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Grey's raid

1778 in the Province of Massachusetts BayBattles in the Northern Coastal theater of the American Revolutionary War after SaratogaBattles involving Great BritainBattles involving the United StatesBattles of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts
Conflicts in 1778Fairhaven, MassachusettsHistory of Bristol County, MassachusettsHistory of Dukes County, MassachusettsMartha's VineyardNew Bedford, Massachusetts
Chart of Nantucket Island and the eastern half of Martha's Vineyard. LOC 78692798
Chart of Nantucket Island and the eastern half of Martha's Vineyard. LOC 78692798

Grey's raid was a series of raids carried out in Massachusetts by British forces under the command of Major-General Charles Grey in September 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. Grey, leading 4,000 troops, raided the towns of New Bedford and Fairhaven along with Martha's Vineyard as part of the northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga. The raids were the one of the first in a series of attacks executed by the British against American coastal communities. Grey's force was originally intended as a relief force for the British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island that was briefly under siege, but they arrived after the American besiegers had already retreated. General Sir Henry Clinton diverted Grey's troops to carry out raids instead. On September 5 and 6, Grey raided New Bedford and Fairhaven, encountering significant resistance only in Fairhaven. His troops destroyed storehouses, shipping, and supplies in New Bedford, where they met with light resistance from the local militia; they damaged fewer American holds at Fairhaven where militia resistance had additional time to organize. He then sailed for Martha's Vineyard, which was undefended. Between September 10 and 15, its residents surrendered 10,000 head of sheep and 300 oxen, as well as most of the island's weapons.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Grey's raid (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Grey's raid
Cedar Street, New Bedford

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N 41.636111111111 ° E -70.934722222222 °
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Cedar Street 58;60;62;64;66;68
02740 New Bedford
Massachusetts, United States
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Chart of Nantucket Island and the eastern half of Martha's Vineyard. LOC 78692798
Chart of Nantucket Island and the eastern half of Martha's Vineyard. LOC 78692798
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New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford (Massachusett: Accushnet) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American people. English colonists bought the land on which New Bedford would later be built from the Wampanoag in 1652, and the original colonial settlement that would later become the city was founded by English Quakers in the late 17th century. The town of New Bedford itself was officially incorporated in 1787. During the first half of the 19th century, New Bedford was one of the world's most important whaling ports. At its economic height during this period, New Bedford was the wealthiest city in North America per capita. New Bedford was also a center of abolitionism at this time. The city attracted many freed or escaped African-American slaves, including Frederick Douglass, who lived there from 1838 until 1841. The city also served as a setting in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. From 1876 to 1900, New Bedford served as the initial home port for the Revenue Cutter School of Instruction, the precursor of the United States Coast Guard Academy.At the 2020 U.S. census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-largest city and the largest of the South Coast region. The city is also known for its high concentration of Portuguese Americans. New Bedford remains known for its fishing fleet and accompanying seafood industry, which as of 2019 generated the highest annual value of any fishing port in the United States. The city is also home to the New Bedford Whaling Museum and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.

Sgt. William H. Carney House
Sgt. William H. Carney House

New Bedford High School

William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage
William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage

The William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage is a historic cottage on 19 Irving Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Gothic Revival cottage was built in 1845 to a design by noted New York City architect Alexander Jackson Davis. It was built for William J. Rotch, a member of one of New Bedford's leading whaling families. It is for these two associations that it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. It is one a very few surviving Gothic cottage designs by Davis, exhibiting features not found in the others that do. The house was included in The Architecture of Country Houses, published in 1850, bringing it early fame and making it an iconic example of the style.The Rotch family was a major force in the development of whaling in the United States and in the rise of New Bedford as a major whaling center. William Rotch, Jr., grandfather of William J. Rotch, established the family's fortunes in the industry beginning in the late 18th century. The land on which the cottage sits was on a rural part of the family's New Bedford estate, and the house and land were a gift to William J. Rotch from his grandfather. The younger Rotch retained Davis to design the house.The cottage is roughly L-shaped, with a main block that has a hip roof meeting a slightly taller section with a steeply-pitched gable end. The exterior is clad with flushboarding, and its roof is composed of wood shingles. The building no longer stands at its original location, having been moved a short distance on its original lot in 1908. The original parcel it sat on has long been subdivided and built up with housing, depriving the house of its rural character. The projecting taller section frames the main entrance, and has elaborate hand-carved vergeboard decoration. On either side of this projecting section are a pair of gabled dormers with Gothic windows; these are a later addition by the Rotches to improve the lighting of upstairs bedrooms. The interiors feature elegant yet fairly typical Gothic Revival styling.The house was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.