Dear Neighbors and Friends,
Join us for The Battle of Noddle Island Regatta and Re-enactment: An East Boston Memorial Day Event (May 25)!
The Battle of Noddle Island Regatta and Re-enactment will commemorate the Battle of Noddle Island, fought on May 27 and 28, 1775 in and around present day East Boston and Chelsea Creek. In this battle, the American forces, acting for the first time under unified command as the Continental Army, clashed with British Marines and naval vessels, unleashing the first live small arms fire, canon fire and causing the first casualties on Boston soil of the American Revolutionary War.
A fun family regatta will retrace the British Naval pursuit of the Continental Army’s 1st New Hampshire Regiment as they raced to remove livestock from Noddle Island (modern-day East Boston) to help break the British Naval Blockade of Boston Harbor.
This historic Revolutionary War battle will play out in a fun interactive re-enactment as American and British forces fought on land and at sea ending in America’s first Naval Victory with the boarding, plundering and destruction of the British armed schooner the HMS Diana. This victory provided desperately needed morale in the Colonies and happened right here in East Boston and on the Chelsea Creek!
Event Highlights:
• Community Boat Parade along the historic East Boston shoreline battle route from a Central Square launch point to the Condor Street Urban Wild (launch time 10 am)
• Historically-based interactive community family re-enactment of the movements and events of the Revolutionary War Battle at the Urban Wild site including a Grand Union flag-raising
• A Cook out at the Urban Wild
• Music and activities at the Urban Wild
• Free public kayaking on the Chelsea Creek at the Urban Wild
