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3 Whipple’s War, at Home and Abroad, 1775–1778 The two-ship Rhode Island Navy that Abraham Whipple commanded surely must have appeared an unlikely fighting force to their adversaries as they began their mid-August 1775 cruise. Both Katy and Washington seemed to be no match for the larger and more heavily armed British warships then prowling the New England waters. Indeed, the combined armament on the two colony vessels was eighteen guns, two less than each of the two twentygun frigates patrolling the Narragansett Bay area.1 Likewise, the officers and most of the higher ranked crewmen on board these frigates were generally more experienced in naval combat procedures. Furthermore, loyalists in Newport such as the Champlin family had given the British commanders information concerning rebel activities and provided them with necessary supplies.2 Such factors caused considerable apprehension among insurgent leaders in Providence who had looked to their naval force as protection. And by the time of Whipple’s August cruise, their concerns increased with rumors that Vice Admiral Samuel Graves in Boston was sending more warships to seal off Narragansett Bay.3 Captain James Wallace, R.N., was cognizant of the advantages that his naval force held. He may also have been aware that the late August sailing of Katy and Washington had been cut short by the sudden but brief illness of Captain Whipple, obliging both vessels to return to Providence. Whatever the reason, Wallace evidently concluded that he now had an opportunity to control all of Narragansett Bay. Thus, on Sunday, August 20, with Wallace in command, the British ships Rose, Glasgow, and Swan and their tenders sailed slowly up the west side of the bay.4 As his squadron moved to about ten miles from Providence, Wallace spotted strategically placed rebel batteries at Fox Point, along with several entrenchments. Discretion seemed the best 52 Commodore Abraham Whipple of the Continental Navy option, and Wallace’s ships withdrew, albeit not without seizing an unwary East India brig on their return. But the Americans had not been intimidated by the British incursion: Katy and Washington were secure in their moorings on the Providence River.5 In the aftermath of Wallace’s abortive naval foray, Captain Whipple received a new assignment. The British army, then besieged in Boston, faced a continuing need for fresh supplies for their troops, naval supplies, and also food for civilians still trapped in the seaport. To help relieve such deficiencies , Captain Wallace and his men had already begun to raid the farmlands of eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island’s western settlements, and the islands in Narragansett Bay.6 There, his plundering raiding parties carried off—usually with force—cattle, sheep, other livestock, and agricultural produce, which they took to Boston. Attempting to prevent such pillaging, a committee of the Rhode Island Assembly ordered the captains of Katy and Washington to challenge these incursions. However, on September 2, Nicholas Cooke, then lieutenant governor, was obliged to write General George Washington, outside Boston, that his committee’s instructions could not be executed. Cooke asserted that “Captain Abraham Whipple hath been very ill,” but added optimistically that the captain nonetheless “is now upon the recovery.”7 Whipple’s rapid recovery by the first days of September enabled him once again to put his two vessels at the disposal of the colony government. By then, Lieutenant Governor Cooke had a pressing new need for the services of his Providence “commodore.” The previous July, Colonel Henry Tucker, a prominent resident of Bermuda, had appeared before the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. There, Tucker told the delegates of the immediate concerns of the island’s residents, emphasizing that because Congress had voted to embargo all exports from the colonies to British territories, it had placed particular hardships on Bermudians who were dependent on American products. Furthermore, while pleading for an exemption from the embargo for the islanders, Tucker offered a tempting inducement to the congressional delegates, among them Benjamin Franklin. If they lifted the trade ban on Bermuda, he reportedly promised to provide a significant supply of gunpowder that was stored on the island.8 General Washington, who had officially taken command of the Continental Army the previous July, immediately accepted the Tucker offer. Afterward , he became well aware of the tenuousness of the Boston siege. His irregular assemblage of troops for the most part lacked regular military training and discipline; incidents of insubordination were common; and supplies of food, shoes, and clothing were often deficient.9 But...

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