06/16/2026
June 16, 1776 — The Capture of British Troop Ships at Boston Harbor
On June 16, 1776, six American armed vessels, supported by a Massachusetts shore battery at Point Alderton, captured two British transports—George and Annabella—in Boston Harbor. Each ship carried a company of soldiers from Fraser’s Highlanders, the elite 71st Regiment of Foot, recently arrived from Scotland to reinforce the King’s cause in America.
They had not received news that the British had evacuated Boston.
The engagement was swift and decisive. A coordinated assault by sea and shore overwhelmed the British defenses. Among the dead was Major Duncan Menzies, who was buried in Boston two days later with full military honors.
Most notably, the Americans captured Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell, commander of the 2nd Battalion and a rising figure in Parliament and the British military establishment. A seasoned engineer and veteran of India, Campbell had returned from the East with both wealth and ambition—and was now a prisoner of war.
Though paroled shortly afterward, Campbell would remain officially in American custody for nearly two years. His capture was not only a blow to British morale.
The seizure of George and Annabella reminded Britain that Boston was no longer theirs to control—and that American privateers and coastal forces could strike even in supposedly secure waters.
And that’s the way it was, June 16, 1776.
