On this day 250 years ago, at Nantasket, Massachusetts the USS Franklin commanded by Captain James Mugford had sailed out of Boston along with the USS Lady Washington to hunt for more British prizes. Only two days earlier, Mugford had captured the Hope with an enormous cargo of gunpowder in perhaps the greatest prize of the War. Unfortunately the Franklin ran aground on a sand bar as it was heading out to sea.

The HMS Renown and HMS Experiment were patrolling the entrance to Boston and spotted the stranded Franklin. The British sent 200 crewmen in small boats to capture the stranded American ship. The Franklin and Lady Washington sank at least two of the British boats as they were approaching and Mugford and his crew fought off the British raiders in hand-to-hand combat as they tried to board the Franklin. The British broke off the assault after a half hour when the Lieutenant who led the assault was killed. The British recorded deaths of at least eight men but Royal Navy records notoriously undercount British losses. Eyewitness accounts from the Patriots reported that “scores” of British sailors were fatally wounded as they tried to board the Franklin, so the British losses were likely higher. In contrast, the Americans lost only one man, but it was Captain Mugford himself. His dying words were orders to his second-in-command Lieutenant Russell — “I am a dead man. Don’t give up the vessel, you will be able to beat them off.” His words were not as memorable as “I have not yet begun to fight” but Mugford was the first Captain of the American Navy to die in combat and he should be remembered today.

Sources: O’Donnell at 206-08; https://revolutionarywar.us/year-1776/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mugford