Papers of John Adams, volume 3
1775-06-18
I have at last obtained liberty, by a vote of Congress, to acquaint my friends with a few of the things that have been done.1
The Congress have voted, or rather a committee of the whole house have unanimously agreed, that the sum of two million dollars be issued in bills of credit, for the redemption of which, in a certain number of years, twelve colonies have unanimously pledged themselves.2
The Congress has likewise resolved that fifteen thousand men shall be supported at the expense of the continent; ten thousand at Massachusetts, and five thousand at New York; and that ten companies of riflemen be sent immediately; six from Pennsylvania, two from Maryland, and two from Virginia, consisting of sixty-eight privates in each company, to join our army at Boston. These are said to be all exquisite marksmen, and by means of the excellence of their firelocks, as well as their skill in the use of them, to send sure destruction to great distances.
General Washington is chosen commander-in-chief, General Ward the first major-general, and General Lee the second, (the last has not 26yet accepted,) and Major Gates adjutant-general.3 Lee and Gates are experienced officers. We have proceeded no further as yet.
I have never, in all my lifetime, suffered more anxiety than in the conduct of this business. The choice of officers, and their pay, have given me great distress. Lee and Gates are officers of such great experience and confessed abilities, that I thought their advice, in a council of officers, might be of great advantage to us; but the natural prejudices, and virtuous attachment of our countrymen to their own officers, made me apprehensive of difficulties. But considering the earnest desire of General Washington to have the assistance of these officers, the extreme attachment of many of our best friends in the southern colonies to them, the reputation they would give to our arms in Europe, and especially with the ministerial generals and army in Boston, as well as the real American merit of them both, I could not withhold my vote from either.
The pay which has been voted to all the officers, which the Continental Congress intends to choose, is so large, that I fear our people will think it extravagant, and be uneasy. Mr. Adams, Mr. Paine, and myself, used our utmost endeavors to reduce it, but in vain.
Those ideas of equality, which are so agreeable to us natives of New England, are very disagreeable to many gentlemen in the other colonies. They had a great opinion of the high importance of a continental general, and were determined to place him in an elevated point of light. They think the Massachusetts establishment too high for the privates, and too low for the officers, and they would have their own way.4
I hope the utmost politeness and respect will be shown to these officers on their arrival. The whole army, I think, should be drawn up upon the occasion, and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war displayed;—no powder burned, however.
There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington. A gentleman of one of the first fortunes upon the continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country! His views are noble and disinterested. He declared, when he accepted the mighty trust, that he would lay before us an exact account of his expenses, and not accept a shilling for pay. The express waits.
Works
, 9:357–359.)RC offered for sale by Parke-Bernet Gall., N.Y., Gribbel sale, pt. 1, 30 Oct.– 1 Nov. 1940.
The
JCC
contains no reference to this vote, but it probably came on 17 June, for various letters written by members of the congress contain essentially the same information (Eliphalet Dyer to Joseph Trumbull, 17 June; James 27 Duaneto the New York Provincial Congress, 17 June; and John Hancock to Joseph Warren, 18 June, Burnett, ed., Letters of Members
, 1:127–130, 134–135).
The formal vote of the congress was not taken until 22 June, but the committee of the whole reached agreement on 15 June (
JCC
, 2:103, 91). JA writes of only twelve colonies agreeing, because Georgia was not officially represented in the Congress until 20 July. On 13 May the congress had admitted a representative from St. John's Parish in Georgia, but he could not speak for the whole colony (same, p. 192–193, 45).
Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army on 15 June after considerable maneuvering by various delegates and factions at the congress (same, p. 91; JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 3:321–323). Although present in Philadelphia, Lee did not immediately accept his commission because he wanted to be assured of indemnification if he lost his Irish estate for supporting the American cause. On 19 June a committee of three, of which JA was a member, met with Lee to learn his decision, but he asked that a committee from the congress composed of one member from each of the colonies meet with him to hear his request for indemnification. After a meeting with the new committee, its recommendation to accept his condition was promptly supported by the congress. Only then did Lee accept his commission (
JCC
, 2:98–99; Alden, General Charles Lee
, p. 73–77).
The congress set the pay of major generals and brigadiers at $166 and $125 per month respectively, with lesser amounts for the paymaster and commissary generals (
JCC
, 2:93–94). On 29 April the Provincial Congress set the pay for colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors at £12, £9 12s, and £8 respectively; these sums were a reduction by one-fifth from the original scale, the change being justified by the reduced size of regiments that had been decided upon (Mass. Provincial Congress, Jours.
, p. 167–168). In dollars at 6s equal to one Spanish dollar, the salaries become $40, $32, and $26 2/3. The Provincial Congress left the payment of minutemen up to the several towns, but recognized that a general muster would require payment from the province (same, p. 71). Braintree established pay for its minutemen at 1s 4d for a day of exercising with their arms from two to six o'clock each week; ordinary militiamen were to receive 1s per half-day if they exercised no more than once a week from three to six o'clock (
Braintree Town Records
, p. 461, 454). No record for monthly pay for privates on general muster has been found. These rates were set at a time when the average daily wage for farm laborers was 2s per day (Jackson T. Main, The Social Structure of Revolutionary America, Princeton, 1965, p. 70). Connecticut, which offers fuller records on pay scales, paid privates during the French and Indian War 36s per month of 28 days; in 1776, it was paying 40s per calendar month (
Conn. Colonial Records
, 11:94, 15: 297). Roughly, then, we may say that New England privates were getting between $6 and $7 per month. This estimate is confirmed by James Warren in his letter to JA, 20 Oct. (below).
1775-06-19
I thank you for your Several favors, the last of which, the 10th Inst., I just now received.1 I have not had time to write, and thro' abundant business my health has Sometimes been reduced; I now write in Committee of Safety, a few lines at a time as I can; all the business in this Committee has been done by only 6 or 7 Members, upon whom 28it has fallen very heavy, public business having pressed upon us very hard.
To see the distress occasioned by the late measures of Administration is enough to melt a heart of adamant;2 Carts are continually passing in every direction from the Sea-Coast, loaded with Beds, Chairs, Pots, Kettles, and a thousand &ca's, with Women and Children in the midst. Great part of the Sea Coast is thin'd of Inhabitants, and most people have removed their most valuable effects. Mr. Cranch'es Family, and mine, are yet at Vertchild's House; they visit Germantown now and then: I have been with my family only 2 Nights since the 20th March.
You received from Congress the particulars of the battle of Lexington; Since which the affair of Noddles Island3 (and several other smaller Skirmishes) has taken place; in all which, we had greatly the advantage; accounts of which you have doubtless received. But on Saturday last, the 17th, the Regulars attacked us upon one of the Charlestown Hills, where we had begun to entrench, and obliged us to retreat, by means of their Ships and Floating Batterys, we having no large Cannon to match theirs; the Cannon we cou'd have had, if we had had Gunpowder enough to Spare, but we had not more than sufficient for the Field Pieces and Musquetry; however, the Enemy have not much to boast; for tho' they kept the Field, and took from us 4 or 5 pieces, 3 Pounders, yet they lost, by the best accounts we can yet obtain, about 500 kill'd and wounded, and among the former are, as we have reason to believe, several officers of distinction: our loss in numbers is not great, by the best accounts we yet have, about 60 or 70 kill'd and missing;4 but —— among these is —— what Shall I say! how Shall I write the name of our worthy Friend, the great and good Dr. W——. You will hear by others who will write tomorrow, such particulars as I am not possessed of: Soon after the Regulars landed, they Set Fire to the Town of Charlestown, and that day, yesterday and this Day they have consumed most of the Houses as far as Penny-Ferry;5 and they have possession of all that part of Charlestown, and are encamped upon Bunker's Hill; and we are encamped upon Prospect Hill, Winters Hill, and at the Bridge leading to Inman's, Phips's &c. Yesterday and this day, they have Cannonnaded us, but to no purpose; and our people, by Small Parties have picked off some of their out Guards: We expect another action very soon. Do send us Powder, and then we Shall, by the blessing of Heaven, soon destroy this Hornets Nest. This put me in mind of Saltpetre: J Greenleaf Esqr, and Messrs. John Peck and Wm. Frobisher, are now, by 29encouragement from Congress, gone to Brookfield, upon Colo. Foster's Estate, where is supposed to be a very large Bed of fine Earth, such as is described to be in the E. Indies, Strongly impregnated with Nitre: The like is discovered in Several other places. I must beg you to Send the best process of making it. Adieu my dear Friend, and assure Messrs. Hancock, Adams, Paine, &c, that I shou'd be glad to hear often, how, what, and all about the Political World in which I am deeply engaged; and that I remain Your and Their Sincere Friend and very humble Servt.
Earth dug up from under a Stable, put into a Tub, as ashes for Lye. Filled with Water. Stand 24 Hours. Then leaked off Slowly. Then boil'd for one Hour. Then run thro another Tub full of ashes. i.e. filtrated thro the ashes a Small Quantity, not to stand. Then put into a Kettle and boiled, untill it grows yellow. Then drop it on a cold stone or cold Iron, and it will christallise for a Proof. Then set it by in Trays in cool Places. Then it will christallise. And the Salt Petre is formed.7
Not found.
Probably a reference to Gen. Gage's having yielded to pressure and modified the agreement he had reached with the Provincial Congress regarding those wishing to leave Boston. At first, those leaving were forbidden to take out any arms or ammunition; then provisions and merchandise were added to the list. Finally, arbitrary searches were made of all containers, and sometimes passports were so drawn as to separate families (Frothingham, Siege of Boston
, p. 96–97).
A skirmish that took place on 27 and 28 May, when Americans sought to remove livestock from Noddle's and Hog islands in Boston Harbor. The British tried to prevent the removal, and in the fighting the British lost a schooner and had a sloop badly damaged. Reputedly, the British suffered far more casualties than the Americans. Israel Putnam conducted himself so well as commander that presumably the Continental Congress was the more ready to name him a general (same, p. 109–110).
For figures on battle casualties, see James Warren to JA, 20 June, note 6, and Elbridge Gerry to Massachusetts Delegates, 20 June, note 5 (both below).
The town was set afire by artillery rounds and by marines. The wooden houses and other buildings burned furiously, the flames driven by an east wind. The Penny Ferry, a link between the town and Boston, was at the site of the old Charles River Bridge. A full and meticulous account of the fire and the extent of its damage, including individual claims of losses, is reconstructed from contemporary sources in James F. Hunnewell, A Century of Town Life: A History of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1775–1887, Boston, 1888, p. 2–15, 112–174.
Palmer's letter and those of James Warren to JA
and Elbridge Gerry to the Massachusetts delegates of 20 June (both below), and the Provincial Congress to the Continental Congress (Mass. Provincial Congress, Jours.
, p. 365–366), were sent to Philadelphia on 20 June. At New York, on 25 June, the express was intercepted by George Washington, who, after some hesitation, 30opened the packet and read at least the letter from the Provincial Congress to gain recent information about the situation in Boston, particularly about Bunker Hill, for which he had had only fragmentary accounts (Washington, Writings, ed. Fitzpatrick, 3:304; Freeman, Washington
, 3:464–465). The express arrived in Philadelphia on 26 June or early 27 June, the date on which the letters were read to the Continental Congress, giving that body the first official word on the battle (Jefferson, Papers
, 1:174–175;
JCC
, 2:109; see also JA to James Warren, 27 June, below).
Neither the source of this recipe nor the date on which it was written is known. It may have been intended for Palmer, since he asked for such instructions, but it is not known whether it was ever sent to him. It may have been included in the enclosure (not found) sent to James Warren in JA's letter of 27 June (below). On 10 June the Continental Congress had appointed a committee to “devise ways and means to introduce the manufacture of salt petre in these colonies” (
JCC
, 2:86). A description of the process had been published in the Pennsylvania Gazette of 25 January.