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JOHNSON COUNTY -DEMOCRAT AND OXFORD LEADER.Itof Qu/vTla/in^OJifi/ RattE^rvalye/ 3\taucji*aBy ELMO SCOTT WATSONNE hundred and sixty years ago this month a series of events began which were destined to lead to the establishment of an American nayy and eventually to have a part In making the United States a world power, And this all came about because the Amerlcnn colonies which were rebelling against the rule of Great Britain felt aa acute need for Just one commod* ity—gunpowder I [n June, 1775, when the Battle of Bunker Hill it missed being a decisive victory for the pa-ot forces because their supply of powder ran t, the necessity for an ample supply of It heme apparent and that need became more urgent ring the succeeding months. There were not ough powder mills In the colonies to provide im with an adequate amount but there was a urce of supply at hand if they had the means r securing It, That source was the supply,; ips for the British forces In America which, cause England was the “Mistress of the Seas, ire accustomed to come to Boston and other rts on the Atlantic coast unarmed and without nvoys.Soon after the opening of hostilities the sealing men of New England began to fit out Ivateers to prey upon British merchantmen id their exploits not only pointed the way to method of securing the much-needed gunpow-ir from the supplies afloat off their coasts, but ey also suggested the advisability of establish* g a colonial navy. On August 20, 1775, the two uses of the Rhode Island legislature concurred ordering their representatives in the Conti* jntal Congress sitting In Philadelphia to pro*se the establishment of such a nnvy “at the :pense of the continent,1*But when one of the Rhode Island delegates, on ctober 3, called the attention of congress to ie proposal of the legislature, It encountered ich opposition among some of the cautious rep* isentntlves from other colonies that,^after a ief consideration, action on the proposal was ^stponed until a later time. In the meantime mgress had received “certain intelligence of ie sailing of two north country built brigs, of a force, from England on the eleventh of August ist, loaded wit It arms, powder and other stores r Quebec without convoy.”“It being of importance to Intercept these,” a jsolutlon was passed on October 5 requesting eneral Washington, commander-in-chlef of the Jlonial forces at Cambridge, to “apply to the ouncll of Massachusetts-Bay for the two armed essels in their service” and to send them “at tie expense of the continent” after the brigs, urthermore, he was Informed that “the Uhode sland and Connecticut vessels of force will be E*nt directly to their assistance” and It was also esolved that “the general be directed to employ lie said, vessels and others. If he judge neces* ary,”That was an Important step in the development of our navy but more were to follow. On ’rlday; October 13, unother resolution was assed that “a swift vessel to carry 10 carriage nns and a proportionable number of swivels, pith eight men, be fitted out with all possible lespatch for a cruise of three months” and also hat “another yessel he titted out for the same turpose.” At this time a marine committee,” omposed of Silas Deane of Connecticut, John „angdon of New Hampshire and Christopher Sadsden of North Carolina, was appointed to „ ook after the fitting out of the vessels.On October 27 this committee reported a rest* utlon outlining a program of ships to be purchased and converted into men*of*war. Heretofore the action taken by congress had only pro* rtded temporary means for obtaining supplies, iut thia action by the marine committee was a leflnite step toward the establishment of a coon ial navy. For that reason, many years later,. October 27 was chosen as the date for the cele- * ratlon of Navy day. An additional reason for lie selection was that It was also the birthday f Theodore Roosevelt, who played such an Important part in the modernization of our navy 7 ind in Its eventual growth Into one of the great'-jst in the world.On October 29 the “marine committee was mcceeded by a 44naval committee” of six mera-)ers—John Adams, Silas Deane, John Langdon, Stephen Hopkins, Joseph Hewes and Richard aenry Lee, Prom the beginning Adams had been h* enthusiastic supporter of the project to ere* ate a navy but, because of other duties, he wnsenable to continue on this committee and his place was taken by Christopher Gadsden.For on November 2 congress placed $100,000 at their disposal and with this amount they went about the purchase of ships and supplies. When a London packet called the Black Prince, commanded by Capt. John Barry, came into port, the committee considered this vessel worthy of becoming the flagship of the navy that was about to be created, and purchased it. The' Black Prince was renamed the Alfred, for King Alfred the Great, and given an armament of 20 nine-pounders and four four-pounders. They also purchased another merchant ship, the Sally, renamed It the Columbus and mounted 18 nine-pounders on its deck.Next they bought three brigs which were named the Andrea Doria, for the famous Genoese sailor, the Cabot, for the discoverer of continental America, and the Providence for, the town In which It was purchased and because that town was, according to John Adams, “tha residence of Governor Hopkins ,(a member of the naval committee) and his brother, Esek, whom we appointed the first Captain.” The Andrea Doria and the Cabot were armed with 14 four-pounders each and the Providence with 12 guns —sixes and fours. Next the committee purchased in Baltimore a 10-gun sloop .named the Hornet -and an eight-gun schooner ;named the Wasp. Another eight-gun schooner, the Fly, completed the list of ships.On November 28 the first “Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies” were adopted—the first time that the term “Navy of the United Colonies” appeared in the minutes of congress. On December 5 It decreed that British merchant ships, even when engaged In traffic other than that of transporting supplies to the enemy’s military or naval stations, might be seized and.“held until further*order of this Congress.” , •Six days later congress ordered that a “committee be appointed to devise ways and means for furnishing these colonies with a naval armament, Within two days this committee, acting wjth unusual speed, had brought In its report, which was read, debated and adopted. Under Its provisions the colonies were to build “five ships of 32 guns, five of 28 guns, three of 24guns, making In the whole thirteen.”* i • ■ 'While this ambitious construction- program was under way, the naval committee which,, as we have already seen, had purchased and armed nine ships, was getting ready to challenge the supremacy of tbe’IMl stress of the.rgeas.” Congress had voted $500,(KM) In Continental currency for* the committee’s use and, on December 19 it passed a resolution “that the xjomniittee of Safety of Pennsylvania shall be requested to supply the armed vessels which -are ; nearly ready to sqil, with four tons of; gunpowder at the ^Continental expense and that the said committee be requested'to procure and lend the said vessels as many stands of small arms as theyjcan spare, not exceeding 400,”- t; | V:.’ Y ’.yFriday, pecember 22, 1775, was la memorable date In American .naval history, for on that date ,' congress; Issued the legal warrant' upon which,H lt;oijr navy, wps^ founded. .This was £one In a set of resolutions confirming the appolpt^ent of; oft Y J3cerS‘ to command the war , fleet,'; .^hpse resolutions .read as follows:;- r t. ; .“The. committee-appointed, to fitout’armedves-sels laid before congress a list of,officers by-them appointed ^agreeablO* to ^the’ powers to:them given, by--Congress; viz.: ^‘Esek Hopkins, esq,;’ commander in chief of 'the fleet; Dudley Saltonstall,Captainkof tiie LAlfredi Abraham Whipple, Captain of the Columbus; Nicholas Biddle, Captain of the Audrea Dor?a; John Burrow Hopkins, Captain of the Cabot. First lieu tenants?-John . Paul' Jones, Rhodes Arnold, —- Stansbury, Hoisted Hacker, JonathanPitcher.Seconjl ileu-tenoints—Benjamin Seabury, Joseph Olney/Eiisliat. _ ■Warner, Thomas Weaver,-McDougall, Thirdlieutenants—John Fanning, Ezekiel Burroughs, Daniel Vaughn.“Resolved, That the Pay of the Commander-in-chief of the fleet .be 125 dollars per calendar mouth.“Resolved, That commissions be granted to the above officers agreeable to their ranks in the above appointments.“Resolved, That the committee for fitting out armed vessels, Issue warrants to all officers em-ployed in the fleet under the rank of third lieutenants.“Resolved, That the said committee be directed (as a secret committee) to give such Instructions to the commander of the fleet, touching the operations of the ships under his command, as shall appear to the said committee most conducive to the defence of the United Colonies, and to the distress of the enemy’s naval forces bringing supplys to their fleets and armies, and lay such instructions before the Congress when called for.”The United Colonies now had a war fleet ready to proceed against the enemy. But before it did so there must take place a ceremony in accordance with a naval tradition first observed in this country In 1775 and followed ever since. The new commander-ln-chief must “put his ships in commission, pipe all hands on deck and then hoist In their appropriate places the national colors and the pennant of the commanding officer, after which he must address the crew and read to them the order by virtue of which he assumes command.”So, on a beautiful winter’s day In 1775 Commodore Esek Hopkins and his officers proceeded to the foot of Waldut street in Philadelphia, where a long-boat awaited them. They pushed off and rowed away through the floating Ice In the Delaware river (even as George Washington was to do up river near Trenton a year later) until they reached the ladder at the side of the Alfred. As the shrill whistle of the boatswain called the crew aft, Hopkius and his officers stepped over the side and gathered on the quarterdeck. Then a quartermaster made fast to the signal halliards a red-and-whlte striped flag, across which was spread a rattlesnake and the words “Don’t Tread on Mel” This done, he turned toward the master of the ship, Capt. Dudley Saltonstall, and sainted.At a gesture from the captain, the executive officer of the ship grasped the flag halliards and while the men on the ship uncovered their heads, while spectators that lined the banlis of the • river cheered and a battery of cannon roared out a salute, he spread to the wintry breeze the first American naval ensign. None of those present, either aboard ship or ashor^, could have realized that they were also cheering one of America’s greatest naval heroes. For the executive officer of the Alfred, who raised that flag, was Lieut John Paul Jones, destined, for Immortality as the victor in the battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapls less than two years later.Next the grand union flag of the colonies, a flag of 13 alternate red and white stripes with the British jack in the field, and the pennant of the coramander-in*chief, were set In their places and the resolutions of congress read to the crew. This done, the first American battle fleet was In commission and American naval history began. Although Commodore John Barry is often called the “Father of the American Navy,” that distinction cannot Justifiably be given to one man. Barry’s claim to it Is based upon the fact that his ship, the Black Prince, purchased by the naval committee and renamed the Alfred, was our first warship, that he was the first commissioned naval officer to capture an enemy ship (on April 17, 1770, when his Lexington captured the British tender Edward), and that he was the first senior officer with the rank of commodore after the reorganization of the United States navy in 1794.But1 Commodore Esek Hopkins has some claim rto being; one of the “fathers of our navy.” De-;spite the fact that 4hls career as commander-In-chlef of the new navy was something of a failure . and eventually he was relieved of his command ;,and dismissed from the service, the fact remains that he was the first officially appointed chief officer of our naval forces. His title of com* mander-in-chlef of the Continental navy was Intended to rank him with Washington, the com-mander*in-chief of the Continental army. After It was taken away from him, it was never again Conferred upon an Amerlcnn naval man.• When speaking of the “fathers of our navy,” some account must be taken of the men who provided' the ships upon whose decks such naval leqdOrs as Hopkins and Barry and Jones were to tread. They were the members of the “marine committee” and the “naval committee” of the Continental congress—John Adams, Silas Deane,# John.. Langdon, Christopher Gadsden, -Stephen JHopklns, Joseph Hewes and Richard Henry Lee,© Western Ncwsr'~-' - ' ■ \ i ■» . f. € f ■ * ♦ ' lt;*
Newspaper Details
Johnson County Democrat
Oxford, Iowa, US
Thu, Oct 17, 1935
Page 7
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USA 01 Feb 2020
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