page_title: Burning of Falmouth
section_title: Damage assessment
hierarchical_section_title: Burning of Falmouth / Aftermath / Damage assessment
caption_attribution_description: English: Caption: Falmouth Neck as it was when destroyed by Mowatt, October 18, 1775 This is a painted version of a map that was originally created in 1850 and published by Bailey &amp; Noyes of Portland.
context_page_description: The Burning of Falmouth was an attack by a fleet of Royal Navy vessels on the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. The fleet was commanded by Captain Henry Mowat. The attack began with a naval bombardment which included incendiary shot, followed by a landing party meant to complete the town's destruction. The attack was the only major event in what was supposed to be a campaign of retaliation against ports that supported Patriot activities in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War.
  Among the colonies, news of the attack led to rejection of British authority and the establishment of independent governments. It also led the Second Continental Congress to contest British Naval dominance by forming a Continental Navy. Both Mowat and his superior, Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves, who had ordered Mowat's expedition, suffered professionally as a consequence of the event.
context_section_description: More than 400 buildings and houses were recorded as damaged or destroyed by fire.  In his report to Graves, Mowat stated that 11 small vessels were destroyed in the harbor and four were captured, at the cost of one man killed and one wounded.  The people were left to fend for themselves for the winter.  A visitor to the town a month later reported that there was "no lodging, eating or housekeeping in Falmouth".
  On October 26, the town formed a committee to raise funds for the distressed families. More than 1,000 people had been left homeless by the raid, including at least 160 families out of an estimated population of 2,500.  The Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized £250 to be paid to the distressed families, and arranged for the distribution of up to 15 bushels of corn to those left destitute.  As late as 1779, additional grants were made to needy families in Falmouth.  In 1784, the residents of Falmouth built over 40 homes and 10 shops. By 1797, over 400 homes had been built or rebuilt, along with factories, offices, and municipal buildings.
  The town of Falmouth accounted losses in the raid at over £50,000. Part of the Falmouth Neck was politically separated in 1786 to form the city of Portland, Maine, but significant recompense was not made until 1791, when Congress granted two tracts of land as compensation. These tracts became the towns of New Portland, Maine and Freeman.
caption: An 1850 map depicting the areas damaged
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