OK, it wasn’t really as bad as it sounds. Not many people were hurt in the skirmish, the only things burnt were some hay and a house or two, and the only things slaughtered were livestock.
Noddle’s Island, in Boston Harbor, was the scene of one of many skirmishes and confrontations over supplies while the British were besieged in Boston. The British were continually trying to get food for themselves and their horses, as well as firewood, and several times the New Englanders tried to either stop them in the process, or to destroy the supplies before the British could get them. The latter is what happened in this case. American soldiers went to Noddle’s Island, in Boston Harbor, to destroy what they could before the British could get it, and the British Marines went to stop them. British Lieutenant John Barker, stationed in Boston, recorded the fight in his diary the next day:
Yesterday afternoon about 40 of the Rebels came to Noddles Island expecting to meet with hay to destroy: they set two houses on fire and began killing the Cows and Horses, which the Adml. [Admiral] seeing immediately dispatched the Marines from the Men of War to drive the Rebels away, and at the same time sent some Boats and an armed Schooner round the Island to intercept them; the Rebels as soon as they saw this scour’d off as fast as they cou’d and escaped by wading up to their necks; one was killed in the flight; after this there was a constant firing at each other from the opposite sides of the water, but I believe without any mischief [meaning that nobody was hurt]; there was also firing at and from the Schooner and boats, which continued all night and part of this morning. I fancy we are the greatest sufferers for some time in the night the schooner run aground within 60 yards of their shore, and after a cannonade a considerable time on both sides, having no chance of saving the Schooner as the tide was going out, they were obliged to set her on fire and quit [i.e., leave] her without being able to save a single article…
From The British in Boston: Being a Diary of Lieutenant John Barker of the King’s Own Regiment from November 15, 1774 to May 31, 1776, pp. 50-51.
Notes
Noddle’s Island is no longer an island; the water around it has been filled up, and the island is now part of Boston.
The full map can be viewed on the Library of Congress website at https://lccn.loc.gov/gm71002447