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Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 11, Part 4

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Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 11, Part 4 Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 11 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1778–Mar. 31, 1778 Part 4 of 5 United States Government Printing Office Washington, 2005 Electronically published by American Naval Records Society Bolton Landing, New York 2012 AS A WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THIS PUBLICATION IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. EUROPEAN THEATER From January 1 to March 31, 1778 EUROPEAN THEATER From January 1 to March 31, 1778 SUMMARY From all appearances as the year 1778 began, it would not be long before France entered the American War of Independence. British movements toward reconciliation with their rebellious colonies acted as a goad to the French to has- ten their entering an alliance with the United States; naval preparations at Brest and Toulon proceeded apace; and the French ministry had promised a naval es- cort to convoy safely to sea a number of ships laden with munitions for America, assembling at Nantes. British intelligence of the convoy increased the likelihood of a confrontation between British Navy cruisers and the French warships providing the protection. The British ministry early in the year determined that the damage done to the British cause by shipments of war supplies from Europe to the Continental Army outweighed the danger of pushing the French into a declaration of war. The Admiralty issued secret orders that all vessels suspected of carrying aid to the rebels were to be stopped, even if escorted by French naval ships. At the end of January, H.M.S. Hectm seized the French merchant ship Thamas Koulikan in the Bay of Biscay on suspicion of carrying munitions intended for the rebels in America. John Thornton, whom the American Commissioners in France commissioned late in 1777 to investigate the conditions of captured American sailors held as pris- oners in Britain, visited the prisons of Forton and Mill and made a report. In the meantime, under the patronage of Lord Abingdon, philanthropic Britons raised a subscription to improve the prisoners' living conditions. British officials allowed the visits of the American agent and the delivery of private aid, but still refused to negotiate a prisoner exchange. In mid-February Parliament adopted conciliatory bills proposed by Lord North by which Parliament offered to forsake its right to tax the American colonies. A new commission, eventually to be known as the Carlisle Commission, was to be sent to America to negotiate peace on the basis of that offer. In early March, in the wake of a parliamentary inquiry into the damage the American war was causing to seaborne trade, Lord George Germain sent orders for the coming season's campaign to Sir Henry Clinton, who took over Sir William Howe's com- mand in America on the latter's resignation. Barring the likelihood of a decisive engagement with the Continental Army, the British Army was to forego offensive operations on land and engage in amphibious operations along the northern sea- coast. Clinton's objective would be destruction of the rebellious Americans' capac- ity for "raising a Marine, or continuing their Depredations upon the Trade of this Kingdom, which has been already so much annoyed by their Ships of War and Privateers." In the autumn, British operations were to move to the south, with the goal of taking possession of Georgia and South Carolina. EUROPEAN THEATER On 6 February an event took place at Versailles that pressed the seal of futility on British efforts at reconciliation and required a complete revision of British cam- paign plans. On that day the American Commissioners and representatives of the French King signed two treaties, a commercial treaty to last for thirty years, and a military alliance. A week following the signing, Captain John Paul Jones of the Continental Navy ship Ranger exchanged gun salutes with a French squadron in Quiberon Bay, France's first formal public recognition of the American flag. The American munitions convoy finally departed Quiberon Bay on 26 February. With them sailed the new Continental Navy frigate Deane and the pur- chased Continental Navy frigate Queen of France. A French squadron under Chef d'Escadre La Motte-Picquet escorted the convoy well into the Atlantic before re- turning to Brest without incident. At Nantes, John Paul Jones changed Ranger's ballast and reduced the ship's masts and spars to improve her sailing qualities, while he lobbied for a larger and faster ship. He planned some bold exploit under cruising orders from the American Commissioners that gave him wide discretion in his choice of means to harass the British. American privateering activity off the Spanish coast declined sharply during the winter of 1777-1778. The taking of neutral vessels by Americans incurred the displea- sure of the Spanish crown, and, along with strong British diplomatic protests, led to the expulsion of many privateers. With the growing presence of British warships, most American privateers left Spanish waters looking for a safer way to make a profit. Captain Gustavus Conyngham, in command of the Continental Navy cutter Revenge, remained active on the Spanish coast, capturing six vessels during the first three months of 1778. Although Conyngham received aid from officials and mer- chants in El Ferrol and Bilbao, two festering issues made it increasingly difficult for him to operate out of the northern ports. First, Spanish officials continued the imprisonment of the prize crew of the Britannia, prize to Massachusetts privateer Hawke, because of the prize master's false declaration concerning Britannia's own- ership. Second, when Conyngham seized British goods on board a French ship destined for the Spanish market, Spanish protests moved the American Ministers in France to reprimand the Revenge's captain and declare support for the conti- nental European policy that "free ships make free goods." As their government was not yet ready to join France in a war with Britain, Spanish officials bowed to British diplomatic pressure by expelling Conyngham from their ports. Leaving northern Spain in early March, Conyngham quickly took five prizes and put into Cadiz for repairs and provisions, receiving a warm welcome despite official policy. After the signing of the Franco-American treaties, Louis XVI ordered comple- tion of the fitting out and manning of the fleets at Brest, under Comte d'orvilliers, and Toulon, under Comte d'Estaing. First Lord of the British Admiralty Lord Sandwich feared a junction of the Toulon squadron with that at Brest that would portend an invasion of Great Britain, while Lord Stormont, the British ambassador in Paris, surmised that the Toulon squadron was to be ordered to the East Indies. D'Estaing's true destination was the coast of North America. The French ministry believed that a French naval squadron operating in North American waters would bolster American will to continue the struggle with Britain as well as support French war aims, especially the protection of their West Indian possessions. 1JANUARY 1778 861 The break of relations between Great Britain and France finally came on 13 March when the Marquis de Noailles, the French ambassador in London, in- formed the British ministry of French recognition of American independence. At once both Stormont and Noailles were recalled from their respective posts. George 111's cabinet responded to the impending entry of France into the war by issuing Sir Henry Clinton new instructions. Reconquest of the rebellious colonies on the continent of North America was now to be of subsidiary impor- tance to the protection of the Crown's Caribbean possessions. The British Army was to abandon Philadelphia and to seize St. Lucia, in the French West Indies. Vice Admiral Viscount Howe also received new instructions. He was to detach a squadron to support the army's conquest of St. Lucia and to return some twenty frigates and sloops to assist in the defense of the British Isles. The composition of the American Commissioners in France changed in March. Silas Deane boarded a French warship for America, and to take his place John Adams arrived at Bordeaux on the last day of the month, having crossed the Atlantic on board the Continental Navy frigate Boston. Events in Europe during the first three months of 1778 brought about a fun- damental change in the nature of the American war. French recognition of the in- dependence of the United States pointed the way ineluctably to the merging of the War of Independence with a world war. January 1 [MillPrison, Plymouth] Jan@ lst.1778 Thursday raw cold wc Recd for New Years day for Each Mess a plum Pudding & a Six penny Loaf as a Present from Mc Heath & his Parish & by him we Learn that there is a Subscription raising for the relief of the American Prisoners confined in England.! Blessed News to a Starving People.' Our Friends in London have Employ'd a Gent'". to Come down in Order to see & Inspect into Our treatment & Provisions, & Capt. HF Johnson & Mr. Shoemaker2went into offices to Inform him of the particulars D, MeHi, Jonathan Haskins Journal. 1. On the subscription for the relief of the American prisoners, see Alrnon's Remembrancq at 8 Jan., below, and Cohen, Yankee Sailors, 83-84. Deacon Robert Heath (1741-1800), merchant of Plymouth Dock and deacon at the Calvinist Methodist Plymouth Tabernacle, had begun visiting and dispensing aid to the prisoners at Mill Prison by the autumn of 1777. Cohen, Yankee Sailors, 79-83, and Sheldon S. Cohen, "The Preachers and the Prisoners,"Essex Institute Historical Collectims 126 (Jan. 1990, No. 1): 1-26. 2. Capt. Henry Johnson, Continental Navy, and Anthony Shoemaker. [Paris, ca. 1 Jan. 1 7781 Sir, You did me the honor to promise a Letter to M': Chaumont as soon as a deter- mination should be taken, respecting the Convoy.' as no Letter has been received 862 EUROPEAN THEATER conclude that it is still undetermined.
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