Revolutionary War Historical Article
The American Revolution Month-by-Month February 1775
By Compatriot Andrew "Andy" Stough
Gold Country Chapter No. 7 of the CSSAR
Slightly Edited by Peter Hymans
Editor's Note: This article was reprinted by Permission of the Gold Country Chapter No. 7 of the CSSAR
On June 17, 1774 the Massachusetts General Assembly meeting in Salem sent out a proposal that representatives of all 13 colonies meet in what would be known as a Continental Congress. On 5 September, 1774 the First Continental Congress met to try diplomatically to repair the damage done to relations due to the actions of Parliament and the King since 1763 by drawing up petitions to Parliament and the King to right the wrongs that the colonists felt had been done them.
The powers in London took these petitions to be a furtherance of the colonies' arrogance in defying the authority of the British government. The reply was even more attempts by London to force its will on the colonies. At this point in time colonists looked upon themselves as British as anyone living the British Isles. Congress' only desire was to restore the old order and return to a life as loyal Britons in the North American colonies, not as Americans who had lost all ties and allegiance to king and country.
The Continental Congress spent time protesting the imposition of taxes and imploring Parliament to return to the old order of things. The Continental Congress could well afford to take this approach since they were not daily staring down the barrels of 10,000 British muskets. The people of Massachusetts were daily faced with incidents between the citizens of Boston and General Gage’s 10,000 Red Coats. On May 17th, 1774 General Gage returned to Boston as the Governor of the Bay Colony where he received a cool reception; Things did not go well between the General and the people of Boston who remembered that the Boston Massacre had occurred during his earlier command of British troops in Boston. He had come with the instructions from London to beat to their knees both the Port of Boston and the Bay Colony.
On June 1st he established the Boston Port Act which closed the Port of Boston; cutting off any sea-borne commerce or supplies to the city. If this were not enough the King had established the Quebec Act which gave that Province all rights and territory to the French settlements in both the Ohio and Illinois territories. The Quebec Act gave to Canada rights greater than those given to the American Colonies. In addition it cut off any westward expansion beyond the mountains to the English speaking colonies.
Perhaps it was paranoia but to Massachusetts it was an omen of what was to come. Such an act and the imposition of troops on the populace combined with the daily confrontations between troops and the citizenry had aroused the Bay Colony to consider means of self-protection from the redcoats. [Reference, pg. 87]
A Provincial Congress held in Boston directed the towns to support not only the local militia but to establish a rapid defense force; it’s members a select group to be called on a minutes notice to defend wherever they were needed. It approved the purchase of guns, ammunition, powder and cannon to be stored against the day of need. In response Gage sent troops to nearby Charleston and Cambridge to seize powder and cannon stored there. If previously there had only been suspicions, now there was concrete proof that Gage intended to subject the colonists to brute force. [Reference, pg, 92] . Powder, shot and cannon were hastily gathered and stored while drilling of militia continued apace. New England and Massachusetts in particular, prepared to defend themselves against what they saw as the coming attack by Gage.
Further proof came on February 26 when Gage sent an expedition to Salem to seize military stores. A confrontation with local militia under the command of Colonel Timothy Pickering occurred at an open bridge. The possible collision between the two forces was resolved by the intervention of a minister who received a promise that the British would enter the town only for the purpose of searching for arms and munitions. The deal was struck, the bridge lowered and a fruitless search followed. The British returned to Boston without further incident to or from either side. Two months later an incident at another bridge would change the fate of the colonists and their relationship with Britain forever.
References: Robert Leckie’s "George Washington’s War".