An unusual civic celebration: 6 things to know about the Gaspee on its 250th anniversary

Paul Edward Parker, The Providence Journal
·3 min read

WARWICK — The Gaspee Days festival takes place every June, with parties, concerts, fireworks, parades, a foot race and the ceremonial burning of an effigy of an 18th-century warship.

Here's what you need to know about the event behind this unusual civic celebration:

More: What happened to the HMS Gaspee: ​First blood of the American Revolution or petty revenge?

More: RI patriot says "cease and desist" to those denying Revolution's first shot was fired here

What was the Gaspee?

The HMS Gaspee was a British revenue schooner that was assigned to patrol Narragansett Bay to make sure that ship captains paid taxes on their cargoes and to stop smuggling, primarily of goods from the West Indies.

In 1772, in an act that people couldn't stop talking about to this day, the Gaspee was boarded and burned to the waterline. Though several people were injured during the boarding, including the Gaspee's captain being shot, no one died.

Where was the Gaspee burned?

Contrary to what you might believe from the ceremonial burning in Pawtuxet Cove that's part of Gaspee Days, the burning of the British warship happened about a mile and a half to the south, in an arm of Narragansett Bay known as the Providence River, where the Gaspee ran aground on Namquid Point, which has been renamed Gaspee Point.

More: A little-known deal allows public beach access at Gaspee Point in Warwick

Who burned the Gaspee and why?

Several dozen Colonists set out from Providence in rowboats on the night of June 9, 1772, and rowed about six miles to the south, where, in the early hours of June 10, they boarded the Gaspee, captured the crew and set them ashore before burning the ship.

The Gaspee's captain, Lt. William Dudingston, had crossed two powerful marchants: Nathanael Greene, of Coventry, and John Brown, of Providence.

In February of that year, Dudingston seized Greene's sloop, the Fortune, and its cargo, apparently illegally, igniting passions among the Colonists.

On June 9, Dudingston was chasing a boat owned by Brown when the Gaspee ran aground. When Brown heard about the Gaspee's predicament, he vowed to destroy it.

Gaspee Days 2022 schedule of events:

  • Sat 6/11 8:00

    • Ecumenical Service

  • Sat 6/11 9:30

    • 5K Foot Race

  • Sat 6/11 10am

    • 57th Annual Parade

  • Sat 6/11 all day

    • Colonial Encampment

  • Sun 6/11 11am

    • Blessing of the Fleet

  • Sun 6/12 12pm

    • Sunday in the Park

  • Sun 6/12 3pm

    • Raffle Drawing

  • Sun 6/12 4pm

    • Burning of the Gaspee

For a full list of Gaspee Days festivities visit: http://www.gaspee.com/

Was the burning of the Gaspee the first shot of the Revolutionary War?

While the Gaspee was one of many actions in the run-up to the Revolutionary War that soured American public opinion on British rule, it didn't begin the continuous armed conflict the started on Lexington Green and nearby Concord, Massachusetts, two years later.

Where is the Gaspee today?

No one knows for sure, but D.K. Abbass and the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project are launching an expedition next month to try to find what's left of the ship off Gaspee Point.

More: Everything you need to know to help search for the HMS Gaspee

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Gaspee Days 2022: 6 things to know on the 250th anniversary