Admiral Washington?

Happy Washington’s birthday, or close to Washington’s birthday, at any rate. Since 1879, the third Monday in February has been celebrated as a federal holiday in the United States in honor of the Founding Father George Washington, who led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and was elected the first US president. (In many states, the third Monday is also celebrated as “President’s Day”.)  

The third Monday was chosen to give federal employees a three-day weekend. This year the holiday fell on February 19th. George Washington was actually born on  February 11, 1731, using the Julian calendar or February 22, 1732, based on the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted by the British in 1851, causing much confusion to all concerned.

So we are close to the anniversay of Washington’s birthday, whenever you may celebrate the event, and accordingly, it seems worthwhile to look back on General George Washington’s navy of 1775 and 1776.

Washington was given command of the Continental Army on June 17th, 1775. The American army had surrounded and outnumbered the British army in Boston, but lacked muskets, flints and gunpowder, as well as most other supplies. The British, on the other hand, were well supplied by sea. There were, however, fast schooners available in nearby Gloucester and Washington saw the opportunity to raid the British supply lines and supply his troops at the British expense.

In all Washington would send a total of eight armed schooners out to prey on British supply vessels. Oddly, these ships were neither privateers nor part of the as yet unformed Continental Navy. They were, instead, part of the Continental Army and in their 26 months of service, they would capture 55 enemy ships.

Washington began by chartering the 78-ton schooner Hannah from John Glover of Marblehead for “one Dollar pr Ton pr Month.”   A crew of 43 was recruited and on September 2, 1775, Washington commissioned Nicholson Broughton captain “in the Army of the United Colonies of North America,” in command of the Hannah.

Captain Broughton would have a decidedly mixed career, proving more effective at capturing  American owned ships than British transports.  

John Manley, captain of the schooner Lee, would do much better.  Captain Manley captured the British brigantine Nancy, loaded with tons of ordnance and military stores intended for British troops, on November 28, 1775. The cargo included 2,000 muskets with bayonets, 105,000 flints, over 10,000 round shot, and one large 13″ brass mortar, as well as all the equipment to supply a a force of two thousand regulars in the field.

To learn more of “Admiral” Washington’s navy, I can recommend James Nelson’s George Washington’s Secret Navy – How the American Revolution Went to Sea and Chester G. Hearn’s George Washington’s Schooners: The First American Navy.