Author’s Note: At first sight it would seem incredible that the commission to the little schooner Hannah of Marblehead, depicted on the tablet shown in the accompanying picture, could mean the beginning of the United States Navy. Yet such is the fact, and this was appropriately recognized by the commemoration of the event at Marblehead on June 17, 1926. The Secretary of the Navy was present, with ships of the United States Navy, and this tablet was given to the United States Navy by the town of Marblehead.
The American Revolution broke away from all precedents in warfare, on the seas as well as land, and the following extraordinary sequence of events was typical of the enterprising spirit of our ancestors.
The “birth of the United States Navy” must be held to consist in the first putting into commission of warships through the authority derived from the United Colonies of North America. No other definition will apply. As a matter of course, this rules out of the question the great numbers of American ships which were engaged in fighting on the seas in the years before the mighty forces of the approaching American Revolution fused into being the United Colonies of North America.
In the colonial times American ships had seen fighting on all the known seas. These ships were able and their crews were trained in a commerce where it was necessary to fight to preserve their ships. In those days ships were in constant danger from attacks by enemies and pirates. Not only were American ships armed for defense against these perils, but many of them had letters of marque, and mixed privateering with commerce. These ships received their authority to fight on the seas from various sources, and it is self-evident that there was never anything approaching a united American authority. But it should be stated that this long experience in fighting on the seas gave the American colonists a preparation for naval warfare that has not been generally realized.
As a result, it was instinctive for the colonists, at the outbreak of the American Revolution, to fight the British on the sea, as well as on the land. In an astonishingly short time there was the beginning of the harassing naval warfare, which was destined to become a decisive factor in the Revolution. As was natural, at first this warfare was irregular, with only local authority or with no authority at all. Many of the colonies had their so-called “navies.” Ships were fitted out by private individuals and groups would organize expeditions. It was all spontaneous, with very little thought of what authority there might.be for this fighting against the British on the sea.
In all of these adventures on the seas Salem has written for herself a noble history, which has been a matter of pride for every true American. This record is so clear for all to read, that it would be a mistake to blur it by introducing issues altogether outside it. The same is true of the stirring parts played by different local communities in our early fighting on the seas. Ships were fitted out at Kingston, among many other seacoast towns. But not one of these enterprises against the enemy had a trace of any commission derived from the authority of the United Colonies.
It remained for the siege of Boston to bring into being the first armed naval force regularly commissioned by authority derived from the United Colonies of North America. It was the unerring instinct of George Washington which saw the need and created this force. And it was the town of Marblehead which provided the means by which this force was created. This is an important point in the history of the American Revolution, which has been very little known, and the strange sequence of events was brought about by unusual conditions existing at the time of the siege of Boston.
When General Washington took command of the American Army (July 3, 1775), Congress was still undecided as to the expediency of fitting out armed ships. However, Washington soon saw the importance of cutting off supplies brought by sea to the British Army shut up in Boston. For this purpose, he resolved to create a force of armed ships, and he accomplished this in a novel and ingenious way. He actually gave army commissions to the commanders of these ships, and put on board them detachments from his army as crews.
The mere statement of this extraordinary process for creating a naval personnel is surprising—and it would have been an impossibility in any other army. But Washington had found that m his own army there was a regiment of trained sailors, exactly suited for this duty. This was the regiment of Colonel John Glover of Marblehead, which was well called “amphibious.” With this element to draw upon, Washington fitted out his fleet of armed ships, manned, as he himself wrote, by “soldiers who have been bred to the sea.” “Bred to the sea” was a true description of these fighting men of Marblehead.
The first vessel of this fleet was the schooner Hannah, commanded by Captain Nicholson Broughton of Marblehead and manned by a detachment from Colonel Glover’s regiment. The following from General Washington’s instructions to Captain Broughton (dated September 2, 1775), established the status of this vessel beyond any question:
To Captain Nicholson Broughton: 1. You being appointed a captain in the army of the United Colonies of North America, are hereby directed to take the command of a detachment of said army, and proceed on board the schooner Hannah, at Beverly, lately fitted out and equipped with arms, ammunition, and provisions, at the Continental expense.
2. You are to proceed as commander of said schooner, immediately on a cruise against such vessels as may be found on the high seas or elsewhere, bound inwards and outwards, to or from Boston in the service of the Ministerial Army, and to take and seize all such vessels, laden with soldiers, arms, ammunition or provisions, for or from said army, or which you shall have good reason to suspect are in such service.
Following the instructions of Washington, the Hannah was fitted out by Colonel John Glover, “at the Continental expense,’’ as he was reimbursed by the paymaster of the Army under a warrant' issued by General Washington. Consequently, the Hannah, a Marblehead ship, was fitted out, commanded, and manned, by men from Marblehead. She sailed on her cruise September 5, 1775. That night she was chased by two British "ships of war,” but on the following day Captain Broughton brought in a prize, the ship Unity. Captain Broughton reported this capture to General Washington on September 7.
This was something altogether different from anything that had hitherto happened in the American Revolution. It was the first warship regularly commissioned by the authority derived from the United Colonies of North America, and given a definite mission against the enemy. Moreover, this was not one isolated incident, but there was a sequence of events, which gave the commission of the Hannah a wide significance. Washington kept on and commissioned other warships in the same way. Congress was at length aroused, and on October 5, 1775, Washington was instructed to fit out two armed vessels to intercept two brigs loaded with munitions of war. Information of the sailing of these vessels had been received. A committee of Congress, called the “Naval Committee,” consisting of John Adams, John Langdon, and Silas Deane, had been appointed.
Captain Broughton was put in command of the schooner Lynch, and made commodore of this expedition. Captain Selman of Marblehead was given the command of the schooner Franklin, and the two schooners sailed from Marblehead, “to the river St. Lawrence, per the special order of Congress.” The quotation from the report of Colonel Joseph Reed, General Washington’s secretary, dated October 29, 1775, also gave the list of the armed vessels as follows: Lynch, schooner; Franklin, schooner; Lee, schooner; Warren, schooner; Washington, “a fine vessel”; Harrison, schooner.
It is evidence of the rapid course of events that Congress, on February 29, 1776, provided that “an addition of thirty-four dollars a month be added to the pay of Joseph Reed, Esq., Secretary to General Washington, on account of the extraordinary services attending the office by reason of the General’s direction of the Navy Department.”
From the preceding narrative it is evident that the project of Washington developed into an actual naval organization for the United Colonies, with authority from Congress. The little fleet was of real value throughout the siege of Boston. Its armed ships captured over thirty prizes, and thus did much to increase the hardships of the British Army in Boston. The schooner Lee, commanded by Captain John Manley, of Marblehead, was the most successful of these vessels. Captain Manley in November, 1775, took the most important prize of the siege, the Nancy, a Urge brigantine laden with muskets, ordnance, and ammunition, for the British Army in Boston. His ability won the approval of Washington, who made him commodore of his fleet on January 1, 1776.
Mention should also be made of Captain James Mugford, of Marblehead, who was in command of the schooner Franklin. On May 19, 1776, the Franklin was attacked by a strong expedition °f boats from the British men-of-war, then lying off Nantasket. In a most gallant and desperate defense this ship was saved. Captain Mugford sunk two of the boats. But while fighting bravely, he received a mortal wound. He still continued to animate his men, exclaiming, “Do not give up the ship—you will beat them off!” In a few minutes he died. His men beat off the enemy’s boats…The remains of Captain Mugford were carried to Marblehead for interment.
Thus, at the siege of Boston, Marblehead gave a gallant service in what proved to be the birth of the United States Navy. For, when the Hannah was regularly commissioned by authority derived from the United Colonies it was the first case of a commission that can be so described. The Hannah was unquestionably a Marblehead vessel. In the years preceding the revolution, the Hannah was owned by Jonathan Glover of Marblehead and employed by him in commerce. She was commanded by Captain Richard James, who was Glover’s son-in-law. George U. Crocker has in his possession, among the Glover papers, many' letters and other papers relating to the Hannah at this period.
As the Hannah was slow she was retained in the Continental service only a short time. Her commission derived its wide significance from the fact that it was the beginning of a regularly commissioned fleet. Not only this first warship but also the succeeding ships of this fleet were fitted out, commanded, and manned by men of Marblehead.
As these facts are matters of record, it was most fitting that the tribute of the United States Navy was paid to the town of Marblehead. Other towns and cities rendered brave service on the seas to the cause of American freedom, but this particular service was the part of Marblehead, and this was the birth of the United States Navy.