250 and Counting

Author: Claude Call

  • October 7, 1775: The Bombardment of Bristol

    Cover art for October 7, 1775: A commemorative plaque in Bristol, RI, marking several events in the War for Independence, including the Bristol Bombing. via Wikimedia Commons.

    While Boston was under siege, the British were having a hard time getting food and other supplies. But they still controlled the water, so British naval vessels went in search.

    Captain James Wallace was especially good at procuring supplies, largely because he harassed people until they gave in, or he would threaten to shoot up the place.

    This second tactic was the one he chose for Bristol, Rhode Island, and it’s unclear how much actual damage he did to the town (reports vary wildly). But what is known is that he came in search of 200 sheep and 30 cattle, and came away with 40 sheep after he cut a deal with the town.

    We’re calling this one a draw.

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  • October 6, 1775: A Strongly-Worded Letter

    Cover art for October 6, 1775: Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Basic design adopted by Governor John Hancock and the Council on December 13, 1780 [1], present design adopted in 1901, rendered by E.H. Garrett

    We actually touched on this once before, but George Washington was known for being quite the gentleman, but he did have a temper, especially when things weren’t handled in a gentlemanly way. Cross the lines of civility and he was hoisting the Jolly Roger, my friend.

    In a previous episode we noted that Washington wrote to General Gage about the treatment that captured American soldiers were receiving. In it was a thinly-veiled hint that he had prisoners too. And he’d be more than happy to treat them the way the British were apparently treating American soldiers. It’s not clear whether this had the desired effect. What is clear is that when something didn’t meet his expectations, he was going to make himself heard.

    And by this date, Washington had a few things that needed to be addressed by the Massachusetts General Court. That sounds like a legal body but it was, in fact, the provincial government at that time. There were some things that the Continental Congress handled for the army, but the General Court took care of much more at that time. Unfortunately for Washington, the General Court was—in his opinion—dragging its feet and needed a nudge in the right direction.

    And Washington was only too happy to provide that nudge.

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  • October 5, 1775: An Arrest In Canada

    Cover art for October 5, 1775: Oil-on-wood portrait of Thomas Walker

    Thomas Walker was born in England and emigrated to Boston in 1752. In 1763 he moved to Montreal and became a merchant.

    When the war broke out in the Colonies, both Walker and his wife’s sympathies remained with the Americans. So it was that he agreed to assist with the invasion of Montreal. The plan never got to the point where his task came in, but since he was known to be part of it, the word went out for his arrest.

    Walker didn’t give up quickly but he was caught by the British for his crime. A month later he was put on a ship bound for Quebec, but it was captured by the Americans and he was released. He returned to Montreal(!) but when an American delegation showed up in May 1776, he decided to return to America with them, and he re-established himself in Boston. Unfortunately we don’t know a lot about what happened to him after that except that in 1785 he petitioned Congress for reimbursement for lost income because of the war.

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  • October 4, 1775: A Spy In The Ointment

    Cover art for October 4, 1775: Portrait of Benjamin Church, created posthumously based on people's descriptions of him. A life portrait was never made of him.

    It’s actually kind of curious that Benedict Arnold gets all the “traitor” press when there were other spies and turncoats doing their thing during the Revolution. Of course there were! There were Loyalists among the Patriots! It was practically a civil war.

    Dr. Benjamin Church, essentially our first Surgeon General (but that wasn’t a thing yet, so), was a Loyalist in Patriot clothing. Arnold was swayed by his young, pretty, Loyalist wife Peggy Shippen. But we’ll get to that eventually. (There was probably more to it than that, but Peggy was at the heart of it.)

    Incidentally, we ran out of time to tell you this part, but it’s only presumed that Church died on the way to Martinique because the entire boat simply vanished; it was never heard from again. I guess you could argue that it was claimed by the Bermuda Triangle.

    Do people still talk about the Bermuda Triangle? That was a big honkin’ deal fifty years ago.

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  • October 3, 1775: Rhode Island Suggests a Navy

    It’s often tough to remember that when the fighting first broke out, it wasn’t a bid for independence from Britain. It was an attempt to protect and defend rights that the Colonists thought they had as part of their relationship with Britain. Reconciliation was (amazingly) still on the table, even six months after Lexington.

    So while many colonies had created their own small navies (with Congress’ encouragement), there were several in Congress who felt that creation of a navy was a step too far. They were okay with an army, but not a navy? I don’t really get it either.

    When Rhode Island finally put forth a formal proposal for a Continental Navy, it met with almost universal resistance. Why? Tune in and find out.

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  • October 2, 1775: Whoa…We’re Halfway There!?

    Cover art for October 2, 1775: one of several markers commemorating stops for Benedict Arnold and his soldiers. This one is near Ticonic Falls, which is the modern name for Norridgewock Falls.

    It was not so very long ago that some of us sought directions from Mapquest. Then we printed them out in order to make a trip of some kind.

    It was only a little bit longer ago that we depended on physical maps to get places. In fact, if you’re a fan of the HBO show The Wire, you may recall a plot point that revolved around printed maps. A secret code led to a point on the map.

    Back in the 18th Century, maps were very important resources for the overland traveler. And if a map had a mistake on it, you could be hopelessly lost. It’s not as though you could pull into Ye Olde Gas Station and get directions.

    So the bad news for Benedict Arnold and Company is that the map he used to get to Quebec was terribly inaccurate. The good news is that it was largely incorrect from a distance standpoint. It could have genuinely been much worse.

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  • October 1, 1775: The Adams Family Letters

    Cover art for October 1, 1775: Page 1 of the letter Abigail Adams sent to John on this date. (Blurred to keep the MHS off our tails.)

    We have two fun events for you today: first up, North Carolina reaches an important deadline it had set back in August.

    Then, by sheer coincidence, John and Abigail Adams each wrote a letter to the other. Of course, they wrote to one another quite frequently, so this probably happened more often than you’d think. But remember also that any news they received was probably two weeks old by the time the letter landed in their hands.

    I will close today’s notes with an amusing anecdote that John Adams used to close his letter. He wrote:

    A few days ago, in Company with Dr. Zubly, somebody said, there was nobody on our side but the Almighty. The Dr. who is a Native of Switzerland, and speaks but broken English, quickly replied “Dat is enough.—Dat is enough,” and turning to me, says he, it puts me in mind of a fellow who once said, The Catholicks have on their side the Pope, and the K[ing] of France and the K. of Spain, and the K. of Sardinia, and the K. of Poland and the Emperor of Germany &c. &c. &c. But as to them poor Devils the Protestants, they have nothing on their side but God Almighty.

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  • September 30, 1775: Robert Adrain

    Cover art for September 30, 1775: Oil on canvas portrait of Robert Adrain, attributed to Charles Cromwell Ingham.

    Robert Adrain is one of those names that most people wouldn’t recognize, but back in the day he was a mathematical scholar in a place where there really weren’t any. At least, none of special note.

    Adrain made education his entire life, teaching youngsters while still pretty much a child himself, being 15 when he started. After moving to America, he resumed his teaching career and became the publisher of a mathematical journal, which ran for several years.

    It’s Cake and Candles today for Robert Adrain.

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  • September 29, 1775: David McConaughy

    Cover art for September 29, 1775: Portrait of David McConaughy by unknown author - Image from Washington & Jefferson College's Learned T. Bulman '48 Historic Archives & Museum, part of the U. Grant Miller Library Digital Archives., Public Domain

    During the episode we noted that not much is known about David McConaughy’s early life. Even his adult life isn’t especially well-documented. We don’t even know who painted the portrait in today’s cover art.

    But there’s no question that, even if the man himself is a bit of a cypher, his legacy at Washington College is not.

    Meanwhile, another couple of Washingtons are in communication with each other. Lund Washington, a cousin of George, is taking care of Mount Vernon in George’s absence. Unfortunately, he’s having a rather tough week.

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  • September 28, 1775: A Friendly Meeting With The Natives

    Cover art for September 28, 1775: Oil on canvas portait of Rev. Samuel Kirkland painted by Augustus Rockwell in the 1870s.

    First off: let me apologize for not tutoring Mike in the correct pronunciation of “Iroquois.” I’d make him record that part again but he’s at a podcasting conference and away from his studio. (It only looks like a French word, Mike; it’s not pronounced like one.)

    Of course, I grew up in New York so those tribes were kind of beaten into us during Social Studies classes.

    At any rate, we’ve talked in the past about efforts to get the various tribes in upstate New York to join the war effort, but the problem that the Patriots bumped into was that their “family argument” metaphor was taken too well, and the Native American tribes decided that this was exactly the case, and opted to stay out.

    All of them, but one in particular. Tune in and find out which.

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