 Mar 1890
Gardner W. Allen, A NAVAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (Boston, 1913), Chapter 17.
Gwyn, Julian (2003). Frigates and Foremasts: The North American Squadron in Nova Scotia Waters, 1745-1815. UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0911-5.
Gwyn, Julian (2004). Ashore and Afloat: The British Navy and the Halifax Naval Yard Before 1820. University of Ottawa Press. ISBN 978-0-7766-3031-1.
Calnek and Savary. The history of Kings County, Nova Scotia, heart of the Acadian land.

Primary Sources

Nova Scotia Gazette Oct 2, 1781
Rev. Wingate Weeks to Headquarters, September 30, 1781: SPG Papers B 25, 3, 247
Nova Scotia Gazette, September 4, 1781;
Boston Gazette 14 May 1781
Boston Gazette, September 24, 1781
Halifax Gazette, p. 164

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