A plaque on the southwest corner of the old City Hall commemorated the Battle of Fall River.
The inscription on the plaque read:

“The Battle of Fall River was fought near this site, May 25, 1778. A small company of Americans were attached by one hundred and fifty British whom they bravely repulsed. This tablet is erected by Quequechan Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution of Fall River, Massachusetts, May 25, 1879.”


I read the plaque several times over the years without comprehending the human story that it signified. Could there have been a battle near this site in 1778? Everything looked so commonplace. In front of me was the solid stone City Hall. Across the street was the Granite Block where Eastern Massachusetts Railway buses were coming and going. On the other side of the Granite Block was the Peter Pan bus station. Beyond that, the Quequechan river emerged in the open air parallel to the Herald News building and lowered itself in several cascades (for total drop of about 30 feet) pinned in a steep ravine to the level of the Taunton river and Mount Hope bay. From the mill fires of 1928 to the interstate construction in the 1960s, the Quequechan river flowed from the South Watauppa under Plymouth Avenue to a point a block from Pleasant street at Hartwell Street where it went underground. Several cascades occurred in the tunnel including a six foot for one at the Troy mill.

At the time of the Battle of Fall River, the river was open to the air from pond to bay. Old maps show a small pond lay in back of the City Hall. The river ran through a deep ravine from small pond to the shore. The result was that the defenders had many natural advantages. First the invaders had to march up the steep slope using a dirt path [present day Anawan street] from the shore to the top of the ridge at South Main Street. Then they would have to run planks across the ravine at City Hall while being fired upon by the defenders. Then they would have had to fall into their accustomed formation again under harassing fire. Finally, the defenders would not form up into a corresponding three rank formation and march towards them; but instead stay behind a stone wall firing as targets were found. And for what? To fire a stack of ship timber, a few boats in various stages of construction, some houses and mills. All to inspire the rebels to loyalty in his benign majesty, King George III. Rebels were increasing in number as they heard they heard the sounds of battle. The weather was cold, overcast and there was the feel of rain in the air. They could be rowing in an open boat in the pouring rain if they lingered.

I think that the British commander decided that he had done enough damage for the day and that it was time to leave.