Boston June 26. 1778
[Extract] My dear Sir
I have had the great pleasure of receiving your several favours, ⅌ Blaisford,1 Capt. Barry.2 & one by an Unknown hand. . . .
I am Extreemly Glad to find you on the Marine Committee. for Notwithstanding you have not been used to Naval Matters. I Conceive you will do great Service there. I shall write to you often the little time I shall be Connected with you in that Station. & very freely. for the Subject must be better Understood. & more Attended to. or the Navy given up. though I Conceive it will soon be more Important & more necessary than An Army. did your Committee attend to this matter would they write us that they hoped 50,000 dollars would supply all our demands for sometime. we received that Money. we have recvd. the greatest part of 80,000. dollars. we drew for in favour of Mr Shaw.3 & this Morning we had not A 100 dollars in the office. & if Capt. Bradford4 had not been good enough to Supply us with £1000. we could not have pd. the Bounty to Seamen this day Entered. we must stop payment of all Bills. however reasonable or Justly due. or however hard we are duned. where to look next. or what is to be done next week I know not. this is Indeed Embarrassing. why Sir we want 500,000 dollars if it be meant we should do any thing to purpose. is it feared we shall Squander profusely. or apply fraudulently. our Accounts will be at any time ready. in three days for the strictest Scrutiny. I am my Friend also Mortified. & it is hard to be both perplexed & Mortified, while we work for Nothing. & spend necessarily more than our pay. Many things take place to make me feel very small in this office. to say nothing of our Inability to Answer the Expectations of the public & of their never knowing the reason; why when you have Appointed Captains in the Navy cant it be left to us to say which shall go in any Ship here on A vacancy. & while we & every Body else sees the service suffering must we wait for an Appointment from the Marine Committee. they Expect the Raleigh5 is prepared for the Sea. but two days ago a Captain for her Arrived here.6 & every Body acquainted with Seamen must know they will not Engage in A Ship till they know the Captain the public have Clamoured. to save our Reputation. we have been Obliged to take pains to let it be known. that you dare not trust us so far. the Brigt. Resistance has lai[n] some time. to get her to sea we appointed or rather order[ed] Capt. Olney7 to take Command of her. he is A deserving Officer. & I think would make A figure in A better Vessel. he readily obeyed & things were going on finely. An Appointment Arrives for Burke.8 he may be A good Officer but besides the Mortification to us. the Brigt. will be delayed. My favourite plan was to get A Number of these Vessels to Sea in Company. Your Committee have Approved. & desired it, but how is it possible. the Raleigh would have been ready for the Sea. if she had A Captain. she has now no Men. you have Appointed A Good one. I believe we shall Man her soon. but the Warren is almost Manned.9 Must she wait for her. I wish you would make that A Question & give me An Answer. Why when you have packets of Importance to be sent to Your Commissioners must they go through the hands of the Council of this State in Vessels provided by us.10 are your own Immediate Officers, Insufficient for such A purpose? if not it seemed a more regular Channel of Conveyance. if they are you may form a Board here of persons as Competent to that or any other purpose as the Council. & I will be ready to resign & make way for such An Appointment. I wont mention some Other Instances. because I wont be tedious. I own I am A proud fellow. but after all it is a subordinate passion to my Wishes for the Good of the Voyage. I am well pleased that you have given A Name to the New frigate at Salisbury.11 and that it is A New One.
I hope our Friend Adams is safe Arrived we hear so. & believe it. 22 days after they were out. they took perhaps the richest prize that has been made this War.12 she was retaken on this Coast & Carried to Hallifax. within 14 hours sail of this Port. she made some resistance. Our Friend13 would keep the Deck. & shew great Marks of Courage, tho the first Shot cut away the Mizen Topsail or Cross Jack Yard over his head. . . . & am assuredly yours
[no signature]
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L, NN, Samuel Adams Papers, vol. 11. Addressed below the postscript: “Honbl. Saml. Adams Esqr." Docketed: “JW June 26 — 78/Exd. No. 60/Copied & Exd."
1. Norton Brailsford.
2. Capt. John Barry, Continental Navy.
3. Nathaniel Shaw Jr., Continental Agent for Connecticut at New London.
4. John Bradford, Continental Agent for Massachusetts at Boston.
5. Continental Navy frigate Raleigh.
6. Capt. John Barry was appointed by the Continental Marine Committee to command frigate Raleigh on 30 May, replacing Capt. Thomas Thompson. See Continental Marine Committee to Capt. John Barry. LB, DNA, PCC, Marine Committee Letter Book, p. 154 (M332, roll 6).
7. Capt. Joseph Olney, Continental Navy, who formerly commanded Continental Navy brig Cabot.
8. Capt. William Burke, Continental Navy. See Continental Marine Committee to Continental Navy Board of the Eastern Department, 30 May, in NDAR 12: 488–91, Burke was commissioned a captain in the Continental Navy on 1 May. JCC 10: 412.
9. Continental Navy frigate Warren, Capt. John Burroughs Hopkins, commander.
10. For more on these packets, see Continental Marine Committee to Continental Navy Board of the Eastern Department, 5 May, in NDAR 12: 269–70, and Continental Navy Board of the Eastern Department to American Commissioners in France, 8 June, above.
11. The Continental Marine Committee decided in May to name the Continental frigate building at Salisbury, Massachusetts, Alliance. See Continental Marine Committee to Continental Navy Board of the Eastern Department, 30 May, in NDAR 12: 288–91. Previously, it had been called Hancock, as it was presumed to be a replacement for frigate Hancock.
12. British letter of marque ship Martha, Peter McIntosh, master, from London to New York, captured on 11 Mar. by Continental Navy frigate Boston, Capt. Samuel Tucker, commander. It was retaken by H.M. frigate Rainbow on 11 May near Casco Bay and sent into Halifax. Howe's Prize List, 30 Oct. 1778, UkLPR, Adm. 1/488, fols. 483–84.
13. John Adams, who was a passenger in frigate Boston.
