Falmouth, Burning of
Years: 1775 - 1775
The Burning of Falmouth (October 18, 1775) is an attack by a fleet of Royal Navy vessels on the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts (site of the modern city of Portland, Maine, and not to be confused with the modern towns of Falmouth, Massachusetts or Falmouth, Maine).
The fleet is commanded by Captain Henry Mowat.
The attack begins with a naval bombardment that includes incendiary shot, followed by a landing party meant to complete the town's destruction.
The attack is the only major event in what is supposed to be a campaign of retaliation against ports that support Patriot activities in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War.
Among the colonies, news of the attack leads to rejection of British authority and the establishment of independent governments.
It also leads the Second Continental Congress to contest British Naval dominance by forming a Continental Navy.
Both Mowat and his superior, Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves, who had ordered Mowat's expedition, suffer professionally as a consequence of the act.