December 1775

December 1775 had two incidents (one in Virginia and one in Canada).  This highlights the fact that the war was spreading beyond  Boston.

I had never understood why many of the very early battles that took place happened in upper New York and Lake Champlain and into Canada with Montreal and Quebec.  But Ken Burns' documentary playing on PBS this week helped me understand a bit about what was going on.  In December 1775 the British were still in Boston, but the milita and patriots had them under siege with patriots camped around the perimeter of the area and the newly formed navy causing some havoc in the harbor.

The British held forts in the north in both Montreal and Quebec and the patriots decided to engage these troops in an effort to command these forts for themselves.  Last night's presentation even said something about the possibility of having these areas come into the colonies as a 14th colony.

However, the attack by the patriots was unsuccessful in the far north.  While the partriots were successful in capturing the fort at Montreal, their attack on Quebec City was the first major defeat for the Patriots.  And while the Americans continued to contemplate the possibility of attacking these areas of Canada, the sheer number of men and supplies to be transported to the far north prevented the patriots from attempting an invasion.

The second event happened in Virginia.  The Battle of Great Bridge on December 9 was by contrast a decisive victory for the Patriots.

Threatened by rebellion, Virginia’s Royal Governor, John Murray, the Earl of Dunmore, ordered the Royal Marines of the H.M.S. Magdalen to seize the gunpowder stores of Williamsburg, Virginia, the colonial capital. Word of Dunmore’s decision quickly spread, prompting militia companies from surrounding counties to converge on Williamsburg.

Dunmore fled to Norfolk and began raising an army. 

Lord Dunmore and his men were camped at Fort Murray on the northern side of the Elizabeth River.  The Patriots gathered on the south side of the bridge.  At the time of the confrontation it is estimated that there were 900 patriots gathered.  

The battle lasted less than an hour. By the time it was over, the British had lost more than 100 men killed and wounded. Only one Whig was wounded. Within the next few days, the Whigs entered Norfolk, and Lord Dunmore fled Virginia.

Here is information sent by National DAR about this battle.  The information is provided by the Great Bridge Chapter of the DAR

November 1775

 November 10, 1775 is the date of  the birth of the Marine Corps of America.   The following is taken from the DAR National Defender Magazine Nov-Dec 2025:  

Less than a month after the Navy was created, the

Second Continental Congress saw the need for Marines.

On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental

Congress at Independence Hall passed a resolution,

drafted in the historic tavern called The Tun near the

Delaware River, to raise two battalions of Marines.

John Adams nominated Captain Samuel Nicholas as the

first Marine officer. Captain Nicholas enlisted Tun

Tavern’s owner, Robert Mullan. Together, they held the

Marine Corps’ first recruiting drive at Tun Tavern.

From Philadelphia, Nicholas and the Marines soon

launched their first amphibious operation. They sailed

from the Delaware to the British Bahamas to seize

desperately needed gunpowder in the Navy and

Marines’ first overseas campaign. After General

Washington crossed the Delaware, he led the Marines in

their first land engagement at nearby Princeton.

Like the Continental Navy, the Continental Marines were

disbanded after the Revolution but reborn in 1798 in

Philadelphia, then the Nation’s Capital. In Congress

Hall, Congress passed an Act creating the “corps of

marines.” President John Adams signed the Act and

appointed the first official Commandant, who created

the famed Marine Band in Philadelphia. Launched from

the banks of the Delaware, the U.S. Marine Corps has

served the Nation ever since.

Source: Homecoming 250 Website

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025

October 1775

Massachusetts supplied General George Washington, then stationed in

Massachusetts, with an armed schooner and a sloop for the purpose of seizing

British supplies. At the same time, Connecticut and Rhode Island would arm

merchant vessels to patrol the near North Atlantic for British transports. These

small forays found immediate success.

On the heels of these successes, the Continental Congress committed itself to

naval expansion in three key ways. First, the Congress authorized the purchase

of four more ships of war. Second, it enlarged the Naval Committee to seven

men. And third, it extended the committee’s brief to building up a naval force

south of New England waters, all the way to Georgia, “for the protection and

defense of the United Colonies.”

And Thus the US Navy was founded in October 1775.  I took this information from the DAR National Defender

August and September 1775

In August and September 1775 George Washington was in Boston.  He was organizing troops, addressing supply issues, and planning for the siege of Boston.  Washington was working to bring discipline to the existing colonial militias and integrate them into the newly formed Continental Army.

In September a congressional committee visited his camp, and together they created a plan for a new Continental Army consisting of 26 infantry regiments, a rifle regiment, and an artillery regiment, with unified payment and administration under the Continental Congress.

And as our DAR National Defender explained: Finding gunpowder and weapons was a huge concern: 

 Shortly after taking command of the Continental Army

in July 1775, General George Washington ordered an

accounting of the patriots’ gunpowder stores. When he

learned the total available was a measly 90 barrels, an

eyewitness claimed Washington “did not utter a word

for half an hour.” Things were not much better by

January 1776, when Washington wrote a letter to a

trusted officer bemoaning the lack of supplies. “We are

now without any money in our treasury—powder in our

magazines—arms in our stores.

Equipping his new army and making them into a real army was a challenge.

July 1775

After George Washington was appointed as General to command all of the troops to be raised for the defense of American Liberty in June,  troops were raised to accompany Washington as he moved to the aid of the Boston troops.

The sharpshooters who accompanied General George Washington to Boston in 1775 were Continental Army riflemen recruited from the backcountry and frontier regions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. They were among the first companies raised by the Second Continental Congress to reinforce the siege of British-occupied Boston. 

Notable companies included:

Virginia: Two companies of riflemen arrived in Boston, commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan and Captain Hugh Stephenson. Morgan's men were known for their exceptional accuracy with the long rifle and their frontier skills.

Pennsylvania: Nine companies were formed into the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion, the first battalion in the Continental Army.

Maryland: Two companies of riflemen came from Maryland. 

These elite frontier soldiers were known for their marksmanship and were a new and fearsome sight to both the New England militia and the British soldiers. 

The group marched to Boston stopping in towns along the way for ceremonial welcomes as the crowds cheered their progress.  The group finally arrive in Cambridge Massachusetts on July 2 1775.  On July 3, 1775 George Washington formally took control of the Continental Army

June 1775

 

Not only was George Washington the Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in June 1775, he WAS the Continental Army.  There was not yet an army to command,  

June 17 1775 Was the Battle of Bunker Hill.  (Actually fought on Breed's Hill a short distance from Bunker Hill.

Though technically a British victory, the battle is remembered for the heavy casualties inflicted on the British forces and the colonists' display of courage and determination. 

Legend has it that as they advance, American officer William Prescott cautions his men not to waste their powder, exclaiming “don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” When British troops near the redoubt, the patriots unleash a withering volley, creating an absolute slaughter. One patriot remarks afterward, “They advanced toward us in order to swallow us up, but they found a choaky[sic] mouthful of us.” It is a veritable bloodbath as the British retreat back to their lines.

On the third advance the patriots ran out of ammunition and a hand to hand battle took place.  At some point in the struggle, a “black soldier named Salem” is credited with killing British Maj. John Pitcairn, the officer despised for allegedly ordering his men to fire on patriots during the battle of Lexington and Concord weeks earlier.

May 1775

 

The second Continental Congress was a convention of colonial delegates that met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in May 1775 shortly after the  battles of Lexington and Concord.