How a pair of teenage girls outwitted a British man-of-war.
In June of 1814, the British frigate HMS Bulwark, bearing seventy-four guns, raided the Massachusetts town of Scituate, setting fire to six ships in the harbor. The town promptly formed a militia company to protect itself. The men held their drills by the lighthouse, but as the summer went by without any more incidents, they began to let their guard down.
In September, the Bulwark came back for another bite.
Rebecca Bates, the eighteen-year-old daughter of the lighthouse keeper, spotted the British ship sitting offshore. A longboat full of soldiers was setting off toward the harbor, where two merchant ships presented a juicy target.
Her father wasn’t around. There was no time to get to town to warn of the attack. Then Rebecca noticed something the militiamen had left at the lighthouse, something that gave her an idea: a fife and drum.
The soldiers had taught them a few songs over the summer. Now Rebecca thought they could use one of them to fool the British. “Keep out of sight,” she warned her sister. “If they see us, they’ll laugh us to scorn.” The two girls hid out behind a dune and played “Yankee Doodle” for all they were worth.
The British heard the all too familiar tune wafting over the water. It could mean only one thing: American soldiers were gathering to repel their attack. A signal pennant was hoisted and the raiding party aborted their mission.
Scituate was saved from attack by Rebecca and Abigail Bates, forever known to their town as An American Army of Two.
“YOU TAKE THE DRUM AND I’LL TAKE THE FIFE.”
— REBECCA BATES TO HER SISTER ABIGAIL, AS THEY PREPARED TO DRIVE OFF THE BRITISH
Rebecca Bates lived to a great old age and told many people of the day she saved Scituate. She and her sister even signed affidavits swearing to the accuracy of their story.