Naval Documents of The American Revolution Volume 3 AMERICAN THEATRE: Dec. 8, 1775–Dec. 31, 1775 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Nov. 1, 1775–Jan. 31, 1776 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1776–Feb. 18, 1776 Part 1 of 8 United States Government Printing Office Washington, 1968 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. NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF The American Revolution NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF -.Ic- The American Revolution VOLUME 3 AMERICAN THEATRE: Dec. 8, 1775-Dec. 31, 1775 EUROPEAN THEATRE: Nov. 1, 1775-Jan. 31, 1776 AMERICAN THEATRE: Jan. 1, 1776-Feb. 18, 1776 WILLIAM BELL CLARK, Editor For and in Collaboration with The U.S. Navy Department With a Foreword 'by PRESIDENT LY,ND.ON B: JOHNSON And an Introduction by REAR ADMIRAL ERNEST+,McNEILL ELLER, ,U.S.N. (Ret.) Director of Naval History WASHINGTON: 19 6 8 L.C. Card No. 64-60087 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Omw Washington, D. C. 2W02 - Prlee $9.76 NAVAL HISTORY DIVISION SENIOR EDITORIAL STAFF Rear Admiral Ernest McNeill Eller, U.S.N. (Ret.) Rear Admiral F. Kent Loomis, U.S.N. ' (Ret.) William James Morgan ILLUSTRATIONS AND CHARTS Commander V. James Robison, U.S.N.R. W. Bart Greenwood SECRETARY OF THE NAVY'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON NAVAL HISTORY John D. Barnhart (Emeritus) Jim Dan Hill Samuel Flagg Bemis (Emeritus) Elmer L. Kayser James P. Baxter, I11 John Haskell Kemble Francis L. Berkeley, Jr. Leonard W. Labaree Julian P. Boyd Richard W. Leopold Marion V. Brewington Allan Nevins Walter Muir Whitehill SPECIAL CONSULTANTS FOR NAVAL DOCUMENTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION L. H. Butterfield Oliver Wendell Holmes Howard H. Peckham . I could wish a Distinction to be made between Prisoners taken on Shore and on Sea, which last Mode of War will hurt us more eflectually than any thing they can do by Land during our Stay at this Place. Major General William Howe to Lord Dartmouth 1775 I well know the Glorious Cause I am engaged in. Captain Nicholas Biddle 1776 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON October 13, 1967 FOREWORD One of the letters in this volume of Naval Documents of the American Revolution reveals the, alarm -- and perhaps the surprise -- of a British Naval Officer at the spread of revolution across the colonies. He reports that the people of "Cumbe rland and its Neighbourhood have formed themselves into a Committee, the same as the other Rebellious Meetings. .for what they call the preservati~nof Liberty. And indeed that is precisely what we did call it then, and what we call it still. For almost two centuries, our National goals have developed around this most fundamental commitment: the preservation of liberty. In our time we have come to understand clearly the universal and indivisible quality of liberty. But this is only an extension of - - not a departure from - - the concept as it was seen by our Founding Fathers. As George Washington told the people of Bermuda, in a letter published in Volume 11: ". .Liberty is Confined to no Continent or Climate. .. It was in the American Revolution that our National ideals and institutions took shape. The original documents of that experience are more than treasures of our heritage. They reveal the frame on which our still-evolving history is built. In the material presented in the third volume of this valuable series, we can trace the steady development of that tiny forerunner of the U. S. Fleets which guard the preservation of liberty around the globe today. INTRODUCTION Volume 3 of our series opens at a critical stage in the affairs of America. At Boston General Washington perennially short of munitions besieges the British in a stale- mate while his little Navy contributes importantly in slowing British supply by sea-the artery of life for the foe as well as for America. At Philadelphia the Continental Navy, authorized by Congress in October, prepares for its first operation; appropriately it would become an amphibious land- ing designed to bring in munitions across the sea highways. Meanwhile, Congress took step after step which led to the fateful 4 July 1776 that would influence the course of the world forever after. The flow of events hinged in large degree upon seapower. Britain had far too few warships on the American coast. Most were small, and, except for the concen- tration at Boston, they were thinly spread down the long seaboard to Florida. They afforded little offensive punch to support the strong Tory sentiment in every colony or to suppress the "liberty men." Had the British government promptly appre- ciated the true situation and poured in powerful reinforcements afloat and ashore, events in the New World would have taken a different course. They would have taken a different course, too, in the Old World. England's ancient rivals-Spain, Holland, France-watched developments overseas with acute interest. While professing neutrality, as documents in this volume show, under the table they fed the fires of revolution-at this stage principally by closing official eyes to the clandestine flow of munitions. It would be too much of a gamble now to support the rebellion openly; but if it should grow, what opportunity that might bring to injure the Mistress of the Seas. In this volume, therefore, events steadily mount in intensity. Like a rising gale, the sea's influence pervades all that happens ashore. Hence, the number of documents multiplies and the time span covered within this stout hull shrinks even though we have purposely restricted selections. From the start, our interpretation of "naval" has included the full scope of events on the sea, and those political, mercantile and military affairs that Affected events there. In this framework, we have of necessity had to eliminate cerfain fringe documents. As the density of our document holdings increases, Volume 3 expands this screening policy. We have reduced the number of the purely mercantile documents which received adequate coverage in earlier volumes. We have also omitted more of those repetitious naval items that cover the same event in similar words-for example, the many similar work vouchers for the Maryland Navy's ship Defence for which we have enough records to list the Pentagon. We do not heave these naval ones overboard without due process, retaining unique and pertinent extracts, referring to others in notes. Future volumes will adhere to this policy even more closely. As Mr. Clark mentions hereafter, those interested in reviewing our complete editorial sailing directions for this series will find them in Volume 1 with some slight modifications in Volume 2. Most of those who made possible the first two ships of the battle line of our growing fleet still serve. Volume 3, like its predecessors, builds on the solid founda- tion of Mr. William Bell Clark's unique knowledge and tireless application. The end product is the result of the work, scholarship, cooperation, interest, and con- tributions, large and small, of scores of people in the United States and abroad. Ever helpful staffs in libraries, archives, and historical societies have continually assisted. To each of you we send warm appreciation. Numerous private individuals have given of themselves and, not infrequently, their personal collections without stint. Unpublished Crown copyright material in the Public Record Office, London, is reproduced by permission of the Controller of H. M. Stationery Office. The great burden of this effort, including both bookmaking and infinite labors to make the series as accurate and useful as possible, falls upon the shoulders of Dr. William James Morgan and his section-Lieutenant (junior-grade) Patrick A. Lyons, Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Scheffenacker, Mr. Robert Campbell, Mrs. Eleanor Roll, Chief Yeoman Frederick S. Coward, and Yeomen Second Class Thomas E. Culbert and Joseph V. Eckert. Mr. W. Bart Greenwood, Navy Depart- ment Librarian, and Miss Mary Pickens, together with Commander V. James Robison, Assistant Navy Department Curator, and Lieutenant (junior-grade) J. D. Bogart of his office, have rendered skillful aid and guidance with charts and illustrations. Mr. Marko Zlatich prepared the index. Rear Admiral F. Kent Loomis continues to play a wise and knowledgeable role in this as in all other of the Division projects. Chief Yeoman Morris Randolph has handled those American Revolution matters that have come his way amongst much other work with skill and dispatch. Fortunately, as noted, we have been able to call upon most of those who made their talents available for the first two volumes, including the distinguished mem- bers of the Secretary of the Navy's Advisory Committee on Naval History and the Special Consultants who are listed on a fore page. We likewise welcome several new spare time members to the "team." Professor Kendall E. Lappin of the U.S. Naval Academy, Mr. William H. Beach, Colonel G. Edward Borst, and Com- mander Canio J. Di Cairano have provided able translations of documents from European archives. In London, Commander W. B. Rowbotham, '~o~ilNavy (Retired), is doing essential research of great importance. Whenever needed, U.S. naval commands in the United States and overseas have responded to our requests for assistance with traditional "can do" results. We gratefully acknowledge our indebtedness to all, old hands and new die. Without you, an undertaking of this magnitude would be impossible. Volume 1 Introduction gave special note to the excellent work of Lieutenant David Patterson of the Naval History Division. Upon returning to civilian life, he continued the study of history as a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University. An automobile accident on February 18,1967 took Lieutenant Patterson's life.