1776: Raid on New Providence Island

On 28 November 1775 Congress commissioned the first Marine officer, Captain Samuel Nicholas, a blacksmith's son and keeper of the Conestoga Wagon Inn. The United States Marine Corps was born.

Commodore Esek Hopkins was appointed Commander in Chief of the fleet. At the time the "fleet" of the Continental Navy consisted of only eight ships, which was hardly a squadron. Hopkins was a calculating and shrewd individual. While his ships were trapped in the ice of Delaware Bay, he trained his 234 men to act as Marines. Captain Nicholas, the senior Marine officer, was on board of the flagship, the 24-gun frigate Alfred, with Lieutenants John Fitzpatrick and Matthew Parke. In command of the Alfred was Lieutenant John Paul Jones. The 1st Lieutenant Trevett was serving on the 20-gun Columbus.

On 17 February 1776 the ice melted and allowed the small fleet to set sail. Hopkins orders were to engage the British ships-of-he-line off the Carolina and Virginia coasts. Since he knew that Washington was extremely short of gunpowder, so he had planned a daring raid on a small British supply depot in the Bahamas. On 1 March the small American fleet gathered off Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. A landing party was organized: a Marine detachment under Captain Nicholas and 50 sailors under Lieutenant Thomas Weaver of the Cabot. Embarked on the 12-gun Providence and accompanied by two captured sloops they were ordered to set sail for Nassau on New Providence Island, where 600 barrels of black gunpowder were stored.

On Sunday 3 March 1776, this first American "expeditionary force" under command of Captain Samuel Nicholas landed on the eastern end of New Providence Island, two miles east of Fort Montagu. The Marines attempted to surprise the British garrison, but luck was against them. The small landing force was spotted and the fort fired an alarm signal. However, the Marines did not encounter any opposition.

Captain Nicholas sent a message to Governor Montfront Browne saying that if he wished to avoid bloodshed he could surrender, and that the town would then be spared. The Governor ordered the garrison of Fort Montagu to fire a few rounds in token of resistance, to spike their guns and to retire on Fort Nassau.

Nicholas occupied the evacuated fort. Because it was getting late he decided to postpone the attack on Nassau until the next day. At sunrise, Captain Nicholas marched on the town, where he demanded the keys to Fort Nassau, which were promptly turned over and the British colors taken down.

Up to that point the entire operation had been quite a success. However, little did Hopkins and Nicholas know that during the night Governor Browne had taken the opportunity to dispatch the majority of the gunpowder supplies to Florida.

With the Marines in possession of the defenses, Commodore Hopkins sailed the Alfred into Nassau harbor and came ashore himself. Lieutenant Trevett was ordered to take a detachment of Marines and place the Governor under house arrest untill the fleet was ready to sail.

The first Marine landings resulted in the capture of only 24 barrels of gunpowder, 88 cannon , 15 brass mortars and 16,535 shells and balls. On the morning of 17 March the fleet set sail with their booty and took Governor Browne and two other officials as well.

The trip home was uneventfull until on 6 April Block Island was reached. There, the brig Cabot was engaged by the lone frigate HMS Glasgow, 20-gun British warship. It was courageous for the British frigate to fight the entire American "fleet". The engagement raged for over an hour and a half. In the night action against the Glasgow, the Marines experienced their first combat losses: 2nd Lieutenant Fitzpatrick and six enlisted men. The Glasgow suffered four casualties, all caused by the muskets of Continental Marines. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Glasgow broke off and sailed for Rhode Island. The American fleet re-grouped and headed for New London, Connecticut.

The expedition stirred so much excitement in the Colonies that the president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, personally congratulated Commodore Hopkins on his unqualified success. Captain Samuel Nicholas was promoted to Major.