Knollenberg Bernhard. Growth of the American Revolution: 1766-1775
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Various witnesses estimated the crowd after the arrival of Preston and his party
at about –, Kidder Boston Massacre , , , , , , , , .
Witnesses testified at the trial of the soldiers that the crowd attacking the soldiers
was led by “the mulatto”
—a “stout man” carrying “a large cord-wood stick” and
“Dressed Sailor like”
—whom they later saw dead, same –, , and Adams
Legal Papers III –. This was Crispus Attucks, supposedly of Natick Indian and
Negro blood, same , n. and Quarles The Negro in the American Revolution –.
Testimony as to pelting of the soldiers with snow balls, ice, oyster shells, and sticks,
Kidder Boston Massacre , , , , , , , , , , , , .
Gage to Hillsborough Apr. , , and to Barrington Apr. , Gage I , II ,
state that the crowd threw bricks and stones, too, but this is not corroborated by
the depositions before, or testimony at, the trial of the soldiers.
Peter Cunningham deposed March , , that he heard Preston order his men
to load their guns soon after reaching the Customs House, Short Narrative . In his
“Case of Capt. Thomas Preston,” March , , Preston says “I suffered the
Troops to go to the Spot where the unhappy Affair took place, without any Load-
ing in their Pieces, nor did I ever give Orders for loading them,” Matthews
“Preston” and Jensen Hist. Doc. .
Members of the crowd striking at the soldiers with clubs and a cutlass, Kidder
Boston Massacre , , , , and calling them “bloody backs” and daring
them to fire, “Case of Thomas Preston,” March , , Jensen Hist. Doc. .
Hutchinson wrote Gen. Gage Apr. , , that “There are several Witnesses who
are very positive they heard Capt. Preston give orders to fire, others, who were as
near, swear that the men fired without orders...,” Adams New Light . The tes-
timony at Preston’s trial was similarly conflicting.
Attucks, Samuel Gray, and James Caldwell were shot and killed on the spot;
Samuel Maverick, a youth of seventeen, and Patrick Carr died of their wounds
soon afterward, Boston Committee’s report March , , Kidder Boston Mas-
sacre –. William Palfrey wrote John Wilkes March that six others had been
wounded, M.H.S. Proc. VI .
Preston and the soldiers were arrested a few hours after the shooting, Boston
Committee’s report March , , and they and Edward Manwaring and three
other men accused of having fired from the Customs House were indicted March
, Kidder Boston Massacre , . All pleaded “Not Guilty” when arraigned on
Sept. , Matthews “Preston” n.
As to postponement of the trial in order to give the people of Boston time to cool,
Hutchinson to Gage Apr. , , Apr. , May , and June , Adams “New Light”
, , , –. The postponement also gave time for the King to grant re-
prieves for Preston and the men in case they were convicted of murder, and by
June , Hutchinson had received orders for a reprieve, “until His Majesty’s plea-
sure should be known,” Hutchinson to Gage June , same .
Affidavits of March , , , , of William Wyat, Joseph Hooten, Jr., and
Charles Hobby that, being near the soldiers and their officer before the Customs
House, they heard the officer order the men to fire, Brief Narrative , , .
Hutchinson to Bernard March , , reporting Robert Auchmuty’s statement
as to strong evidence of Preston’s order to fire, Mass. Arch. XXXVI . Hutchin-
son, still Chief Justice of the Mass. Superior Court, as well as Lieutenant- and Act-
ing Governor, did not sit at the trials of Preston and the soldiers.
Auchmuty, John Adams, and Josiah Quincy, Jr., were counsel for Preston. As to
Adams and Auchmuty, Robert Treat Paine’s Minutes of Arguments, Adams Legal
Papers III – and other sources. As to Quincy, Josiah Quincy, Sr., to his son,
Josiah Quincy, Jr., March , , and the latter’s reply of March , same –. In
his autobiography written years later, Adams, in characteristic self-praise, wrote
that Quincy agreed to act only after he himself had the grit to do so, same , but
Quincy’s letter to his father indicates the contrary.
The King’s Attorney (Prosecuting Attorney) for Suffolk County, Samuel Quincy,
and Paine as counsel for the Crown in prosecuting Preston, Paine’s Minutes of Ar-
guments, same , , and Paine’s diary (manuscript) for Oct. , , in Mass.
Hist. Soc. Paine was retained as special attorney to aid “the King’s Attorney...
in the tryal of the Murtherers” at a Boston town meeting March , , Boston
Records (for –) .
Wigmore Evidence III – as to testimony in trials for felony. An interesting il-
lustration of the advantage the accused might derive from the right to examine
witnesses was the following question put by Preston to Capt. James Gifford, an
officer who was a witness at his trial, “Did you ever know an Officer order Men to
fire with their Bayonets charged,” to which Gifford answered, “No.” This answer,
linked with previous testimony that the men had their bayonets charged (i.e.,
fixed) when the alleged call to “fire” was given, strongly implied that Preston had
not given the order.
Judges John Cushing and Benjamin Lynde in charging the jury in Preston’s trial,
said “The principal Q[uestion] whether Prisoner gave Order [to fire],” Adams Le-
gal Papers III .
Petition of three of the accused soldiers, Hugh White, James Hartigan, and
Matthew Kilroy, Oct. , , that they be tried at the same time as Preston,
Noble “Fifth of March Papers” ; Adams Legal Papers III n.
The fullest and best accounts of all aspects of the trial are in same III –, –
and Zobel Boston Massacre –.
Verdict of Not Guilty in Preston’s case, Oct. , , Matthews “Preston” n.
Preston to Gage Oct. , , concerning the contrasting merits of counsel for
and against him, Adams “New Light” –. Paine, counsel for the prosecu-
tion, was so “unfit” (ill) that a postponement was granted for his closing speech,
Justice Peter Oliver to Hutchinson Oct. , Kidder Boston Massacre . Palfrey
wrote Wilkes Oct. that the trial was a “farce” because the sheriff had packed
the jury with so many of Preston’s “friends and most intimate acquaintances,”
Elsey “Wilkes and Palfrey” –.
As to Preston’s excellent reputation in Boston, diary entries and letters from March
to June , , of John Rowe, Andrew Oliver, Jr., William Palfrey, and Rev. An-
drew Eliot, quoted and cited in Matthews “Preston” , and testimony of Capt.
James Gifford and Hutchinson at Preston’s trial, Adams Legal Papers III n., .
The testimony in the Preston trial is given in same –. William Palfrey wrote
John Wilkes Oct. , , “the witnesses both for the Crown & the prisoners
differed materially in some parts of their testimony, and even in my own mind there
still remains a doubt whether Capt. Preston gave the order to fire, as the two Wit-
nesses who swore to that point, declared also that Capt. Preston had on a Surtout
Coat, which he proved was not the case,” Elsey “Wilkes and Palfrey” . To sim-
ilar effect, Samuel Adams to Stephen Sayre Nov. , Cushing S. Adams II .
Trial of the soldiers Nov. to Dec. , , including names of counsel, same III
– and Kidder Boston Massacre , , –, , with Hutchinson to
Gage Dec. , Adams “New Light” . Sampson S. Blowers presumably was
the lawyer referred to in Hutchinson to Gage Nov. , stating, “I advised Captain
Preston to engage one of the Bar over and above the Counsel to conduct the
Cause in Court,...who should make a very diligent inquiry into the characters
and principles of all who are returned for jury service,” same .
The testimony in the trial of the soldiers, William Wemms, James Hartigan,
William McCauley, Hugh White, Matthew Kilroy, William Warren, John Carrol,
and Hugh Montgomery, Rex v. Wemms et al., is in Adams Legal Papers III –;
and Kidder Boston Massacre –, –.
At least three other of the soldiers besides Montgomery and Kilroy fired, but there
was no clear evidence that the shots fired by any except the latter two had struck
any of the persons killed, judges’ charges to the jury, Adams Legal Papers III –.
There was voluminous testimony and but little contradiction of the throwing of
missiles at the soldiers which would naturally induce them to fire to protect them-
selves from serious injury.
The lengthy charges to the jury by the two junior judges, Edmund Trowbridge and
Peter Oliver, and the briefer charges of the senior judges, John Cushing and Ben-
jamin Lynde, are in Adams Legal Papers III –.
Verdicts in the trial of the accused soldiers, same –. (Zobel “Boston Mas-
sacre” – publishes undated statements by Hutchinson charging John Adams
with having suppressed evidence favorable to his clients, the soldiers, lest it put
Boston in a bad light. I give no weight to these statements because they may have
been written long after the event. Incidentally, they contradict each other on an-
other point; one gives Kilroy, the other Montgomery, as the first to fire.)
Montgomery and Kilroy “prayed the Benefit of Clergy, which was allowed them,
and thereupon they were each of them burnt in the hand, in open Court, and dis-
charged,” same . Burning the hand (specifically “the Crown of the left thumb”)
with a hot iron, Blackstone Commentaries IV , served the double purpose of in-
flicting immediate punishment and leaving an indelible mark that the branded
man had had the benefit of clergy once and was not entitled to it again. As to the
Mass. background of this plea, Cross “Benefit of Clergy” –.
Trial and acquittal on Dec. , , of Edward Manwaring and his three com-
panions in the Customs House, Trial of William Wemms –; Kidder Boston Mas-
sacre . As brought out in Dickerson “Commissioners of Customs” –, ev-
idence collected before the trial, especially a deposition of Charlotte Bourgatte, a
boy apprenticed to Manwaring, in Short Narrative –, looked black for Man-
waring; but at the trial, the prosecution’s case collapsed, Trial of William Wemms
–.
As to the curious and sometimes mad conduct of James Otis, Jr., over many years,
the adjudication of him as insane in Dec., , and his temporary recoveries and
final collapse, biography of Otis in D.A.B.; Shipton Harvard Graduates –;
Brennan “Otis” –; Hutchinson to John Pownall Sept. , , Mass. Arch.
XXVII ; Rowe’s diary () Rowe , ; John Adams’ diary –
Adams Papers I –, –, , , , , II , , , –; Waters
Otis Family –. As to Otis’ earlier leadership of the Boston Whigs, same passim
and Knollenberg Origin –, , –, –.
Samuel Adams, writing under the pen name “Vindex,” denounces the conduct
and outcome of the trials in the Boston Gazette Dec. , , to Jan. , , Cush-
ing S. Adams II – passim.
Period of calm in Boston following the “Massacre” trials, Hutchinson to Bernard
Dec. and , , Mass. Arch. XXVII –, ; to John Pownall Jan. , ,
and to Thomas Whately Jan. , same –, –; Anne Hulton to Mrs. Adam
Lightbody Dec. , , Hulton Letters –; Gage to Barrington Jan. , Gage
II ; Rev. Andrew Eliot to Thomas Hollis Jan. , Apr. and June , ,
“Eliot Letters” –; John Adams’ diary for May , Adams Papers II .
The flight of the Customs Commissioners to Castle William after the Boston Mas-
sacre, Gage to Barrington July , , Gage II , and their return to Boston af-
ter the trials, Anne Hulton to Mrs. Adam Lightbody Dec. , Hulton Letters .
The Commissioners again fled to Castle William late in , at the time of the
commotions in Boston over the British East India Company’s sending of tea there,
Anne Hulton to Mrs. Adam Lightbody Jan. , , same .
At a Boston town meeting the morning after the massacre, the town chose a com-
mittee to inform Acting Governor Hutchinson that the town could be quieted
only by “the immediate removal of the Troops,” Boston Records (for –) .
Upon receiving word from Hutchinson that the commanding officer consented to
remove only the Twenty-ninth Regiment, another committee was chosen to in-
form Hutchinson that the town would be satisfied with “nothing less...than a to-
tal and immediate removal of the troops,” same –.
Lieut. Col. William Dalrymple was the commanding officer at Boston from Aug.,
, to March, , and at Castle William from then until July, , when he
was sent with his regiment (the Fourteenth) to the island of St. Vincent to help
quell a Carib rebellion, Gage I , II , leaving no British troops in or near
Boston.
Dalrymple wrote Gage March , , that Hutchinson, by the advice of his
Council, had “desired and required” him to remove the troops, Adams New Light
. Hutchinson wrote Gage March that he had not made “a Requisition,” i.e.,
had not required (ordered) Dalrymple to remove the troops, Gage Papers
Clements Lib., printed, with an unimportant omission, in same –. Since the
minutes of the Mass. Council May , , state that the Council advised
Hutchinson “to pray,” i.e., ask, Dalrymple to remove the troops, same , and I
have found no other relevant evidence, I suppose Hutchinson’s version is correct.
Dalrymple wrote Gage March , , that removal of the Twenty-ninth Regi-
ment to Castle William would be completed “this night,” same , and the Four-
teenth Regiment followed on March , Rowe’s diary, Rowe .
The Twenty-ninth Regiment was transferred by way of Providence, R.I., to New
Jersey, May , , Zobel Boston Massacre , n. and Gage to Lord Bar-
rington June , , Gage II . The Fourteenth Regiment remained at Castle
William until , when it was replaced by the Sixty-fourth, same I .
The orations by James Lovell in , Dr. Joseph Warren in , Dr. Benjamin
Church in , John Hancock in , and Warren again in are collected in
Orations at Boston –.
In his oration in Joseph Warren “reminded” his hearers of “The horrors of
that dreadful night...when our streets were stained with the
, when our ears were wounded by the groans of the dying, and our eyes
were tormented by the sight of the mangled bodies of the dead. When our alarmed
imagination presented to our view our houses wrapped in flames...our beau-
teous virgins exposed to the influence of unbridled passion; our virtuous wives...
falling a sacrifice to worse than brutal violence” etc., same .
In John Hancock recalled “that dismal night...when Satan with his chosen
band opened the sluices of New England’s blood, and sacrilegiously polluted our
land with the dead bodies of her guiltless sons.” “Let not,” he pleaded, “the heav-
ing bosom cease to burn with a manly indignation at the barbarous story...and
all America join in one common prayer to Heaven, that the inhuman, unprovoked
murders of March ...may ever stand on history without parallel,” same .
Chapter
The official figures of exports of tea from England to America in Labaree Tea Party
show that the volume of tea shipped to New England and the southern colo-
nies was about as large as before the non-importation movement was launched.
There was a heavy falling off of shipments from England only to N.Y. and Pa.,
where, as brought out in same –, there was extensive smuggling of tea.
The controversy from June, , to June, , between the Mass. House of Rep-
resentatives and successive Governors of Mass. (Francis Bernard and Thomas
Hutchinson) over the Governors assembling the Legislature (general court) at
Cambridge instead of Boston, where it customarily met, is well covered and doc-
umented in Lord and Calhoon “Removal of the Mass. General Court” –
and Wells Adams I –, –, –, –, , –. Other less
bitter and protracted controversies over constitutional issues in Mass. (in and
) are described in Gipson Brit. Empire XII –.
The so-called Wilkes Fund controversy from Feb., , to March, , between
the S.C. Commons House and successive Governors of S.C. (Lord Charles Mon-
tague and William Bull) over the House’s claim of right to appropriate public
funds without the concurrence of the Governor and Council is well covered and
documented in Greene “Bridge to Revolution” –; Greene Quest for Power –
; and Smith S.C. –, –, –. Changes in the judicial system
of S.C. also gave rise to controversy in S.C. from to , Greene Quest for
Power –; Smith S.C. –.
There are particularly good accounts of the Regulator Insurrection in N.C. from
to , culminating (May, ) in the Battle of the Alamance, in Gipson Brit.
Empire XI –; Basset “Regulators” –.
The controversies in Md. over officials and fees of the established (Church of
England) clergy from to is well covered and documented in Barker Md.
–, –.
Clashes from to with customs officers near Salem, N.J., Philadelphia,
Boston, Falmouth, Mass., are described in Jensen Founding , Jensen Philadelphia
–; Barrow Trade –; Martin “King’s Customs” –. (Martin, on
–, has a valuable account of the operation and difficulties of many kinds ex-
perienced in the administration of the customs in the Philadelphia customs dis-
trict from to .)
Several of the clashes with customs officers from to have been described
in previous chapters; others at Charleston, S.C., are described in Barrow Trade
–, –, –, ; and at Newport, R.I., in note below. Three of
those at Charleston were particularly notable in antagonizing the conservative
merchant-planter, Henry Laurens, same –, –; Jensen Tracts –.
Firing on the British armed schooner St. John at Newport in and burning of a
boat of the warship Maidstone there in , Lovejoy R.I. Politics –; Knollenberg
Samuel Ward – and Origin –. Burning of the armed sloop Liberty at New-
port in , R.I. Col. Rec. VI –; Newport Mercury May and , July and
, and Aug. , , T.::–, –, –; and Joseph Chew to Sir
William Johnson July , , Johnson VII –. In each case misconduct of offi-
cers or men of the vessels involved apparently had given provocation for the attack.
Lieutenant William Dudingston, commander of the Gaspee, to Admiral John Mon-
tagu March , , indicates that he took up his station at Newport, R.I., on or
shortly before Feb. , R.I. Hist. Soc. Proc. (for –) . Montagu to Gov.
Joseph Wanton Apr. states that he had instructed Dudingston, among other
things, “to prevent (if possible), the illicit trade that is carrying on in Rhode Is-
land,” R.I. Col. Rec. VII .
Dudingston had a reputation for brutal and insolent conduct while stationed in
Pa. three years earlier, Pa. Journal June , ; Newport Mercury July ; Clement
Biddle to Thomas Richardson Oct. , , Jensen Commerce , .
Wanton to Lord Hillsborough May , , complaining of Dudingston’s illegally
carrying rum he had seized in R.I. to Boston, and Dudingston to Montagu May
, saying he knew he was acting illegally, but that there was no other practical way
to deal with the seized rum, R.I. Col. Rec. VII –, . (The rum seems to have
been that involved in a suit against Dudingston described in Bryant “R.I. Justice”
–.)
Commission of Inquiry to the King June , , “There is also too much reason
to believe that in some instances Lieutenant Dudingston from an intemperate, if
not a reprehensible zeal to aid the revenue service exceeded the bounds of his
duty,” R.I. Col. Rec. VII . As those who suffered from Dudingston’s conduct
well knew, there was a further temptation to exceed the bounds of duty in that if
vessel or cargo or both seized by him were tried and condemned, he would, as
brought out in Chapter , be entitled to a large share of the proceeds from the sale
of the condemned property.
Lieut. Gov. Darius Sessions of R.I. to Wanton March , , reporting complaints
that the Gaspee, cruising on Narragansett Bay, “Suffers no vessels to pass, not even
packet boats, or others of an inferior kind, without a strict examination; and where
any sort of unwillingness is discovered, they are compelled to submit by an armed
force,” same . Further details of Dudingston’s provocative conduct are in Wan-
ton to Hillsborough May , same ; the Providence Gazette of March and ; and
Henry Marchant to Benjamin Franklin Nov. , Lovejoy R.I. Politics , .
Wanton to Dudingston March and , , requesting that he “produce me
your commission,” and Wanton to Hillsborough May stating that Dudingston,
instead of complying, had sent one of his junior officers with merely a letter from
the British Admiralty Board to the American Customs Board requesting a depu-
tation in the customs for Dudingston, R.I. Col. Rec. VII –, . Dudingston
wrote Montagu March that he had shown Wanton “a” deputation, R.I. Hist.
Soc. Proc. (for –) , but, unless Wanton lied, this must have been the Ad-
miralty Board’s request for a deputation or a deputation to someone other than
Dudingston.
John Adams wrote in his diary for Dec. , , that the “brutal, hoggish Man-
ners” of Montagu, who was stationed at Boston, “are a Disgrace to the Royal
Navy and to the King’s Service,” but, judging from the sketch of him in D.N.B.,
he was a successful officer, becoming Admiral of the White in .
Hillsborough to Wanton Aug. , , Dartmouth Papers, identifies the two letters
here referred to by Montagu as Wanton’s letters to him of March and , de-
scribed in R.I. Col. Rec. VII –, cited in note of this chapter.
Montagu to Wanton Apr. , , denouncing him for his “insolent” letters to
Dudingston, same –. The letters in fact were not insolent; the first, after telling
of the complaints made against Dudingston, said “I...expect that you do, with-
out delay, produce me your commission and instructions, if any, you have, which
was your duty to have done, when you first came within the jurisdiction of this
colony”; the second, after pointing out the failure to furnish the information called
for said, “I expect you do, without delay, comply with my request of yesterday,”
same –.
Wanton to Montagu May , , replying to his letter of Apr. , same –. Wan-
ton secured the approval of this proposed reply by the R.I. General Assembly be-
fore sending it to Montagu, Proceedings of the Assembly, undated, same and
Dudingston to Montagu May , same .
Wanton to Hillsborough May , , enclosing copies of Montagu’s letter of
Apr. and his reply of May , and pointing out the misstatements in Montagu’s
letters, same –. In replying under date of Aug. , Hillsborough did not men-
tion the ill conduct of Dudingston and Montagu complained of by Wanton, but
instead attacked Wanton himself by stating that “the Tone of Menace & Insult” of
his “letters to Lieutenant Dudingston of the d & d of March last is considered
by the King as highly disrespectful to His Majesty,” Dartmouth Papers.
A deposition of Midshipman William Dickinson of the Gaspee June , , R.L.
Col. Rec. VII – stated that the Gaspee “came to anchor” near Pawtuxet; but
others who gave evidence, cited in note below, said she had run aground.
The time and place of the Gaspee’s running aground is fixed by the affidavits dated
June , , of three sailors of the Gaspee, same –. They stated that the vessel
was bound for Providence to take on “some of His Majesty’s seamen that were ex-
pected from Boston,” same. The Providence Gazette of June , , stated that when
she ran aground the Gaspee was chasing the Hannah, a packet boat running be-
tween Newport and Providence. Perhaps both statements are true.
Sessions to Wanton June , , concerning the attack on the Gaspee, enclosing
the affidavits cited in note , and advising issuance of a proclamation offering a
large reward for the apprehension and conviction of the attackers, R.I. Col. Rec.
VII –. (I have omitted the oft-repeated details of the attack and the names of
its alleged leaders given by Ephraim Bowen and Dr. John Mawney, same –,
because their statements were not made until many years later, Bowen’s in
and Mawney’s in .)
Wanton’s proclamation of June , , concerning the Gaspee, same .
Undated statement of Aaron Briggs to Capt. John Linzee of the Beaver concerning
the attack on the Gaspee, same –. Samuel Tompkins, Briggs’ master, in a dep-
osition of July , , described him as “a mulatto lad of about sixteen,” same .
The Reverend Ezra Stiles described him as a “Negro Indian,” Stiles Diary I .
Montagu to Wanton July , , enclosing Briggs’ statement, R.I. Col. Rec. VII .
Report of the royal Commission of Inquiry June , , as to Linzee’s misbehav-
ior and its finding that “here the civil magistrates ceased their endeavors to discover
the offenders,” same –. As to issuance of the warrant dated July , , and
Linzee’s refusal to permit it to be served, same –. (It seems likely that Linzee
refused to turn over Briggs because of fear that the means, brought out later in this
chapter, by which he had secured Briggs’ statement, would be exposed.)
Montagu wrote Philip Stephens, Secretary to the Admiralty, and Hillsborough
June , , bitter and extremely biased letters concerning the attack on the
Gaspee, denouncing the people of Rhode Island, praising Dudingston, and ex-
pressing hope he would be favored if he lived, of which Montagu said he had little
hopes, R.I. Hist. Soc. Proc. (for –) – and R.I. Col. Rec. VII .
Cabinet meetings of July and Aug. , , concerning the Gaspee affair and
Hillsborough to Wanton Aug. , Dartmouth Papers, digested in Dartmouth ()
, . The proceedings and decision of the King in Council (the Privy Council)
and those present at its meeting on Aug. , , concerning the Gaspee affair, and
the Council’s approval on Aug. of the documents implementing the decision,
P.C. :: and Acts P.C. V –.
The King’s proclamation of Aug. , , offering rewards for information lead-
ing to the arrest and conviction of participants in the attack on the Gaspee and par-
don for informers who were in the attack, other than the two supposed leaders,
R.I. Col. Rec. VII –. The King probably had the Gaspee affair primarily in
mind in writing Lord North Aug. , advising conciliation in a pending dispute
with France, since “we must get the Colonies into order before we engage with our
neighbors,” Geo. III II .
The Royal Commission to Wanton, Chief Justices Daniel Horsmanden of N.Y.,
Frederick Smythe of N.J., and Peter Oliver of Mass., and Admiralty Judge Robert
Auchmuty, dated Sept. , , together with their instructions of Sept. , are in
R.I. Col. Rec. VII –. Wanton was the only member of the Commission who
was not a Crown official, and even he was no flaming Whig and when the Revo-
lution broke out, became a loyalist, sketch of him in D.A.B.
The Dockyards Act of Geo. III ch. was assented to by the King Apr. , ,
Journals H. of C. XXXIII . I have found no evidence in the proceedings of Par-
liament or elsewhere for its extraordinary provision authorizing trial in Great
Britain of offenses against the act committed in places outside the realm, includ-
ing the colonies. The act would almost certainly have alarmed the colonists even
had it not been highlighted by the Gaspee incident.
Hillsborough wrote the Governor and Company of R.I. Aug. , , enclosing a
copy of the Dockyards Act and stating that the attackers of the Gaspee were to be
proceeded against under it, Dartmouth Papers, digested in Dartmouth () .
This letter was recalled and canceled Aug. , same. To same effect Hillsborough
and Lord Dartmouth to Gage Aug. and Sept. , Gage II , .
Opinion of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, Edward Thurlow and
Alexander C. Wedderburn, Aug. , , that the burning of the Gaspee was not
punishable under the act of Geo. III ch. , but was punishable as high trea-
son, C.O. ::–; “Gaspee Papers” –; Acts P.C. VI ; Home Office Pap.
III . Parliament had resolved in that the ancient act of Henry VIII
ch. () providing for trial in England of treason or misprision of treason com-
mitted outside the realm applied to the colonies, Parl. Hist. XVI –.
Decision of the Privy Council Aug. and , , to send those accused of burn-
ing the Gaspee to England for trial for high treason, Acts P.C. V –.
For Lord Dartmouth, stepbrother of Lord North, and his political career, D.N.B.
and Bargar Dartmouth –.
Dartmouth to Wanton Sept. , , ordering him to turn over persons accused of
burning the Gaspee to Montagu to be “sent here” to be tried for “high treason,”
R.I. Col. Rec. VII –, quoting the Massachusetts Spy of Dec. , . The let-
ter is published in full in Leslie “Gaspee Affair” .
Forfeiture of the convicted traitor’s entire estate, real and personal, Blackstone
Commentaries IV .
Punishment of the offender himself for treason, same –. Blackstone points out
that, at first by connivance, but “at length ripened by humanity into law,” the
offender was now preserved from the torment of being drawn on the ground to the
place of execution by being drawn on a sledge or hurdle.
The Commissioners sat at Newport Jan. –, and May –June , , R.I. Col.
Rec. VII , , and entries in the diary of Ezra Stiles of Newport, Stiles Diary I
, , , . Henry Marchant, Attorney-General of R.I., wrote former Gov.
Samuel Ward of R.I. Jan. that “The Commissioners have adjourned themselves
to the th of next May in order I presume to report Home how Things appear to
them...[and] have more explicit Instructions,” Knollenberg Samuel Ward .
Peter May, of the crew of the Gaspee, testified Jan. , , that one of the attack-
ers, “a tall, slender man, wearing his own hair [i.e. without a wig] of a brown
color” was “named Greene,” but he apparently did not state how he knew the
name, R.I. Col. Rec. VII .
Twenty-three Greenes are listed in the index to the volume just cited (note ),
beating the runner-up, Brown, by two.
The Commissioners’ report to the King June , , discrediting Briggs’ testi-
mony, same . Captain Linzee’s threats to Briggs to whip and then hang him if
he did not “confess” are brought out in Chief Justice Horsmander of N.Y. to Dart-
mouth July , same . To similar effect, Chief Justice William Smythe of N.J. to
Dartmouth Feb. , N.J. Col. Arch. X .
Chief Justice Stephen Hopkins and Justices of the R.I. Superior Court to the
Commissioners concerning the Court’s findings, June , , same –.
Commissioners to justices of the R.I. Superior Court June , , declining to
give “any sentiment or opinion” in response to the justices’ invitation to comment
on their findings, same .
Commissioners’ report to the King June , , R.I. Col. Rec. VII –.
Though there are published letters as late as and dealing with the efforts
of members of the Commission of Inquiry to secure money for services and ex-
penses in attending the meetings of the Commission (e.g., Thomas Hutchinson on
behalf of Oliver and Horsmander on behalf of himself, Home Office Pap. (–)
; R.I. Col. Rec. VII ) I have found no evidence after July, , of further efforts
by the British government to secure punishment of the attackers of the Gaspee.
Admiral Augustus Keppel wrote Lord Rockingham Sept. [day not given], ,
that he had heard Dartmouth “was resolved not to allow of any orders to issue for
his office for bringing home for trial [a single] one of the prisoners accused of the
riot in Rhode Island; that he considers it legal for the person to take his trial [only]
in the country where the offence was committed...,” Keppel I .
Wanton laid Dartmouth’s letter before the R.I. Assembly at its session beginning
Dec. , , R.I. Col. Rec. VII . The Assembly chose a committee, headed by
Deputy Governor Sessions, to draft a letter in answer to Dartmouth’s letter, same
, but I have not found a copy of this letter nor any record of such a letter hav-
ing been sent or even prepared.
Report in the Providence Gazette of Dec. , , confirmed by a quotation from
Dartmouth’s letter of Sept. in the Massachusetts Spy Dec. , quoted in R.I. Col.
Rec. VII n., –. (The statement in the Gazette that Montagu was to direct
who was to be apprehended was inaccurate; who, if anyone, was to be sent to En-
gland for trial, was to be decided by the civil authorities of R.I.)
Colonial newspaper accounts of the threat of sending colonists to be tried for trea-
son in England, Leslie “Gaspee Affair” –; Jensen Founding –. The
excitement was fanned by John Allen’s very popular pamphlet An Oration, upon the
Beauties of Liberty....Details of the Oration, published in seven editions in Boston,
New London, Conn., Hartford, Conn., and Wilmington, N.C., from Jan., –
, and of its author, John Allen, Adams Bibliography –; Bumstead and Clark
“John Allen” –.
Richard Henry Lee wrote Samuel Adams Feb. , , for verification of the re-
ported proposal “of removing Americans beyond the water to be tried for sup-
posed offences committed here,” Ballagh Lee I –. Adams’ reply of Apr. ,
, confirmed the report, Cushing S. Adams III –. Lee’s letter referred to a
reported “military parade” to assist in carrying out this measure. Dartmouth to
Gage Sept. , , had, indeed, ordered him to send troops if the Commissioners
of Inquiry requested them, Gage II , but no request was made, and no troops
were sent.
Resolution of the Va. House of Burgesses March , , denouncing the pro-
posal to send accused colonists overseas for trial and appointing a Committee of