Last year was a very important anniversary for our neighbors in nearby Rhode Island, particularly in the village of Pawtuxet. Anniversaries are important markers for us personally as well as nationally, and the 250th anniversary of a key event that foreshadowed the American Revolution would certainly be something that should be regularly remembered and celebrated.

In early June 1772, the British customs schooner Gaspee was patrolling New England coastal waters on the lookout for ships thought to be carrying illegal goods. When the commander of that vessel, Lt. William Dudingston, spotted a suspicious colonial ship, the Hanna, speeding across Providence Bay, he ordered “full sail,” and the chase was on.

Despite having the advantage in both speed and firepower, that chase would not end well for Dudingston or his ill-fated, but soon to become famous, ship.

A little context might be in order before we resume that chase. Years ago, my anthropology class was doing a dig in the local area when one of the students found an old copper coin with the image of a stately individual on one side.

“Which president is this?” the student innocently asked.

That same student seemed rather shocked when I said the person featured on the coin was not a president but a former English king (George III) who once ruled over us. We both agreed that things certainly had changed over time.

Colonial America had a mixed relationship with its king and mother country. Like all relationships sometimes we were closer than others but one thing that remained relatively constant during our early years of development was that as “Englishmen once removed” we were a long way from home and had often been left to fend for ourselves in a dangerous new world. “Mother” may have wished us well, even helped us at times, but generally treated her American children with what might best be described as “benign neglect.”

As a result, English colonists in America developed a proud and self-reliant attitude. When Great Britain in the middle 1700s found itself in need of money and started to make economic demands on English colonists in America, there was bound to be resistance.

That brings us back to the Gaspee and her much-hated captain.

Lt. William Dudingston by most accounts was a ruthless and driven man. Driven by profits made by intercepting and impounding local smuggler’s ships and armed with an overbearing British arrogance, he soon became a prime target for colonial anger.

Dudingston would often stop and seize ships (even fishing vessels which were highly unlikely to be carrying illegal rum, sugar or molasses in with their normal cargo) for the slightest infraction, sometimes brutalizing their commanders and crews in the process. The crew of the Gaspee would often forage ashore and appropriate provisions for the ship, leaving coastal farmers with nothing in return.

If any opportunity presented itself for colonists to “neutralize” this man or his ship, rest assured, those colonists would certainly take advantage of any such opportunity.

The Hanna was a single masted sloop, captained by Benjamin Lindsey. Captain Lindsey had left Newport on his way to Providence with almost no cargo aboard. When he spotted “His Majesty’s schooner, Gaspee,” he refused to lower his sails to acknowledge British authority. A 25-mile chase across Providence Bay ensued.

That chase ended at Namquid Point (now Gaspee Point) near Pawtuxet. The lighter Hanna had cleverly lured the heavier Gaspee onto a sandbar. It was now helplessly stranded in just two feet of water and would not refloat until full high tide many hours later.

Word spread quickly.

This was a dream come true for the colonists. Plans were made in Sabin’s Tavern in Providence, and soon almost 200 armed colonists set out in eight longboats with muffled oars to row the seven miles to the stricken vessel.

Lt. Dudingston was ill-prepared when those longboats arrived in the dead of night. Dudingston had sent much of his crew along with yet another seized ship back to Newport and had only 19 crew members remaining aboard that night, and the majority of them were presently sleeping below deck.

Also, many of the weapons had been collected and were securely locked in the ship’s hold. It was obvious that the ship not only continued to be helplessly lodged on the sandbar, but it was also totally unable to defend itself. Despite the odds, Dudingston (dressed in night clothes) aggressively shot one of the first raiders who came aboard and he, in turn, was shot in the groin.

The ship’s crew was taken captive and removed from the ship along with their wounded commander. After looking things over and taking what they wanted, the raiders then set fire to the British vessel. It burned for a short time but then exploded when the fire reached the ship’s magazine. What remained of the vessel sank beneath the surface of the water.

No one was ever charged with this “crime against the crown” despite a 5,000-pound reward offered for the leader and 2,500 pounds for any others involved. Given the large number of people participating in this operation, that seems quite remarkable.

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“Gaspee Days” have been celebrated in Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, for the last 58 years. Honoring the Gaspee event started even before the American Revolution began and was done up until the early 1900s when it was finally discontinued.

But then in 1965, a history-minded committee in Pawtuxet brought the event back to life. Despite a short time off for Covid, the celebration of the Gaspee sinking has gained significant momentum over the last five decades.

Held in mid-June, Gaspee Days feature parades, concerts, arts and craft festivals, historical reenactments, fireworks and general fun. A 5K road race, block party, historical demonstrations, and a reenactment of the ship’s burning has continued to delight attendees.

Concession stands are busy hawking commemorative T-shirts, flags, Gaspee tankards (local breweries supply the contents) and many other types of mementos. As one participant excitedly reported, “This is more fun than Christmas.”

Early last summer, longtime East Lyme resident and historically minded Norman Peck Jr., read about this upcoming event in the local newspaper and contacted me about it. Mr. Peck told me he reached out to the Pawtuxet Gaspee Committee and author Steven Park, who recently had written a book about this historic event. Norm Peck then shared his reason for doing so.

“The Littlefields and the Pecks share a common ancestor who owned two Rhode Island privateers around the time of the American Revolution. I inherited a sea chest from one of those ships. Inside that sea chest was an old handwritten note saying that our direct ancestor, Captain Samuel Dunn, had been present at the Gaspee sinking in 1772.

“At first, the committee and Steven Park were very interested in this, but I guess they began to lose interest when so many with the Dunn family name began to emerge but with no definitive proof to tie Samuel to the event. That note in the sea chest, however, was real and somebody knew enough to write that information down many years ago.”

Mr. Peck then added that the note also stated Dunn’s two ships would later serve as privateers during the American Revolution.

Research into this connection remained ongoing, but we both believed the odds were that Captain Dunn had been involved with the Gaspee incident. Remembering that there were 200 or so colonial raiders involved, and strict silence was demanded of each one, we thought any comprehensive list of participants would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find.

But then again, maybe not.

I passed this documentation challenge forward to a good friend of mine down in Gainesville, Ga. by the name of Hugh T. Harrington. Hugh is an accomplished author and historian and once served as editor and contributor to a book titled “Journal of the American Revolution.” In no time at all, Mr. Harrington found the following information and sent it my way.

Captain Samuel Dunn Jr… b. January 3, 1743, died December 15, 1787. Commanded and later owned two privateer vessels during the American Revolution, “Revenge” and “Prosper.” They sailed mainly out of Newport.

From a book titled “A History of American Privateers” written in 1899…“Abraham Whipple was chosen commander of the enterprise, having as his lieutenant, John Burroughs Hopkins. Others known to have taken part in the attempt were John Brown, Benjamin Dunn, Samuel Dunn, Joseph Bucklin, Dr. John Mawney, Benjamin Page, Turpin Smith, Joseph Tillinghast and Simon Olney.”

Personal testimony from Dr. John Mawney published in 1826 describes the boarding of the British ship.

“(With club in hand) I was in the attitude of leveling a strike (at one of the Gaspee crew members) but the man cried out ‘John, don’t strike!’ Being very intimately acquainted with Captain Samuel Dunn and knew his voice, I left him and sprung back to the windlass where there was commotion and noise which soon subsided.”

And so, there we have it. That old note in the seaman’s chest was right on the money just as Mr. Peck had always believed. To have proof that a relative was once involved in a historical event of this magnitude is truly exhilarating. History does matter, and it especially matters when your own family was involved.

Jim Littlefield is a retired history teacher in East Lyme who has written two local history books and two historical novels. His columns can also be found in the Post Road Review.