They Risked it All: In 1776, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, As He Commits Himself to the “Good” of the Cause, Longs to Hear the Bells of the Steeples of Boston and Learn of News from his Home

Those very bells would sound two months later to celebrate his signing of the Declaration of Independence

 

He announces the news of the capture of the first British vessel by a regularly commissioned American force, done by John Barry, news having been sent him as President the day before

 

A newly discovered and unpublished letter, our best ever of Hancock from 1776

 

“You say nothing about Boston. I want to hear every little stirring. How pray are the bells taken from the steeples, I long to hear the Sound of those Bells. Do give me particulars…Captain Barry’s letter to me you will see in the enclosed papers. We have good accounts from our little fleet at New London…Persevere in doing all the good you can.”

“We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” This, the closing line of the Declaration of Independence, manifests the frame of mind of the Signers at that momentous time. All fifty-six of them literally put their lives, possessions, and futures on the line to attain, preserve and protect the freedoms they felt were the unalienable rights of all people. The closing of this nation’s most important document also embodies a sense of camaraderie and unity that is not only inspirational, but justified the nation’s bid for independence by portraying it as a real, united country.

As for their lives, they all risked being hung as traitors to the Crown. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” As to their fortunes, John Hancock was the richest man in New England if not all the colonies, having inherited a shipping fortune; Robert Morris was so wealthy that he became the financier of the Revolution and personally signed 6,000 notes to pay off Washington’s troops when the war ended; Roger Sherman was a major speculator in securities; and Thomas Jefferson’s net worth was a little more than $200 million in today’s money. George Washington’s net worth was twice that, and he lost half as a result of the Revolution. Most Signers were men who were prominent in their communities, like Edward Rutledge in Charleston, Benjamin Rush and Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, John Witherspoon in Princeton, Philip Livingston in New York, and John Hancock in Boston, to name just a few. These men left their homes and plantations behind them to engage in a long-shot revolution against the most powerful nation at the time – Great Britain. None knew if they would ever see home again.

John Hancock was outspoken against the British in the years leading up to the Revolution, and was elected President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. On December 1, 1774, the Provincial Congress elected Hancock as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. Before Hancock reported to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the Provincial Congress unanimously re-elected him as their president in February 1775. Hancock’s multiple roles gave him enormous influence in Massachusetts, where, as early as January 1774, British officials had considered arresting him. After attending the Provincial Congress in Concord in April 1775, Hancock and Samuel Adams decided that it was not safe to return to Boston before leaving for Philadelphia. The search of the British to arrest him led to the confrontations at Lexington and Concord on April 19. With the war underway, Hancock made his way to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia with the other Massachusetts delegates. On May 24, 1775, he was unanimously elected President of Continental Congress, a post he held for two years.

In October 1768, British troops had arrived in the city of Boston and occupied the city. Tensions led to the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, and the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. In response to the Tea Party and other protests, Parliament enacted the Intolerable Acts to punish the colonies. With the war underway, on March 17, 1776, British forces are forced to evacuate Boston following General George Washington’s successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights, which overlooks the city from the south. It was a great victory for the Americans and the hearts of patriots swelled.

On December 22, 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed Commander in Chief of the fledgling Continental Navy newly authorized by the Congress. He took his little fleet of eight ships to the Bahamas, raided Nassau, and returned to base in New London, Connecticut, on April 8, 1776, having also made prizes of two British merchantmen and a six-gun schooner. He had avoided confronting any major British warships.

John Barry was a ship’s captain based in Philadelphia. His final command before the Revolution was the 200-ton Black Prince, a ship that was owned in part by John Nixon, who would be the first person to read the Declaration of Independence to the general public, and Robert Morris. At the beginning of the Revolution, Black Prince was said to be the finest and most profitable ship in the colonies.

When war broke out, Barry immediately offered his services to the united colonies. The Continental Congress commissioned Barry as a captain in the Continental Navy on December 7, 1775, thus preceding Hopkins’s appointment, with instructions to oversee the transformation of merchant vessels into the new nation’s first warships. Congress’s Marine Committee then appointed Barry to command the new 16-gun ship, Lexington. Barry sailed from Philadelphia on March 28, 1776, and was immediately in action. Successfully eluding the formidable British ship Roebuck in Delaware Bay, he made for the open sea. On April 7, Lexington encountered HMS Edward. After a fierce two-hour battle, Barry and Lexington emerged triumphant.

This was the first major victory for the American navy and the first vessel captured by a regularly commissioned vessel. Barry brought his prize to Philadelphia, arriving on April 11, 1776. This was the first war vessel captured by a commissioned Continental naval officer that was brought to that city.

Thus, Barry was the first captain placed in command of a U.S. warship commissioned for service under the Continental flag, and after the war, he became the first commissioned U.S. naval officer, at the rank of Commodore, receiving his commission from President George Washington himself in 1797. Barry is widely considered the Father of the U.S. Navy.

Toward the middle of April 1776, the war in America was at a pause – a lull before the storm. The Massachusetts authorities were cleaning up the debris and appraising the damage wrought by the British before their departure from Boston. The siege of Quebec was at a stalemate. Commodore Esek Hopkins’ fleet lay in New London. The resolution to be introduced in Congress by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia to declare the colonies independent was still a month and a half in the future, though Virginia’s instructions to Lee to do so was would occur on May 15.

Thomas Cushing was a loyal colleague of Hancock’s in Boston, and Hancock rewarded his loyalty by securing for him the appointment as a Commissioner of Marine Affairs for that city. In this role Cushing oversaw the procurement of two 32-gun frigates for the Continental Navy. Later he was chosen as the first President of the Massachusetts Senate. However, he resigned this position when he was elected as the first Lieutenant Governor of the State. The Avery mentioned was John Avery, deputy secretary of the Massachusetts Council. Avery served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1780 until his death in 1806.

News of Barry’s victory reached Congress and its President, Hancock, the day before. Here Hancock announces its capture, referring to it as a cutter.

Autograph Letter Signed, as President of the Continental Congress, Philadelphia, April 12, 1776, to Thomas Cushing, expressing his yearning to see the freed city of Boston, and to hear all the particulars in the wake of the British occupation. He also requests an update on naval affairs, mentions Barry’s success, and that he is issuing privateering commissions. He ends by giving an insight into his view, and likely that of his fellow members of the Continental Congress, that Americans are risking everything to do all the good they can.

“Dear Sir, Three posts have arrived here, and not a line from you. Yours of 23rd ultimo, by private hands, I received yesterday, am glad Mr. Avery is safe with you. money etc. I wish to know the particular state of the ships, and everything respecting them. You say nothing about Boston. I want to hear every little stirring there. Pray are the bells taken from the steeples. I long to hear the Sound of those Bells. Do give me particulars.

“One of our vessels has sent in a cutter; Captain Barry’s letter to me you will see in the enclosed papers. We have good accounts from our little fleet at New London. I beg to be remembered to all our friends. I send by this apportion Commissions and Instructions for Privateering to the Assembly. Persevere in doing all the good you can. Where stand the militia matters? Adieu, I am greatly hurried, your humble servant, John Hancock. Mrs. Hancock joins me in best compliments to your Lady and Family.”

In an annotation written neatly in the margin, Henry Newman, Cushing’s nephew, details some of the history of this letter. He writes: ”Mr. Avery, soon after became Secretary of State for Massachusetts. And so continued nearly 30 years until his death June 1806. He married this Mr. Cushing s eldest daughter. He was one of the most fearless, resolute, and active patriots of the day. And aided in the destruction of the tea [the Boston Tea Party]. Many anecdotes of his daring conduct are related. Among others: his tearing down of the Royal flag staff and planting the Liberty pole in Boston main street in defiance of British soldiers; and his seizing of a British sentinel by the throat when on duty and nearly shaking him with his black stocks, in consequence of his insolence to some ladies on the [walk] or publick walk.”

Now into our fourth decade in this field, we have had but two other Hancock letter from the momentous spring and summer of 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was introduced, discussed and their content was nothing like this one, which contains Hancock’s personal reflections, in which you can feel his affection for his home of Boston, his statement that what the Continental Congress was doing was good and right, and happiness over the growth of the American navy. Add to this is the fact that the letter is newly discovered and unpublished, making this is a real rarity.