A Revolutionary War event that directly impacted Yarmouth (Dennis was part of Yarmouth at that time), was the wreck of the HMS Somerset, a 64 gun British Royal Navy ship of the line, which came ashore in a storm at Truro on this date, November 2, 1778, 247 years ago.

The Somerset, built in 1748, had been in American waters for several years and was involved in a number of battles. She set out from Sandy Hook on October 12, 1778, with 16 other ships, cruising off the coast of Massachusetts, in pursuit of the French fleet.

British ships in Boston Harbor, including the Somerset, 1775.

On November 2nd a nor’easter blew in. According to the diary of Benjamin Percival of Sandwich, “November 2 – very violent storm at the back of the Cape – the wind blew exceedingly hard the later part of the Day.” The storm had a strong northeast wind. Just after 6 pm, the Somerset struck bottom on Peaked Hill bar off Truro. Cannons and other weighty items were tossed overboard to lighten the vessel, to no avail. The weather for the next two days made rescue difficult, and all were not off the wreck until Wednesday, November 4. Twenty one of the ship’s company drowned during their attempts to reach land.

Captain George Ourry and the rest of the crew were met onshore and guarded by the Truro militia, who had no fondness for the British. The local economy had been devastated by the British blockades and mariners had taken to smuggling to obtain much needed food and other items. Locals looked forward to picking the wreck clean.

Grave of Enoch Hallet, Ancient Cemetery, Yarmouth

The prisoners left Truro on November 6 under guard. Lt. Col. Enoch Hallet, of the 1st Barnstable County Regiment and also the county sheriff, was in charge of the overall operation on the Cape. The prisoners overnighted in different towns along the 155 mile route, probably spending November 7th in Yarmouth, then marching on to Barnstable the following day. Seventy-three soldiers from three different Yarmouth militia companies guarded the prisoners through Dennis (then the east precinct of Yarmouth) and Yarmouth following a general route that is now Route 6A, moving inland to get around large inlets and streams. The group had to ford Jeremiah’s Gutter (a canal located on the border of Orleans and Eastham), the Brewster fish run, and White’s Brook in Yarmouth. It must have been a cold, wet slog. One of the militia captains, Elisha Hedge, perhaps respectful of fellow officers, bought the Somerset’s young midshipmen supper & breakfast at a Yarmouth establishment for which he later requested reimbursement.

Bill submitted by Elisha Hedge for the meals he purchased.

Towns paid for the feeding and housing of the prisoners, except for Barnstable. The Massachusetts Governor’s Council, when asked how to feed the prisoners, responded; “If you have not bread for the prisoners let them live without as many better men have done before them.” Those towns that did provide for the prisoners asked for reimbursement and were paid in pounds (no US dollars yet!). The money came from the sale of items taken from the Somerset wreck by the Massachusetts authorities.

The 480 prisoners arrived in Barnstable on November 8 according to General Joseph Otis; where they slept is unknown. Soldiers from Sandwich took over at the Barnstable town line

Once leaving the Cape they were more loosely guarded and about 1/3 of them were able to slip away. Only 314 were accounted for in Boston. From Boston some were sent to New York aboard the ship Happy Release. Captain Ourry was marched to Providence and exchanged for two American officers.

It was said the salvage operation was difficult and quite dangerous and could only be accomplished at low tide. Sixteen cannons and the gun powder taken from the wreck were given to Lt. Col. Paul Revere to fortify Castle Island in Boston Harbor. Two years later, in 1780, Capt. John Sears of Yarmouth salvaged the ship’s hand pump for an experiment he was conducting along Bass River to evaporate sea water to produce salt. The hand pump, and later windmills, made moving the water into evaporation vats far more easy.

Located within the National Seashore, the wreck is still occasionally exposed by winter storms, most recently in 2010.

To learn more there is a great book about the Somerset by Marjorie Hubbell Gibson, H.M.S. Somerset 1746-1778 : the life and times of an eighteenth century British Man-O-War and her impact on North America, available in several local libraries.

Researched and written by Jack Duggan, Duncan Oliver, Bob Poskitt; edited by Nancy Mumford