“Town Meeting. Nothing done but Harangue.”
Rowe attended committee meetings on 14 and 16 May. In his diary he noted who else came but nothing more.
In contrast, Rowe had a lot to say about what happened on 17 May:
This morning Genl. [Thomas] Gage Our New Governour landed from the Castle after having breakfasted with Admiral [John] Montague on board the Captain Man of Warr—he was saluted by the Castle & the Captain Man of Warr & Rec’d at the Long Wharf by Colo. [John] Hancock’s Company of Cadets.That last remark was Rowe consoling himself that he wasn’t invited. But the next day Rowe got to write: “I waited on Genl. Gage this morning who Received me very Cordially.”
The [militia] Regiment was under arms in King street. The Company of Grenadiers made a good appearance. Capt. [Adino] Paddock’s Company of Artillery & Colo. [David] Phipps Company of [horse] Guards were also under arms in King street.
He came to the Town House, had his Commission Read by the Secretary [Thomas Flucker] & took the Usual Oaths—from thence he was escorted to Faneuil Hall where a good Dinner by his Majesty’s Council. There were but very few Gentlemen of the Town asked to dine there.
Rowe had already expressed hope that the new governor would soften the blow of the new law: “God Grant his Instructions be not severe as I think him to be a Very Good Man.”
Notably, on the same day Gage received Rowe, the merchant skipped the next session of the town meeting. “I was so Busy I could not attend.”
He never mentioned sitting down with the town committee again. We can see Rowe’s allegiance solidify by the end of the month.
- 24 May: “The Merchants met at the Town House on Business of Importance.”
- 30 May: “I paid the General a visit this morning. Town Meeting. Nothing done but Harangue.”
- 2 June: “I met the Gentlemen Merchts at the West Side of the Court House in Boston.”
5 comments:
"The Company of Grenadiers made a good appearance. Capt. [Adino] Paddock’s Company of Artillery & Colo. [David] Phipps Company of [horse] Guards"
Nobody has ever managed to answer this question for me to my satisfaction: Whatever happened to these militia units? Any idea?
Yes, I wrote about the Paddock artillery company in The Road to Concord. It basically fell apart in September 1774. Most of the members seem to have quit rather than continue taking orders from Maj. Paddock, who had declared his loyalty to the royal government. In the middle of the month some of those members stole the unit’s four small field-pieces from the gunhouses. Paddock continued to be in command, according to Gage, but he basically had no one and nothing to command. He left with the British military in 1776. The independent Massachusetts government reorganized its forces, putting Col. Thomas Crafts, formerly Paddock’s third-in-command, in charge of the state artillery force. I’d need to look more carefully to see when the Boston militia company once again included a field artillery company, but I’m sure there was a successor unit under a new commander after the war.
David Phips also left with the British and spent the rest of his life in Britain. Again, I assume the governor’s horse guard was relaunched under new management after the war. The middle of the 1780s was an especially fertile time for militia units in Massachusetts, with veterans home and unrest in the western part of the state. But I’d have to look in almanacs and newspapers after the war to confirm when an equivalent unit was formed and who led it.
The Company of Grenadiers seem to have been stuck in Boston during the siege. They certainly weren't active during the Lexington Alarm, nor at Bunker Hill. If they were Loyalist, they didn't appear at all, although such ad hoc groups as the Loyal North British Associators served as town guards during the siege. Horse units in the militia seem to have mostly been on paper, since I have seen no mention of them in action.
The militia units in Boston basically went silent after late 1774. The Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company (not an official militia unit, but made up of men aspiring to be militia officers) tried to drill in December, as I recall, and ended up prompting a Royal Navy alert. They didn’t meet again until 1786. It was just too dangerous, and too politically fraught, to continue militia activity as usual when surrounded by suspicious regular troops.
When the war began, some Bostonian men opted to leave the town, others to stay. Those who left could join the Continental Army, like Henry Knox (third-in-command of the grenadier company). Those who stayed could choose to join the Loyalist militia companies (those Associators) that Gen. Howe encouraged. I don’t know if the latter units ever did much beyond their first enlistment. They may have existed only on paper. Or they may have helped to patrol the town in the absence of the town watch. They definitely didn’t man the siege lines.
I think it’s significant that the commander of the horse guards, David Phips, lived in Cambridge, not Boston. It was easier to keep and exercise a horse in the country. I’ve never seen a list of men who served in that unit, so I don’t know how many of them would have been caught in Boston as the war started.
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