- To All of You History Buffs,
Today, August 5,2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the battle of Coffin’s Beach. On August 5, 1775 the HMS Falcon, commanded by Captain John Linzee, was patrolling the coast off Ipswich Bay. According the the most popular narrative Captain Linzee sent 50 marines ashore to gather sheep he spotted grazing on Peter Coffin’s farm. Major Coffin spotted the attack. He gathered about a half dozen men who, while taking cover in the sand dunes, began firing at the marines forcing them to retreat back the their ship.
However, the Boston Globe posted a story on August 16, 1908 which, while similar in many aspects, differed in a very meaningful way. It turns out that Peter Coffin was an ardent supporter of the Revolution. He had been suppling food and money to revolutionaries in Boston which was under British control since Bunker Hill. In this telling Captain Linzee had two objectives. One was to secure food for his sailors but the other was to “wreak vengeance on the Coffin place.” His orders were to leave the buildings of Coffin’s farm in ashes and disperse the flocks. Then, once the farm was taken the marines were to approach the town of Gloucester from the weakly defended North. This would facilitate the destruction of the town when augmented by an attack from the sea by the Falcon which was to sail around Cape Ann. The Falcon did sail around Cape Ann and attacked Gloucester from the sea. This attack is known as the Battle of Gloucester and it took place on August 8, 1775. The Falcon’s attack was not supported by land forces and was relatively unsuccessful.
Whatever the story, we all owe our thanksto Peter Coffin for his service to the nation 250 years ago.
Tom Mooney
250th Anniversary of the Battle of Coffin’s Beach From Tom Mooney
Good Morning Gloucester 