USA > Ohio > Biographical and historical memoirs of the early pioneer settlers of Ohio, with narratives of incidents and occurrences in 1775 > Part 10
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The little colony of Rhode Island, ever foremost in the cause of liberty, within one year and one month after the blood shed at Lexington, renounced their allegiance to the king of Great Britain, by a solemn act of their Legislature ; thus preceding, by two months, the declaration of indepen- dence by the Congress of the assembled colonies. This simple, but resolute document ought to be preserved in let- ters of gold. It is styled, "An Act of May, 1776, renouncing allegiance to the king of Great Britain ;" and thus proceeds : " Whereas in all states existing by compact, protection and allegiance are reciprocal ; the latter being only due in con- sequence of the former: and whereas George the Third, king of Great Britain, forgetting his dignity, regardless of the compact most solemnly entered into, ratified and confirmed
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to the inhabitants of this colony, by his illustrious ances- tors, and till of late, fully recognised by him; and entirely departing from the duties and character of a good king, in- stead of protecting, is endeavoring to destroy the good peo- ple of this colony, and of all the united colonies, by sending fleets and armies to America, to confiscate our property, and spread fire, sword, and desolation throughout our coun- try, in order to compel us to submit to the most debasing and detestable tyranny; whereby we are obliged by neces- sity, and it becomes our highest duty, to use every means with which God and nature have furnished us, in support of our invaluable rights and privileges, to oppose the power which is exerted for our destruction." They then go on to repeal a certain act of allegiance to the king, then in force, and to enact a law, whereby, in all commissions of a civil or military nature, the name of the king shall be omitted, and that of the governor and company of the English col- ony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, substituted in its place; and in all oaths of office, the officers shall swear to be faithful and true to the colony.
Moved by the same feelings which produced this declara- tion in 1776, the Legislature, in June, 1775, two days before the battle of Bunker hill, purchased and armed two sloops, one of twelve, and the other of eight guns, appointing Capt. Whipple to the command of the larger, and Capt. Grimes to the smaller, who was to act under the orders of Whipple. The larger vessel was named the Providence. The object of this armament was to clear the bay of the British tenders to the frigate Rose, under the command of Sir James Wallace, who blockaded the mouths of the har- bors and rivers, preventing the getting to sea of numerous vessels, and the entry of such as were coming into port. On the 15th of June, Whipple sailed, with his command, down the bay of Narraganset, and attacked two of the
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enemy's tenders, which he disabled, and forced to retire under the guns of the frigate, and took one other a prize; while by the light draught of his own vessels he could keep out of the reach of the man-of-war. By this bold act the bay was cleared of these nuisances, and a large number of homeward-bound vessels entered the port.
Much has been said and written, as to whom was due the credit of firing the first gun on the sea, at the British, in the opening of the Revolutionary war. After the above state- ment, which comes from the pen of Capt. Whipple himself, in a petition to Congress in the year 1786, little doubt need be felt as to the propriety of assigning to him that honor. It is true that an unauthorized attack was made on the British schooner Margaretta, by the Machias people in May; which for its spirit and bravery deserves great credit, but was a mere private transaction ; while Whipple fired the first gun under any legal or colonial authority. This daring deed was performed at a time, when no other man in the colony would undertake the hazardous employment, lest he might be destined to the halter by Capt. Wallace, who threatened to apply it to all who should be taken in arms against his majesty. The people were not yet ready for open resist- ance to the king, but expected that parliament would finally relent from their rigorous measures, and love and friendship be again restored between their revered parent and her un- dutiful children.
Since the prospect of an open rupture daily increased, the old affair of the Gaspe was no longer kept in the dark, but the name of the leader in that daring exploit, came to the ears of Capt. Wallace, who sent him the following plain, if not very polite note :
"You, Abraham Whipple, on the 17th of June, 1772, burned his majesty's vessel, the Gaspe, and I will hang you at the yard-arm.
JAMES WALLACE."
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To which the captain returned this laconic and Spartan answer:
" To SIR JAMES WALLACE :
SIR : Always catch a man before you hang him.
ABRAHAM WHIPPLE."
Notwithstanding these threats, he continued to cruise in the Narraganset bay until the 12th of September; during which period he fought several actions with vessels of supe- rior force, beating them off, and protecting the commerce of the state. These spirited combats infused new courage into the inhabitants of the neighboring colonies, as well as his own, and demonstrated that the British were not invinci- ble on the water. Maritime events like these, with those con- ducted by Capt. Manly, led Congress to the consideration of defending themselves and the country on the ocean, as well as on the land; and in October, 1775, a marine committee was appointed to superintend the naval affairs.
About the 20th of September, he was ordered by the gov- ernor of Rhode Island, to proceed, with the sloop Providence, to the island of Bermuda, and seize upon the powder in the magazine of that place; this article being greatly needed by the country, which depended altogether on foreign sup- plies, not yet having learned to manufacture for themselves. This order was obeyed with due diligence and bravery, but was unsuccessful, from the circumstance of the powder having been removed before his arrival. While on this ser- vice, he narrowly escaped capture by two of the enemy's ships of war, which were on that station. He, however, by his daring and nautical skill, escaped; and arrived at Rhode Island on the 9th of December, and resumed his former employment of cruising in the bay, until the 19th of that month.
While absent on the voyage to Bermuda, Congress di- rected the marine committee to purchase two swift sailing
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vessels; the one of ten, and the other of twelve guns. Un- der this order the Providence was purchased. Still later in the month, the marine committee were directed to purchase two additional ships, one of thirty-six guns, and the other of twenty. In pursuance of this order, the Alfred and Co- lumbus were bought at Philadelphia, both of them merchant ships. To these were added two brigs, the Cabot, and the Andrea Doria, making a naval force of six vessels, belong- ing to the United States; of which the little Providence was the only one that had been in active service.
At this period of the contest, no regular war ships had been built, and the government had to select such vessels as the mercantile service afforded, until ships of war could be constructed. In the month of December, 1775, Congress directed thirteen warlike vessels to be built, and the marine committee increased to thirteen, or one for each state. In 1776, two navy boards, consisting of three persons each, one for the eastern district, and one for the middle district, were established, subordinate to the marine committee ; by which arrangement a large portion of the executive business was accomplished. Several letters from these boards will be re- ferred to in the course of this biography.
On the 19th of December, Capt. Whipple received orders from the marine committee, to proceed with the Providence sloop, now under their direction, to Philadelphia. On his way out, he captured one of the enemy's vessels, and sent her into Providence.
On the 22d of the month, by a resolution of Congress, Dudley Saltonstall was appointed captain of the Alfred frig- ate, Abraham Whipple of the Columbus, Nicholas Biddle of the Andrea Doria, and John B. Hopkins of the Cabot. Haysted Hacker, lieutenant of the Providence, was promoted to her command. The celebrated John Paul Jones was first lieutenant of the Alfred, and Jonathan Pitcher, of the 9
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Columbus : Esek Hopkins, an old man, commander-in-chief, as they chose to style the leader of their squadron. During the winter, the young flotilla, while fitting for a cruise, was frozen up in the Delaware river. Com. Hopkins, however, got to sea on the 17th of February, 1776, with seven armed ves- sels under his command, the largest of which was the Alfred of twenty-four guns instead of thirty-six, and bore away southerly, in quest of a small squadron under Lord Dun- more ; but not falling in with him, concluded to make a de- scent on the island of New Providence, for the purpose of cap- turing military stores. This service was performed under the conduct of Capt. Nichols, the senior officer of the marines, at the head of three hundred men, whose landing from the boats of the squadron was covered in gallant style, by Capt. Hacker, of the Providence, and the sloop Wasp. The attack was en- tirely successful, and possession was taken of the fortifications and the town. The main object of the attempt, a magazine of gunpowder, was in part secreted by the governor; but they brought away four hundred and fifty tons of cannon and other military stores, with the governor and some others as prisoners. Having accomplished this victory, they sailed on the 17th of March, for the United States. At one o'clock in the morning of the 6th of April, the squadron fell in with the Glasgow, British man-of-war of twenty guns, off the easterly end of Long Island. The little Cabot of fourteen guns, Capt. Hopkins, being the nearest to the enemy, ranged manfully along side, discharging her broadsides with great spirit, but was soon obliged to haul off from the superior fire of the Glasgow. The Alfred now came up to the rescue, but after a short running fight, had her wheel ropes cut away, and became unmanageable. The Providence, by this time, had passed under her stern, and fired a number of broadsides with great effect. Capt. Whipple, in the Colum- bus, could not get into action for want of wind, which was
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light and baffling, sufficiently near to afford much aid, or the Glasgow would have been captured. The darkness of night still continued, when seeing the approach of another antagonist, she spread all sail in flight, with the Columbus in pursuit, but was soon signaled by the commodore to give up the chase; as they were approaching so near the harbor of Newport, where lay a large fleet, that the report of the cannonade would call them out to the rescue, and thus per- haps the whole American force might fall into their hands; as they were so deeply laden with the captured military stores, as to make them all dull sailers. On his way back, Capt. Whipple fell in with, and made prize of the bomb ship of the British fleet, which had long been a terror to the people of Newport. The fleet arrived safely into the harbor of New London; but were soon after removed to Provi- dence by the commodore, the British having left the bay of Narraganset.
The escape of the Glasgow from so superior a force, . caused no small sensation, with a good deal of censure from the public. As Whipple commanded the second largest ship, and was not actually engaged with the enemy, he was accused of cowardice. This aroused the spirit of the vet- eran, and he demanded a court-martial to inquire into his conduct. It was held in Providence; and after a full exam- ination he was honorably acquitted; it appearing in evi- dence, that his vessel, from the lightness of the wind and her leeward position, could not be brought into contact with the Glasgow, until after her flight, when he pursued her with all the speed in his power, until called off by Com. Hopkins.
After the close of the trial, he was ordered to take com- mand of the Columbus again; while Com. Hopkins, on the 16th of October, was formally censured by a vote of Con- gress, and on the 26th of March, 1777, dismissed from the service, for disobeying their orders. Capt. Hacker, of the
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Providence, was removed from her command, and the vessel given to John Paul Jones,* who, in the course of the summer, captured no less than sixteen sail of the enemy's ships. In the fall of that year, he was transferred to the Alfred, and sailed, in company with the Providence, on a cruise to the eastward, along the coast. Here they fell in with and cap- tured a number of prizes; amongst them a transport for Bur- goyne's army, with ten thousand suits of soldiers' uniforms. The Providence was now commanded by Capt. Rathbone : and in 1778, again visited New Providence, unaccompanied by any other vessel, and took possession of the place and six ships lying in the harbor, one of which was a privateer of sixteen guns. On his landing, he was joined by about thirty American prisoners, making with his own crew, eighty men. He kept possession two days, and brought away many valuable stores and four of the prizes. In 1779, the little Providence was restored to her former master, Capt. . Hacker, who took the enemy's ship Delinquent, of equal force, after a severe action. In July, with other vessels, she was ordered to convey a body of militia, under Gen. Lowell, to the Penobscot river, where the British had formed a mili- tary station. The expedition proved disastrous; and the Providence, with the other ships, was lost, by the superior naval force of the enemy, the 15th of August. Capt. Hacker, to keep her from the hands of the enemy, after landing the crew, ordered her to be blown up. Thus per- ished in a blaze of light, the favorite vessel, and first love of Capt. Whipple. She had been one of the most success- ful cruisers that floated on the ocean, and made more prizes than any other vessel in the service; hurling defiance at Great Britain, in many a well fought action, from June, 1775, to August, 1779. Her name was perpetuated in the
* The history of the last years of the Providence sloop, is taken from Cooper's Naval History.
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navy, by the frigate Providence. In October, 1776, Capt. Whipple was recommended by the marine committee, to the command of the frigate Providence, of twenty-eight guns, then building in Rhode Island, which was confirmed by Congress.
In November of the same year, Congress "Resolved that a bounty of twenty dollars be paid to the commanders, of- ficers and men of such continental ships, or vessels of war, as shall make prize of any British ship, or vessel of war; for every cannon mounted on board each prize at the time of capture; and eight dollars per head for every man then on board, and belonging to such prize." This was a wise and salutary provision, for the encouragement of our sailors ; , but as it relates to Capt. Whipple, he says he never received any compensation for guns and munitions of war captured by himself.
At the same time they passed the following order, regu- lating the comparative rank of officers in the navy with the land service ; viz. " An admiral as a general; vice-admi- ral, as a lieutenant-general; rear-admiral, as a major general; commodore, as a brigadier-general; the captain of a ship of forty guns and upward, as a colonel; from ten to twenty guns, as a major; a lieutenant in the navy, as a captain." This arrangement was not only for etiquette in their intercourse, but was also intended to apply in ex- changes of prisoners. The pay of the officers and men in the American navy, "under the free and independent states of America," was established as follows. "The captain of a ship of twenty guns and upward, received sixty dollars a month ; that of a ship of ten to twenty guns, forty-eight dol- lars a month; a lieutenant of the larger vessel, thirty dol- lars a month-the smaller, twenty-four dollars ; a surgeon twenty-five dollars, and the surgeon's mate, fifteen dollars, and so on in the descending scale to the common seamen
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whose pay was eight dollars a month." When we look back on those times of trial and adversity, we admire the prudence and economy, which pervaded every branch of the government : when we consider the poor apology for money in which they were paid, the officers might be said " to serve for nothing and find themselves." But if we re- flect on the deep poverty of the country, and that all the expenses were paid by a direct tax on the people, we arrive at the secret of this seeming parsimony. It was the prudent expenditure of the public money which enabled Congress to carry on the war at all; and as it was, they were often bankrupt and on the verge of ruin. In these days when the public expenses are raised by a tariff on commerce, and money is plenty, the pay of naval officers is very different ; some of the older captains get three hundred and seventy- five dollars a month, and the younger captains of frigates, three hundred dollars-being just five times as much as they received in the Revolutionary war.
On the 10th of August, 1776, he received orders from the navy board to sail on a cruise to the eastward with the Co- lumbus frigate, for the purpose of intercepting the home- ward-bound Jamaica fleet. In his passage out of the bay from Newport, he had to "run the gauntlet" through a num- ber of British ships of war, which he fortunately escaped. Off the coast of Newfoundland he fell in with the object of his search, and took five large ships laden with sugar. Two of his prizes reached ports, while the other three were re- taken, as was the fate of more than half of all the Ameri- can prizes, which they attempted to run into their own ports, the coast being closely guarded by the enemy's ships.
In October, Capt. Whipple returned, with the Columbus, to Providence, at which place Congress had directed two frigates to be built; the Warren, of thirty-two guns, and the Providence, of twenty-eight guns. On the 10th of that
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month, he was recommended by the marine committee, and appointed, by Congress, to the command of the Providence, and directed to superintend the fitting out of both frigates. While occupied in this employment, with his own ship nearly ready for sea, so rapidly had the work been prose- cuted, on the 7th of December, the enemy's fleet took pos- session of the harbor of Newport, where the Providence had been lying, and landed a large army. To preserve his ship from capture, Capt. Whipple run her up the river to Provi- dence harbor, where several other vessels had retreated, pro- tected by the batteries and the army of Gen. Spencer, then assembled on the adjacent main, to guard the country from the inroads of the British troops. In this mortifying durance the new frigates were confined during the whole of the year 1777. During this period, several plans were arranged for getting to sea, as appears by the letters of the eastern navy board, composed of James Warren and John Deshon, of September 11th and October 28th. In March preceding, there was a plan for burning some of the British vessels by means of fire-ships, in which Capt. Whipple was engaged; as by letter of Esek Hopkins, who was in command at Prov- idence, as late as the 9th of that month. From some cause, it was not successful, although Congress offered large boun- ties to effect it. In October, under the order of Gov. Cook, he dismantled and saved the guns and stores of the ene- my's frigate Syren, which run on shore at Point Judith, R. I., and had been abandoned. While at this employment, he fell over the side of the frigate, amongst the guns and other matters, receiving a serious injury, which caused a lame- ness all his life. On the 20th of March, 1778, orders ar- rived, to fit the Providence for sea with all dispatch, being assigned to carry important dispatches from Congress to our ministers in France. Capt. Whipple made up his crew from the men of the Warren, in addition to his own ship,
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selecting such as were known to be of tried courage, as the passage out to sea was blockaded by a numerous fleet, as well as the outlets of each of the three passages from Providence river, as the long, deep, narrow inlet was called, which connects Narraganset bay with the harbor of the town. They were guarded by frigates and a sixty-four gun ship, expressly stationed to watch these channels, for the American ships. All movements of any importance, about to be made by either of the belligerent parties, were certain to be known to the other within a short time after their con- coction, by means of spies, and secret intercourse constantly kept up by men employed for this purpose. The order for the sailing of the Providence was soon known to the British naval commander at Newport, and every preparation made for her capture. Capt. Whipple was perfectly familiar with all the channels, head lands, shoals, and windings of the outlets from his earliest youth; so that no man could be better fitted to conduct this hazardous enterprize. His well known character for courage and love of daring exploits, gave additional hope to his prospect of success. It could only be attempted in the night, and that night must be a dark and stormy one, adding still more to the grandeur of the exploit. After every preparation was made for sea, he had to wait until the 30th of April, for one of those gloomy, windy nights, attended with sleet and rain, so common on the New England coast, at this season of the year. At length, on the last day of the month, such a night set in, with rain and wind from the northeast, cheerless and dispir- iting on all ordinary occasions, but now more prized than the brightest starlight, and entirely favorable to his wishes. In making his choice of the three outlets, he selected the west- erly one, which passes down between the island of Conanicut and the Narraganset shore, which was guarded by the frigate Lark, rated as a thirty-six, but actually mounting forty guns.
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This vessel was moored in the channel against the island, with her stern up stream, and springs on her cables, ready to get under way at a moment's notice. Some distance below her, and nearer the outlet, was moored in the same manner, the Renown, a ship of sixty-four guns; while, in the bay beyond, lay ten or twelve ships and sloops of war, ready to fire upon the Providence, should she by possibility escape the two ships above. The middle passage led through the harbor of Newport, occupied by the ships of the line, and the easterly one was crooked, and not passable in the night. William Jones, subsequently the governor of Rhode Island, was captain of marines under Whipple. He was a very gentlemanly, noble-looking, and brave man. To him was consigned the charge of the dispatches. As the gallant little frigate, under close reefed topsails, so stiff was the breeze, approached the Lark, every light on deck was ex- tinguished, and the utmost silence maintained by the crew, who were stationed at their guns with lighted matches, while the lanterns in the rigging of the enemy served to show ex- actly her position. Instead of sailing wide of his enemy, and avoiding a conflict, he run within half pistol shot, and delivered his broadside, firing his bow guns when against the stern of the ship, determined that she should feel her enemy, if she could not see her. At the same moment Capt. Jones, with his musketry, poured in a destructive fire on her quarter and main deck, killing and wounding a number of the crew. So sudden and unexpected was the attack, that before the Lark could make any return of the broadside, the Providence was out of sight, having by this well directed fire dismounted several of her guns, and killed some of the men. The report of Whipple's cannon awa- kened the sleeping crew of the sixty-four, who, hurrying to their quarters, filled the rigging with lights, ready for the coming conflict. As the gallant ship came rushing on the
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wings of the wind, enveloped in the mist and darkness of the storm, Whipple, as he neared the Renown, to put his enemy well on their guard, bellowed forth with his speaking trumpet in a voice louder than the winds, as if addressing the man at the helm, "Pass her on the Narraganset side :" at the same time, as he stood close to the steersman, he bid him luff ship and pass her on the larboard or Conanicut side of the vessel ; thus throwing his antagonist entirely off his guard, on the point he really meant to steer. The order was promptly obeyed, and while the crew were mustered on the Narraganset side of the sixty-four, ready for a discharge of their heavy guns, his starboard broadside was fired into her as he rapidly passed, with great effect; several shot passing through the cabin, and one directly under the cap- tain's head, as he lay in his berth, knocking his pillow out of place. Another shot unshipped the rudder, and before the Renown was ready to discharge her larboard guns, the Prov- idence was out of reach and out of sight. This very vessel was the leading, or admiral's ship, at the capture of Charles- ton, and the officers related the effects of his fire in a fa- miliar conversation with Capt. Whipple, after the surrender of the place, and he was their prisoner. These two broad- sides aroused the crews of the fleet in the bay below, and put them on the look out for the rebel frigate, and the Prov- idence received more or less of the fire from eleven different ships of war, before she reached the open sea. Like the king-bird surrounded by a flock of vultures, she glided swiftly among her enemies, veering now to the larboard, and now to the starboard, as fresh ships opposed her way; returning their fire with occasional shots, but anxious mainly to escape too close a contact with any of her foes ; the ob- ject being to run, and not to fight.
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