British Captain John Linzee was a key player for British forces during the buildup and outbreak of the Battle of Gloucester. Born in 1743, Linzee was a career naval officer who was first stationed in New England 1769.
Prior to manning the Falcon, Linzee served on a number of ships and was involved in several of the Revolutionary War’s early skirmishes.
In June 1772, Linzee led an operation patrolling the Rhode Island coast for smugglers aboard his ship, the Beaver. The ship’s tender, the Gaspee, was stationed near Providence when it was overrun by over a hundred townspeople who shot the ship’s commander, ordered the crew over the side of the vessel and burned it to the waterline. The outbreak resulted in Linzee’s arrest, after he refused to hand over and threatened an indentured servant involved in the skirmish.
Linzee was appointed to the Falcon in October 1774, and the ship provided naval support to the Redcoats during the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.
That summer, Linzee was ordered to disrupt American supply lines along the coast of Essex County. He patrolled the waters of Ipswich Bay and the surrounding areas, raiding towns to steal weapons and supplies.
Linzee’s efforts built a sense of unease within Gloucester, and residents lived in fear of a British attack. In August 1775, as the Falcon sat off the coast of Gloucester, the townspeople prepared for violence.
The tension reached a boiling point on August 8, when Linzee encountered two schooners off the coast of Cape Ann. As the boats traveled towards Salem, Linzee captured one and chased the second into Gloucester Harbor, running it aground.
Gloucester residents saw this from the shore and quickly sounded the alarm. The militia took up arms and held off Linzee’s multiple attempts to burn the town to the ground. Linzee retreated after all his small boats were seized and 35 British soldiers were captured. After the defeat, Linzee and the Falcon stationed off the coast of Cape Ann for the night and returned to Boston the next morning.
Following the Battle of Gloucester, Linzee served in the Royal Navy for 17 more years, commanding different ships and working in Antigua, the American colonies and Barbados.
Linzee resigned from the Navy in 1792 and settled in Milton, Mass., where he lived with his wife, Susannah Inman, and nine children. He died at age 56 in 1798.
Sources:
Captain John Linzee – Bunker Hill Monument Association
Captain John Linzee – Gaspee Virtual Archives
