21 APRIL 1776, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA: Something of the conditions of the refugee fleet from Boston can be discerned from William Howe’s general orders to the British army that “Men who die on Board Ship in harbor are to be sent on Shore to be Buried.”
Myles Cooper
Alexander Hamilton
21 APRIL 1776, LONDON: Massachusetts Loyalist Thomas Hutchinson attends Sunday services at the Temple Church, where the preacher is New York Loyalist Myles Cooper, former president of King’s College (Columbia University), once saved from a Patriot mob by Alexander Hamilton.
“A maid has appeared who was present at her first marriage and almost at its consummation. Sergeant Hawkins has authenticated the birth of at least one child.”
“Friday and Saturday have produced so much against the Duchess-Countess, that she must have been distracted to have sought the trial, or not poisoned the witnesses. …
The Duchess of Kingston or Countess of Bristol
21 APRIL 1776, LONDON: The prosecution in the Duchess of Kingston’s trial for bigamy has presented such a clear case that, Horace Walpole concludes, the duchess must be regretting not having taken extreme measures:
“and above all, to set an example which N. Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and N. York will most assuredly, in my opinion, follow.”
“This proves the indispensable necessity of our taking up government immediately, for the preservation of Society, to effect the purpose of applying with vigor the strength of the Country to its present critical state;
“In Virginia, we have certainly no Magistrate lawfully qualified to hang a Murderer, or any other Villain offending ever so attrociously against the State. We cannot be Rebels excluded from the Kings protection, and Magistrates acting under his authority at the same time.
“hoping that the spirit, wisdom, and energy of her councils, will rouse America from the fatal lethargy into which the feebleness, folly, and interested views of the Proprietary governments, with the aid of Tory machinations, have thrown her most unhappily.
“Ages yet unborn, and millions existing at present, may rue or bless that Assembly, on which their happiness or misery will so eminently depend. Virginia has hitherto taken the lead in great affairs, and many now look to her with anxious expectation,
Lee is urging Henry to use his influence at the Virginia Convention to have Virginia join the tide of colonies appointing (or electing) their own governors and judges.
20 APRIL 1776, PHILADELPHIA: “We cannot be Rebels excluded from the Kings protection, and Magistrates acting under his authority at the same time,” Continental Congress delegate Richard Henry Lee writes to Patrick Henry: leefamilyarchive.org/history-pape...
“But, on such a full sea are We now afloat, that We must be content to trust, to Winds and Currents with the best Skill We have, under a kind Providence to land us in a Port of Peace, Liberty and Safety.”
“A Man must have a wider Expansion of Genius than has fallen to my share to see to the End of these great Commotions.
“But if I can contribute ever so little towards preserving the Principles of Virtue and Freedom in the World, my Time and Life will be not ill spent.
“It requires all the Philosophy I am Master of and more than all, at Times to preserve that serenity of Mind and Steadiness of Heart, which is necessary to watch the Motives, of Friends and Enemies, of the Violent and the Timid, the Credulous and the dull, as well as the Wicked.
“A Mind as vast as the Ocean, or Atmosphere is necessary to penetrate and comprehend all the intricate and complicated Interests which compose the Machine of the Confederat Colonies.
“But, after Governments shall be assumed, and a Confederation formed, We shall have a long, obstinate and bloody War to go through and all the Arts, and Intrigues of our Enemies as well as the Weakness and Credulity of our Friends to guard against.
“I think, by all the Intelligence We have that North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey will erect Governments, before the Month of June expires. And, if New York should do so too Pennsylvania, will not neglect it. At least I think so. …
Adams, deeply frustrated that a formal declaration of independence remains politically impossible in Congress, still feels that if the colonies can become independent in practice, an actual declaration will no longer be necessary.
20 APRIL 1776, PHILADELPHIA: “A Man must have a wider Expansion of Genius than has fallen to my share to see to the End of these great Commotions,” John Adams writes to James Warren: founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
“I suppose that works will be erected there, but dont know the determination of the General.”
“as the distance acrosst the water from the places which the batteries are to be built, (or may be) is about ¾ Rods. The Forts on the Heights will not be more than one Mile and a Quarter a part, acrosst the water. I was down 2 Days agon and took the Distance.
“I leave this place so well fortified, that there is little to fear from the Enemys coming here, and good Batteries on Each side of the narrows, on Long Island, and on Straton Island, would, affectually secure this harbour, and River,
20 APRIL 1776, NEW YORK: About to leave to join the army in Canada, Continental Army engineer Jeduthan Baldwin writes to John Adams to reassure him of the impregnable strength of the fortifications that have been built against a British invasion: founders.archives.gov/documents/Ad...
20 APRIL 1776, NEW YORK: Alexander Hamilton appears in George Washington’s papers for the first time, when three NCOs and an artilleryman under his command are convicted of mutiny: founders.archives.gov/documents/Wa...
“on the top were 6 or 8 tufts of the same feathers, carried by six horses covered with black cloth and white ostrich feathers on their heads, the father following, attended by 10 or 12 Coaches.”
“next a man with a Tablet on his head covered with black cloth and charged with tufts of white ostrich feathers, then followed the Hearse,
“On my return back to the Strand met the funeral procession of young Wallace an only son drowned in the Thames a scholar at Westminster; the procession was lead by 6 Men on foot with black rods, like halberts the heads covered with white,
“to take a view of the arrangement disposition of the seats &c., all of those allotted to the Ladies were filled, and made the most brilliant appearances that imagination can form a conception of, a few Lords only being present.