Author: Walt Mow

  • “The 14th Continental” or, The Marblehead Militia by Walter Mow

    “The 14th Continental” or, The Marblehead Militia by Walter Mow

    As a group, few have contributed more to the realization of this Republic than the Marblehead Militia.  Militia groups have a long history in Massachusetts with the first recorded militia organized in 1638.  It is the Marblehead Militia and their story that is as improbable as it is true; in the case of these brave men, fact is more improbable than fiction.

    The entire Massachusetts Militia was reorganized in January, 1775, driving out Tory commanders and appointing Jeremiah Lee as commander of the Marblehead Militia with Lt. Col. John Glover as second in command.  Not much is known of Jeremiah Lee, but we know Glover joined the militia in 1759 as an Ensign in the 3rd Military Foot Company.  Glover was a short, red-headed man, noted as a stern disciplinarian, known to carry a brace of silver pistols and a sword.

    The Marblehead Militia, composed as it was of sailors and fishermen, were hardened by the severe winters of New England’s notoriously dangerous waters and used to the rigors and discipline necessary to navigate these coastal waters.  

    Trade and fishing was the lifeblood of New England, enforcement of “The Intolerable Acts”, (The Trade and Navigation Act, 1651; The Molasses Act, 1733; The Quartering Act,1763; The Sugar Act 1764; The Stamp Act 1765); impressments; seizures of vessels and cargoes; all contributed to a stymied economy and Colonial unrest.

    Having already endured these offenses, the volunteers to The Marblehead Militia were hard, determined men.  Considered to be smugglers, brigands and pirates by the British, this intrepid band, led by Samuel Trevett partially armed themselves by attacking HMS Lively, capturing powder and arms in a night time raid in early February, 1775.  

    Although the Regiment was not to be involved in the action at Lexington and Concord, the commanders of the Marbleheaders attended a meeting April, 18, 1775, with Sons of Liberty notables, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Elbridge Gerry at Weatherby’s Black Horse Tavern in Menotomy.  A British patrol rousted Lee and Glover April 19, in an early morning raid.  Escaping in their bed clothes, Lee died of exposure from hiding in a wet field a few days later.  As a result, John Glover was promoted to Colonel and assumed command of the Regiment.

    The Marblehead Militia, nicknamed “Glover’s Regiment” was formally inducted into the Continental Army, June 22, 1775 as the 23rd Massachusetts Regiment with a complement of 505 officers and men.  Ongoing enlistments were to expand the total of officers and men to 728.

    Washington quickly realized the need for a naval force to disrupt as much as possible the supply line of the British.   Washington accepted without hesitation Colonel Glover’s offer of his family’s ship the Hannah and a wharf in Beverly Harbor.  In December 1775, Washington, while retaining a Marblehead company for his headquarters guard,  dispatched a large portion of Glover’s Regiment to Beverly to man the vessels being recruited and out fitted for service and to protect Beverly Harbor. 

    When the Continental Army was reorganized January 1, 1776, Glover’s Regiment was reorganized as the 14th Continental Regiment, the designation it was to carry till they were disbanded on December 31, 1776.

     Glover’s Regiment became the backbone of General Washington’s “Secret Navy”.  They were to man the converted fishing and trading schooners; USS Hannah, USS Franklin, USS Hancock, USS Lee, USS Warren, USS Harrison, USS Washington and the USS Lynch.  This small force was to capture 38 vessels carrying arms and supplies destined for the besieged British in Boston.  The Regiment was to remain in Beverly until July 11, 1776, when they were ordered to rejoin the main Army in New York. The Regiment arrived at the Army’s Manhattan encampment on August 3rd   where they were to remain till summoned to Long Island August 28. 

    Placed on the line, they were to skirmish with the British; but as the British started digging trenches to place the Army under siege, Washington ordered the 14th Continental to ferry the Army to Manhattan across the mile wide East River.  Beginning in a rain storm on the evening of August 29 at 11:00 PM and through the night, ending in a dawn fog, the 14th ferried 9,000 men, the Army’s horses and artillery and other sundry supplies to safety without a single loss of life.  The ever watchful General Washing was the last man to board the last boat on that fateful day, arriving in Manhattan at 7:00 AM, August 30, 1776.

    Fear of being trapped in New York, Washington started his troops north out of lower Manhattan Island.  A British landing at Kip’s Bay quickly routed the militia sent to guard the area.  General Washington was unable to stop the hasty retreat; the militia units stopped when they met the 6 brigades moving to their new positions under the command of Colonel Glover who quickly aligned his troops at the breast of a small hill facing the British advance.  General Washington ordered a pull-back before the British troops arrived.

    Pell’s Point was a different matter altogether; Washington dispatched a brigade under the command of Colonel Glover to challenge a British advance from Pell’s Point, Oct. 18. 1776.  In a battle that lasted most of the day, utilizing a series of attack and strategic leapfrog withdrawals, Glover’s 750 men delayed the advance of 4,000 British and Hessian troops.  American casualties were 8 men killed and 13 wounded, British casualties were estimated to be 200 British and Hessian soldiers.  

    The time this engagement consumed allowed General Washington to move his army to White Plains, out of immediate danger.  At the Battle of White Plains, the 14th was to man artillery emplacements and later be part of a rear guard as the Continental Army was ferried by elements of the 14th across the Hudson River into New Jersey.  

    Pursued by the British Army, Washington’s Continentals retreated across New Jersey, the 14th was to again ferry the Army to safety across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.  Washington’s directive to destroy all boats and ferry craft on the north bank of the river was to bring the British advance to a halt.   With winter weather making campaigning difficult, General Howe decided to go into winter quarters.  Leaving a string of posts across New Jersey, General Howe, accompanied by General Cornwallis was to return to his headquarters in New York.  At Trenton, Howe left 1,500 Hessians under the command of Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall with an additional number further down river at Bordentown under Colonel Carl von Donop.

    Washington was assailed by a number of far reaching concerns; a lack of military intelligence in New Jersey, General Lee’s capture by the British and most troubling of all was the coming end of enlistments at the end of 1776.  In a letter to Lund Washington, he was to note that without a surge of enlistments, “the game may well be up”.  When he received hard intelligence that the British had retired to winter quarters, he determined that the time to strike was at hand.

    Planned in secret as a three pronged assault, weather was to intervene and the only successful crossing was to be Washington’s.  About noon December 25th 1776, Washington began to march his troops up river to McKonkey’s Ferry arriving at dusk in a rising storm.   General Washington, concerned about crossing a major river in severe weather, asked Col. Glover his opinion, Glover replied, “Not to be bothered with that, my boys can handle it.”  Buoyed by Glover’s confident reply, or as a sign of leadership, Washington was among the first to board for the crossing. 

    Under the watchful eye of General Greene and Colonel Knox and supervised by Colonel Glover’s Marbleheaders the slow business of ferrying an army, supplies, horses and cannon across the river began.   Horses, cannon and assorted supplies were ferried using McKonkey’s ferry craft, while the troops were ferried across in large flat bottom work scows called Durham boats.  These craft were handled by the hardy members of the Marblehead Regiment in what turned out to be a blizzard with high winds, serious icing conditions and all in darkness and stealth.

    Durham Boat

    It was a grim General Washington that watched the last of the ferry operation that was to have ended at midnight but hampered by the storm, the time had slipped to near Four AM before the Army was to begin the nine mile march to Trenton.  Dividing his forces by sending General Sullivan and Glover’s Regiment by the River Road, he was to accompany General Greene on the Pennington Road into Trenton.

    There were a number of factors at work in Washington’s favor; the string of posts Howe had established across New Jersey were under manned, too far apart and left to forage for supplies to feed the men.  The Hessians were harsh in their treatment of rebels and loyalists alike, this led to retaliation by rebel groups, ambushing then dispersing against the foraging Hessians.  

    Fearing an attack in the week preceding Christmas, Rall’s command had been on high alert; his troops were tired from the long hours, were sleeping off a Christmas celebration and secure in a storm to stop enemy movements.  By Happenstance or Providence, both columns reached Trenton at near the same time only adding to the confusion of the Hessians.  Colonel Rall was mortally wounded near the beginning of the American attack, the resulting confusion and the rapid American advance quickly overcame the leaderless Hessians. 

    General Washington was stunned by his own success, expecting a heavy casualty list, he asked first for the Hessian casualties; 22 dead, 83 wounded and 900-1000 prisoners; dreading the answer he asked for the American list; 2 dead, frozen on the march to Trenton and 5 wounded. 

    Note: future president, Lt. James Monroe was among the more seriously wounded when he led an assault on the Hessian positions. 

    Washington was understandably concerned that he return his Army to the safety of Pennsylvania which of course meant another river crossing with the captured arms and supplies plus the Hessian prisoners.  Some confusion still exists as to how long the return crossing actually took, as there was a near constant flow of intelligence reports and correspondence with partisans in New Jersey.

    An intelligence briefing on Dec. 27, 1776 notified General Washington that the British and Hessians had retreated north to Princeton.  Accordingly Washington planned an attack on the British forces for December 29, but due to weather and other incidents, this third crossing of the Delaware was not completed till December 31, 1776.  This was to be the last of the valiant 14th’s contribution to the Revolution as enlistments ended and many of the men returned home to New England, many to be smugglers and privateers. 

    The contribution by local ferry and river men cannot be overlooked but without the dedicated efforts of the 14th Continental,  perhaps the battles of Trenton and Princeton may never have happened. 

  • The American Revolution…   how it all began… Part 11

    The American Revolution…   how it all began… Part 11

    The Spirit of ’76, originally titled Yankee Doodle, was painted by Archibald M. Willard, of Cleveland Ohio for exhibit in Philadelphia during the 1876 centennial celebrations.

    Three separate issues finally induced Colonial America to declare its Independence from Great Britain. 

    First, King George declared the colonies in revolt August 23, 1775;  

    King George declared…  “All our officers Civil and Military are obliged to exert their utmost Endeavors to suppress such Rebellion, and to bring the Traitors to Justice and make known all Treason and traitorous Conspiracies which they shall know to be against Us, Our Crown and Dignity”…

    King George III

    Second, Parliament enacted the Prohibitive Act, December 22, 1775;  

    This act created a blockade against the 13 colonies cutting off all trade with England, further stating that any colonial ship caught trading would be confiscated as if it were any enemy of Great Britain.  As this action is an act of war, the Colonies reacted by issuing letters of marque, allowing Americans to seize British ships.  To further drive the wedge between England and the colonies, the act further declared that all American vessels were no longer under the protection of the British Navy.

    Third, Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” was released to the American public, January 10, 1776,  it was both wordy and lengthy.  It not only destroyed the idea that monarchy was a viable form of government for the colonies, but that instead of the benevolent monarch many believed the king to be, he was the architect of the ministries he ruled.  His personal views were very much like that of his subjects; narrow, insular and contemptuous of colonists in general.

    Thomas Paine

    That there remained opposition to Independence from England was true, but the tide of rebellion overwhelmed the reluctant in the American population.  John Adams said, “Every post and every Day rolls in upon Us Independence like a Torrent.”  By July 1, 1776 the tide of support for Independence finally brought the colonies to the final decision to sever all ties to England and the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

    (Authors Note)  This brings to an end this treatise on the causes that drove the colonies to sever ties with Great Britain.  We Americans are and should be free and to this day, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence with much fanfare and love of this, “Our Country.”

  • The American Revolution…   how it all began…   part 10

    The American Revolution…   how it all began…   part 10

    Featured Image: Detail, Congress Voting Independence. The engraving called Congress Voting Independence is the most accurate image of the Assembly Room of Independence Hall during the Revolutionary War era. Artist Robert Edge Pine began his oil painting in 1784 but died before completing the work. Painter and engraver Edward Savage finished the work but died before completing the engraving. 

    General Gage and some 3,000 troops of the Army returned to garrison the city of Boston in the early summer of 1774.  On September 1, 1774, General Thomas Gage orders the confiscation of powder and arms from a magazine near Boston.  A rumor that bloodshed occurred at the time brought a large number of patriots toward Boston.  The rumor proved to be false, but the militia continued to gather arms and ammunition in rural Massachusetts.  

    The British government declared the colony to be in a state of rebellion in February of 1775.  British spies continued to ferret out colonial military stores around the colony.  General Gage received orders to confiscate the arms and ammunition and arrest several prominent patriot leaders.  Patriot leader Doctor Joseph Warren dispatched Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott to warn of the coming confiscation raid on the night of April 18, 1775.

    Approximately 700 hundred British Troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith began a night march towards Concord where the military stores were hidden. Doctor Warren’s messengers alerted the countryside, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and other patriot leaders escaped the British as they approached Lexington.  

    Under 80 militia men under the command of Captain John Parker were spread across Lexington Green as the sun was rising on the morning of April 19, 1775 to confront the British advance force under the command of Major John Pitcairn.  Captain Parker commanded his men to, “Stand your ground, don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”  Where the first shot came from is still debated, but 8 militia men lay dead while the British force had one man slightly wounded.

    Colonel Smith ordered the march to continue to Concord where according to information the stores were hidden.  The British troops were fired on before they could destroy all the military stores the patriots had hidden in the surrounding area.  The forced march back to Lexington became a nightmare for the British as the minute men used tactics that denied the British the chance to form up and charge as they were trained.  Upon reaching Lexington, a rescue force of approximately 1,700 arrived from Boston under the command of General Earl Percy.  The entire force was then forced to retreat under continuous fire from the patriots.

    Charges of atrocities were exchanged by both sides, the patriots claiming that homes were burned for no reason whereas the British claimed they burned homes when they were fired upon.  Claim and counter claim of cruelty and murder, of robbery and rape, many of these claims could not be proven to either sides satisfaction.

    When the British reached safety, they found that the patriots had sealed them within the confines of Boston and its harbor.  As hundreds of patriots arrived, the British realized the siege of Boston had begun; it would continue until March of 1776.

    On May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold captured the Fort of Ticonderoga and the Fort at Crown Point the next day.

    1758 map of the layout of Ft. Ticonderoga. The fort had been captured from the French in 1759. It was called Ft. Carillon by the French. It is an example of a type of fort called a ‘star’ fort. This type of fort was designed to maximize bith protection from and the use of gunpowder weapons.

    In May of 1775, the Second Continental Congress was convened, the New England troops around Boston were adopted as the Continental Army. General Washington was confirmed as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in June.  Before Washington could reach Massachusetts, the Battle of Breed’s Hill had been fought and Doctor Joseph Warren would perish in the battle.  The British won the battle but at a terrible cost, one that would haunt the British throughout the entire war as many Junior Officers and Non-Commissioned officers were killed in the carnage on Breed’s Hill.  

    Washington had grave doubts about the siege of Boston due to the lack of heavy guns to confront the British Army.  Colonel Henry Knox was assigned the task of bringing the artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Washington’s headquarters at Cambridge November 16. 1775.  Knox would prove his worth to Washington when he arrived back at Washington’s headquarters with 60 tons of artillery and ammunition, thereby facilitating Washington’s effort to drive the British from Boston in March of 1776; thus ending the siege of Boston by fortifying Dorchester Heights above Boston Harbor with the guns from Fort Ticonderoga.

    Two assumptions by the British military said that the Americans would “run” at the sight of British troops and that numerous Tories would come to the aid of the British Army, Neither calculation was correct as the Americans did not run and the loyalists did not come to the aid of Britain.  These errors of judgment would prove very costly to the British Empire.

  • The American Revolution…  how it all began…   Part 9

    The American Revolution…  how it all began…   Part 9

    Featured image: George Washington (middle) surrounded by members of the Continental Congress, lithograph by Currier & Ives, c. 1876. 

    The day after the “Tea Party”, Admiral Montague quipped,”Well boys, you have had a fine pleasant evening with your Indian caper, haven’t you.  But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet.”  The payment for the act came from Lord North in the form of several Parliamentary acts starting with the “Boston Port Bill” effectively closing the port of Boston to all shipping hoping to starve them into submission. 

    Faneuil Hall in 1775. Charles Bryan, etching 1840.

    News of the Port Bill reached Boston on May 11, 1774, the Committee for Correspondence asked for an immediate meeting at Faneuil Hall in Boston.  The conservatives wanted to pay for the tea, but the radicals wanted NO reconciliation with Great Britain saying that to pay for the tea would be a step backwards and they were willing to “abandon their city to flames” rather than to pay for the tea.  They claimed the blow was aimed at Boston because, “there lie the VITALS of American freedom”, and should Britain prevail colonial liberty could be annihilated in one blow.  George Washington asked the question, should Americans, “supinely sit and see one province after another fall prey to despotism”?

    The Port Bill went into effect June 1, 1774 sparking demonstrations throughout the colonies such as those that greeted the Stamp act earlier.  Contrary to Lord North’s expectations, he only succeeded in unifying the colonies making Bostonian’s martyrs to American liberty.  His plan of “starving Boston”  went down to ignominious defeat as the other colonies sent quantities of food stuffs into Boston, thereby nullifying Lord North’s infamous plan.

    “View of the Long Wharf & port of the harbour of Boston in New England America,” ca. 1750-1799.

    The “Quartering Act of 1774 went into effect June 2, 1774 allowing troops to be quartered in Boston thereby increasing the  number of British troops in the city of Boston.  

    This was followed by the Massachusetts Government Act effective July 1, 1774; it stated that representatives elected by the citizenry of the colony could not select its own councilors, the Crown would appoint councilors.  Boston patriot Doctor Joseph Warren said, “the same power that can take away our right of selecting councilors by our own representatives can take away from the other colonies the right of choosing even representatives.”

    In the eyes of many colonials, the final blow was the Quebec Act, the legalization of Catholicism in Canada and the extension of Canada’s southern boundaries to the Ohio River.  This in effect, closed much of the country north of the Ohio River to colonial Americans and obliterated the land claims of many including George Washington, Patrick Henry and others making the stock of the Vandalia company worthless.

    Together, the acts made the First Continental Congress that convened in the city of Philadelphia in September of 1774 a reality.  The conservative representatives expected to find nothing but “fire breathing radicals” from the New England contingent, but were taken by surprise by the shrewd Yankee delegates who acted as meek as lambs instead of the boisterous levelers and upstarts they expected.  

    By contrast, it was the Virginia and Carolina planters that surprised the more sedate members with their fire-eating deportment.  It was Christopher Gadsden who advocated that the troops under General Gage in Boston be attacked before reinforcements could arrive from England.  It was the Virginia contingent that kept the Congress from becoming a roaring fire by keeping the complaints against the Crown before 1763 at bay by confining the Congress to offenses beginning with George Grenville’s administration.

    Joseph Galloway and John Dickinson headed up the conservative members, hoping to offer a plan of reconciliation with Great Britain be appealing directly to the King for a Grand Council subservient to Parliament with veto powers by the Grand Council.  This plan fell to the side with the adoption of the Suffolk Resolves allowing the radicals to expunge his plan from the journals of the Congress.

    Contemporary photo of the “Suffolk Resolves” house. The House is located in Milton Mass. It was also the location where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence two years later.

    The Suffolk Resolves set forth non- importation of British goods; that no colonial products be exported to Britain; there be no obedience to the Coercive acts; withhold taxes until the duly elected Massachusetts government be recognized; and that military readiness be enacted in the colonies.  The First Continental Congress endorsed the Resolves on September 17, 1774.

    Many of the radicals believed as did the Tories that the boycott of goods to Britain would not bring the British government to accept any kind of reconciliation with the Americans.  John and Samuel Adams believed that war was inevitable, that there needed to be a readiness to go to war with Britain. John Adams said to Patrick Henry, “I expect no redress, but, on the contrary, increased resentment and double vengeance. We must fight”!!!  Patrick Henry believed that, “the next gale from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms”.  It was not long after, that the thoughts of these men would be fulfilled.                                                                                 

  • The American Revolution…   How it all began…   Part 8

    The American Revolution…   How it all began…   Part 8

    Featured Image: The Robinson half tea chest. It is one of two authenticated surviving tea chests from the Boston Tea Party. It is currently on display at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

    The East India Company had once more fallen into debt and was in danger of default, forcing the English government to come to its rescue once more.  Edmond Burke stated that Lord North was seeking to put the company under the umbrella of the Crown, thereby allowing the King to rule without Parliament.  This in the eyes of the Americans threatened both the East India Company and the freedom of the Colonies.  The Tea Act of 1773 placed a small tax on tea imported into America by the East India Company and was supported by Lord North.

     The company reasoned that the repeal of the tax on tea would heal the ailing company and drive the smugglers of other teas from the colonies and restore peace between the government and America.  Lord North believed that by giving America cheap tea they would buy tea, tax or no tax.  He believed that the tax must be retained for Parliament to retain its authority of the right to tax the colonies.  The company was given the right to ship its tea directly to the colonies bypassing the costly regulations that all products bound for the colonies be processed through English ports but the tax on tea was retained.

    English East India Company ship the Earl of Mansfield. The Earl of Mansfield is a ship rigged merchant vessel. That type of vessel has square rigged sails on all of its masts. They are designed to move large cargoes long distances fairly quickly.

    The East India Company shipped 298 chests of tea to Boston, 257 chests to Charlestown and 698 chests to New York and Philadelphia.  Contrary to widely held beliefs by the English, it was not Boston that harbored the most smugglers, but Rhode Island, New York and Philadelphia. 

    In the eyes of the American patriots, the biggest threat from the tax was the maintenance of an Army in the colonies and a civil list that nullified the colonial assemblies.  “What the Parliament could not Fleece from us by Taxes, the Crown will by Monopoly” claimed the merchants of New York.  The colonial patriots believed that Lord North was attempting to “take by ruse, what he could not take by storm”.  It was believed that once the tea tax had breached American defenses, the King would “enter the Bulwarks of our sacred Liberties, and will never desist, till they have made a Conquest of the whole”!

    The dispersal of the East India Company tea was consigned to tea agents appointed by the governors of the colonies.  The agents were to see the offloading of the tea but “The Sons of Liberty” paid visits to many of the agents convincing them to renounce their appointment leaving the tea to still be on board the ships.  This led to a standoff between the governors and the captains, leaving many of the agents to seek safety on British naval vessels.

    Samuel Adams (left) and John Hancock were prominent members of the Sons of Liberty.

    Governor Hutchinson believed that the “Sons of Liberty” would allow the tea to be unloaded at the last moment.  The patriots came to the conclusion that they had to dispose of the tea before December 17,1773 before it would be seized by customs officials for non-payment of duty and sold to pay the salaries of the governor, Tory judges and customs officials.

    The “Sons of Liberty” decided to jettison the tea into Boston Harbor on the night of December 16, 1773.  Under the cover of darkness and disguised as Mohawk Indians, they boarded the three vessels carrying the tea and dumped it into Boston Harbor, while the citizens of Boston kept the British Crown officers from being able to identify any of the “Mohawk Indians”.*  Years later, George Hewes said that there were several prominent members of the “Sons of Liberty” among the so-called Indians.

    The governor of Massachusetts realized the folly of arresting and trying anyone involved in the affair but many of the citizens felt that the wrath of the English government would not fail to punish them as well as the guilty.  By contrast, the Whigs called the dumping of the tea a legitimate act of self-defense against tyranny as defined by John Locke.

    The “Boston Tea Party” was not the only act of rebellion against the Crown. In New Jersey the tea cargo of the ship Greyhound was burned.  In South Carolina several tea chests were thrown into the Cooper River and in New York the tea again was brewed with salt water.  The American patriots insisted that tea be forsworn by all Americans in order that NO TAXED TEA be drunk throughout the colonies.  As a result of patriotic pressure, tea virtually disappeared from the colonies.

    The British government was outraged by the acts of the Boston patriots; what followed was retaliation on a scale not before enacted against the American colonies.  The retaliation faced by the colonies would later be called, “The Coercive Acts”.

    * Editors note: Whilst searching for illustrations for this piece, I came across an interesting, but somehow obscure, article that stated the Tea Party was blamed on Narragansett Indians rather than the Mohawks as is commonly claimed. This would make sense as the Mohawk homeland was several hundred miles from Boston. The Mohawk were from the eponymous valley in upstate New York and the intervening miles were populated by tribes that were hostile to any native that was part of the Iroquois Confederacy. Meanwhile, the Narragansetts were located in the area between Boston and Rhode Island. Most contemporary local reports referred to the raiders as either indians, natives or Narragansetts. The term Mohawk was used in a single newspaper report and has gained popularity in the intervening years.

  • The American Revolution…   and how it all started..  Part 7

    The American Revolution…   and how it all started..  Part 7

    Featured Image:  Ethan Allen (standing left, foreground) at a meeting of the Green Mountain Boys, wood engraving, 1858. 

    By the spring of 1770, the pact against the non-importation act had begun to fade leaving the more radical elements of the revolutionary leaders with little more to do than hope that Colonial America would wake up to the dangers to their liberties.  This lethargy was mainly due to the fact that things in the colonies were improving with the economy rebounding, roads being constructed and the populace at large was relatively happy. 

    The Tory population saw that the more radical elements were not able to stir up the common people as they had in the past.  This too added to the feeling of complacency that the colonies were feeling much to the dismay of Sam Adams, Patrick Henry and Christopher Gadsden who knew that the Parliament would use this period of relative calm as there was dissent among the rural members of the colonies.  The more affluent members of Colonial America were in the act of pushing the common people out of the more productive lands forcing them into lands that were further from the markets driving up their costs to get their products to market.  This set up the next series of issues that confronted the less affluent, mainly that the American Oligarchs were more interested in making money than they were in confronting the Crown and Parliament.

    The “Regulators” of rural Carolina and the “Green Mountain Boys” of Vermont did not back off and made life for the more affluent less than comfortable.  They continued to harass the judges and sheriffs that were in the pockets of the planters and landed gentry, with liberal threats of “Tar and Feathers” and rides on “The Rail”, but eventually the planters in the Carolina’s and the land owners in the Hudson Valley finally prevailed over some of the less strident members of these groups.

    In England, John Wilkes, John Horne Tooke and other radical Englishmen took up the torch of the Colonials and declared that if Americans could not be free, neither could Englishmen.  John Tooke stated that, “we are stones of one arch and must stand or fall together”.  The sentiment was openly welcomed in the colonies with some going so far as to welcome these English radicals in America should it become necessary for them to flee England.  This was not to be, but the fact that some had considered such a move strengthened the resolve of many Americans.

    The lull that encompassed America came to a sudden halt in March of 1772 when one Lieutenant William Duddingston appeared in the waters around Rhode Island and began seizing vessels and cargoes he suspected of being contraband.  Duddingston made Narragansett Bay his hunting grounds, seizing ships and cargoes, both legal and illegal, stealing livestock and cutting down fruit trees for firewood. The local populace decided they had enough of this haughty individual and when his vessel, the schooner “Gaspee” ran aground in Narragansett Bay, the locals boarded the vessel, put Duddingston adrift in a small boat and burned the Gaspee to the waterline.

    The Burning of HMS Gaspee.
    Gaspee was a schooner, a type of two masted sailing vessel. A schooner is typically fore-and-aft rigged.

    A commission was sent to Rhode Island to take testimony against the “scoundrels” with the intent of taking them back to England for trail, but to the dismay of the commissioners, no one ever testified against the perpetrators, leaving all who had participated in the burning of His Majesty’s” ship to go free.  This act distressed many of the Officers of the Crown, but little could be done in the absence of credible evidence of wrongdoing.

    This signaled an end to the lull of good will between the colonials and Parliament with the enactment of a civil list in Massachusetts to pay the salaries of Crown officials from the customs paid by local merchants.  To add to the dispute, letters written by Governor Thomas Hutchinson and acquired by Benjamin Franklin recommending “a diminution of English liberties in the colony of Massachusetts” did great damage to his post as governor to the colony.  The radicals demanded the removal of the governor but were refused by the Crown.  This action also solidified Franklin’s decision to become one of the radicals seeking freedom for the colonies from the English Crown and driving him to leave England for his home in Pennsylvania.

    Lord North, 2nd Earl of Gilford

    Frederick North, (Lord North) the second Earl of Guilford was appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1770.  His lack of attention to the ongoing dispute between Parliament and the colonies contributed to an already disintegrating situation that continued almost unabated with a tea tax that would precipitate a new and ever more dangerous situation.

  • The American Revolution…How it all Began… Part 6     

    The American Revolution…How it all Began… Part 6    

    Featured image: The Boston Massacre March 5, 1770 by Don Troiani

    A lone sentry stood guard (Private Hugh White) in front of the Boston Custom House.  The chill wind on the evening of March 5, 1770 caused the young sentry to pull his coat tighter about his body.  He heard a group of young colonials coming towards his position and tried to look the part of a British soldier as they approached. 

    British short land pattern musket or Brown Bess. This was the most commonly issued British firearm during the Revolutionary war.

    The pivotal event called “The Boston Massacre” was about to occur. 

    There had been several minor scuffles between the occupying soldiers and the citizens of Boston, and all he could think of was his supper that awaited him at the end of his sentry duty.  The group of young locals began to taunt the young sentry and throw snowballs at his position.  As they approached even closer one tried to pull the musket from his hands.  As the situation escalated, the young sentry called for reinforcements to come to his aid.

    As the altercation became more intense he called out, “Turn out the Guard!  Turn out the Guard.”  To his relief, he saw an officer (Captain Thomas Preston) with the troops that answered his call for help.  The officer ordered Private White to join the formation of troops that arrived.  The situation continued to escalate as more of the town ruffians joined the crowd that were harassing the soldiers. 

    Fruits of arbitrary Power , or The Bloody Massacre by Henry Pelham  Text above reads “The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5, 1770 in which Messrs SamL Gray, Saml Maverick, James Caldwell, Crispus Attucks, Patrick Carr were Killed Six others wounded two of them mortally.”Bottom text  reads “How long shall they utter and speak hard things and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves: they break in peices [sic] they people O Lord and Afflict Thine Heritage: They slay the Widow and the stranger and murder the Fatherless – Yet they say the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob Regard It. Psalm XCIV.”

    A church bell began to ring, the signal that a fire had broken out in the town.  The call of “Fire, Fire” began to be called among the gathering crowd and the altercation continued to garner more attention.  As the calls of “Fire” continued to be yelled towards the soldiers, all at once, one of the soldiers, unable to control his fear, fired, followed by more of the soldiers firing into the crowd of gathering local townsmen.  

    Five Boston citizens lay dead in the snow, six more were wounded.  The dismay of Captain Preston as he led the small contingent of soldiers away from the awful reality did nothing to calm the citizens, only the bitter cold kept the situation from being more disastrous than it already was.

    In the days following the dreadful event, Captain Preston and several of the soldiers were arrested.  Claims and counterclaims between the citizens of Boston and the soldiers flowed back and forth.  

    The prominent young Boston attorneys, John Adams and John Quincy undertook the task of defending Captain Preston and the soldiers.  Captain Preston would be acquitted and of the soldiers, two would be found guilty of manslaughter.

     The acquitted Captain Preston returned to England, the two soldiers who were convicted claimed a plea of clergy that exempted them from further punishment.* A shaky calm came over the city in the aftermath of the trial. 

    John Adams’ cousin, Sam Adams called for a more stringent punishment for the two soldiers, but was rebuffed by Lieutenant Governor Hutchison. Sam Adams’ demand that all troops be removed from Boston was effective in that the troops were sent to Castle William Island in Boston Harbor but later would return to Boston under the Command of General Thomas Gage.

    *Editors note: The claim of Clergy meant the person could read and write and was a holdover in English law from the Middle Ages when most people outside the Clergy could read or write. This editor highly doubts that either Hugh Montgomery or Matthew Kilroy were literate. The claim exempted them from being hung. They were both branded with the letter ‘M’ on the base of their right thumbs. Branding was a common punishment of the era.

  • The American Revolution…

    The American Revolution…

    How it all began… Part 5

    The Battle of Golden Hill as depicted in a 19th Century etching.

    As George Grenville’s ministry came to an end with the repeal of the hated “Stamp Act”, William Pitt (Lord Chatham) was called to form a new ministry.  One of the people he brought to his ministry was the English dandy, Charles Townshend who became the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the British Treasury department).

    Townshend claimed to have a plan that would create an income stream the colonies would accept and soften the tax burden that rested on the landed gentry of England.  This sounded good to the heavily taxed squires but Townshend did not readily produce his plan driving the squires to believe Townshend could not actually give them the tax relief they were expecting.

     When “Champagne Charley” did produce his plan, it called for Parliament to place taxes on glass, paint, paper and tea and gave colonial courts the right to issue “Writs of Assistance” to customs officers to search for contraband and smuggled goods on private property.

    Beginning in 1767 Townshend unveiled his long awaited plan that included 4 separate parts, “The Revenue Act of 1767, the Commissioners of Customs Act of 1767, the Indemnity Act of 1767, the New York Restraining Act of 1767, and the Admiralty Court Act of 1768”.                                                                                   

    The purpose of the 4 acts were,

    1. To raise a revenue in the colonies to pay colonial governors and judges so they would remain loyal to Great Britain;
    2. Enforce compliance with trade regulations;                                                                                                                  
    3. Punish New York for not enforcing the Quartering Act of 1765;                                                                               
    4. Maintain Parliament’s right to tax the colonies.

    Before the Townshend Duties as they were known could be fully initiated, Townshend unexpectedly died at age 42 in September of 1767.  Repeal of the Townshend Acts officially occurred on April 12, 1770 with the exception that the tax on tea was continued.

    “The Revenue Act of 1767” included language for the removal of the “power of the purse” from the colonial legislatures, giving the revenue raised by the act to pay colonial governors and judges for fealty to the British Crown.  This deprived the colonials of any kind of leverage or control over the governors and judges in the colonies.

    The “Quartering Act of 1765” set the stage for the suspension of the New York Legislature. This act further inflamed the colonials thereby driving even more acts of overt civil disobedience.  Rather than direct conflict, the New York assembly simply voted to allocate 1,500 pounds for the British troops by way of a grant, making it appear as a free gift rather than compliance with the Quartering Act.  This was a stealthy act of civil disobedience that the English Parliament accepted as compliance to the act instead of retaliating against the colony of New York which would have only exacerbated an already overheated situation. 

    Raising of the Liberty Pole. The Liberty Pole was erected in “The Fields,” the town common, today’s City Hall Park in New York. It was the center point of the friction between the Sons of Liberty and the British Soldiery in that city.

    The “Battle of Golden Hill” on January 19, 1770 would mark the first skirmish between British Troops and American patriots as British troops tried to post handbills in a New York Market.  Some sources claimed that an American died but was never confirmed, but it is the first clash between Americans and members of the British Army in what would eventually be “The American Revolution”.

    Colonial newspapers were very effective in rousing the rural population to support the “Non-Importation Act”, a pact the colonial assemblies were able to enact in August of 1768 that restricted the import of finished English goods into the colonies.  The plight of Ireland and the resulting level of poverty that Parliament’s actions caused the Irish commoner were all the rural Americans needed for them to see the results of British domination.  The continuing threat of British troops to enforce colonial acceptance of Parliamentary rule was a deciding factor for many American farmers to support the Non-Importation Act  

    The arrival of four regiments of British troops in Boston in October of 1768 only reinforced the fear of troop intervention for the purpose of colonial taxation.  The lack of total support for the acts of Parliament by its own members did little for the merchants of England, but the removal of two regiments from Boston in 1769 to Halifax gave the farmers the courage to no longer strongly support the Non-Importation Act and by August of 1770, died from lack of rural support. 

    By this policy of enacting and then rescinding acts of force the British Parliament undermined its own authority in the colonies. The forces that remained in Boston were too few to truly keep order.  Numerous scuffles and other acts of civil disobedience and defiance by Boston civilians continued; the inevitable happened on the evening of March 5, 1770 as British troops fired on American patriots killing 5 and wounding 6 others in what would be called “The Boston Massacre”.

    In a strange twist of affairs, John Adams, who would be the Second President of the United States  defended some of the British soldiers and their commanding officer in the aftermath of the “Boston Massacre”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

    Authors note:  American patriots were called Whigs and Revolutionaries while the supporters of the Crown were called Tories and Loyalists.  

  • The Battle of New Orleans 

    The Battle of New Orleans 

    Andrew Jackson leading US forces at the Battle of New Orleans

    The Battle of New Orleans encompassed a number of actions beginning in 1814 culminating in January 1815.  We will examine these actions and some of the individuals involved.

    The War of 1812 began as a result of British interference with US trade and the impressment of US citizens.  A declaration of war would pit the fledgling US against the world’s premier military.   The British fielded a Navy that dominated the seas and an Army that could contend with Napoleon.  The declaration set in motion a series of events that would forever change history.  It is the culmination of this war and the events that preceded it that we will examine.

    A series of devastating defeats plagued the Americans in the early months of the war but a naval victory on Lake Erie September 10, 1813 by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry followed by a bloodied but victorious Army at Lundy’s Lane July 25, 1814 temporarily stunned the British.  Admiral Cochrane began his Chesapeake campaign that resulted in the disaster ever known as the Bladensburg Races and the burning of the capitol including the White House by Admiral Cockburn and General Ross August 24; the failure of Cochrane’s naval bombardment to defeat the forces at Ft. McHenry under the command of Major George Armistead and the death of General Robert Ross ended the Battle of Baltimore (September 12-15, 1814) and the end of Admiral Cochrane’s Chesapeake campaign.

    On September 3, 1814 a British Naval envoy, Capt. Nicholas Lockyer visited Jean Lafitte at Barataria and offered emoluments to Lafitte and his men should they join his forces in capturing the city of New Orleans.  Lafitte to his honor sent the message to American authorities, making it known that the city was the target of invasion.  Lafitte offered to help in the defense of the city for the release of his brother Pierre, Dominique You, Renato Beluche and others of his associates being held on piracy charges.

    September 3rd was also the date of Lt. General Sir George Prevost’s advance down the west coast of Lake Champlain in an attempt to gain as much American territory as possible before any treaty was ratified to end the war.  Control of Lake Champlain was vital as a supply line, but a plucky US Navy Lt. by the name of Thomas Macdonough defeated the British naval force under the command of Captain George Downey at Plattsburg on September 11, 1814 forcing the British to return to their bases in Canada.

    The British secret campaign (that turned out to not be so secret) to wrest New Orleans from the Americans, to close the Mississippi, drive all settlers back across the Appalachian chain and return the lands from the crest of the Appalachians to the Mississippi to the Indian tribes was about to unravel.  The brainchild of Lord Robert Castlereagh, it would include an end to fishing rights on the Grand Banks, allow no US Naval forces on the Great Lakes and a surrender of much of the Louisiana Purchase; to be conducted under an “Uti Possidentis” claim to retain all lands and territories under their command at the end of hostilities.

    Andrew Jackson and Red Eagle after the Battle of Horseshoe bend.

    The massacre at Fort Mims August 30, 1813, would bring “Andy” Jackson and his Army into the fray and with the defeat of the Creek Nation at Horse Shoe Bend March 27, 1814 would thwart the British effort to bring several Native American Tribes to an alliance with British forces.  Further restricting the aims of the British would be Jackson’s capture of Mobile September 13, 1814 and Pensacola November 7, 1814 barring an overland route to New Orleans.  These three actions severely reduced Jackson’s supply of powder and flints for rifles as well as ammunition for his artillery.

    Major General Andrew Jackson arrived in the city of New Orleans December 1, 1814 to find a city in near panic and disarray.  He was met By Edward Livingston, an old friend from Jackson’s days in the congress.  As head of the committee for the defense of New Orleans, Livingston was indispensable as an unofficial aide de camp to Jackson, was his channel to Governor Claiborne and was instrumental in arranging a meeting between Jackson and Jean Lafitte.  Initially Jackson bristled at the suggestion that he deal with Lafitte whom he called a pirate.

    Included in Jackson’s staff was Major Arsene Lacarriere Latour, a former French military engineer with extensive experience and superb map-making skills. Together they toured the possible avenues of attack, made troop assignments and decided where to build fortifications. When Major Howell Tatum queried about a water table that precluded the digging of trenches and the construction of defenses, the doughty little major replied, “with engineering ingenuity my dear major”.

    The sea lakes that border New Orleans were the obvious choice to facilitate an attack on the city.  Commodore Daniel Patterson ordered a small armada of gun boats to defend the lakes.  Jackson placed the Mississippi Dragoons (a cavalry troop that fought as infantrymen) under Major Thomas Hinds and a contingent of Choctaw warriors under Pierre Juzan to be the eyes and ears on the Plain of Gentilly, a route that could afford the British a level field with little to no obstructions.  This was in Jackson’s words “the front door” and asked Latour if there was a “back door”.

    The ‘back door’ as Major Latour defined it was a narrow stretch of land approximately 800 yards wide with the Mississippi River on one side and cypress swamps on the east side.  The land was cut with drainage canals that allowed flood water to be drained from the fields into the bayous.  It was these bayous with their connection to Lake Borgne that concerned Jackson and he ordered that they be closed by falling cypress trees into the bayous.

    Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane arrived off the Louisiana coast December 9, 1814 with 60 British ships and nearly 14,500 sailors and soldiers.  The invasion plans called for the forces to be landed on an island in Lake Borgne.  Blocking entry into Lake Borgne was a small flotilla of gun boats under the command of Lt. Thomas Jones, US Navy. 

    Admiral Cochrane

    The British pitted over 40 long boats outfitted with small cannon, the attendant crew and 40 sailors or marines per boat as oarsmen and boarders against Lt. Jones and his becalmed boats.  Unable to maneuver, outnumbered, outgunned and wounded in the battle that ensued, Lt. Jones’ small American force surrendered on December 14 to the British leaving open the entry to Lake Borgne and Jackson with no eyes on the British fleet.

    Loss of eyes on the Lakes forced Jackson to reconsider Lafitte’s offer of ammunition and flints in exchange for pardons for his men.  In the ensuing agreement Jean Lafitte would return to Barataria to be Jackson’s eyes on the Gulf; Pierre, Jean’s older brother was released and became Jackson’s aide because of his extensive knowledge of the area and possibly as a guarantee against treachery.  Recognized for their gunnery skills and appointed captains, Dominique You and Renato Beluche commanded and organized artillery units manned by the released Baratarians.

    General Keane established a garrison on Pea Island and began to explore the cypress swamps for any avenue to advance closer to the city.  British scouts discovered that Bayou Bienvenu was not blocked as the other bayous had been.  

    Near the bayous entry into Lake Borgne was a small village of Spanish fisherman.   Bribed by the British, one of the fishermen guided the British to the camp of a small detachment of Louisiana militia.  Without firing a shot the British captured the small detachment including Major Gabriel Villere.   The canal that drained the Villere Plantation drained first into Bayou Mazant then connected with Bayou Bienvenu. 

    The British led by the fisherman arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi taking command of the Villere Plantation.  General Keane established a camp only 9 miles south of the city with some 1,800 British troops on the morning of December 23rd.  Later that day an escaped and embarrassed Major Villere reported to General Jackson; informed of the British encroachment, an angry Jackson is said to have exclaimed, “By the Eternal, they shall not sleep on our soil” and promptly gathered forces to attack the British Camp.

    In a surprise attack that evening (called the Fight in the Dark) the Americans would forestall any further advance by the British.  General Keane, somewhat unnerved by the ferocity of the attack made the fateful decision to await reinforcements before advancing.  It can be argued that Jackson’s decision to attack Keane’s forces and the resulting delays may have saved the city and doomed the British.

    USS Carolina by Keith Wilkie

    As the British settled in on that first evening, the USS Carolina began shelling the camp just as General Jack Coffee’s Tennesseans attacked the opposite side of the camp.  “The Battle in the Dark” was under way.  After the initial shock the British were able to recover, the battle became a bitter hand to hand affair.   Unable to rout and drive his enemy away; Jackson pulled his troops back behind the Rodriguez Canal to await the eventual British advance.  

    Ongoing harassment by Jackson’s sharpshooters and stealthy raids by the Choctaw warriors would keep the British Camp in turmoil.  General Pakenham would complain in a letter to Jackson that killing his sentries in the dark was ungentlemanly to which Jackson replied that they would use all means necessary against the invaders.  The British would be harassed and hampered until they vacated all troops from Louisiana on January 18, 1815. 

    Part of the attack on the British camp was carried out by the USS Carolina and for three days and nights continued to harass and bombard the British camp.  Unbeknownst to the Captain of the Carolina, heavy guns from the fleet arrived in General Keane’s camp December 26, the next morning, the 27th; British gunners repeatedly hit the schooner with heated shot.  The big guns out ranged the smaller guns of the Carolina.  The heated shot started numerous small fires that quickly spread.   Unable to subdue the fires the ship was ordered abandoned; when the fires reached the magazine, the USS Carolina blew up.

    The “engineering ingenuity” of Major Latour oversaw the transformation of the Rodriguez Canal from a simple drainage canal to a fortified position known as “The Jackson Line” while the British sought to bolster its forces. Composed of soil and mud with a log facing, the line gave protection to Jackson’s troops while presenting an obstacle of the drainage canal of up to 8 feet deep and 15 feet wide showcased Major Latour’s sample of “engineering ingenuity”.  Artillery was spaced along the line, tasked with silencing the British guns and to ravage the British infantry with shot, shell and grape shot.

    Sir Edward Pakenham

    On December 28, Major General Sir Edward Pakenham ordered a ”Grand Reconnaissance”,  The indecision when confronted with the canal and its unknown depth would bring the British to pause.  The withering fire from the line and the cannon began to take a toll.  Pakenham called off the affair and the British withdrew.  Had they persevered in the advance in the cypress swamp, they would have turned Jackson’s flank when the militia withdrew from their positions. An angry General Jackson would replace the militia with General William Carroll’s Kentucky and General Jack Coffee’s Tennessee troops, and place more cannon on the line.

    Pakenham was not satisfied with the position his army had been placed in and wanted to change the plan of attack.  As a result he would clash with Admiral Cochrane but an outranked Pakenham would have to fight on the ground they now held.  Cochrane knew of the efforts to produce a treaty with its “Uti Possidentis” clause and felt that time was of the essence.  The die was cast, Pakenham would play the hand he was dealt.

    General Pakenham and his staff planned a three prong attack utilizing nearly 5,500 men and a reserve of about 4,500.   A force of 1,400 under Colonel Thornton would cross the river and attack the gun emplacements of Commodore Patterson across from Jackson’s main position.   Meanwhile General Keane would strike the end of the line next to the river and General Gibbs would skirt the cypress swamp and attack what appeared to be a lower, thus vulnerable part of the line.  A Creole deserter by the name of Galvez told the British that particular segment of the line was manned by militia.  Convinced that the American militia could be routed and then flank the guns, the British were confident of success. 

    A series of blunders plagued the British on that fateful day, January 8, 1815.   General Jackson was awakened at 1:00 AM with a request for additional manpower from the militia commander General Morgan across the river.  Convinced that the attack was coming on his side of the river, he refused the request, roused his staff and awaited the British.  General Morgan began to align his 800 men to help defend Commodore Patterson’s guns.  By 4:00 AM General Adair moved his Kentucky militia to within 50 yards of the line as reinforcement.

    For starters the canal was too shallow to float the heavily laden boats, dragged through the mud and way behind schedule, plus a lack of boats forced Thornton to go with just 500 men; a strong current carried his force 1,000 yards further downstream than planned.  Although successful in routing the militia defending the guns with 300 men but lacking the manpower necessary to carry out the main objective of turning the guns on the “Jackson Line”; Thornton pulled his men back to a position of safety to await  the rest of his men.  They attacked the Commodore’s sailors and marines manning the batteries.  Seeing they were to be over-run, General Morgan and Commodore Patterson spiked their guns and pulled back.

    Thornton had accomplished his mission but it had little effect on the outcome as the battle on Jackson’s side of the river was ending.

    In a predawn fog, the British General Pakenham began to marshal his forces.  Hearing no sounds of engagement from Thornton’s force across the river and Patterson’s guns raking General Keane’s troops; Pakenham ordered a change. Instead of General Keane following up Colonel Robert Rennie’s attack on the line, he was to move his force to join that of General Gibbs.  As a consequence, Colonel Rennie’s initial success went unsupported and was thrown back.

    Map of the New Orleans Battleground

    Visibility improved as the fog lifted, the American guns began to thunder when the British were at 600 yards.  Disaster strikes when Lt, Colonel Thomas Mullins, charged with bringing the ladders and fascines to facilitate crossing the canal and climbing the parapet, forgets the location and marches his man past where they were stored.  He sent 300 of his men back to retrieve the needed articles, only a few actually made it back to the canal in the ensuing confusion.  As the British push forward, at 400 yards some of the marksmen from Kentucky and Tennessee militia units begin to take down officers and sergeants.  At 300 yards many more began to shoot, relays of men on the firing line; fire, fall back and reload, 4 men in each relay taking careful aim at the advancing British.  

    The cannon charged with grape shot tore huge swaths through the columns of British infantry and the aimed rifle fire began to take its toll as the leaderless and confused troops faltered at the canal. Unable to advance, they were at the mercy of the rifles and the cannon.  General Keane was wounded in the move to support General Gibbs.  

    The troops bringing up the fascines and ladders faltered and many never made it to the front.  Gibbs and Pakenham were both killed by grapeshot.  The aimed rifle fire and the anti-personnel loads of grape shot from the cannon decimated the British troops.   At that point General Lambert assumed command and ordered his reserve troops to support a withdrawal of the Army from the field.

    When the firing stopped the carnage became visible, the ground carpeted in the red of British uniforms.  In a time span of 25 minutes, the British dream of “Uti Possidentis” and control of the American continent came crashing down in a sea of red.  General Jackson’s initial report put the British losses at 700 killed, 1400 wounded and 500 captured for a total of 2600 men; these numbers would be corrected later.

    The British side of the ledger looked bad and would only get worse.  The Creole deserter Galvez would be hung by the British, they thought him a spy.

    An angry Admiral Cochrane, still determined to take the city of New Orleans began to assault Ft. St. Philip guarding the mouth of the Mississippi January 9; ten days of bombardment convinced Cochrane that his efforts were futile and withdrew January 18.

    General Lambert held a council of war with his officers and decided that the cost of capturing New Orleans was too costly with the chance of total defeat should they try.  By January 19 the British camp on the Villere Plantation was evacuated and the fleet set sail for Mobile Bay February 4, 1815.

    February 12th the British attacked and captured Fort Bowyer at the mouth of Mobile Bay. News of the Treaty of Ghent arrived the next day; the treaty called for the return of military gains to each other.  Shortly thereafter the British abandoned Fort Bowyer and set sail for their base in Jamaica.  

    British casualties for the campaign, 386 killed, 1,521 wounded and 552 missing or captured for a total of 2,459.

    Lt. Col. Mullins would face excoriation and reprimand for his failure to fulfill his task by having the fascines and ladders to the front in a timely manner.  

    General Pakenham had secret orders that he was not to stop military actions against the American’s until he received verification that the American President had signed the treaty.   Had Pakenham been successful in capturing New Orleans the British government was willing to refute the terms of the Treaty of Ghent and impose the harsh conditions advocated by Lord Castlereagh under a claim of “Uti Possidentis”.

    The American ledger by contrast looked bright; General Jackson would recognize the meritorious action of several, including Major Latour, Colonel Hinds and his “Troop of Horse”, the Lafitte brothers, Captains You and Beluche among others.  Major Villere faced severe charges for his failure to follow orders, but his action in the battle made up for his shortcomings.  In February of 1815, President James Madison signed pardons for the Baratarians.

    The war would force the US government to the realization that the need for a standing army was just as necessary as a strong navy.  James Monroe would continue these policies. 

  • The American Revolution…

    The American Revolution…

    How it all began…   Part 4

    Featured Image: King George III

    Much of Colonial America breathed a sigh of relief at the news that the Stamp Act of 1765 was repealed; but the more radical elements in America saw the falsehood it revealed as the Declaratory Act attached to the repeal was read.  King George demanded the Declaratory Act be part of the agreement that repealed the Stamp Act.  James Otis and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina realized the dangers this act contained.  It declared that the colonies were as bound by Parliaments regulations as the citizens of England.  The act closely mirrored the Declaratory Act of 1719 as was applied to Ireland. (The American Colonies Act of 1766 was the official name of the Declaratory Act applied to the American Colonies as part of the repeal of the Stamp Act)

    The “Mutiny Act of 1765” was another sore that the colonies found to be untenable as it allowed soldiers to be quartered in private homes.  Contrary to the widely held belief, it was not the work of George Grenville, but that of officers due to the lack of barracks to house the soldiers who were posted in colonial seaports.  The repeal of this act due to stiff colonial resistance did little to soothe the colonials as they believed it was a ministerial effort to relieve them of their liberty.

    19th century painting of British soldiers quartering in a colonists home. Artist Unknown.

    Colonial America declared the right to self acts of taxation; Parliament replied that the colonies were represented as they all had agents that represented the individual colonies.  To this the colonies replied, yes, we have agents that represent each colony, that the agents could petition and even address Parliament individually, but they could not vote on any legislation that was to be applied to the colonies.  To this argument the Parliament turned a deaf ear referring to the Declaratory Act as their right to act for the colonies.  This only pushed the more vocal members of the colonial assemblies to deny Parliament the right to act for the colonies in any legislation.

    To add insult to injury, the Anglican Church began to demand that they be allowed to levy and demand tithes be paid to the Church of England.  This was an affront to all the diverse sects that existed in Colonial America even as the Roman Catholic Church was allowed to resurface in England.  The call for an American Bishop to the Anglican Church not only angered the other religious groups in America, but brought out the denial of any church to be the recognized religion of the American colonies.

    One of the more stark differences between the English citizenry and Colonial America was the lack of extreme poverty in the colonies.  Travelers to the colonies saw the standard of living especially in the southern colonies often rivaled the more affluent members of English society.  To the English eye this was an effort on the part of the Americans to state that they were on an equal footing with the English.  The colonies were viewed as inferior workmen whose place in society was to furnish England with raw materials and referred to the colonies as “our colonies”.  To this many colonials said, “It was not the sweat of the English brow that made the colonies what they are” and were offended that the claim of colonial ownership by England and by extension that the Americans were essentially “degenerate Englishmen”.

    High street in Philadelphia from 9th Street 1799, drawn, engraved and published by W. Birch & son

    To state that the colonies did not have supporters in England would not give due recognition to many.  A number of radicals in England adopted a conciliatory attitude towards the Americans, John Wilkes, John Horn Tooke, Joseph Preistly, Richard Price and Catherine Macaulay among others were sympathetic to the colonial cause.  But King George the 3rd and his ministers ruled England and it was their official attitude that the colonies were to be under the rule of Parliament.  They contended that the colonies had been protected from foreign incursions by way of the British Army and Navy, therefore they owed fealty to the British Crown.

    General Thomas Gage’s stubborn support for the Stamp Act was reflected in his statement,” I think it would be for our own interest to keep the settlers within reach of the Sea-Coast as long as we can and to cramp their Trade as far as it can be done prudentially”.  By contrast, Lord Camden (Charles Pratt, first Earl of Camden) prophetically stated, “It is impossible that this petty island can continue in dependence that mighty continent, increasing daily in numbers and in strength.  To protract the time of separation to a distant day is all that can be hoped for”.

    Charles Pratt, 1st Earl of Camden

    The peace that many on both sides of the Atlantic desired was not to be.  The colonials were not yet ready to seek separation from England, but neither were they ready to allow Parliament the right to tax the colonies unless some kind of reconciliation could be found.  A power sharing agreement had some Englishmen thinking along the lines of an Imperial Federation.  This would resolve many of the disagreements that kept the two parties apart, but this too was not to be.

    In an Imperial Federation, America would be on an equal footing with England.  This chafed many Englishmen as they were not able to accept the idea that the colonies were anything more than British property and the Americans could not and would not accept secondary citizenship within the Empirical Federation.   Hope for the Imperial Federation evaporated as the colonies imposed a boycott of English manufactured goods with the “Nonimportation Agreement of 1768”.  

    The impasse between England and Colonial America would continue.