On this day 250 years ago, the Battle of Chelsea Creek in Boston Harbor continued over night until the early morning hours when the British abandoned the grounded schooner HMS Diana and its four 6-pounders and twelve swivel guns. Col. Putnam’s troops then boarded the Diana, removed the cannon and everything else of value including rigging, sails, clothing, money and the ship’s 76-foot mast, and then set the ship on fire. The Battle of Chelsea Creek was a clear victory for the Americans, who had only four men wounded. The official British reports assert that only two men were killed and 32 wounded but were likely understated. The Americans believed that British casualties exceeded one hundred. At any event, the Battle of Chelsea Creek succeeded in destroying one British Naval vessel, inflicted demoralizing casualties on the British with little loss to the Americans, deprived the British of any use of Hog and Noddle Islands for the remainder of the War, and inspired the American Army besieging Boston. The Diana’s mast was erected as a liberty pole at the American encampment on Prospect Hill overlooking Boston.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chelsea_Creek; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Diana_(1775);https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/may-1775/; https://www.nps.gov/places/chelsea-creek.htm