This week in Revolutionary War history, let’s check up on what was going on 250 years ago in and around the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. Last week, General Washington received various anxieties originating from Boston by Lieutenant Colonel Loammi Baldwin. Baldwin stated there were large deliveries of ammunitions from Britain arriving in the harbor. He also expressed great concern over refugees fleeing the city, highlighting poor conditions and lack of food for the city’s populous, with some dying on the beach as they leave. Colonel Henry Knox is still on the way to Ticonderoga, but informed Washington of his convincing New York to send 12 additional cannons east. Finally, issues of pay and a lack of discipline had resulted in various mutinies for both the army and navy.
On December 4, 1775, Colonel Henry Knox writes from Fort George, at Lake George. He reports of the dire conditions the area is in. “The garrison at Ticonderoga is so weak,” he says, while also referring to the terrible road conditions making it difficult to even approach. The “precarious” crossing of the lake is compounding by the muddy and “gullied” roads leading up to the fort. He says it will take him possibly ten days to make the short but grueling trek. He has received an inventory of the fort’s armaments, which he forwards to Washington: twelve 18-pounders, eleven 4-pounder brass field pieces, and twenty-five boxes of lead ammunition.
On December 6, Washington sends an angered letter to James Otis Sr. of Barnstable. Otis is a prominent lawyer and lawmaker for Massachusetts, and Washington has recently received word that Massachusetts militia men are being paid more than those of other state’s regiments. That is all well and good, however, Washington fears jealousy and resentment. He says, “jealously, & discord – But sir, if the Gen[eral] Court of this Colony have resolved on the latter, you must give me leave to add, that it aims the most fatal stab to the peace of this army that ever was given; & that Lord North himself, could not have devised a more effectual blow to the recruiting service.” A precautionary measure, as the other states would struggle to up their pay to match and recruitment numbers are dwindling.
On December 7, the Continental Congress commissioned 28-year-old John Paul Jones of Scotland as a First Lieutenant of the Continental Navy. Jones will soon become a dreaded privateer, made famous by numerous engagements across the Northern Atlantic.
On December 9, Phillip Schuyler in Albany writes to request from the general 3,000 troops so Schuyler can head north and assist Arnold in Canada. He says he can get the men there by the middle of January. Even if Washington agreed, the middle of January would prove to be too late. That’s a story for the next few weeks though.
That same day, the Battle of Great Bridge is fought in southern Virginia. Over 800 Virginia militia, led by Colonel William Woodford faced a little over 400 British infantry. Lord Dunmore tried to break out of their fortified positions in Norfolk and halt a build-up of local forces. By the end, one patriot was wounded, with anywhere between 62 and 102 British killed. Dunmore’s defeat was catastrophic for the British. He and the remainder of British forces would board ships and anchor off the coast for the following months. Norfolk, now captured, would soon be razed to the ground by patriots.
This Week in Revolutionary War History
By Sam Bishop