11 Facts About Henry Mowat

Henry Mowat was an officer of the Royal Navy commanding ships in northern New England during the American Revolutionary War.

Henry Mowat was the son of Captain Patrick Mowat of the post ship HMS Dolphin.

Henry Mowat was born in Scotland and went to sea at the age of 18.

In 1764, Lieutenant Henry Mowat was given command of the recently purchased 16-gun sloop HMS Canceaux.

Paul Revere alerted the local militia of rumored British seizure of munitions there; gunpowder was removed from the fort by patriots before Henry Mowat arrived, and a colonial maritime pilot ran Canceaux aground in the Piscataqua River estuary.

Henry Mowat was temporarily taken prisoner by militia from Brunswick, Maine, during Thompson's War a few weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Henry Mowat was ordered to undertake a punitive mission following the battle of Machias to "chastize" the seaports of Marblehead, Salem, Gloucester, Ipswich, Newburyport, Portsmouth, Saco, Falmouth, and Machias.

Henry Mowat was given command of the recently purchased 16-gun sloop HMS Albany in 1776.

Henry Mowat anchored the sloops so they blocked the harbor entrance while their broadsides could provide mutually supportive fire with British forces ashore.

Henry Mowat moved 6-pounder cannon from the unengaged side of his squadron ashore for use by soldiers defending their incomplete fortifications.

Henry Mowat is buried in the Episcopal churchyard in Hampton, Virginia.