"Armed and Equipped at Continental Expense: The..." Topic

….BIRTH OF THE CONTINENTAL NAVY

"George Washington realized early in the Revolutionary War that the British Navy provided the King's army with an advantage in mobility. Not long after taking command of the fledgling army around Boston, Washington took steps to provide his forces with a maritime arm of its own.

Several states had organized navies of their own as soon as hostilities opened and initially Washington tried to take advantage of these ships. Desperately short on weapons and ammunition, Washington wrote to Governor Nicholas Cooke of Rhode Island: "Bermuda, where there is a very considerable Magazine of Powder in a remote Part of the Island, & the Inhabitants well disposed not only to our Cause in General, but to assist in this Enterprize in particular . . . We understand there are two armed Vessels in your Province commanded by Men of known Activity & Spirit: One of which it is proposed to dispatch on this Errand with such other Assistance as may be requisite."[1] Understanding the difficulty of the mission, Washington suggested: "Should it be inconvenient to part with one of the armed Vessels perhaps some other might be fitted out or you could devise some other Mode of executing this Plan, so that in Case of a Disappointmt the Vessel might proceed to some other Island to purchase."[2] Although the governor did send a vessel to Bermuda, ships from Pennsylvania and South Carolina had already taken the powder…."
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