How the Colonies Outside New England Reacted to Lexington and Concord

The bloody events of April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord marked the opening of the Revolutionary War, at least in New England. But how did the colonies outside of New England? It turns out, most reacted similarly.

New York

When the inhabitants of New York City learned about the bloody clash in Massachusetts on April 23, the city erupted in excitement and concern. “This whole city was in a state of alarm,” remembered one observer, “Every face appeared animated with resentment.”[1] Loyalist Thomas Jones, a justice on New York’s Supreme Court, disdainfully described the reaction of the city.

Isaac Sears, John Lamb, and Donald Campbell . . . paraded the town with drums beating and colours flying, (attended by a mob of negroes, boys, sailors, and pickpockets) inviting all mankind to take up arms in defence of the “injured rights and liberties of America.”[2]

The “mob” described by Jones marched to the docks and forcibly unloaded two ships full of foodstuffs destined for the British army in Boston.[3] They also broke into the public arsenal at City Hall and seized hundreds of muskets, bayonets and cartridge boxes as well as over a thousand pounds of gunpowder.[4]

Jones recalled that, “the whole city became one continued scene of riot, tumult, and confusion.”[5] Capt. James Montagu onboard the warship Kingfisher in New York harbor confirmed Jones’s description, reporting that

The Major part of the People here are almost in a State of Rebellion, they have broke open the City Hall, and distributed the City Arms to the Mob, were it not for the Assistance I have given the Transports, make not the least doubt but they would have burnt them.[6]

Peter Vandervoort’s description of events in New York City in the days following not only described a state of rebellion in the city, but a preparation for war. “Every day we have had People Marching both day & Night through the Streets with Arms & they are Exercising and Entering into Companies every day.”[7] Expecting New York to become a “seat of war in America,” Vandervoort, like many, sought to escape the city with his family and valuables.[8] Another account from an unidentified gentleman in New York noted,

In the course of the week they formed themselves into companies under Officers of their own chusing, distributed the arms, called a Provincial Congress, demanded the keys of the Custom-house, and shut up the Port, trained their men publically, convened the Citizens by beat of drum, drew the cannon into the interior country, and formed an association of defence in perfect league with the rest of the Continent.[9]

Lt. Gov. Cadwallader Colden reported in early May that royal authority had evaporated in New York, writing to the British Secretary of State for the colonies, Lord Dartmouth, in London,

The people were assembled and that scene of disorder and violence begun which has entirely prostrated the powers of government and produced an association by which this province has solemnly united with the others in resisting the Acts of Parliament.[10]

One writer to the New York Mercury observed,

The Martial Spirit diffused through this Province at this Juncture is almost beyond Conception; many new Companies have been already raised in this City and several more are in Contemplation.[11]

New Jersey

The news of Lexington and Concord reached New Jersey the same day it reached New York and spread quickly. The reaction among the colonists of New Jersey was similar to those in New York. On April 24, the Newark Committee of Safety declared that they were willing to risk their lives and fortunes to support American liberty and recommended to the captains of the local militia to muster and exercise their men at least once a week.[12] The committee in Morris County voted to raise 300 volunteers to drill once a week and the committee in Woodbridge applauded the bravery of the Massachusetts militia and voted to put themselves in the best posture of defense.[13] Monmouth County’s leaders declared that although they wished to remain united with Great Britain, they were determined to oppose Parliament’s illegal actions, so they voted to raise funds to purchase gunpowder and shot and recommended that every man capable of bearing arms join volunteer companies to train and prepare to march at a minute’s notice.[14] Gov. William Franklin was powerless to stop these actions and anxiously described New Jersey’s militance to Lord Dartmouth in early May:

The accounts we have from Massachusetts Bay . . . have occasioned such an alarm and excited so much uneasiness among the people throughout this and the other colonies that there is danger of their committing some outrageous violences before the present heats can subside. They are arming themselves, forming into companies and taking uncommon pains to perfect themselves in military discipline. Every day new alarms are spread which make them suspicious, and prevent their paying any attention to the dictates of sober reason and commonsense . . . All legal authority and government seems to be drawing to an end here and that of congresses, conventions and committees establishing in their place.[15]

Pennsylvania

When the news of Lexington and Concord reached Philadelphia on April 24, many inhabitants reacted as they did in New York, proclaiming their determination to resist. One unidentified eyewitness reported that the news was read “to multitudes of people, who were animated almost to madness,” and “the whole city was in the greatest ferment.” [16] Another noted in the Pennsylvania Gazette in early May that “Mars has established his empire in this populous city; and it is not doubted but we shall have in a few weeks from this date, 4000 men, well equipped, for our own defense or for the assistance of our neighbors.”[17] Each ward of the city was to raise at least one company of infantry and there were two troops of cavalry, two companies of expert riflemen, and two companies of artillery also forming.[18] Yet another observer claimed that a number of Quakers, who were pacifists, were even swept up by the military display.

It is impossible to describe the military ardor which now prevails in this City. A considerable number of Friends [Quakers] have joined in the military Association. There is one Company composed entirely of Gentlemen belonging to that religious denomination of people.[19]

Richard Caswell, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from North Carolina, described the military activities he witnessed in Philadelphia upon his arrival on May 7:

Here a Greater Martial Spirit prevails if possible, than I have been describing in Virginia & Maryland. They have 28 Companies Compleat which make near 2000 Men who March out to the Common & go thro their Exercise twice a Day regularly. Scarce any thing But Warlike Musick is to be heard in the Streets; there are Several Companies of Quakers only, and many of them beside enrolled in Other Companies promiscuously. Tis sayd they will in a few days have 3000 Men under Arms ready to defend their Liberties.[20]

Fellow North Carolina delegate Joseph Hewes commented on the amazing change that had gripped the inhabitants of Philadelphia since he was last in town in late 1774 for the First Continental Congress.

It is impossible to describe the Spirit of these people and the alteration they have undergone since I left them in December last. All the Quakers except a few of the old Rigid ones have taken up arms, there is not one Company without several of these people in it.[21]

Such enthusiasm was not confined to Philadelphia; communities throughout Pennsylvania formed militia companies. A resident of Reading, Pennsylvania noted on April 26 that “We have raised in this Town two Companies of Foot, under proper Officers: and such is the spirit of the people of this free County, that in three weeks time there is not a Township in it that will not have a Company raised and disciplined, ready to assert at the risk of their lives, the freedom of America.”[22]

Delaware

The news of fighting in Massachusetts reached Delaware only hours after it arrived in Philadelphia. Thomas Rodney recalled that when word reached the town of Dover, in Kent County, “The Inhabitants of the Town and its Neighborhood assembled at the Court House, unanimously appointed me their Captain and formed themselves into a Military Company for the defence of their rights.”[23] Similar activity occurred in the other two Delaware counties.

Captain Rodney informed his brother Caesar in early May that, “There is Ten Companies already inroll’d and we expect all the rest will be inrolled this week . . . The people go so fully into it that I expect we shall form Twenty Companies.”[24]

Caesar Rodney observed similar enthusiasm in the inhabitants of New Castle County, where the county committee levied a one shilling six pence tax on residents in order to properly equip and supply the militia companies that were forming. He informed his brother Thomas that, “the people pay it with more cheerfulness than they have been known to pay any tax.”[25] This may not have been altogether accurate, for ten days later the New Castle County Committee acknowledged some difficulty with raising revenue from the new tax.[26]

With the provincial assembly adjourned until June and no colony-wide extralegal body in existence in Delaware, the three county committees led Delaware’s response to events. The New Castle County Committee, which five months earlier had boldly recommended that all men between the ages of sixteen and fifty assemble into companies and “use the utmost endeavors to make themselves masters of the military exercise,” had significant success raising troops in the spring because of groundwork the committee laid the previous December.[27] Kent and Sussex Counties, animated by the news from Massachusetts, were not far behind New Castle County in their recruitment of militia in the spring of 1775.[28]

Maryland

In Maryland, the reaction to the news of Lexington and Concord, which arrived in Annapolis on April 26, was similar to the other mid-Atlantic colonies. Gov. Robert Eden lamented to his brother William that all was “In a thorough State of Confusion, in Maryland, due to the news from Massachusetts.[29] Eden speculated that a majority of Maryland’s populace remained loyal to the British government, but that did not prevent him from expecting “an Uproar of some Sort or another,” at any moment.[30]

Based on the reception that William Caswell and several other southern delegates to the Continental Congress received when they passed through Baltimore in early May, Governor Eden’s confidence of strong loyalist support may have been ill-founded. Caswell noted that upon their arrival at Baltimore,

We were received by four Independent Companies who Conducted us with their Colours Flying, drums Beating & Fifes playing to our Lodgings. The next day . . . Colo. Washington . . . reviewed the Troops. They have four Companies of 68 Men each Compleat, who go thro their Exercises extremely Clever, they are raising in that Town three other Companies which they say will soon be full.[31]

Having adopted one of the boldest militia measures at a previous convention in December, the delegates to Maryland’s second convention meeting in Annapolis reacted to the news from Massachusetts by reiterating their previous recommendation to, “continue the regulation of the militia . . . while at the same time declaring their wish for “a happy reconciliation” with Great Britain.[32]

Acknowledging that this might not be possible, the convention reminded the delegates headed to Philadelphia not to resort to declaring independence unless such a measure was “indispensably necessary for the safety and preservation of our liberties and privileges.”[33] It was up to the Continental Congress to decide if or when that point was reached; the Convention pledged to execute whatever measures Congress adopted.[34]

Virginia

Virginians were already alarmed by an incident that occurred more than a week before they learned about Lexington and Concord. In the early morning hours of April 21, a party of men from the Royal Navy seized the gunpowder stored in Williamsburg, prompting a militant fervor throughout the colony. Then, in late April, the news of hostilities in Massachusetts reached Virginia, undoubtedly increasing the anxiety of many, especially considering that one of the reasons for the British march into the Massachusetts countryside on April 19 was to seize gunpowder and other military stores.

Patrick Henry and many others saw a connection. Just a month earlier Henry had urged the 2nd Virginia Convention to prepare for war, ending his stirring appeal with the cry, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” He saw Dunmore’s seizure of the gunpowder as an opportunity to awaken and animate the public, confiding to several that,

You may in vain talk to [the people] about the duties on tea, etc. These things will not affect them. They depend on principles, too abstracted for their apprehension and feeling. But tell them of the robbery of the magazine, and that the next step will be to disarm them, you bring the subject home to their bosoms, and they will be ready to fly to arms to defend themselves.[35]

Henry resolved to lead troops to the capital to confront Governor Dunmore. Only through a deal whereby Dunmore’s government agreed to pay for the gunpowder was armed conflict avoided.

Although another crisis had been averted, Dunmore’s days in Williamsburg were numbered. Convinced by early June that he and his family were in danger, he fled with them to the warship Fowey in the York River. With him went all royal authority in the capital.

North Carolina

Word of the fighting in Massachusetts reached New Bern, the capital of North Carolina, on May 6, and created an uproar.[36] James Davis proclaimed in his weekly gazette that, “The Sword is now drawn, and God knows when it will be sheathed.”[37] Gov. Josiah Martin informed Lord Dartmouth in London:

The Inhabitants of this Country on the Sea Coast, are for the most part infected with the ill spirit that prevails in the adjacent Provinces of Virginia and South Carolina, whose extravagancies they are copying be arming men, electing officers and so forth. In this little Town [New Bern] they are now actually endeavoring to form what they call Independent Companies under my nose & Civil Government becomes more and more prostrate every day.[38]

Governor Martin’s focus on the inhabitants along the coast was an important distinction. Support for the patriot or rebel cause was strong in the eastern portion of North Carolina, but further west, in the interior where large numbers of Scottish Highlanders had recently settled and where many resented the tidewater establishment that had long governed North Carolina, support for royal authority remained strong. Governor Martin asserted that he could easily raise thousands of men to fight from “the interior Counties of this Province, where the People are in General well affected.”[39] His dilemma was that he could not properly arm them.

Martin did not have such loyal support in New Bern, and with tensions high in the days following the news of Lexington, he felt compelled to act on reports that the New Bern committee planned to seize several large cannons that sat upon the grounds of his residence. The governor ordered the guns dismounted from their carriages on May 22, leaving them inoperable as well as difficult to move or transport.

When the inhabitants of New Bern discovered Martin’s actions, a committee led by attorney Abner Nash, who the governor considered the “principal promoter of sedition” in the colony, arrived at the governor’s residence to request an explanation for his actions. Governor Martin offered a plausible but untruthful explanation. He explained, “I had dismounted the Guns, and laid them on the ground because the carriages were entirely rotten and unserviceable and incapable of bearing the discharge of them on the King’s birthday.”[40] Martin disdainfully recalled that Nash announced that he was persuaded and “retired with his mob,” with a bow. Governor Martin confessed to Lord Dartmouth in his report of the incident that, although the carriages were indeed in poor condition and in need of repair, “my principal object in throwing [the cannon] off the carriages . . . was to make the removal of them more difficult.”[41]

Concerned that he and his family were in danger of being seized or harmed at any moment, Martin sent his family to New York by ship on May 29. He then travelled to Fort Johnston, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River (about twenty-five miles downriver from Wilmington) where the fort and the British sloop of war Cruizer offered some protection.[42]

While Governor Martin made his way to Fort Johnston, county committees began to react to the bloodshed in Massachusetts. The inhabitants of Mecklenburg County in the western part of the colony (which Martin thought was firmly loyal to the King) adopted perhaps the boldest measures of any county.

The Mecklenburg Resolves were adopted in the town of Charlotte on May 31, 1775. They defiantly asserted that the King’s proclamation in February of that year (which declared that the American colonies were in an actual state of rebellion) placed them out of the authority of the King. This meant that all laws and commissions derived under the authority of the King and Parliament (such as Governor Martin’s authority as governor) were annulled and vacated. In other words, the inhabitants of Mecklenburg County declared that British authority over the colonies was forfeited because of the King’s false characterization of the colonies in his February proclamation.[43] The resolves went on to call upon Provisional Congresses in all of the colonies to assume the legislative and executive powers of government and for North Carolina leaders to better organize the militia that was being raised throughout the colony.[44] The Mecklenburg Resolves appeared to many to be nothing short of a declaration of independence.

Although it would be over a year before the American colonists adopted a similar position with the Declaration of Independence, Governor Martin’s flight from the capital in late May did signify the cessation (or abandonment) of royal rule in North Carolina, at least for the time being. Whether this was a temporary or permanent development remained to be seen.

South Carolina

The news of Lexington and Concord reached Charleston on May 8 and was met with outrage.[45] Henry Laurens lamented to his son in London that “The Sword of Civil War was drawn in the environs of Boston on the 19th of April.”[46] He wrote a more detailed letter a week later that declared,

We will go forth & be ready to Sacrifice our Lives & fortunes in attempting to Secure [our] Freedom & Safety . . . The daily & nightly Sound of Drums & Fifes discover a Spirit in the people to make all possible resistance against that arbitrary power complained of . . . In a word, the people are resolved to do all in their power to resist against the force & Stratagems of the British Ministry.[47]

Alexander Innes, secretary to Gov. William Campbell, arrived in Charlestown ahead of Governor Campbell, who had yet to return from England on personal business, and reported to Lord Dartmouth:

Nothing less is talked of than storming Boston, and totally destroying the British Troops. Violent resolutions have since been proposed in the Committee here, but the moderate party have so far prevailed.[48]

Innes added that the Provincial Congress, which had been called to meet on June 1, 1775 in response to the bloodshed of Lexington and Concord, was expected to raise 2,000 troops and that a loyalty test (to the American cause) and new association had already been framed. “Those not in support will be forced from the colony,” wrote Innes, and “a report from London that the Ministry has proposed to grant freedom to such Slaves as should desert their Masters and join the King’s troops . . . has raised a great ferment.”[49] Innes speculated that two British regiments in South Carolina would put things right in the colony and go far to restore the morale of the King’s friends, “who are not a few . . . [and] are in the lowest state of despondency.”[50]

No such morale problem existed among the King’s opponents, who styled themselves Whigs. Henry Laurens reported about two weeks after the news of Lexington and Concord, “In this Colony an amazing readiness is Shewn by the people to contribute all in their power to the common cause – indeed a few of us have very hard work to restrain the zeal & ardour of the many.”[51]

William Moultrie remembered that the people of South Carolina at this time were greatly alarmed and anxiously awaited the decisions of their Provincial Congress:

They saw that a war was inevitable, and that it was to be with the country which first planted them in America, and raised them to maturity; a country with which they were connected . . . by custom, and by manners; by religion; by laws; and by language; a country that they had always been taught to respect.[52]

“With little money, arms, ammunition, generals, armies, or fleets,” continued Moultrie, South Carolina’s Provincial Congress “determined upon a defensive war.”[53] Several ships were sent to the West Indies to procure gunpowder, and the Provincial Congress authorized two regiments of infantry (the only regiments of “regular” troops raised outside of New England at the time) comprised of 500 men each along with a smaller 300-man regiment of mounted rangers.[54]

Henry Drayton, a leader in South Carolina’s Provincial Congress, believed it would not be long before South Carolina joined Massachusetts in war. Drayton noted on July 3,

Peace, Peace, is now, not even an Idea. A civil War, in my opinion, is absolutely unavoidable. We already have an Army & a treasury . . . In short a new Government is in effect erected.[55]

Georgia

Prior to the bloodshed in Massachusetts, a large number of Georgians opposed the efforts of the Continental Congress in 1774 in support of Massachusetts. The situation and sentiment in Georgia changed considerably upon news of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, which reached Georgia around the middle of May. Henry Laurens of neighboring South Carolina observed on May 22, “Georgia is, notwithstanding all of the flattering accounts of Governor [James] Wright, in commotion.”[56] Laurens reported, “last Week the Magazine under the Nose of . . . Governor [Wright] was Stripped of all the public Store of Gun powder. I am well assured that at Savanna there is a large majority of the Inhabitants ready to participate in the measures of their American Brethren.”[57]

The change of heart among many Georgians was not necessarily all the result of the bloodshed in Massachusetts. Some grudgingly embraced the rebel cause out of concern over the economic impact Congress’s ban on commerce with Georgia (a punishment for not supporting the measures passed by the First Continental Congress) would have on them.

In mid-June, Lt. William Grant of the British armed schooner St. John arrived in Georgia and reported to Adm. Samuel Graves in Boston, “This Colony being like all others through America is in Anarchy and Confusion . . . In short it is with the utmost difficulty that publick officers can now do their duty.”[58]

Near the end of June, Governor Wright requested assistance from Admiral Graves, explaining that the armed schooner under Lieutenant Wright was simply not powerful enough to deal with the growing threat in Georgia. “Pardon me, Sir, for saying that an armed schooner will be of little use, or anything less than a sloop of war of some force.”[59]

Unfortunately for Governor Wright, his letter never reached Admiral Graves. It was intercepted and sent to Charlestown where the committee there replaced it with a forgery that claimed that the situation in Georgia was well under control. “It gives me the highest pleasure to acquaint you,” wrote the forgers, “that I now have not any occasion for any vessel of war, and I am clearly of opinion that his Majesty’s service will be better promoted by the absence than the presence of vessels of war in this port.”[60] The deception worked and no assistance was sent to Georgia.

With mounting turmoil and tension in the colony, the 2nd Georgia Provincial Congress (this time comprised of representatives from nearly all of Georgia’s parishes) met in Savannah on July 4, 1775 and finally agreed to adhere to the Continental Association of 1774. They also sent one last petition to the King in hopes of swaying him to intervene on behalf of the colonists.[61]

All told, the measures of the Georgia Provincial Congress were rather mild compared to their neighbors to the north. They passed no measures to organize the colony’s militia. Reconciliation with Britain was still paramount to most of Georgia’s delegates in the Provincial Congress.

[1] “Letter from New York to a Gentleman in Philadelphia, April 24, 1775,” Peter Force, ed., American Archives, Fourth Series, Vol. 2, (M. St. Clair and Peter Force, 1840), 364.

[2] Edward De Lancey, ed., History of New York During the Revolutionary War … by Thomas Jones, Vol. 1 (New York Historical Society, 1879), 39.

[3] “Extract of a letter from New York, April 25, 1775,” Pennsylvania Evening Post.

[4] William Willett, ed., A Narrative of the Military Actions of Colonel Marinus Willett (G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1831), 27; “Memoirs of William Smith, April 24, 1775,” William Clark, ed., Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Vol. 1 (U.S. Navy Department, 1965), 21 (NDAR).

[5] De Lancey, History of New York,40.

[6] “Captain Montagu to Admiral Graves, April 26, 1775,” NDAR, 1:228.

[7] “Peter Vandervoort to Nathaniel Shaw Jr., April 28, 1775, NDAR, 1:240.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Extract of a letter from a Gentleman at New York, to his friend in England, May 1, 1775,” Margaret Wheeler Willard, ed., Letters on the American Revolution, 1774-1776 (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1925), 97.

[10] “Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden to the Earl of Dartmouth, May 3, 1775,” K.G. Davies, ed., Documents of the American Revolution, Vol. 9 (Irish University Press, 1975), 117-118.

[11] “New York Mercury,” I. N. Phelps Stokes, ed., The Iconography of Manhattan, 1498-1909 (Robert H. Dodd, 1922), 887.

[12] “Newark Committee April 24, 1775,” Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (Naar, Day & Naar, 1879), 101.

[13] “Morris Committee and Woodbridge Committee, May 1, 1775,” Ibid., 105, 107.

[14] “Monmouth County, May 4, 1775,” Ibid., 111.

[15] “Governor William Franklin to Earl of Dartmouth, May 6, 1775,” Documents of the American Revoluion, 125-126.

[16] “Extract of a letter from Philadelphia, April 28, 1775,” Letters on the American Revolution, 94.

[17] Pennsylvania Gazette, May 3, 1775,.

[18] Ibid.

[19] “May 17, 1775,” Maryland Journal.

[20] “Richard Caswell to William Caswell, May 11, 1775,” Paul H. Smith, ed., Letters of Delegates to Congress, Vol. 2 (Library of Congress, 1976), 339-340.

[21] “Joseph Hewes to Samuel Johnston, May 11, 1775,” Letters of Delegates, 342.

[22] “Extract of a Letter from Reading, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1775,” American Archives, 400.

[23] Harold B. Hancock, “County Committees and the Growth of Independence in the Three Lower Counties on the Delaware, 1765-1776,” Delaware History, Vol. 15 (Delaware Historical Society, October 1973), 284.

[24] “Thomas Rodney to Caesar Rodney, May 10, 1775,” George H. Ryden, ed., Letters to and from Caesar Rodney, 1756-1784 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1933), 57-58.

[25] “Caesar Rodney to Thomas Rodney, May 8, 1775,” Letters to and from Caesar Rodney, 57.

[26] “Newcastle Committee Proceedings, May 18, 1775,” American Archives, 633.

[27] Pennsylvania Journal, December 28, 1774.

[28] “County Committees and the Growth of Independence in the Three Lower Counties on the Delaware, 1765-1776,” Delaware History, 15:285.

[29] “Governor Robert Eden to his Brother, William Eden, April 28, 1775,” NDAR, 1:242.

[30] Ibid., 1:243.

[31] “Richard Caswell to William Caswell, May 11, 1775,” Letters of Delegates,440.

[32] Proceedings of the Conventions of the Province of Maryland … 1774-1776 (James Lucas & E. K. Deaver, 1836), 12-13.

[33] Ibid., 13.

[34] Ibid.

[35] William Wirt, Sketches in the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (1817), 137.

[36] Alonzo T. Dill Jr., “Eighteenth Century New Bern: A History of the Town and Craven County, 1700-1800, Part 7, The North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 23, No. 3 (July, 1946), 331; “Governor Martin to Lord Dartmouth, May 18, 1775,” William Saunders, ed., Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. 9 (Joseph Daniels, Printer to the State, 1890), 1256.

[37] North Carolina Gazette, May 12, 1775.

[38] “Governor Martin to Lord Dartmouth, May 18, 1775,” Colonial Records of North Carolina, 9:1256.

[39] “Governor Martin to Lord Dartmouth, June 30, 1775,” Colonial Records of North Carolina, 10:46.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Ibid.

[42] “South Carolina Gazette, June 20, 1775,” NDAR, 1:598.

[43] “Mecklenburg Resolves, May 31, 1775,” Colonial Records of North Carolina, 9:1282-83.

[44] Ibid.

[45] John Drayton, Memoirs of the American Revolution from its Commencement to the year 1776, Vol. 1 (A. E. Miller, 1821), 246.

[46] “Henry Laurens to John Laurens, May 9, 1775,” The Papers of Henry Laurens, 10:115.

[47] “Henry Laurens to John Laurens, May 15, 1775,” ibid., 10:118-119.

[48] “Alexander Innes to Lord Dartmouth, May 16, 1775,” NDAR, 1:346.

[49] Ibid., 347.

[50] Ibid., 348.

[51] “Henry Laurens to William Manning, May 22, 1775,” Papers of Henry Laurens, 10:128.

[52] William Moultrie, Memoirs of the American Revolution, Vol. 1 (David Longworth, 1802), 62.

[53] Ibid.

[54] Ibid.

[55] “William Henry Drayton to William Drayton, July 4, 1775,” NDAR, 1:816.

[56] “Henry Laurens to William Manning, May 22, 1775,” Papers of Henry Laurens, 10:128-129.

[57] Ibid.

[58] “Lieutenant Grant to Admiral Graves, June 18, 1775,” NDAR, 1:716.

[59] “Governor Wright to Admiral Graves, June 27, 1775,” NDAR, 1:764.

[60] “Copy of the Letter from Governor Wright to Admiral Graves as Substituted by the South Carolina Committee of Safety,” June 27, 1775, NDAR, 1:765.

[61] Rev. George White, “Proceedings of the Georgia Provisional Congress, July 4 – July 17, 1775,” Historical Collections of Georgia, (1855), 65-80.