Preface
Several narrative accounts of the navy of the American Revolution have been written. These usually form the introductory part of a history of the American Navy since 1789. The earliest of these accounts is that of Thomas Clark, published in 1814, and probably the best that of James Fenimore Cooper, first printed in 1839. Later narratives are rather more popular than Cooper's. Many sources of information, which were not accessible to the earlier writers, and were not much used by the later, were drawn upon in the writing of this book. Moreover, the information that is here presented is of a somewhat different sort from that of previous writers; and the method of treatment is new.
This book is written from the point of view of the naval administrators; hitherto, historians have written from the point of view of the naval officers. Their narratives treat almost exclusively of the doings at sea, the movements of armed vessels, and the details of sea fights. They have the advantage of dealing primarily with picturesque, and sometimes dramatic, events. Their accounts, however, lack unity, since
Preface they consist of a series of detached incidents.
In the first place an attempt has been here made to restore the naval administrative machinery of the Revolution. The center of this narrative is the origin, organization, and work of naval committees, secretaries of marine, navy boards, and naval agents. Next, inasmuch as the men who served as naval executives administered the laws relating to naval affairs, and indeed often prepared these laws before their adoption by the legislative authorities, it was thought best to give a fairly complete resume of the naval legislation of the Revolution. Those laws with which the naval administrators were chiefly concerned have received most attention. The legislation with reference to prize courts and privateering has been treated more briefly. As the privateers do not, properly speaking, form a part of the Revolutionary navy, no attempt to write their history has been made. In order that the subject may be seen in its true relations, some statistics and other interesting facts concerning this industry have, however, been introduced. An account of the State Navies is now given for the first time.
Since naval committees, navy boards, and naval agents issued written orders to the naval commanders prescribing the time place, and manner of their cruises, it has seemed logical and proper to consider the naval policy of the administrators, and the
Preface 7
movements of the armed vessels. So detailed an account of naval movements, as would be given by those writers who proceed from the point of view of the doings of the naval officers, would obviously not be expected in this book. My plan has been to describe the various classes of naval movements, to present the sum total of their results, and to give briefly the details of a few typical cruises and sea fights. The cruises of the American vessels were much alike; they were minor affairs, and many of them scarcely merit individual treatment.
It is evident that one who proposes to write the history of the navy of the American Revolution from the point of view which I have described, will not only avoid excessive detail in respect to individual naval achievements, but will be particularly determined not to allow their brilliancy or their dramatic quality to fix the amount of detail with which each shall be narrated. For instance, several historians have been inclined to dwell at some length upon the brilliant and picturesque achievements of John Paul Jones. Sometimes they have devoted more than one-third of their narratives of the Continental navy to this hero, undoubtedly the greatest naval officer of the Revolution. As a result, the pictures which they have presented are somewhat distorted, and many brave sea officers have had scant justice done their gallant services.
8 Preface
An attempt is made in this book to present a better balanced narrative, and to make a j lister estimate of the work of the Revolutionary navy. The scope and method of treatment adopted by the author has compelled a certain economy of phrase, precision of statement, and sharpness of outline.
I am very grateful to the many persons who have assisted me. Space does not permit me to thank each of them by name. I am under special obligations to the librarians and officials of the Library of Congress, the Library of the Department of the Navy, the Bureau of Rolls and Library of the Department of State, the State Library of Massachusetts, the Office of the Massachusetts State Archives, the Boston Public Library, the Boston Athenaeum, the Library of Harvard University, the State Library of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the State Library of Connecticut, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the State Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, the Office of the Secretary of State of South Carolina, the Charleston (South Carolina) Public Library, and the Library of the University of Chicago. Far more than to any one else, I am indebted to Professor John Franklin Jameson, Director of the Department of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution of Washington. I have had the advantage of Professor Jameson's extensive
Preface 9
knowledge of bibliography, his fruitful suggestions as to treatment, and his painstaking care in reading and criticising my manuscript. Parts of the narrative, somewhat popularized, have appeared in the Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute and the Sewanee Review.
C. O. P.
Washington, D. C.
March 1, 1906.
Contents
THE CONTINENTAL NAVY
Chapter I. — The Naval Committee. The need in 1775 for an army and for a
navy 31
Agitation for a navy outside of Congress 32
Agitation for a navy in Congress 34
The first naval legislation 35
Appointment of the Naval Committee 38
First work of the Naval Committee. ... 38
Reconstitution of the Naval Committee 38 John Adams's description of the Naval
Committee 39
The organization and decline of the Naval Committee 40
Growth in Congress of naval sentiment 41 Naval legislation under the Naval Committee 42
The procuring of a fleet 51
The appointment of officers 52
The first naval expedition 55
Resume of the work of the Naval Com-
mittpp eO
Chapter II. — The Fleets of Washington and Arnold. Fitting out of the '' Hannah " 61
Fitting out of Washington's "Boston
fleet" 62
Washington's opinion of his commanders 64
Services rendered by Washington's
''Boston fleet" 65
Broughton and Selman's raid on Prince
Edward island 66
The disposition of Washington's prizes 67
The delay in bringing them to trial. ... 68 History of the fleet after the evacuation
of Boston 69
Washington's " New York fleet " 70
Beginning of the fleet on lakes Champlain and George 71
Its increase in the summer of 1776 72
The work of Benedict Arnold 73
The British fleet on the Lakes 76
The battle of Lake Champlain, October
11-13, 1776 77
Results of the naval campaign on the
Lakes ; 77
Chapter III. — The Organization of the Marine Committee. The maritime interests of New England 79
Naval enterprise in Rhode Island 80
The naval situation in Congress, 1775-76 81
The Rhode Island instructions 81
Contents
The debate in Congress thereon 82
Postponement of action on instructions . 83 Favorable action by Congress, December 11, 1775 85
Decision of Congress to build thirteen
frigates 85
Appointment of the Marine Committee 86 The Marine Committee absorbs the Naval Committee 87
The organization and pay of the Marine Committee 87
Its chairmen 88
Other valuable members 90
Naval agents for building the Continental frigates 90
Prize agents 93
Continental agents 95
Aid rendered the Marine Committee ... 95
Navy Board at Philadelphia 96
Navy Board at Boston 97
Designations of the boards 99
The organization of the boards 100
The personnel of the boards 101
Salaries 102
Enumeration of the principal agents of
the Marine Committee 103
Minor agents 103
Chapter IV. — The Work of the Navy Boards and the Marine Committee. Lack of system in the Naval Department of the Revolution 104
Examples 105
Work and duties of the navy boards. . 107 Men and materials needed in building a
ship 110
Provisions needed in fitting out a ship 112 Division of labor among the naval commissioners 112
The heavy work of the Boston Board. . 113 Two-fold duties of the Marine Committee 115
Administrative duties of the Marine
Committee 116
Naval uniform 117
Communications of the Marine Committee 118
Reports of the Marine Committee 120
Naval legislation under the Marine Committee 121
Naval appointments and promotions. . 123
Relative rank 125
Captures and the sharing of prizes 126
Naval pay 128
Naval pensions 129
Courts-martial and courts of enquiry. . 131
Important naval trials 133
The case of Commodore Esek Hopkins 134 Provision for the fleet of Count D'Est-
aing 139
The Marine Committee as a consular
bureau 139
Chapter V. — The Conditions of the Continental Naval Service. The recent revolution in navies and naval conditions 141
Constancy of the principles of naval
strategy 143
Maritime conditions in America in 1775,
Difficulties in procuring seamen during
the Revolution 144
The privateers of the Revolution 147
State navies 152
The naval defence of America 153
Naval stations of the Americans 154
Naval stations of the British 155
Comparison of the British and American navies 156
Weakness of the American navies 159
Diffusion of authority in naval administration 160
Chapter VI. — Movements of the Continental Fleet under the Marine Committee. Work of the fleet of a non-military
character 161
Classification of military operations . . . 162
Primary naval operations 163
Enumeration of secondary operations. 164
Defence of American commerce 164
Cooperation with the army 166
The striKing of the enemy's lines of
communication 167 i6 Contents
Commerce-destroying 169
The threatening and attacking of the
enemy's coasts 173
A naval plan of Robert Morris 174
The Marine Committee and its plans. . 176
Success and failure of the navj; 177
The navy of the Revolution and of the
Spanish- American war 179
Chapter VII. — The Board of Admiralty. Defects of the Marine Committee 181
Criticism of the administration of Congress 182
A new system of Executives 184
Criticism of the Naval Department by
Washington and Jay 184
Establishment of a Board of Admiralty,
Powers and duties of the Board of Admiralty 188
Salaries 189
Selection of commissioners of Admiralty 190
Francis Lewis and William Ellery 193
Congress and the Board of Admiralty . 194
Work of the Board of Admiralty 195
Decrease in naval machinery 195
Reports of the Board of Admiralty 196
Naval legislation under the Board of
Admiralty 197
The granting of naval commissions by
the states 201
The American navy and British models 202
Court of appeals for prize cases 203
Contents ly
The fleet under the Board of Admiralty 203 Embarrassments of the Board of Admiralty 204
Success and failure of the fleet 205
Discontinuance of the Board of Admiralty 208
Defects of the Board of Admiralty. . . . 209
Chapter VIII. — The Secretary of Marine and the Agent of Marine. The two factions during the Revolution 210
Supremacy of the ''dispersive schoor\ 211
The ''concentrative schooF' in 1780. ... 212
Agitation for administrative reform.. . . 213 The success of the ''concentrative
school" 214
Establishment of the office of Secretary
of Marine, February, 1781 216
Duties of the Secretary of Marine 216
Appointment of McDougall as Secretary of Marine 217
Failure to obtain a Secretary of Marine... 218
Robert Morris and the naval business. 218 Reorganization of the Naval Department 220
The Agent of Marine 223
Robert Morris as Agent of Marine 226
The organization of the Naval Department under Morris 227
Reports of the Agent of Marine 228
Naval legislation under the Agent of
Marine 228
Contents
The court-martialing of three seamen. . 230 Morris and the control of the fleet. . . . 234
The strength of the navy 235
Success and failure of the fleet 235
The cruise of the ^'Alliance/' 1782-1783 236 The capture of the ''Trumbull" by the
Attempts of Morris to increase the navy 239 Morris's views after the treaty of peace 244 Congress goes out of the naval business 245
Settling of the naval accounts 245
Disposing of the naval vessels 247
Retirement of the Agent of Marine. . . . 250 The end of the naval business 250
Chapter IX. — Naval Duties of American Representatives in Foreign Countries. Mutual interests of the United States
and France 252
Duties of the Naval Office at Paris. . . . 252
Personnel of the Naval Office 254
Communication with the Naval Office.. 255
Agents of the Naval Office 256
Appointment and recommendation of
officers 257
The purchase and construction of vessels 261
The fitting out of vessels 265
The trial of prize cases 266
American prisoners 267
Breaches of neutrality 273
Miscellaneous duties 274
The Naval Office a channel of naval intelligence 276
Naval plans of the Naval Office 276
Plan of the Committee of Foreign Affairs 278
Chapter X. — Naval Duties of American Representatives in Foreign Countries
Continued.
Work of the Naval Office in 1777 281
Attempts to obtain the freedom of French ports 282
The first prizes of the ''Reprisal". ... 283
Difficulties between the English and the French governments 284
The American Commissioners and the French government 285
The cruise of the ''Reprisal," February, 1777 286
The cruise of Conyngham in the "Surprise" 287
The cruise of the "Reprisal," "Lexington," and "Dolphin" 287
Strained relations between the Commissioners and the French Court 289
The cruise of Conyngham in the "Revenge" 290
Departure of the "Reprisal" and the "Lexington" 291
Naval movements in 1778 292
The cruise of Captain Jones in the "Ranger" 293
The Naval Office at Paris, 1779-1780 . . 294 John Paul Jones and Peter Landais . . 294 Plan for an expedition against England 295 The cruise of Captain Jones in the " Bon
Homme Richard" ■ 295
Dispute between Jones and Landais... . 298
Their departure for America 300
The trials of Franklin 300
Work of the Naval Office, 1781-1783. 301 Thomas Barclay, consul and commissioner 302
John Paul Jones, agent for settling accounts 303
Naval stations in the West Indies 305
Duties and work of the commercial
agent at Martinique 305
Naval affairs on the Mississippi 307
Oliver Pollock and Galvez 307
Pollock and privateers 308
Pollock and the ''Rebecca" 308
The ''West Florida" 310
THE STATE NAVIES
Chapter XL — The Navy of Massachusetts.
The state craft 315
Naval administration in the states. . . . 316
The problems of naval warfare 317
Military situation in Massachusetts,
1775 318
Action of the Provincial Congress 318
Massachusetts seaports ask for naval
aid 319
Act establishing privateering and prize
courts, November 1, 1775 320
Subsequent naval activities of the General court, 1775 323
The fitting out of a fleet, 1776 324
Naval legislation, 1776 325
Remodelling of the law of November 1,
1775 327
Orders to naval officers — a sample. . . . 328 Establishment of a Board of War, October, 1776 329
Duties of the Board of War 330
A new naval establishment 333
Naval rules and regulations 334
Launching of the ''Protector" 336
Naval administration, 1779-1783 337
Massachusetts privateers 339
The cruises of the state fleet 341
Cooperation of state vessels and privateers 344
The engagements of the state vessels —
a sample 345
The Penobscot expedition 347
Losses of the state fleet 352
The end of the navy 353
Chapter XII. — The Navy of Connecticut. The Revolutionary government of Connecticut 354
Fitting out of the ''Minerva" and the
Failure and discharge of the "Minerva" 357
The "Defence" and the "OHver Cromwell" 358
The building of three row-galleys . . . , . 360 Naval duties of the Governor and the
Council of Safety 360
Naval agents 361
New London and Nathaniel Shaw, jr. . 362
BushnelFs submarine boat 363
Privateers and prize courts 364
Naval pensions 366
Naval rules and regulations 366
A new naval estabhshment, 1779 366
Cruises of the navy 367
Losses of the navy 369
Warfare of whale-boats on Long Island Sound 370
Chapter XIIL — The Navy of Pennsylvania.
Objects of naval enterprise in Pennsylvania 373
The fleet of galleys 373
Rules and regulations 375
The "Montgomery" 375
Strength of the navy, August, 1776.. . 376
Naval uniforms and flag 377
Organs of naval administration 377
Commodores of the navy 378
Naval pay and the sharing of prizes. . 380
The Pennsylvania Navy Board 381
Work of the Navy Board 382
The navy in 1777 383
Services rendered by the fleet 383
The campaign on the Delaware, 1777-
1778 384
Trials for desertion 386
The fleet, April- July, 1778. 388
Sale of the fleet and dismissal of the
Navy Board 388
The '^General Greene,^' 1779 390
Naval legislation 391
Commissioners for the defence of the
Delaware 393
The ''Hyder Ally" and "Washington" 394 The end of the navy 395
Chapter XIV. — The Navy of Virginia. Lord Dunmore's movements in Virginia, 1775 396
Authorization of a navy, December,
1775 396
Work of the Committee of Safety 397
The " Potomac River fleet" 398
The Virginia Navy Board 398
Duties of the Navy Board 399
The location of shipyards 400
Naval manufactories and magazines. . . 401
James Maxwell, naval agent 401
Naval officers 401
Courts of Admiralty 403
The vessels of the Virginia navy 405
Condition and services of the nav}-,
1775-1779 407
Losses of the navy, 1775-1779 408
The Board of War and the Naval Commissioner 408
The Commissioner of the Navy 409
Military situation in the South in 1780 410
Naval legislation, 1780 411
The raid of Arnold and PhiUips, 1781. 413
The navy at Yorktown 415
Dismissal of the officers, seamen, and
Commissioner 415
Virginia's defence of Chesapeake Bay,
1782-1783 415
The end of the navy 416
Chapter XV.— The Navy of South Carolina. First naval enterprises of South Carolina 418
Events of September, 1775 419
The "Defence" 420
Work of the Provincial Congress, November, 1775 420
Work of the Committee of Safety, December, 1775 421
The mission of Cochran 421
Naval legislation, February-March, 1776 422
The Constitution of 1776 423
Naval legislation, April, 1776 423
South Carolina Navy Board . 424
Work and organization of the Navy
Board 424
Naval legislation, 1777-1778 427
Services rendered by the South Carolina navy, 1776-1779 429
The "Randolph" and the State fleet. . . 430 The campaign against Charleston, 1779-
1780 431
The navy in 1781 and 1783 434
Commodore Gillon and the ''South Carolina" 435
Gillon in Europe 436
The "South Carolina" in European
waters 436
The e:^pedition against the Bahamas. . 438 The "South Carolina" at Philadelphia. 439
Capture of the "South Carolina" 439
Settlement of the Luxembourg claims. . 439
Chapter XVI. — The Minor Navies of the Southern States. Organs of naval administration in
Maryland 441
Work of the Maryland Provincial Convention, 1776 441
Work of the Maryland Committee of
Maryland vessels 442
Recruiting of the navy 443
Naval officers -. . 443
Court of Admiralty 444
Maryland privateers 444
Sale of naval vessels, 1779 444
Naval conditions, 1779-1783 445
Acts for the defence of the Chesapeake 445
Transporting of the Continental army. 446
British depredations, 1782-1783 446
Commissioners for the defence of the
Bay 447
Services rendered by the Maryland
navy 448
The Battle of the Barges 449
End of the Maryland navy 451
The navy of North Carolina, December,
The '^Washington," ^'Pennsylvania
Farmer," and ''King Tammany".. . . 452
The defence of Ocracoke Inlet 454
Services of the "Caswell" 456
North Carolina admiralty courts and
Georgia's first naval enterprise 459
Naval preparations 460
Georgia's galleys 460
Georgia's prize court 462
Chapter XVII. — The Minor Navies of the Northern States. British depredations in Rhode Island
1775 463
Naval operations . . . .^ 463
The "Katy" and "Washington" 464
The ''Washington" and ''Spitfire'*- galleys 465
Organs of naval administration 466
Prize court and privateers 467
An attempted naval increase, 1777 468
Cooperation of Rhode Island with Congress, 1778-1779 468
The "Pigot" and the "Argo'' 469
The "Rover" 470
Naval preparations in New York 471
New York's naval establishment 472
Washington and the New York vessels 473
Services of the New York fleet 474
Additional facts about naval affairs in
New York 475
New Hampshire and the Penobscot expedition 476
New Hampshire privateers and prize
court 476
Naval suggestions of New Jersey 477
APPENDICES
A bibliography 481
A list of commissioned officers in the
Continental Navy 506
A list of commissioned officers in the
Continental Marine Corps 512
A list of armed vessels 516 \
Chapter I The Naval Committee
The history of the Continental navy covers a period of ten years, extending from 1775 to 1785. During this time the Continental Congress made many experiments in naval legislation and devised several organs of naval administration. The first of these organs, with whose origin and work this chapter is concerned, was the Naval Committee. It lasted for only a few months. Its lineal successors, each of which will be duly considered, w^ere the Marine Committee, the Board of Admiralty, and the Agent of Marine. These four executive organs, for the most part, administered the Continental navy. Certain odds and ends of the naval business, however, fell to the commander-in-chief of the army and his officers, and to the American representatives in foreign countries. The second chapter will treat of the fleets of the army, and the closing chapters of the narrative of the Continental navy will consider the naval services of our representatives in foreign lands.
In maritime countries the military service is generally ambidextrous. Whether the army or navy is first brought into play at the opening of a war depends upon various circumstances. The presence of a British army at Boston, already on colonial soil, when the American Revolution broke out early in 1775, naturally led to the immediate organization of an army by the colonists. The need of a navy was at this time not quite so insistent. Moreover, the building, or even the purchase, of an armed fleet required more time than did the raising of an army, which was rendered comparatively easy by the previous training of the colonists in the local militia. Nevertheless, since both countries engaged in the war w^ere maritime, the creating of a navy could not long be delayed.
The reader recollects that by the middle of 1775 the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill had been fought, a Continental army had been organized, and Washington had been made commander-in-chief. Outside of Congress the agitation in behalf of a Continental navy had begun. That the first suggestions and advances for a navy should come from New England, where the concrete problems of the defence of her ports and coasts were being faced, was to be expected. One of the first men to make such suggestions was Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts. On July 11, 1775, he wrote to John Adams in Philadelphia that the best method of securing the coastwise navigation of the colonies was by row-galleys. He then continued: '^As the whole Continent is so firmly united, why not a Number of Vessels of War be fitted out and judiciously stationed, so as to intercept and prevent any supplies going to our Enemies ; and consequently, unless they can make an Impression inland, they must leave the Country or starve."^ The first formal movement in behalf of a Continental navy came from Rhode Island, which state w'as during the summer of 1775 suffering serious annoyances from the British ships. On August 26 her legislature instructed the Rhode Island delegates to the Continental Congress to use their influence at the ensuing session of Congress to obtain a fleet for the protection of the colonies.^ On September 2, 1775, Washington, in order to prevent reinforcements from reaching the enemy at Boston, instructed Nicholson Broughton to proceed in the schooner ''Hannah" on a cruise against the British transports.^
1. Manuscript Letters of John Adams, lodged with the Massachusetts Historical Society by Mr. Charles Francis Adams, who kindly permitted the writer to see them.
2. See Chapter III, The Organization of the Marine Committee.
3. See Chapter II, The Fleets of Washington and Arnold. After a thorough investigation and study of the sources of the early history of the Continental navy, I am compelled to reject many of the statements and conclusions found in Chapter II, Volume I, of Augustus
That the question of providing a Continental navy would come up during the fall session of Congress was certain. The arguments in its behalf, which were made almost unanimously later in the session, must have been on the lips of several of the members when they assembled in Philadelphia in September: an army had been organized, why not a navy? The situation of the combatants, separated by the great Atlantic highway; and their character, one a great naval and commercial power, and the other with maritime interests by no means inconsiderable, would necessarily make the impending struggle in no small part a naval one. America had seacoasts and seaports to be defended, a coastwise navigation to be secured, and above all commercial and diplomatic communications with foreign powers to be kept open. These communications were a jugular vein, whose severing would mean death to the United Colonies. The urgent and specific calls for armed vessels, which were being made, must be met at once. Had not America conveniently at hand materials for ships, and abundant men who had the ''habit of the sea"?
In the early months of the session there certainly would arise opposition to the new military project. The inertia and conserv-
C. Buell's book, Paul Jones, Founder of the American Navy.
atism of some of the members would set them against so great an innovation. To others the fitting out of a fleet, at a time when the length, seriousness, and meaning of the war with the motherland were but half unveiled, would seem an unwise and hasty action.
The question of procuring a fleet of armed vessels was first brought to the attention of Congress on October 3, 1775, when the Rhode Island members presented their instructions, an account of which will be given in a succeeding chapter.^ It is sufficient for present purposes to say that until December the Rhode Island instructions had little other result beyond crystallizing and clarifying opinion on naval affairs by means of the debates which they caused in Congress.
On October 5 sundry letters from London were laid before the Congress and read. They conveyed the intelligence of 'Hhe sailing of two north country built brigs, of no force, from England, on the 11th of August last, loaded with arms, powder, and other stores, for Quebec, without convoy." Congress at once saw the importance of capturing these two vessels, in order both to deprive the British of these stores and to obtain them for the Continental army around Boston, which sorely needed all the munitions of war it could get. A motion was
1. See Chapter III, The Organization of the Marine Committee.
therefore made that a committee of three be appointed to prepare a plan for intercepting the two brigs, and that it "proceed on this business immediately."^ John Adams in his autobiography says that the opposition to this motion was "very loud and vehement," and included some of his own colleagues, and also especially Edward Rutledge of South Carolina. It seems to have been recognized that the carrying of the motion would be the initial step in the establishment of a Continental navy. Such an undertaking its opponents declared, with a greater display of rhetoric than judgment, was the "most wild, visionary, mad project that ever had been imagined. It was an infant taking a mad bull by his horns; and what was more profound and remote, it was said it would ruin the character and corrupt the morals of all our seamen. It would make them selfish, piratical, mercenary, bent wholly upon plunder, etc., etc." The friends of the motion, in colors equally glowing, set forth "the great advantages of distressing the enemy, supplying ourselves, and beginning a system of maritime and naval operations." On the taking of the vote the motion passed in the affirmative; and ac-
1. Journals of Continental Congress, October 5, 1775. Waite, H. E., Origin of American Navy, 1-5, containing letters of John Adams, Elbridge Gerry, and John Langdon, written in 1813.
cording to John Adams's recollection, he, John Langdon of New Hampshire, and Silas Deane of Connecticut, 'Hhree members who had expressed much zeal in favor of the motion," composed the committee.^
A little later on the same day this committee reported; and thereupon Congress decided to write a letter to Washington directing him to obtain from the Council of Massachusetts two of that state's cruisers, and to despatch them on the errand of intercepting the two supply ships. It also directed that letters be written to the governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island asking for the loan of some of their armed vessels, which were to be sent on the same mission. "The committee appointed to prepare a plan for intercepting the two vessels bound to Canada " made another report on the 6th, which was ordered to lie on the table "for the perusal of the members."^ This report was acted upon on October 13, when Congress decided to fit out two armed vessels, one of ten and the other of fourteen guns, to cruise three months to the
1. Works of John Adams, III, 7, 8. I have accepted the account of this debate as found in John Adams's autobiography, although it is possible that writing many years after its occurrence Adams may have confused it with the debate of October 7 on the Rhode Island resolutions. — Works of John Adams, I, 1S7.
eastward for the purpose of intercepting the enemy's transports laden with warhke stores and other suppUes. A committee consisting of Silas Deane, John Langdon, and Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina was appointed to estimate the expense which would be incurred in fitting out the two vessels.^
In four days this new committee reported an estimate, which was unsatisfactory and was recommitted.^ When it again reported on October 30, two more vessels, one to mount not more than twenty and the other not more than thirty-six guns, were ordered to be prepared for sea, and 'Ho be emploj^ed in such manner, for the protection and defence of the United Colonies, as the Congress shall direct." ''It should be noted that the two vessels for which provision was now made were to engage in the defence of the colonies, and not merely in the interception of transports, an indication of an advance in the naval policy of Congress. '• Four additional members were now added to the committee, Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island, Joseph Hewes of North Carolina, R. H. Lee of Virginia, and John Adams of Massachusetts.^ This reconstituted committee
1. Journals of Continental Congress, October 13, 1775. The armament of the second vessel was not determined until October 30, 1775.
3. Ibid., October 30, 1775. John Adams, in his Notes on Debates for October 30, 1775,
I composed of seven members was sometimes called "the committee for fitting out armed vessels/' occasionally the "Marine Committee," but most frequently the "Naval Committee." It secured for its use a room in a public house in Philadelphia, and in order that there should be no conflict between its meetings and those of Congress, it fixed its hours from six in the evening until the close of its business. Its sessions were sometimes pleasantly continued, even until midnight, by conversational diversions, marked by a rich flow of soul, history, poetry, wine, and Jamaica rum.
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