Don't Touch America's Boats: First Time?
This Week in 1776, #11
Nothing big happens in Philadelphia, something finally happens in Boston, and South Carolina gets a little spicy.
Last week Washington fortified Dorchester Heights with artillery, and this week he got to use it…in spirit. The cannons didn’t actually fire. The best deterrent, it turns out, is one that makes the enemy afraid that you’ll pull the trigger. The British instead launched an attack on Nook’s Hill, roughly a mile away from Dorchester Heights, shelling the position with artillery that resulted in five dead Americans. That sucks, but it was all the Brits could do while they continued to prepare for their larger retreat (next week.)
Carolina Battle
Near Sandy Point, on the Cooper River, by what is today Charleston, South Carolina, a pair of small, armed patriot boats encountered a larger Loyalist boat transporting a shipment of flour. The Loyalists opened fire, prompting the Patriots to fire back.
This may very well be the first-ever incident of “don’t mess with America’s boats” recorded in history. In a sense the Boston Tea Party could be the first, but Britain wasn’t messing with our boats, they were messing with our cargo and our money. Right here they shot at our boats and that could not stand.
In the conflict the Loyalist boat got stuck, making them an easy target, and they were eventually captured by the Patriots, who now had a cool new boat and also lots of flour.
Not the most decisive conflict in the war, just another example of how little encounters could heat up and everybody was hungry.
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