Molyneux Shuldham Quotes
I was much concerned upon my arrival to hear of the number of small armed vessels fitted out by the Rebels, and which had taken many unarmed Ones of Ours bringing stores and supplies to this place.
Molyneux Shuldham, 1717–1798, British Admiral Commanding the British Fleet in Colonial America, Colonial Governor of Newfoundland, Report to the Admiralty, 1775
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Many people are surprised that Washington had a small navy, and he made very effective use of it. He had 8 schooners ranging from 40-80 tons, each armed with 4-10 cannon and manned by overly large crews (for sailing and firing the guns at the same time) of volunteer expert seamen from Marblehead and Beverly. However, he used his ships very strategically. The British were blockading Boston {636957} yet they themselves had to be resupplied from England or Canada or by small boats to their various military encampments and ships around Boston. It was this resupply and troop movement that Washington interdicted. In a sense, he blockaded the blockaders. . Of the 35 supply ships the British sent to Boston in 1775, only 8 got through Washington’s Navy. Note that Washington ordered offensive operations in the latter part of 1775, before the hostilities of 1776.
This quotation shows that the dissent leading to the American Revolution did not emerge suddenly in 1776 after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Dissent, sedition and even violence was documented here in 1774. Salem at the time was the second largest port in the colony and the customs tax collectors—Loyalist Americans—were run out of Salem.
The American plan was to capture Quebec and add that province to the 13 colonies. See {636940} . However, the American officers botched the invasion and did not attack as soon as they arrived when the British had almost no troops to defend Quebec.
David Bushnell, 1740–1824, was a student at Yale University where he developed the first submarine used in warfare. While at Yale, Bushnell proved that gunpowder could be exploded under water. He also made the first time bomb. He combined these ideas by building the Turtle which was designed to attack ships by attaching a time bomb to their hulls, while using a hand powered drill and ship auger bit to penetrate the hulls. He used the Turtle in attempts to attack British ships which were blockading New York Harbor in the summer of 1776. His efforts failed every time because the Turtle's boring device was unable to penetrate the copper sheeting lining in the ships' hulls which was designed to protect against parasites in their previous station, the Caribbean. (From Wikipedia)
A local pilot who knew the local waters was necessary to help a large ship to dock in a port. Most of the pilots were patriots and those who weren’t were intimidated by the Continental Congress and the patriots in the community. At this point there was no formal battles yet of the Revolution. The British authorities were really angered that they could not safely land a British ship in the ports of their own colonies. This is another example of the American Revolution starting before the battles of 1776.
Mackenzie was a British officer with whom Washington had become friends in the French & Indian War and in this letter, Washington was trying to explain the seriousness of the Boston rebellion for Britain.
This letter drafted by Adams was sent by the Congress complaining about the Closing of Boston Harbor. The letter was right about the consequences except for the last; the rift between American and the mother country was not only healed but there is no European nation that has been closer to the United States over the years.
Lee although born in England was one of the most ardent of the patriots fighiting the British. This oath was even considered extreme at the time. He was considered a super hawk by Washington and others. He became the Senior Major General and if anything had happened to Washington he would have command. He was an extremist who thought himself far more militarily qualified than Washington. See {59589} and {55885} for two of his slights against Washington.
Americans were by no means united in wanting to take up arms against Britain. Relatively few of the loyalist quotations have come down to us, but here is one. It also illustrates why some Americans wanted complete independence: So that they could escape their debts to English merchants. Most however had more noble and unselfish motives. As a matter of fact, the American Revolution is unusual in the sense that there were so many men of substance who sacrificed much of their material wealth for the American ideal. There were also the rogues and opportunists as Galloway describes.
He was acting as French Foreign Secretary at the time.
1st Earl of Chatham. The speech was given in the midst of the American Revolution.
Amazingly, a critical mass of Middle Atlantic citizens, joined in a vision of independence and persuaded their colonies to make common cause with the other colonies to gain independence from England and an end to monarchy. In a way, they had the most to lose and the least to gain from the revolution. Led by Livingston, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin and others, these states had the greatest intellectual commitment to the Revolution as they would not financially benefit and would likely lose economically.
The crackdown on Boston which was intended to set an example and intimidate all of the other colonies backfired, and the British were told about it by their own officials in America. But they were so rigid and ideological about monarchy, that the stimulated rebellion rather than suppress them.
Of the 13 colonies, the 3 Middle Atlantic States, were the least enthusiastic about an armed revolution against England. Jersey—Now New Jersey—was the most recalcitrant then with Benjamin Franklin’s son as Governor. See {634108} for an explanation of why that was.
Several years before the Battle of Bunker Hill, revolutionary activity had already broken out in the American colonies—See {634132} for an example. This law gave the British authorities much more “clout” in dealing with the “seditious” American activities. It protected English law enforcement officials from being tried in local Colonial courts for murder or assault in putting down insurrections. George Washington and other Patriots were outraged over this law. See {634131}.
during and after the American Revolution
Wilkes was a strong advocate for the American cause—so much so that some in Parliament tried to deny him his seat in Parliament for his disloyal point of view.
He was wrong. The protesters were general including merchants, lawyers, politicians, shopkeepers, sailors and other occupations. The Privateer Captains were no more or less involved as other occupations.
This was written more than a year before the “blows” began. It took time to ship the men and supplies to America and the British did not handle that task with much efficiency.
While the official battles of the American Revolution did not begin until 1776, parts of the American colonies were in a de facto state of rebellion and the British could not enforce their laws. See {636925} for another of the King’s statements.
Admiral Molyneux Shuldham, 1st Baron Shuldham was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He served for a time as colonial governor of Newfoundland.
