Struggle for Sea Power : A Naval History of American Independence (9781782397403)
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The Struggle for Sea Power
Also by Sam Willis
In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the
Age of Nelson
* * *
THE HEARTS OF OAK TRILOGY
Fighting Temeraire: Legend of Trafalgar
The Admiral Benbow: The Life and Times of a Naval Legend
The Glorious First of June: Fleet Battle in the Reign of Terror
* * *
THE FIGHTING SHIPS SERIES
Fighting Ships: From the Ancient World to 1750
Fighting Ships: 1750–1850
Fighting Ships: 1850–1950
* * *
Shipwreck: A History of Disasters at Sea
Fighting at Sea in the Eighteenth Century: The Art of Sailing
Warfare
First published in hardback in Great Britain in 2015 by Atlantic Books, an imprint
of Atlantic Books Ltd.
Copyright © Sam Willis, 2015
The moral right of Sam Willis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Hardback ISBN: 978 1 84887 8 464
E-book ISBN: 978 1 78239 7 403
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 84887 8 471
Printed in Great Britain
Map artwork by Jamie Whyte
Endpaper image: Detail from Attack of the rebels upon Fort Penobscot …, 1785 (Map image courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library/Richard H. Brown collection)
Frontispiece image: Detail from Campagne du Vice-Amiral [sic] Cte. d’Estaing en Amêrique … by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
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For Tors
‘With an undiscribable pleasure I have seen near a score of years roll over our Heads, with an affection heightned and improved by time.’*
* Abigail Adams to John Adams, 12 December 1782
‘To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.’
Herman Melville
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
List of Charts
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
PART 1 American Revolution, 1773–1775
1
British Pyre
2
American Origins
3
European Gunpowder
4
Canadian Invasion
5
Colonial Sea Power
6
British Evacuation
PART 2 Civil War, 1776–1777
7
British Attack
8
Freshwater Fleets
9
American Riposte
10
British Surrender
11
American Sea Power
PART 3 World War, 1778–1780
1778
12
Bourbon Alliance
13
French Firepower
14
British Survival
15
Caribbean Sea
16
Indian Empire
1779
17
Spanish Patience
18
Bourbon Invasion
19
British Resourcefulness
20
Caribbean Crisis
21
French Incompetence
22
American Destruction
1780
23
British Dominance
24
Allied Recommitment
25
Spanish Skill
26
Russian Meddling
PART 4 American Independence, 1781
27
Dutch Disaster
28
British Obsession
29
French Escapes
30
Allied Success
Epilogue
Glossary of Nautical Terms
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ILLUSTRATIONS
Colour section
1.
View of the Narrows between Long Island & Staaten Island … by Archibald Robertson, 1776 (Spencer Collection, The New York Public Library)
2.
Forcing the Boom on the Hudson River by Dominic Serres the Elder, 1779 (Melford Hall, The Firebrace Collection/National Trust)
3.
The British landing at Kip’s Bay, New York Island by Robert Cleverley, 1777 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)
4.
The landing of the British forces in the Jerseys … by Thomas Davies, 1776 (The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library)
5.
New England Armed Vessels in Valcure Bay, Lake Champlain… by Charles Randle, 1776 (Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1996-82-2)
6.
Washington Crossing the Delaware River by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851 (oil on canvas, copy of an original painted in 1848) (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA/Bridgeman Images)
7.
Sketch of Fort Ticonderoga, 1777 (Courtesy of The Fort Ticonderoga Museum)
8.
Sketch by Hector McNeill from Naval Documents of The American Revolution, vol. 9 (United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1986)
9.
Barrington’s Action at St Lucia by Dominic Serres, 1780 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Greenwich Hospital Collection)
10.
Barrington’s action at St Lucia: the squadron at anchor off the Cul de Sac after the action by Dominic Serres, 1780 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Acquired with the assistance of The Art Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund)
11.
Detail from Attack of the rebels upon Fort Penobscot …, 1785 (Map image courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library/Richard H. Brown collection)
12.
A colour woodblock print of the Grand Union Flag (Private Collection/Archives Charmet/Bridgeman Images)
13.
The Moonlight Battle off Cape St Vincent by Francis Holman, 1780 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection)
14.
Painting of the Baltick of Salem, 1765 (© 2013 Peabody Essex Museum. Photograph by Walter Silver)
15.
Hunter House front entrance (Gavin Ashworth, photo courtesy of The Preservation Society of Newport County)
16.
Coin commemorating the capture of St Eustatius, 1781 (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)
Black & white illustrations
Coiffure à la Belle-Poule, 1778 (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
Drawing of �
��Bushnell’s submarine boat’ by Francis Morgan Barber, 1875 (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Illustration of chevaux de frise from Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, vol. II by Benson J. Lossing (1850)
Sketch of the Hudson River chain from Obstructions to the navigation of Hudson’s River by E. M. Ruttenber (1860)
Politeness by James Gillray, 1778 (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University)
Who’s in fault? (Nobody) A view off Ushant, 1779 (© The Trustees of the British Museum)
L’escadre françoise sortant de la Méditerranée le 16 Mai 1778 by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
L’escadre françoise entrant dans la Delaware et chassant la frégate la Mermaid by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Illustration showing the French and British positions at Sandy Hook, from Rear-Admiral Charles Ekins’s Naval Battles (1824) (Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution)
L’escadre françoise mouillée devant New-york … by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Campagne du Vice-Amiral [sic] Cte. d’Estaing en Amêrique … by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Moment de l’après midi du 11 Aoust 1778 by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Le vaisseau le Languedoc dématé par le coup de vent … by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Le vaisseau le Languedoc rematé en pleine mer ainsi que le Marseillois … by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Illustration showing Barrington’s position at St Lucia from Ekins’ Naval Battles (Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution)
Drawing of a ‘Depressing Carriage’ by Lieutenant George Frederick Koehler, 1782 (Courtesy of the Royal Artillery Historical Trust)
L’armée françoise Mouillée auprès de l’Ance Molenieu dans l’isle de la Greanade by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
L’armée françoise combattant l’armée Angloise à bord opposé troisieme position by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
L’armée françoise allant reconnoitre à St. Cristophe … by Pierre Ozanne (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Illustration showing Parker’s operation at St Lucia, from Ekins’ Naval Battles (Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution)
Cartoon depicting the plunder of St Eustatius, 1782 (Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam)
Detail from a map showing York River, 1782 (Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division)
Cartoon depicting the British surrender at Yorktown, 1781 (Courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University)
The Bum-bardment of Gibralter, or f-t-g against thunder, 1782 (© The Trustees of the British Museum)
CHARTS
America Before the War
Rhode Island
Boston
New York to Quebec, Part 1: New York and the Lower Hudson
New York to Quebec, Part 2: Hudson Highlands and Lake Champlain
New York to Quebec, Part 3: St Jean to Quebec
Northern Europe
The Caribbean
The Red Sea and India
The Gulf Coast
The Chesapeake Bay
Gibraltar
The Invasion of Canada
The Pennsylvania Campaign
Philadelphia
Savannah
Penobscot
Charleston
AMERICA BEFORE THE WAR
RHODE ISLAND
BOSTON
NEW YORK TO QUEBEC, PART 1: NEW YORK AND THE LOWER HUDSON
NEW YORK TO QUEBEC, PART 2: HUDSON HIGHLANDS AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN
NEW YORK TO QUEBEC, PART 3: ST JEAN TO QUEBEC
NORTHERN EUROPE
THE CARIBBEAN
THE RED SEA AND INDIA
THE GULF COAST
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
GIBRALTAR
FOREWORD
This book has been a joy to write. It has taken more than five years and I have travelled far and wide in my research. I have visited countless new places and met countless new faces. The faces made the places enjoyable. As a maritime historian, I believe it is essential not only to visit the locations where history unfolded, but also to get out on the water and experience them. I can now say that, in the process of researching this book, I have sailed, rowed and sometimes even swum up and down the Delaware and Hudson rivers, where I trembled at the currents where the rivers meet the sea; around Long Island Sound and the Chesapeake Bay, where I marvelled at the blue-shelled crabs and sniffed nervously for sand-banks; up and down the James and York rivers in Virginia; and to and from New York, Boston and Newport, Rhode Island, where I was bewildered by the density of the summer fog. I have explored by sea numerous coastal villages in both Massachusetts and Connecticut, and I have even been lucky enough to portage a replica eighteenth-century bateau from Lake Champlain to Lake George and then sail it down that most beautiful stretch of sparkling crystal water, the first time that this has been done for 200 years. I have marvelled at the challenge of waging naval war in the heat, trade winds and relentless ocean currents off Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia and Martinique. I have been foxed by the fog off Brest, by the swells off La Corunna, and by the currents in the Bay of Gibraltar. I have both been becalmed and nearly sunk in the English Channel. I have studied books, enjoyed letters, pored over maps and hefted artefacts in dozens of libraries, archives and museums from London to New York, from Paris to Antigua.
The helpers have a special place in my heart. First I must thank the Society for Nautical Research whose generosity funded a crucial part of my research in America. I must also thank the American National Maritime Historical Society and Burchie Green, who welcomed me with such open arms. I have relied heavily on a rowdy crew of scholars who are all so generous with their knowledge and time. Michael Duffy, Roger Knight, Jonathan Dull, John Hattendorf, Nicholas Rodger, Andrew Lambert, Richard Harding, John Tilley, Olivier Chaline, Michael Crawford, Alan Jamieson, Robert Bellamy, David Manthey, Steven Park, Carl Borick, Jim Johnson, Gareth Cole and Arthur Lefkowitz all offered invaluable historical help. Others helped with their company during my research or by opening doors for me. I am indebted to Carol Bundy, Edward and Jane Handler, Simon and Laura Tucker, and Jonathon Band. Andrew Bond has been a constant presence in the last decade of my writing and Nicholas Blake an invaluable sounding board as a naval historian and wordsmith. Thank you all.
SW
Trafalgar Place, November 2014
‘Is it possible that a people without arms, ammunition, money, or navy, should dare to brave a nation, dreaded and respected by all the powers on earth?’
Extract from a letter published in the New York Gazetteer, 29 December 1774
‘In any operation, and under all circumstances, a decisive naval superiority is to be considered as a fundamental principle, and the basis upon which every hope of success must ultimately depend.’
George Washington to Count Rochambeau, 15 July 1780
PREFACE
Once I heard an American boatman, with his boat trapped hard against rocks by a raging current, and with the boat’s stern-line hard as iron, scream for more slack as she began to grate and grind against sharp granite. You could see that he felt every blow as if he were receiving the wound himself. The boat was being subjected to gross moral indignity as much as to actual physical injury. With her hull exposed and her motions awkward, the tableau felt unnatural, it felt wrong. The boatman’s eyes bulged, his chest swelled and he bellowed an order.
Now, in this situation, a British seaman would shout ‘Ease!’ or ‘Slack!’, referring directly to the stern rope that was bar-tight, the tether that was holding the boat back from the safety of the open water. But Americans have another word, and theirs refers to the boat rather than to the lines by which she is held. As this particular situation worsened from accident to crisis, with the boat shuddering with ever
y blow, the boatman set his shoulders back and roared at me – for it was I who held that stern-line – ‘Liberty!’
The problem was not that the stern-line was too tight, but that his precious boat, which encapsulated his livelihood, was trapped, pinned, restrained, imprisoned. The problem was not with the line but with the person who was holding the line, the person who was denying that ship her liberty. The problem was with me.
I was immediately enchanted by the way that the word ‘liberty’ survives in American but not in British maritime language. In a split second I began to write this paragraph in my head; in another, to the soundtrack of more splintering wood and American thundering, I began to write this book about how thirteen British colonies in America won their independence – in their eyes, their liberty – from Britain between 1775 and 1783.