On this day in 1815, news reached Boston that the War of 1812 was over. The U.S. had at first been a neutral party in a conflict between Britain and France. But when the British Navy began seizing American sailors, the U.S. imposed an embargo and then declared war. Both actions had severe consequences for Massachusetts, which was dependent on maritime trade. Once the war began, the state's coastal towns — especially those on Cape Cod — came under attack from the Royal Navy. For two years, bombardment, invasion, looting, extortion, and hostage-taking were almost routine. Even today there are buildings in Falmouth that wear battle scars in the form of cannonball-sized holes.