Raid on Lunenburg , Nova Scotia ( 1782 ) " Not to be confused with the Raid on Lunenburg , Nova Scotia ( 1756 ) " The Raid on Lunenburg ( also known as the Sack of Lunenburg ) occurred during the American Revolution when the famous American Privateer Captain Noah Stoddard of Fairhaven , Massachusetts and four other privateer vessels attacked the British settlement at Lunenburg , Nova Scotia on 1 July 1782 . In Nova Scotia , the assault on Lunenburg was the most spectacular raid of the war . On the morning of 1 July Stoddard led approximately 170 American privateers in four heavily armed vessels and overpowered Lunenburg ’ s defence , capturing the blockhouses and burning the house of the local militia colonel . The privateers then looted the settlement and kept the militia at bay with the threat of destroying the entire town . The American privateers plundered the town and took three prisoners , who were later released from Boston without a ransom having been paid . Historical context . During the American Revolution , Nova Scotia was invaded regularly by American Revolutionary forces by land and sea . Throughout the war , American privateers devastated the maritime economy by raiding many of the coastal communities . There were constant attacks by privateers , such as the numerous raids on Liverpool ( October 1776 , March 1777 , September 1777 , May 1778 , September 1780 ) and on Annapolis Royal ( 1781 ) . There was also a naval engagement with a French fleet at Spanish River , Cape Breton Island ( 1781 ) . On 17 November 1775 , Washington ' s Marblehead Regiment aboard the " Hancock " and " Franklin " made an unopposed landing at Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island . Three days later , they expedited to Nova Scotia and raided Canso . In 1779 , American privateers returned to Canso and destroyed the fisheries , which were worth ₤50 , 000 a year to Britain . The 84th Regiment had been defending Nova Scotia , attacking an American privateer ship off of Lunenburg , Nova Scotia ( 1775 ) . The 84th was led by Captain John MacDonald . They boarded the warship when some of its crew were ashore seeking plunder . They captured the crew and sailed her into Halifax . There were also Patriot attacks on Nova Scotia by land , such as the Battle of Fort Cumberland and the Siege of Saint John ( 1777 ) . There was the constant threat that American Patriots would attack Halifax by land . The month prior to the Raid on Lunenburg , there was a significant Naval battle off Halifax between an American privateer and a Royal Naval vessel . Raid on Lunenburg . During the early morning of 1 July 1782 , five American privateers , who had left Boston under the command of Captain Noah Stoddard , began to raid Lunenburg . Captain Stoddard ’ s ship was the schooner " Scammel " , which had sixteen guns and sixty men . Stoddard organized both a land and sea assault of the town . The vessels first landed at Red Head , two miles outside of the town and soldiers began to march toward the town . The vessels then moved toward a frontal assault on the town . The Lunenburg militia was led by Colonel John Creighton ( judge ) and Major D . C . Jessen . Colonel Creighton and five other militia men occupied the eastern blockhouse and began firing at the approaching land assault . Several of Captain Stoddard ’ s privateers were wounded . The landed fleet of privateers then rounded East Point . The vessels landed and quickly took control of the western blockhouse and established themselves at Blockhouse Hill ( See image above ) . Captain Creighton and others in the blockhouse were cannonaded into silence and the blockhouse burned . Colonel Creighton surrendered and was taken prisoner along with two other men aboard Captain Stoddard ’ s vessel " Scammel " . Resistance was also offered by Major D . C . Jessen . He was initially held up in his home , which the privateers fired full of bullets . He escaped and his house was looted . Major Jessen assembled with a militia behind the hill overlooking the town . A militia from La Have under the command of Major Joseph Pernette also advanced toward Lunenburg to join Major Jessen . Captain Stoddard sent a message to Jensen and Pernette that if they advanced on the town , all the homes would be burned . To ensure his threat was not idle , Captain Stoddard burned down Major Jessen ’ s home . Captain Stoddard ’ s privateers looted the town and destroyed what remained . The Reverend Johann Gottlob Schmeisser tried to interfere and was bound by the privateers and placed in the middle of town . Relief came when Lt . Governor Hamond dispatched from Halifax three ships under the command of Captain Douglass . Captain Stoddard began the retreat . Despite not having received a ransom , Captain Stoddard released Colonel Creighton and the other prisoners after they arrived in Boston .