The Navy of the American Revolution

by Charles Oscar Paullin

It was while the “Katy” was on this errand that Governor Cooke, on October 10, received orders from the Continental Congress to send his little fleet to the northward to intercept two British transports. The “Washington” was unfit for so large an undertaking. The “Katy,” having arrived from the Bermudas, was ordered on November 12, 1775, to cruise between Nantucket Shoals and Halifax. Later her destination was changed, and she was directed to carry to Philadelphia the seamen which Commodore Esek Hopkins had enlisted for the Continental service.[637] On the arrival of the “Katy” in Philadelphia she was taken into the Continental service under the name of the “Providence.” About the same time the “Washington” was in all probability returned to her owner, as she had become more or less unseaworthy.

Meantime the General Assembly had ordered the construction of two galleys, to carry sixty men, to have fifteen oars on a side, and to mount one 18-pounder in the bow.[638] The work was placed under the direction of a superintendent. In January, 1776, the General Assembly appointed John Grimes commodore of the galleys at a salary of £9 a month. The galleys were named the “Washington” and “Spitfire.” They rendered a variety of services in the Bay, cruising in defence of trade, acting as transports, and covering landing parties sent after forage and supplies.[639] In July, 1776, they were ordered to proceed to New York and to assist in the defence of the Hudson.[640] It is probable that this detail was not carried out. By the summer of 1778 they had been captured or destroyed by the enemy.

From June, 1775, until December, 1776, naval administration in Rhode Island during the recess of the General Assembly, was vested in the Committee of Safety, or Recess Committee, as it was sometimes called. This Committee, as constituted by the session of the General Assembly beginning on October 31, 1775, consisted of the Governor and eighteen members, together with such members of the General Assembly as happened to be present at the meetings of the Committee. Any seven members constituted a quorum. The composition of the Committee varied slightly at different times. On December 13, 1776, a Council of War was appointed, with whom naval administration was now vested. The Council of War, which included the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, consisted of nine members, any five of whom formed a quorum. In May, 1778, a Council of War comprising twenty-one members, and representative of the whole state was chosen. The Council of War was virtually the Committee of Safety under a change of name.[641]

In January, 1776, the General Assembly appointed a committee of three to draw up a bill establishing a prize court. On March 18 a bill became a law which established a court of justice for the trying of prize cases. It was to be presided over by a judge, appointed annually. The same act established state privateering. Privateersmen were to enter into bond for £2,000 to observe the provisions of the act and the instructions of the Governor. They were to be commissioned by the Governor. In May, 1776, this act was brought into conformity with the resolutions of Congress on the same subject. Captors were given one-half of all armed vessels and one-third of all other prizes.[642] A list containing the names of 193 privateers from Rhode Island has been compiled.[643]

In June, 1777, the General Assembly undertook to add two armed vessels to the naval force of the state, but for some reason its order was not carried out.[644] The same resolution directed the Council of War to procure three merchantmen to be used in importing supplies. The ship “Aurora” and sloop “Diamond” were two of the vessels purchased for commercial purposes.

For a time Rhode Island relied in part for her naval defence upon the two Continental frigates, “Providence” and “Warren,” which were built at Providence in 1776, and officered and manned largely with Rhode Island men. The General Assembly and the Council of War furthered the work of the local naval committee which had charge of the construction of the frigates. These two ships left Providence early in 1778. During 1778 and 1779 the state continued to depend upon Continental assistance.

It is recalled that during the summer of 1778 Washington concerted with the French fleet a campaign to drive the British from Newport. General Sullivan commanded the land forces of the Americans. On June 25, 1778, Congress directed the Navy Board at Boston to build three galleys, or procure three suitable vessels, for the defence of the Providence, Warren, and Taunton rivers in Rhode Island, if upon advising with the Rhode Island Council of War and General Sullivan, the Navy Board should find such measure expedient. At a conference of the Navy Board, the Council of War, and Sullivan it was decided to procure one large ship. Such a vessel was obtained by Sullivan, but he was compelled soon to return it to its owners.[645] With the consent and recommendation of the Rhode Island authorities, Sullivan, in November, procured the “Pigot” galley, and in the spring of 1779 the sloop “Argo.”[646] First the “Pigot,” and later the “Argo,” was placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Silas Talbot, of the Continental army.

Already Talbot had been twice recommended by Congress for promotion on account of gallant conduct in naval exploits. The Rhode Island General Assembly had recognized his bravery in capturing the “Pigot” galley off the coast of Rhode Island in October, 1778, by voting him a “genteel silver-hilted sword.” As commander of the “Pigot” and later of the “Argo,” Talbot was under the orders of Sullivan, and of Gates, Sullivan’s successor. During the summer of 1779 Talbot in the “Argo,” assisted at times by privateers and the state vessels of Massachusetts, captured fifteen small prizes.[647] As a reward for the conspicuous ability which he showed in this work, Congress made him a captain in the Continental navy. Early in 1780 the “Pigot” and “Argo” closed their services under Continental and state auspices.

Rhode Island’s last naval enterprise was made in 1781. In May of that year the General Assembly appointed a committee to “charter a suitable fast sailing Vessel, in order to be fitted out as a Cruiser to clear the Coast of the piratical Boats that infest the same.” The committee was voted $5,000, and was ordered to man the vessel, appoint its officers, and send it to sea. It was directed to procure a small vessel of thirty to fifty tons burden, mounting four 3-pounders or 4-pounders. It at once obtained the sloop “Rover,” which it placed under the command of Captain Richard Olney. The “Rover” served the state but a short time, and accomplished little.[648]

New York was led to purchase her first armed vessel in order to prevent persons inimical to the liberties of the American Colonies from supplying the Ministerial army and navy with provisions. It was for this purpose that her Provincial Congress on December 20, 1775, appointed a committee of two to buy, arm, and fit out a proper vessel at a cost not to exceed £600. The committee purchased the sloop “General Schuyler,” and by March, 1776, had the vessel ready for service. James Smith, who in the summer of 1775 had served as “Commodore on the Lakes,” that is, Lakes Champlain and George, was appointed commander of the “General Schuyler.” In March the Provincial Congress ordered the sloop “Bishop Landaff” to be fitted out.[649]