Raid on Charlottetown (1775)
| Raid on Charlottetown (1775) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
Rev. Theophilus Desbrisay, taken prisoner | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United Colonies | Great Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Nicholson Broughton (Hancock) John Selman (Franklin) |
Phillips Callbeck (POW) Thomas Wright (POW) Peter Higgins (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2 brigs | Militia | ||||||
The Raid on Charlottetown of 17–18 November 1775, early in the American Revolutionary War, involved two American privateers of the Marblehead Regiment attacking and pillaging Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, then known as St. John's Island. The raid motivated Nova Scotia Governor Francis Legge to declare martial law. Despite the raid's success, George Washington immediately freed senior colonial officials the privateers had brought back as prisoners to Cambridge, Massachusetts.