On this day 250 years ago, Dixon and Hunter’s Virginia Gazette publishes the Botetourt Resolutions adopted by the freeholders of Botetourt County, Virginia. These Resolutions were addressed to Col. Andrew Lewis and Mr. John Bowyer, Botetourt County’s representatives to the Virginia Convention and pledged
the most dutiful affection for our Sovereign, of whose honest heart we cannot entertain any diffidence; but sorry we are to add, that in his councils we can no longer confide. A set of miscreants, unworthy to administer the laws of Britain’s empire, have been permitted impiously to sway. How unjustly, cruelly, and tyrannically, they have invaded our rights, we need not now put you in mind. We only say, and we assert it with pride, that the subjects of Britain are ONE; and when the honest man of Boston, who has broke no law, has his property wrested from him, the hunter on the Allegany must take the alarm, and, as a FREEMAN of America, he will fly to his Representatives and thus instruct them: Gentlemen, my gun, my tomahawk, my life, I desire you to tender to the honour of my King and country; but my LIBERTY, to range these woods on the same terms my father has done is not mine to give up; it was not purchased by me, and purchased it was; it is entailed on my son, and the tenure is sacred. Watch over it, Gentlemen, for to him it must descend unviolated, if my arm can defend it
Irish-born Andrew Lewis would go on to become a Brigadier General in command of the Virginia Militia that drove Royal Governor Dunmore and his British and Loyalist soldiers from Virginia. John Bowyer would serve in the Virginia legislature throughout the War.
On this day 250 years ago in Lebanon, Connecticut, Governor Jonathan Trumbull wrote to British Secretary Lord Dartmouth in London:
It is with particular concern and anxiety that we see the unhappy situation of our fellow subjects in the town of Boston. . . . where we behold many thousands of His Majesty’s virtuous and loyal subjects reduced to the utmost distress by the operation of the Port Act
On this day 250 years ago, Daniel Boone leads a party of axmen from the Long Island of the Holston (present day Kingsport, Tennessee) to cut a road into Kentucky in order to establish the proposed colony of Transylvania. Boone would soon be followed by Richard Henderson, the organizer of the the Transylvania Land Company, after he completed negotiations with the Cherokees to purchase the land. Although the Colony of Transylvania was never recognized by the British government or the other colonies, Boone’s Trace would open up Kentucky for settlers and lead to combat with Native Americans as part of the Revolutionary War. A number of commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the opening of Boone’s Trace and the first white settlements in Kentucky are scheduled for later this year.
On this day 250 years ago in New Bern, North Carolina, Royal Governor Josiah Martin writes to warn Lord Dartmouth in London about Richard Henderson’s Transylvania Land Company:
It is an enterprise which threatens the worst consequences, in my opinion, and the more as Henderson is industriously persuading the people that purchases from the Indians are good in law against the crown as well as for any other Claimant, and I shall be glad to receive his Majesty’s commands upon this point
Changing subjects, Martin also warned Dartmouth that, in reaction to the King’s Speech rejecting American protests, the colony’s “seditious leaders . . . talk of resorting to violence instead of submission.”
On this day 250 years ago, the New York General Advertiser reports
A Union Flag, with a red field was hoisted on the Liberty Pole by the Friends of Freedom assembled, and having got in proper Readiness, about 11 O’clock, the Body began their March to the Exchange. They were attended by Music; and two Standard Bearers carried a large Union Flag, with a blue Field, on which were the following Inscriptions: On one Side, GEORGE III. REX AND THE LIBERTIES OF AMERICA. NO POPERY.[35] On the other, THE UNION OF THE COLONIES, AND THE MEASURES OF THE CONGRESS.
On this day 250 years ago in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, one of the town’s minutemen who had marched to Salem on February 26 to confront Colonel Leslie’s troops, Joseph Newhall, died “by a violent seizure after a few days illness suppos’d to be occasioned by a cold taken when he went out upon an alarm, in the 52nd year of his age.” The Town of Lynnfield claims Newhall as the first American casualty of the Revolution. Another minuteman from Lynnfield — Daniel Townsend — would soon be killed fighting the British on their retreat from Concord on April 19.
Also on this day 250 years ago in Wilmington, Massachusetts, the Town formed a Minuteman Company that included 24 men. The Minutemen elected Cadwallader Ford Jr. as their Captain. However, this Minutemen Company was not the only company of Wilmington Militia that was ready to fight when the shooting would begin. Two other militia companies commanded by Captain Timothy Walker and by Captain John Harnden also mustered in Wilmington on this day. The following month, over 100 men from Wilmington turned out to fight the British on the retreat from Concord, and 260 men from the town would join the fight for American Independence.
And on this day 250 years ago in Boston, British Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie recorded in his diary that
Rob* Vaughan, the Soldier of the 52ed Reg* who was apprehended the night of the 3rd Ins*, attempting to desert, by way of Charlestown ferry, was tried on the 6th and 7th , and being found guilty, was ordered to be shot for the same, as this morning; but about 9 oClock last night it was notified to the Troops, that his Execution was respited till further orders.
Immediately after Lexington and Concord, Robert Vaughn would desert again, and that time he would not be caught.
On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Magazine publishes an anonymous article titled “African Slavery in America.” This article was one of the first publications in America proposing freedom for African-American slaves and the abolition of slavery. Thomas Paine was the editor of the The Pennsylvania Magazine and is often credited with writing the article because Benjamin Rush many years later identified him as the author. However, modern analysis indicates that Rev. Samuel Hopkins of Newport, Rhode Island was most likely the author.
Also on this day in Boston, Thomas Ditson, Jr. of Billerica, Massachusetts is arrested for attempting to purchase a musket from a British soldier. Instead of being jailed, Ditson was tarred and feathered and then marched around town by soldiers of the 47th Regiment before being released as a warning to other Patriots.
British Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie recorded in his diary that
This matter was done with the knowledge of the Officers of the Regiment . . . and it gave great Offense to the people of the town . . . . Arms of all kinds are so much sought after by the Country people, that they use every means of procuring them; and have been successful amongst the Soldiers, several of whom have been induced to dispose of Arms, or such parts of Arms, as they could come at. Perhaps this transaction may deter the Country fellows from the like practices in future.
Thomas Ditson’s treatment by the British Army would provoke outrage from the people of his town and other towns across Massachusetts, and was another factor leading to war the following month. It also cemented Ditson’s commitment to the Patriot cause. He would join the fight against the British in their retreat from Concord and at Bunker’s Hill, and then enlist in the Continental Army where he became a Sergeant and fought at the Battles of Long Island, Harlem Heights and White Plains around New York. After losing an eye from smallpox while in Continental Army service he returned to Massachusetts but continued in service in the Corps of Invalids in command of guards for British prisoners until 1780.
Also on that day in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Rev. Oliver Noble delivered “Some Strictures upon the Sacred Story Recorded in the Book of Esther” quoting both the Book of Esther in the Bible and Patriot writer Josiah Quincy:
Awake! arise Americans! and prepare for the event, by no means strike the first, but be ready to strike the second blow, to advantage. Had we not better die gloriously in the cause of GOD, of Liberty and our Country, than to dishonour GOD and human nature by submitting to ignoble slavery
. . .
“Trials and conflicts you must, therefore, endure;—hazards and jeopardies—of life “and fortune—will attend the struggle. Such is the fate of all noble exertions for public liberty and “social happiness—Enter not the lists without thought and consideration, lest you arm with timidity “and combat with irresolution. Having engaged in the conflict, let nothing discourage your vigour, “or repel your perseverance:—Remember, that submission to the yoke of bondage is the worst that “can befall a people after the most fierce andunsuccessful resistance” . . .“therefore, dedicate yourselves at this day to the service of your Country;” (and let me add, to the fear and service of your GOD, “and henceforth live A LIFE OF LIBERTY AND GLORY:”
And on that day in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fielding Lewis wrote his brother-in-law George Washington that he had been informed that Washington could supply the Spotsylvania County Independent Company “with a quantity of Powder having imported more than you had occasion for in your County; I am directed to request that you will reserve Ten Barrells for the use of this County.” Fielding Lewis would go on to serve as member of the Virginia legislature, as a Colonel in the Virginia militia and as a supplier of arms, ammunition and other supplies for the Continental Army but die in 1780 of illness in the service of his country.
Source: “To George Washington from Fielding Lewis, 8 March 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-10-02-0225. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 10, 21 March 1774 – 15 June 1775, ed. W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995, p. 297.]
On this day 250 years ago in London, opponents of the Government’s policies meet in Grosvenor Square to discuss a plan for reconciliation with America, and also protest outside the Royal Exchange.
And in India, the British enter into the Treaty of Surat, further entangling the British military in warfare in India that would continue beyond the Revolutionary War in America.
On this day 250 years ago at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, Dr. Joseph Warren delivers the annual speech on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. Warren’s stirring address included these lines that nearly provoked a riot that night in the streets of Boston:
Our fathers having nobly resolved never to wear the yoke of despotism, and seeing the European world, at the time, through indolence and cowardice, falling a prey to tyranny, bravely threw themselves upon the bosom of the ocean, determined to find a place in which they might enjoy their freedom, or perish in the glorious attempt. . . . nothing was so much the object of their abhorrence as a tyrant’s power: they knew that it was more safe to dwell with man in his most unpolished state, -than in a country where arbitrary power prevails. . . . tyranny, when once established, entails its curses on a nation to the latest period of time; unless some daring genius, inspired by heaven, shall, unappalled danger, bravely form and execute the arduous design of restoring liberty and life to his enslaved, murdered country.
The tools of power, in every age, have racked their inventions to justify the few in sporting with the happiness of the many
. . .
our liberty must be preserved; it is far dearer than life, we hold it even dear as our allegiance; we must defend it against the attacks of friends as well as enemies; . . .
But, pardon me, my fellow citizens, I know you want not zeal or fortitude. You will maintain your rights or perish in the generous struggle. However, difficult the combat, you never will decline it when freedom is the prize. . . . if . . . it appears that the only way to safety is through fields of blood, I know you will not turn your faces from our foes, but will undauntedly press forward until tyranny is trodden underfoot
Joseph Warren would lie dead in a field of blood on Bunker Hill (or to be more precise Breed’s Hill) only three months later.
Also on that day in New York City, a meeting of freemen and freeholders issued a formal call for the election of delegates from the city to a provincial convention that would name the colony’s delegates to the Second Continental Congress.
And on that day in London William Lee wrote to Robert Carter Nicholas in Virginia:
The prospect of American affairsis more dreadful than ever; you are all by implication declared to be in a state of rebellion; ships of war and soldiers are preparing to go from hence to Boston and New York.
On this day 250 years ago at Mount Vernon, Virginia, Richard Henry Lee visited George Washington. Two months later both men were traveling together to join the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Source: “[Diary entry: 5 March 1775],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-03-02-0005-0005-0005. [Original source: The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 3, 1 January 1771–5 November 1781, ed. Donald Jackson. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978, p. 312.]
On that day in Boston, Lt. Mackenzie of the Royal Welch Fusiliers recorded in his diary:
This being Sunday, the Annual Oration, delivered in consequence of what is called by the Rebellious party, the Mafsacre of the 5th March 1770, on which day some rioters were killed & wounded by the Military; was postponed until to-Morrow.
On this day 250 years ago in Boston, Samuel Adams wrote to Arthur Lee that the Continental Association and other resolutions of the Continental Congress, although styled as voluntary, were considered “Laws” and “are more observed throughout this Continent than any human Laws whatsoever.” He also wrote that the British
army has been sickly throughout the winter and continue so. Many have died. Many have deserted. Many I believe intend to desert.
Norton at 279; Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride at 66
On the same day in Boston, Lieutenant Frederick Mackenzie of the Royal Welch Fusiliers recorded in his diary that
Robt Vaughan, a Soldier of the 52nd Regiment was apprehended last night at Charlestown Ferry, attempting to Desert; and this day a General Court Martial was ordered to afsemble to try him for the same.
Also on this day in Boston, General Thomas Gage reported to Lord Dartmouth in London that in the Massachusetts militia
each man is supplied even to a knapsack, canteen and blanket and directed to bring a week’s provisions with him when called to the field. . . . one fourth of every corps to be prepared as minutemen, at a minute’s warning to repair wherever occasion should call for them, immediately on receiving a summons from the Committee of Safety.
And also on this day in Boston, Major John Pitcairn of the British Marines wrote to Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the Admiralty in London that
The rum is so cheap it debauches both navy and army, and kills many of them. Depend on it, my Lord, it will destroy more of us than the Yankies will.
He also predicted, however, that
One active campaign, a smart action, and burning two or three of their towns, will set everything to rights. Nothing now, I am afraid, but this will ever convince those very foolish bad people that England is in earnest.
Major Pitcairn of course was wrong in his prediction, and he would die in the smart action at Bunker Hill that did not set everything as he would have it.
On this day 250 years in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Virginia Gazette published this warning about the Royal Navy’s plans to intercept the goods Patriots were attempting to smuggle into America in lieu of the legal goods from Britain the Patriots were boycotting in adherence to the Continental Association:
A Caution of the Publick. Be it known that his Majesty’s armed schooner MAGDALEN, HENRY COLLINS, ESQ. commander, mounting four carriage guns . . .now lies moored opposite to Burwell’s ferry, for the purpose of brining to and searching all vessels going up and down the James river. (Note well, masters and owners, that the King pays no costs or damages in his Admiralty courts, whether your vessels, after seizure and libelling, be condemned or not).
On this day 250 years ago in Providence, Rhode Island, the Town Crier announced:
At four of the Clock this Afternoon a Quantity of India Tea will be burnt in the Market Place. All true friends of the Country, Lovers of Freedom and Haters of Shackles and Hand-cuffs, are hereby invited to testify their good Disposition, by bringing in and casting into the Fire a needless Herb, which for a long time hath been highly detrimental to our Liberty, Interest and Health.
The Providence Gazette subsequently reported:
At the appointed hour a fire was started in Market square, a barrel of tar was placed upon it, and copies of Lord North’s speech, and other obnoxious English papers were burned, while to the flames were added 300 pounds of tea, fed to the fire by the women of the town.
While the tea was burning a spirited Son of Liberty went along the streets with his brush and lampblack, and obliterated or unpainted the word TEA on the shop signs.
On This Day In The Revolution 