The American Revolution at Sea, 1775-1776
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Honors College 5-2013 Taking the War to the Water: The American Revolution At Sea, 1775-1776 Sarah Kent University of Maine - Main Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors Part of the Military History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Kent, Sarah, "Taking the War to the Water: The American Revolution At Sea, 1775-1776" (2013). Honors College. 126. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/126 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TAKING THE WAR TO THE WATER: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AT SEA, 1775-1776 by Sarah Kent A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Degree with Honors (History) The Honors College The University of Maine May 2013 Advisory Committee: Liam Riordan, Associate Professor of History, Advisor Richard Judd, McBride Professor of History Scott W. See, Libra Professor of History Howard Segal, Adelaide and Alan Bird Professor of History David Gross, Interim Dean, Honors College Abstract The story of the land war of the American Revolution has been told many times. However, the naval conflict remains largely ignored except for its most famous aspects, such as the voyages of John Paul Jones. When the sea battles of the Revolution have been discussed it has mostly been in the context of the end of the war when the navy had already existed for some time. Historians such as William Fowler and Nathaniel Miller have attempted comprehensive studies of the Continental Navy, but neither focus on the character and significance of naval combat in the first year of the war. The early naval battles of 1775-1776 demonstrate that the navy of the United Colonies was still a decentralized, disorganized force that was controlled not by a central governing agency but by independent local leaders. These men looked for opportunities for success and valor, perhaps even for personal profit, and took advantage of opportunities as they arose, whether it was part of the navy’s larger plan or not. These characteristics were illustrated in the Battle of Machias, the Battle of Nassau, and the Battle of Valcour, in each of which men acted on their own initiative, and with the exception of Valcour, experienced success. The valuable and unique nature of the naval war of the American Revolution from 1775-1776 becomes clear through a close examination of the formation of the Continental Navy and the interconnections between the land and sea war. 2 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter One: The British Navy……………………………………………………….5 Chapter Two: The Battle of Machias………………………………………………...20 Chapter Three: The Formation of the Continental Navy…………………………….24 Chapter Four: The Battle of Nassau………………………………………………….35 Chapter Five: The Battle of Valcour…………………………………………………49 Chapter Six: The Land and Sea War…………………………………………………66 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...............71 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………74 Author’s Biography………………………………………………………………….77 iii List of Images and Tables I. Continental Ship, Alfred………………………………………………….1 II. Machias Bay, 1776……………………………………………………….5 III. Jones’ Sloop at the Falls (map..………………………………………….11 IV. The Margaretta Moved Down Stream (map)……………………………12 V. Where the Main Fighting for the Battle of Machias Occurred (map)……14 VI. Costume of Great Britain no.3 1807………………………………………20 VII. Painting Depicting the Continental Navy Frigate the Confederacy………24 VIII. New Providence Island……………………………………………………35 IX. Hopkins Fleet off of New Providence (map)…………………………….39 X. Location of Fort Nassau and Fort Montagu (map)……………………….42 XI. Valcour Island Map, Overview…………………………………………..49 XII. Table 1: the British Fleet…………………………………………………55 XIII. Table 2: The American Fleet……………………………………………..56 XIV. Valcour Island Map, Detail……………………………………………….59 XV. Washington Crossing the Delaware………………………………………63 XVI. HMS Serapis and Bonhomme Richard…………………………………….68 iv Introduction 1 1 Nowland Van Powell, “Continental Ship, Alfred,” http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NH_85212- KN.jpg. 1 The first shot of the American Revolution came in April 1775 at Lexington, Massachusetts.2 In the centuries since the American Revolution, it has been the subject of wide-ranging scholarship that has adopted multiple perspectives and intepretations. One area that has lacked careful research and close scrutiny, is the role of the naval battles and the Continental Navy itself. Although the Continental Navy only played a role until 1778, at which time the French navy took over the naval front of the war, it laid the foundation for the United States Navy.3 In the early years of the war this navy was anything but regulated. After the creation of the Continental Navy in 1775, John Adams created rules and regulations that were to govern the new defense force.4 However, these distant guidelines were rarely followed by the Continental Navy. While there were problems with having a decentralized naval force, it did provide the rebellious colonies with some advantages over Great Britain. With the American naval forces having little oversight, they were able to act with far greater flexibility than their British counterparts, who were restricted by the goals and designs of their superiors. The flexibility of the American naval forces and army allowed them to immediately react to local conditions in the most expeditious manner. This independent, flexible, and decentralized spirit among the naval forces can be seen especially clearly before the navy was officially formed. In May 1775, colonists in Machias, Maine, rose up against Ichabod Jones, a trader from Boston. Although the Patriots were not necessarily in the majority there, they saw an opportunity to further the 2 Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic, 1763-1789 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956), 68. 3 William M. Fowler, Rebels Under Sail (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976), 89-90. 4 United States Continental Congress, Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies (Philadelphia, 1775). 2 cause in which they believed. This independent spirit and willingness to take action, carried through the early years of the war.5 This same spirit was seen in Esek Hopkins’s cruise to New Providence in the Bahamas. Instead of following his orders to cruise Narragansett Bay, Hopkins sailed to the Bahamas and led an amphibious assault against Fort Nassau. Although this was a successful assault, and secured valuable supplies for the Americans, Hopkins violated his orders, an extreme measure even for the decentralized nature of the navy, and attacked a British colony instead of just protecting the American coast. Hopkins went to New Providence because he saw a valuable opportunity and took advantage of it. These actions further demonstrate the localized and independent spirit that was evident in the Continental Navy.6 The Battle of Valcour also highlighted these characteristics. Although this was performed as a legitimate military act against Great Britain, it still demonstrated that Benedict Arnold was willing to go beyond his duties as an army officer to make a naval assault on the Royal Navy. In October 1776, Arnold led a quickly assembled American fleet against the much stronger British Navy. While a defeat for the Americans, they fought valiantly and secured a secondary strategic goal in delaying the British advance, which proved that an independent, decentralized force could indeed make a difference.7 These battles demonstrated that in the opening phase of the American Revolution the United Colonies’ naval forces relied heavily on the independent decisions of the men who led them. The Battle of Machais, the Battle of Nassau, and the Battle of Valcour, 5 James Lyons, “Chairman of Machias Committee to Massachusetts Committee of Safety,” reprinted in Naval Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-1775, Volume 1, comp. William Bell Clark, (United States Naval Department, 1964), 676-677. 6 Fowler, Rebels Under Sail, 96. 7 Pennsylvania Gazette, October 23, 1776, reprinted Naval Documents of the American Revolution, 1776, Volume 6, comp. William James Morgan (Naval History Division Department of Navy, 1972), 1391. 3 together demonstrate that the success of the Continental Navy was based on strong individual leaders. 4 Chapter One: The British Navy 8 8 J.A. Atkinson, Costumes of Great Britain, No. 3 1807: Post Captain, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Navy_Post_Captain.jpg. 5 The end of the eighteenth century was a time of change in the British Navy. The social status of naval careers was rising in Britain, and the Royal Navy became seen as a respectable career path for the sons of gentlemen to take if they were not inheriting land.9 Despite this change, a majority of the officers in the navy were not sons of gentlemen, although these young men did have the best chance of becoming commissioned officers.10 On the other end of the spectrum were the young men that joined the navy but were illiterate; for them the likelihood of receiving a commission was almost non- existent.11 At this time the admiralty had to rely on being given good candidates for officers, as there was little that they could do to train or educate them. The only true method that existed was the Naval Academy, founded in 1737, at Portsmouth. This venue for educating future officers did not play much of a role and usually only had around forty students.12 Thus they relied on the already educated to rise through the ranks based on their performance, as opposed to a formal training program for their officers.13 In addition to growing respectability, the late eighteenth century also led to the creation of semi-professional specialization among the commissioned officers. Most of this development came in the form of transport agents who were employed and uniformed by the Navy Board.