The Saber and Scroll
for such a concentration of force . By the time the Continental squadron sailed , Dunmore ’ s vessels had already spent months operating together and navigating the rivers and small waterways of southeastern Virginia . By contrast , Commodore Hopkins ’ s ships and crews were thoroughly inexperienced and untested . Given their haphazard performance against HMS Glasgow in April 1776 , an engagement with Lord Dunmore ’ s vessels could easily have resulted in severe damage to , if not the outright destruction of , Hopkins ’ s squadron .
The Continental squadron finally got underway for the Bahamas on 18 February 1776 . Interestingly , Congress had met in secret session late the previous November to discuss “ a large quantity of powder ” held on the island of New Providence and the feasibility of sending a naval force to capture it . 13 No records survive of Congress issuing any orders to raid New Providence . Still , if his brother Stephen had informed him of these discussions , Commodore Hopkins would have seen his chosen destination as a tempting target of opportunity .
In any case , the expedition got off to a tempestuous start . Two days after departure , Hornet and Fly ran afoul of one another in a storm off the Virginia Capes , resulting in their separation from the squadron . Fly rejoined on 11 March but was detached again before the squadron left New Providence ; word subsequently reached Commodore Hopkins that they had gotten into port in South Carolina . Hornet remained off the mid-Atlantic coast and spent the next year patrolling Delaware Bay . 14 Ten subsequent days of clear weather allowed the remaining ships to repair their storm damage and begin gunnery drills . 15 The squadron dropped anchor off the southern end of Abaco on 1 March .
Almost immediately upon their arrival , the squadron took two sloops from the island of New Providence . Several of the captured crew informed Hopkins that a large amount of gunpowder , military stores , and cannon were held in two forts near the town of Nassau , defended only by the inhabitants instead of British regulars . The Commodore and his captains developed a plan to load the captured sloops with sailors and marines and send them in to take the forts by surprise while the rest of the squadron remained hidden nearby . Inexplicably , when the sloops entered Nassau harbor on 2 March , the entire Continental squadron went in with them . The locals manning the fort fired alarm guns as the Americans approached . With the element of surprise lost , Commodore Hopkins ordered a retreat . 16 The following day , the captured
sloops supported by Providence and Wasp staged an amphibious attack on Fort Montague , a short distance from Nassau . The defenders fired a total of five cannon , doing no damage to the approaching Americans . The 270 men who landed under the command of Captain Samuel Nicholas of the Continental Marines were initially mistaken for attacking Spaniards , but Captain Nicholas soon “ undeceived ” them . Ac-
138