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, desires to conquer Canada falter as emissaries to the north like Benjamin Franklin return with news that campaigns in the north are fruitless. George Washington still rallies supplies and troops to New York as fear and anxieties over British incursion runs high. The monarchs of France and Spain both secretly pledged to support the revolutionaries.
On May 3, 1776, Major General Artemas Ward writes from Boston. He informs General George Washington that a ship has recently arrived in Newbury carrying important news: 12,000 Hessian mercenaries, recruited by Britian, are enroute to Boston under the command of Admiral Richard Howe. Admiral Howe is the brother of General William Howe, recently driven from Boston. Ward writes, “they were directed, if possible, to adjust matters with the colonies; if not, to penetrate at the risk of everything, into the country: if this could not be affected, then to burn and destroy all in their power.”
He also states Hanoverians are heading to Quebec and others are going to the south. He adds, “France and Spain had objected against any Russians coming to America.” German mercenaries, most notably the Hessians, will play a pivotal role in the battles ahead. The Holy Roman Empire, a confederation comprising numerous German states in Central Europe, saw its members send mercenaries to fight in many British campaigns for profit and plunder. The Hessians aptly come from the highly-populated region of Hesse, containing the cities of Frankfurt, Mainz, and Kassel, the latter of which being a major focal point of soldiers sent by the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Frederick II.
On May 4, Major General Philip Schuyler carries on in the north, pushing for more troops and more equipment for a drive into Canada. Currently, he states he can only build around four troop transport ships per day from Fort Geroge, New York but is pushing for faster production. At this point, the Continental Congress has not yet issued any sort of pull-back or retreat from Canada.
Also on May 4, the General Assembly of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations passed the Act of Renunciation. This act by the main governing body in the colony offers the first legal separation between the Crown and one of the Thirteen Colonies. It ends, “That the Courts of Law be no longer entitled nor considered as the Kings Courts: And that no Instrument in Writing of any Nature or Kind, whether public or private, shall in the Date thereof mention the Year of the said King’s Reign: Provided nevertheless, That nothing in this Act contained shall render void or vitiate any Commission, Writ, Process or Instrument, heretofore made or executed, on Account of the Name and Authority of the said King being therein inserted.” Thus, the act voids any agreement or previously binding article the colony had with the king.
It also offers a new oath to elected officials and General Officers, where they pledge to serve “all Persons, poor and rich, within this Jurisdiction,” rather than the King.
On May 6, the battered remaining Continental Troops holding a faltering blockade of Quebec City finally retreat toward New York. A still recovering Major General Benedict Arnold is still in Montreal, though hopes for the American capture of Canada continue to fade.
Mirroring Rhode Island, also on May 6, the Fifth Virginia Convention begins in Williamsburg. During the two-month-long meeting of delegates and Patriots, the body would declare the colony’s independence, pass the Declaration of Rights, and create a governing constitution.
On May 7, Washington moves men into position on Long Island. In his General Orders, he says the men, “are to lay upon their arms and be ready to turn out at a minute’s notice.”
On May 8, a naval battle takes place on the Delaware River where 13 small row galleys and the Continental Navy schooner the Wasp attacked the HMS Liverpool and HMS Roebuck. the attack was a stalemate, though still embarrassing for the Royal Navy. The Roebuck was run aground and had to be hastily dredged out of a sandbar. The two ships were chased down the river to New Castle, Delaware.
This Week in Revolutionary War History
By Sam Bishop