The Mount Hope Bay raids were a series of military raids conducted by British troops during the American Revolutionary War against communities on the shores of Mount Hope Bay on May 25 and 30, 1778. The towns of Bristol and Warren, Rhode Island were significantly damaged, and Freetown, Massachusetts (present-day Fall River) was also attacked, although its militia resisted British activities. The British destroyed military defenses in the area, including supplies that had been cached by the Continental Army in anticipation of an assault on British-occupied Newport, Rhode Island. Homes as well as municipal and religious buildings were also destroyed in the raids.
On May 25, 500 British and Hessian soldiers, under orders from General Sir Robert Pigot, the commander of the British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island, landed between Bristol and Warren, destroyed boats and other supplies, and plundered Bristol. Local resistance was minimal and ineffective in stopping the British activities. Five days later 100 soldiers descended on Freetown, where less damage was done because local defenders prevented the British from crossing a bridge.
Read more about Mount Hope Bay Raids: Background, Warren and Bristol Raid, Freetown Raid, Aftermath
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“But mount to paradise
By the stairway of surprise.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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—Russell Baker (b. 1925)
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—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)