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The Battle of Nassau (March 3–4, 1776) was a naval action and amphibious assault by American forces against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas, during the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence). It is considered the first cruise and one of the first engagements of the newly established Continental Navy and the Continental Marines, the progenitors of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The action was also the Marines' first amphibious landing. It is sometimes known as the Raid of Nassau. Departing from Cape Henlopen, Delaware, on February 17, 1776, the fleet arrived in the Bahamas on March 1, with the objective of seizing gunpowder and munitions that were known to be stored there. Two days later the marines went ashore and seized Fort Montagu at the eastern end of the Nassau harbor, but did not advance to the town, where the gunpowder was stored. That night, Nassau's governor had most of the gunpowder loaded aboard ships that then sailed for St. Augustine. On March 4, the colonial marines advanced and took control of the poorly defended town. The colonial forces remained at Nassau for two weeks, and took away all the remaining gunpowder and munitions they could. The fleet returned to New London, Connecticut in early April, after capturing a few British supply ships, and notably failed to capture in an action on April 6. ==Background== When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, Lord Dunmore, the British provincial governor of the Colony of Virginia, with the British forces under his command, had removed Virginia's store of provincial arms and gunpowder to the island of New Providence in the Crown Colony of the Bahamas, in order to keep it from falling into the hands of the rebel militia. Montfort Browne, the Bahamian governor, was alerted by General Thomas Gage in August 1775 that the rebel colonists might make attempts to seize these supplies.〔Riley, p. 100〕 The desperate shortage of gunpowder available to the Continental Army had led the Second Continental Congress to organize a naval expedition, one of whose goals was the seizure of the military supplies at Nassau.〔Field, p. 104〕 While the orders issued by the Congress to Esek Hopkins, the fleet captain selected to lead the expedition, included only instructions for patrolling and raiding British naval targets on the Virginia and Carolina coastline, additional instructions may have been given to Hopkins in secret meetings of the Congress' Naval Committee.〔Field, pp. 94–97〕 The instructions that Hopkins issued to his fleet's captains before it sailed from Cape Henlopen, Delaware on February 17, 1776, included instructions to rendezvous at Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas.〔Field, pp. 100–102〕 The fleet that Hopkins launched consisted of ''Alfred'', ''Hornet'', ''Wasp'', ''Fly'', ''Andrew Doria'', ''Cabot'', ''Providence'', and ''Columbus''. In addition to ships' crews, it carried 200 marines under the command of Samuel Nicholas.〔Field, pp. 108–113〕 In spite of gale force winds, the fleet remained together for two days, when ''Fly'' and ''Hornet'' became separated from the fleet. ''Hornet'' was forced to return to port for repairs, and ''Fly'' eventually caught up with the fleet at Nassau, after the raid took place. Hopkins did not let the apparent loss of the two ships dissuade him; he had intelligence that much of the British fleet was in port due to the high winds.〔Hand, pp. 108–109〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Nassau」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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