By &ca
The King having received Advices that not only the Four New England Governments are in open & actual Rebellion & that the People have been daring enough, amongst other Acts of Hostility, to make Seizures of several Vessels and to send the Crews to Prison, but also that the Flame has extended itself to most of the other Colonies, in which the greatest Violences have been committed, the Constitutional Authority of Government trampled upon, and the People armed and arrayed with an avowed Intention of Resistance, by Force, to the Measures His Majesty has ordered to be pursued for restoring the Public Peace, and for protecting the Commerce of His Subjects; And it being His Majesty's firm Resolution that every measure be pursued for suppressing by the most vigorous Efforts by Sea & Land, this unnatural Rebellion, which menaces the subversion of the present happy Constitution; You are therefore, in pursuance of His Majesty's Pleasure signified to us by the Earl of Dartmouth, One of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, in his Letter of the 1st Instant, hereby required & directed to carry on such Operations upon the Sea Coasts of the Four Governments in New England, as you shall judge most effectual for suppressing, in conjunction with His Majesty's Land Forces, the Rebellion which is now openly avowed & supported in those Colonies, and to seize & detain, until His Majesty's Pleasure be known, all Ships & Vessels belonging to the Inhabitants of those Colonies, such only excepted as you shall find, upon good Evidence & Information, to be bona fide the sole property of Persons who have been in no shape concerned in the Rebellious proceedings within those Colonies, and have given proof of their Attachment to the Constitution by refusing to concur in the unwarrantable measures which have been adopted to subvert it; And, in pursuance of His Majesty's further Pleasure signified as aforesaid, You are to make such a disposition of your Fleet as that, without crippling the Force necessary for the Service upon the Station where you Command in person, a small detached Squadron, under the Command of an Able & discreet Officer, may be stationed (and to station the same accordingly) at each of the following Places, Vizt at New York, In Delawar Bay, In Chesapeak Bay, And within the Bar of Charles Town; giving the Commanders of such Squadrons Instructions to do all that in them lies to prevent any Commerce between the Colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Virginia, Maryland & the Carolinas, and any other Places than Great Britain, Ireland, or His Majesty's Islands in the West Indies, including the Bermuda & Bahama Islands; To search every Vessel going into, and coming out of, any of the Ports of those Colonies, & to seize and detain them in every case in which they shall make any discovery of Contraband Trade, or Conveyance of Arms and Ammunition or Military Stores of any kind; To receive on board His Majesty's Ships, & to afford every reasonable accommodation to, the Governors or other Officers of the Colonies within their respective Stations, who may be compelled by the Violences of the People to seek such an Asylum, & generally to afford every protection in their power to any of His Majesty's Subjects who may require it; And further to cause it to be publickly signified, in all such Sea Port Towns as are accessible to the King's Ships, that if any Violences shall hereafter be offered therein to Any of the Officers of the Crown or other peacably disposed Subjects to His Majesty, or if any Bodies of Men shall be raised & armed in the said Towns, or any Military Works erected otherwise than by Order of His Majesty or those acting under His Authority, or if any Attempts shall be made to seize or destroy any public Magazines of Arms, Ammunition, or other Stores, it will be the duty of such Commander to proceed, by the most vigorous efforts, against the said Town, as in open Rebellion against the King: And you are further to instruct the Commander of each of the said Squadrons that if, after such signification, any Town shall persist in the Rebellious Acts above stated, he do proceed accordingly.
Guns
50 Experiment
44 Phoenix
44 Roebuck |
What further may be necessary must depend upon the Activity and discretion of yourself & the Commanders of His Majesty's Ships in Events as they shall arise in carrying on the above important Services; the better to enable you to perform which, as well as the others entrusted to your care. We have ordered the three Ships named in the Margin to be fitted out, in addition to the four Frigates mentioned in our Secretary's Letter to you of the 24th Ultimo, and shall send them to join you at Boston with all possible dispatch. |
Given &ca the 6th of July 1775.
Palmerston
C. Spencer
H. Palliser.
To Samuel Graves Esqr Vice Admiral of the White, & Commander in Chief of His Majts Ships & Vessels in North America. at Boston.
By &ca P.S. Sent by the Raven Sloop
