Arsenal from the Atlantic: 219 Days Out – The Capture of HMS Nancy and Revolution's Resupply

November 27, 2025 – Day 219 of Our Countdown to July 4, 2026

From the triumphant tide of Evacuation Day – that harbor's hard-won homecoming sealing the Revolution's coastal conquests – we seize the seas today, Day 219, with a privateer's prize that packed patriot punch: the capture of the British supply ship HMS Nancy on November 27, 1775, by Captain John Manley commanding the Continental schooner Lee off Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Laden with 2,000 Brown Bess muskets, 30 tons of powder, 1,000 round shot, and woolen uniforms for Howe's redcoats, the Nancy fell to Manley's daring boarding party, her hold a holiday haul for the besieged Boston army. In our Quarter Millennial's 250-Day Salute to American Greatness, this Atlantic ambush wasn't salty serendipity; it was the Declaration's daring dividend – a resupply raid that reloaded liberty's locker, turning British bounty into Continental bullets and fueling the siege that would soon chill the Crown's grip on Boston.

Serendipity's Salute: Manley's Musket Masterstroke

November 1775's gales whipped the North Atlantic as the Lee – a 10-gun schooner commissioned October 28 by Congress, her crew a mix of Marblehead fishermen and Salem salts – patrolled from Beverly Harbor. Manley, a 30-year-old shipmaster with a nose for Nor'easters, spotted the Nancy's sails on the 26th: A fat 120-ton transport, lightly armed and bound for Boston with war materiel from the West Indies.

The takedown was textbook tenacity:

• The Chase and Clash: Manley closed under false colors, then hoisted the Grand Union Flag at pistol range. A brief broadside splintered the Nancy's rails; boarders swarmed, overwhelming her 20-man crew in a hail of cutlasses and cries. No fatalities, but the prize's captain surrendered his sword to Manley's mate.
• The Haul's Heft: Unloaded at Gloucester by the 28th, the cargo cascaded ashore: Muskets for Washington's wings, powder for Putnam's pieces, shot for Stark's siege guns. Valued at £20,000, it armed 500 men – a windfall worth the winter's weight in gold.
• Congress's Commendation: Manley pocketed a captain's share (one-eighth), his crew shares fueling further fits. The Nancy, refitted as a Continental transport, sailed on – her name a nautical nod to victory's vessel.

This capture crested the Continental Navy's early crest: From Hanover's August haul to Jones's later legends, privateers as the revolution's rogue revenue.

Why Nancy's Net Nets Our Narrative to 250?

At 219 days from July 4, 2026, the Nancy's nab reminds us that the Declaration's defiance drew dividends from daring decks – resupplies that reloaded the resolve, turning tempests into treasures for the cause. It beckons us: In supply's straits, seize the surge, honoring the sailors who salted sovereignty's stores. As we countdown, it salutes the schooner that schooled success, ensuring 1776's armory overflows with audacious abundance.

What waves from this watery windfall wash over you – Manley's masterful maneuver, the muskets' timely tide, or the privateers' profitable pluck? Share your reflections in the comments or on social.

Tomorrow, on Day 218 (November 28th), we'll revisit the Mount Vernon Conference of 1785 – the gathering that gathered momentum for the Constitution's grand design. The march to liberty endures.

In the seized surge of seafaring supply, The Quarter Millennial Team

P.S. Prize your perspectives with #250DaysToLiberty – together, we capture the cargo of courage.