The raid, designed to resolve the issue of gunpowder shortages, resulted in the seizure of two forts and large quantities of military supplies before the raiders drew back to New England, where they fought an unsuccessful engagement with a British frigate.

Though the raid was successful, the failure to capture Glasgow and crew complaints led to several investigations and courts martial, and Hopkins was censured and dismissed in 1778.

[7] Browne received further intelligence in late February that an American fleet was assembling off the Delaware coast, but apparently took no significant actions to prepare a defense.

The fleet captured two Loyalist-owned sloops, one of which was captained by Loyalist Gideon Lowe of Green Turtle Cay, and pressed their owners to serve as pilots.

[11] While the main fleet held back, the three ships carrying the landing force were to enter Nassau's port at daybreak on March 3, and gain control of the town before alarm could be raised.

[12] The decision to land at daybreak turned out to be a tactical mistake by Hopkins, as alarm was raised in Nassau when the three ships were spotted in the morning light, rousing Browne from his bed.

[2][13] At 7:00 a.m. he held a discussion with Samuel Gambier, one of his councilors, over the idea that the gunpowder should be removed from the islands on Mississippi Packet, a fast ship docked in the harbor.

They ultimately refrained from acting on the idea, but Browne ordered thirty mostly-unarmed militiamen to occupy Fort Montagu before retiring to his house to make himself "a little decent".

With the force enlarged by 50 sailors, the three ships, with Wasp offering additional covering support, carried it to a point south and east of Fort Montagu, where they made an unopposed landing between 12:00 and 2:00 pm.

At midnight, 162 of 200 barrels of gunpowder were loaded onto Mississippi Packet and HMS St John, and at 2:00 am they sailed out of Nassau harbor, bound for St. Augustine, Florida.

[9] This feat was made possible because Hopkins had neglected to post even a single ship to guard the harbor's entrance channels, leaving the fleet safely anchored in Hanover Sound.

[19] Browne complained that the American officers consumed most of his liquor stores during the occupation, and also wrote that he was taken in chains like a "felon to the gallows" when he was arrested and taken onboard Alfred.

[22] While Hopkins was initially lauded for the successful raid, the failure to capture Glasgow and crew complaints about some of the captains in the fleet led to a variety of investigations and courts martial.

[24] The manner by which Hopkins distributed the spoils was criticized by several congressmen, and his failure to follow his orders to patrol the Virginia and Carolina coasts resulted in censure from the Continental Congress.

[26][1] Reports of Hopkins torturing British prisoners of war, as claimed by fellow naval officers Richard Marven and Samuel Shaw, contributed to his dismissal.

[28] It was then captured by Spanish forces under the command of Bernardo de Gálvez in 1782, but was recaptured by Loyalists the next year; the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, confirmed the islands as being under British control.