A short history of Rhode Island

by George Washington Greene

The May session for the election of officers came. The dividing line between Whig and Tory was more sharply drawn. Several changes were made in the board of assistants. Deputy-Governor Sessions gave place to Nicholas Cooke. Governor Wanton himself was suspended for having in various ways “manifested his intentions to defeat the good people of these colonies in their present glorious struggle to transmit inviolate to posterity those sacred rights they have received from their ancestors.” A Committee of Safety was appointed, which, with the two highest military officers, was to superintend the paying and furnishing the troops and direct their movements when called out of the Colony. The public offices were removed to Providence.

“The army was formed into one brigade of three regiments, each regiment consisting of eight companies, with a train of artillery.” Of this little army, called Army of Observation, Nathanael Greene, who had never held military rank before, was placed in command with the rank of brigadier-general. To anticipate jealousies of rank and position it was provided that “each regiment should occupy the flanks in rotation.”

Paper money with all its evils now became a necessity, and bills of credit were issued to the amount of twenty thousand pounds. To give them the character of an investment they were to bear an interest of two and a half per cent., and be “redeemable by taxation at the end of two and five years.” An embargo was laid on provisions.

Another battle, the battle of Bunker Hill, was at hand. Collisions between the King’s troops and the people were frequent. By the 1st of June nearly a thousand men of the Rhode Island Army of Observation with their artillery were encamped on Jamaica Plains. The committees of inspection for enforcing the American Association were very active. Articles of war were framed. Tories were jealously watched. The suspension of Governor Wanton was a bold step resolutely persevered in. He attempted to explain and defend his conduct, but his explanations were not accepted.

The persecutions of the Gaspee were renewed by Sir James Wallace, Captain of the Rose frigate, and brought on an action between a tender of the frigate and a colonial sloop commanded by Captain Abraham Whipple. After some sharp firing on both sides, the tender was driven ashore under Conanicut and captured. Wallace already owed Whipple a grudge for his part in the burning of the Gaspee, and wrote him: “You, Abraham Whipple, on the 10th of June, 1772, burned His Majesty’s vessel, the Gaspee, and I will hang you at the yard-arm. James Wallace.” To which Whipple replied: “To Sir James Wallace, Sir: Always catch a man before you hang him. Abraham Whipple.”

This was no longer a sudden uprising of popular indignation against insufferable wrong, but a conflict between two regular armed vessels—the first naval battle of the War of Independence. It led directly to the equipping of two vessels, the Washington and the Katy, for the defence of the Colony—the largest carrying ten four-pounders and fourteen swivels, with a crew of eighty men—the smallest with thirty men.

In this June session in which the foundations of the navy were laid, William Goddard’s postal system went into operation six weeks before its adoption for all the colonies by Congress.

During this same eventful month of June the waters of Narragansett Bay were the scene of another bold enterprise. The Rose frigate, Swan sloop-of-war, and a tender were lying with five prizes in Newport harbor. Other vessels came in sight and the royal squadron set out in pursuit of them, following them up the bay and leaving the five prizes unprotected. No sooner did the people of Newport see the opportunity than they seized it, boarded the prizes and carried them off in triumph.

The next event of general interest was the battle of Bunker Hill. An extra session of the Assembly was called. Committees were appointed to take account of the arms and ammunition in the Colony and report it to Congress. Saltpetre and brimstone were sent to the powder mills of New York. Fort George was dismantled. A signal post was established on Tower Hill, and a beacon at Providence, on Prospect Hill. The Colony was put upon a war footing, every man able to bear arms being required to hold himself in readiness for active service. A fourth of the militia were held for minute men and drilled half a day every fortnight. The independent companies were drilled with them. The Army of Observation, which now numbered about seventeen hundred men, was placed under the command of Washington. Everywhere were sights and sounds of war.

The national fast day came, July 20th. From every pulpit, from every family altar, rose fervent prayers for Almighty guidance and protection. For Newport it was a day of terror, for Wallace, enraged at the desertion of some of his men, threatened to bombard the town. Two days he lay in position before it. On the third he sailed away.