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, Colonel Henry Knox reported good progress on his trip to Fort Ticonderoga. He aims to get artillery to relinquish the siege at Boston and has already managed to send some from a pitstop in New York. The Scot John Paul Jones was commissioned by the Continental Congress to eventually serve as a privateer for the Continental Navy. Philip Schuyler is sending an additional 3,000 men to Cambridge from Albany, while at the same time the Battle of Great Bridge is fought in Virginia, a catastrophic defeat for the Brits who retreat to sea and abandon much of the south.
On December 10, 1775, the most prolific killer from the Old World finally begins to take center stage: smallpox. The men in Canada have already experienced it, and it will soon take more and more. George Washington writes to James Otis Sr. of the Massachusetts General Court (the state’s legislature) to issue dire warning over refugees fleeing Boston. He says, “some of the people who came out of Boston were infected with the small pox – As this disorder should It spread may prove very disastrous & fatal to our army & the country around it.” He urges taking steps to mitigate its spread, though is privately cautious of army inoculation as it could lead to many of his soldiers requiring bedrest.
On December 11, at long last, Martha Washington arrives at the camp in Cambridge from Mount Vernon to spend the winter in Washington’s company. This same day, Washington sends a lengthy letter to John Hancock at the Continental Congress airing many grievances and worries. At this time, Congress, specifically Samuel Adams, are organizing the newly created Continental Navy. Washington is increasingly fearful of the spread of pox, and says, “the information I received that the enemy intended spreading the Small pox amongst us, I could not suppose them capable of. I now must give some credit to it, as it has made its appearance on several of those who last came out of Boston.” Biological warfare. Smallpox would eventually kill more in the Revolution than battle. Washington adds, “every necessary precaution has been taken to prevent its being communicated to this Army, & the General Court will take care, that it does not spread through the Country.
In his General Orders on December 12, Washington announces what was approved by Congress days earlier: the appointment of Colonel Henry Knox of Boston to a new position, fitting his role in the collection of cannons, Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery. Before the war, the 25-year-old owned and operated the “London Book Store” on today’s Washington Street in Boston. His interest in military history and strategy led to him being self-taught using many of the books at his disposal. That same day, Washington receives news of the rapid spread of smallpox through the lines. Doctor John Morgan reports that the number of sick in and around the Cambridge camp “amounts to 676, but they have sometimes amounted to near 1,500.”
While Washington struggles with disease, supplies, and maintaining army organization sieging Boston, December 16, 1775, marks the two-year anniversary since the Boston Tea Party. This instance would set the ball of continuing increases in hostilities that would eventually see a General Washington laying siege to former comrades in what many at the time viewed as a civil war. By 1775, many of the members of the Sons of Liberty who hurled tea into Boston Harbor would now lead prominent roles in the revolution. We’ve already mentioned Sam Adam’s focus this week, being a Massachusetts delegate in the Continental Congress. Paul Revere at this time is working on behalf of Congress to better understand the milling of gunpowder in Philadelphia. John Handcock is President of the Continental Congress. Bennedict Arnold is leading the charge on Quebec in the far-north. Hamilton, Mulligan, and many others are still in training or on the periphery of the conflict, currently stationed in New York.
This Week in Revolutionary War History
By Sam Bishop
Now if we could only round up all the people who think we still have a king and hold “no king protests” and ship them off to the UK we’d be all set.