On this day 250 years ago in Georgia, Patriot militia crossed the Savannah River in small boats to raid a British outpost on Cockspur Island. The militia were discovered before they could surprise the post and defeated by crewmen from the British sloops HMS Raven and HMS Cherokee. One American was killed and three were captured in the unsuccessful raid.

Source: https://revolutionarywar.us/year-1776/

On this day 250 years ago in Providence, Rhode Island, Commodore Esek Hopkins dispatched newly-promoted Captain John Paul Jones to New York in command of the Providence. Jones’ mission was to return to the Continental Army “upwards of 100 men besides Officers which Genl Washington lent to the Fleet.” This was John Paul Jones first mission as captain of a ship.

Source: “Commodore Esek Hopkins to George Washington, 12 May 1776,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-04-02-0221. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 4, 1 April 1776 – 15 June 1776, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991, p. 283.]