On this day 250 years ago off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the American merchant ship Polly captained by Silas Henry carrying co-owner James Buchanan and a cargo of hominy corn and hogshead components from Edenton, North Carolina to Madeira, was captured by the Loyalist armed sloop Lilly commanded by Captain John Goodrich, Jr. Later that day, the HMS Fincastle seized the captured cargo from the Polly and two other American ships, but Goodrich was left in command of the Polly. That night the Fincastle, Polly and Lilly anchored in Teaches Hole in Ocracoke Inlet.

Sources: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_ocracoke_inlet_1.html; https://islandfreepress.org/hatteras-island-features/america-250-the-ocracoke-pilots/; https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/april-1776/