This week in Revolutionary War history, let’s check up on what was going on 250 years ago in New England and the northern Thirteen Colonies. Last week, the occupying Continental Army in Canada faced another defeat as it becomes clearer that holding Montreal is untenable, let along capturing Quebec. General George Washington set out a system of signals for New York City to warn of encroaching Royal Navy ships, as the general himself departed for Philadelphia to speak to the Continental Congress. More are calling for full independence, both on the ground and in the seats of government.
On May 24, 1776, Washington arrives in Philadelphia. At the time, it is the largest city in the colonies by population. There, he meets with delegates from the Continental Congress an discusses the unfolding and widening war. The major discussion, however, is Canada. The delegates and Washington agree the men in Canada should fortify along the Saint Lawrence River and block the British advance. With warming temperatures, more British troops are arriving in Quebec and the delegates say the Continental Army must “contest every foot of the ground with the enemies to these colonies.”
Washington writes to Major General John Thomas, commanding officer of the men in Quebec, acknowledging the failures to take the city as, “this unfortunate affair has given a sad shock to our schemes.” He also adds, “retreat is almost inevitable,” but asks for a “good stand” to protect the northern front of the war. He says, “The lower down you can maintain a stand the more advantageous it will be,” meaning to block movement down and along the river further to the south. He finishes, “This misfortune must be repaired.”
The next day, the general again attends a meeting of the congress, speaking to the whole congregation at the State House, now known as Independence Hall. The congress appoints John Adams of Massachusetts (future President), Benjamin Harrison V of Virginia (father and great-grandfather to two future Presidents), Major General Horatio Gates of England, and Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania to a committee to work directly with Washington in order to “concert a plan of military operations for the ensuing campaign.”
While Washington remains in Phili, Major General Philip Schuyler writes on May 26 from Fort George, New York. He warns of insufficient manpower in Canada whom are also facing “difficulties for want” of supplies. He states he is working to muster up more men, but requests more weapons and arms be sent up posthaste.
That same day, the Great Barrington, Sheffield, and Canaan Committees for Safety write to Washington from the Berkshires. They have conducted investigations as to the loyalty of various persons accused of treason; of which Philip Schuyler is one. The committees say they “took all those methods they could devise to find out the sentiments of the general.” Though they add, “it is with great pleasure we are able to acquaint your Excellency – that their suspicions respecting him were wholly groundless.”
On May 27, twenty-one delegates of the Six Nations of the Iroquois (or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy) arrive in Philadelphia. For the next month, they will stay in the city, observe the congress, and watch military exercises and parades as the Americans try to secure new allies. In one of the meetings they attended, they received a warm welcome whereupon at the end of the meeting, an Onondage chief requested and was granted permission to give President Hancock an Indian name: Karanduawn, or, “the great tree.”
On May 29, working-class artisans and laborers on New York sign the “New York Mechanics Declaration of Independence,” pressuring the New York Provisional Congress to declare the colony’s formal independence. It begins, “When we cast a glance upon our beloved continent, where fair freedom, civil, and religious, we have long enjoyed, whose fruitful field have made the world glad, and whose trade has filled with plenty of all things, sorrow fills our hearts to behold her now struggling under the heavy load of oppression, tyranny, and death.” In pushing the local government, they also knowingly pressure the united government in Philadelphia, as the finish, “We – hereby publicly declare that, should you, gentlemen of the honorable Provincial Congress, think proper to instruct our most honorable Delegates in Continental Congress to use their utmost endeavors in that august assembly to cause these United Colonies to become independent of Great Britain, it would give us the highest satisfaction; and we hereby sincerely promise to endeavor to support the same with our lives and fortunes.”
On May 30, Benjamin Franklin finally return form his two-month long trip to Montreal. This would be his first diplomatic mission, and though he had just recently celebrated his 70th birthday, his government service was nowhere near over.
This Week in Revolutionary War History
By Sam Bishop