Knowing that the American colonies desperately needed gunpowder, he decided to attack the island of New Providence in the Bahamas to capture a large supply of that commodity as well as a great quantity of other military supplies reportedly stored there. A fortnight after leaving the Delaware capes, on the morning of March 3, Hopkins arrived off Nassau and captured Fort Montague in a bloodless Battle of Nassau, in which Continental Marines under Capt. Samuel Nicholas joined Hopkins' sailors in America's first amphibious operation. That evening, Hopkins issued a proclamation which promised not to harm "... the persons or property of the inhabitants of New Providence ..." if they did not resist. The following morning, Governor Montfort Browne surrendered Fort Nassau but only after he had spirited away most of the island's gunpowder from New Providence to St. Augustine, Florida. After Hopkins stripped the forts of their guns and all remaining ordnance, Alfred led the American fleet homeward from Nassau harbor on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, the same day that British troops were evacuating Boston. On April 4, during the homeward voyage, Hopkins' ships captured the six-gun British schooner Hawk and the eight-gun brig . Shortly after midnight on April 6, Hopkins encountered the 20-gun Glasgow. That British frigate—which was carrying dispatches telling of the British withdrawal—put up a fierce and skillful fight which enabled her to escape from her substantially more powerful American opponents. At the outset of the fray, fire from her cannon cut Alfred'''s tiller ropes, leaving Hopkins' flagship unable to maneuver or to pursue effectively. The American ships did attempt to chase their fleeing enemy, but after dawn Glasgow disappeared over the horizon and safely reached Newport, Rhode Island. When Alfred and her consorts put into New London, Connecticut, on April 8, the Americans were at first welcomed as heroes. still, many of the officers of the American squadron voiced dissatisfaction with Hopkins, and he was later relieved of command.Alfred was inactive through the summer for a number of reasons, but high on the list of her problems were want of funds and a shortage of men. On August 7, Capt. John Paul Jones, who had helped to fit her out as a warship and had been her first lieutenant on the cruise to New Providence, was placed in command of the ship. She departed Providence, Rhode Island, on October 26, 1776 in company with