June 28, 1776: The Road to Independence



On the Road to Independence: June 28, 1776
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Committee of Five (John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Robert Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut), who had been appointed by the Second Continental Congress to create a declaration of independence from Great Britain, presented their draft of the document to Congress, where it was read aloud to the delegates present.  The Declaration was first composed by Thomas Jefferson then edited by Adams and Franklin before going to the entire Committee of Five for more editing.  It was the Committee’s finished document that was presented to the Congress.  Congress hadn’t decided that they wanted independence yet, but thought it best to be prepared.   (Who got to read it aloud, I wonder?  Jefferson was a notoriously bad public speaker.) 

On the same day, in New York City, currently occupied by the Continental Army, though the British fleet was expected to arrive any moment, Thomas Hickey, a member of General Washington’s Life Guard, was hanged before the assembled army and many civilians, on charges of treason, mutiny and sedition.  The Life Guard had been created several months earlier to protect General George Washington and his staff, any documents they generated, as well as the money to pay the troops.  Hickey was originally arrested, with another member of the Life Guard, for passing counterfeit money.  Unfortunately for Hickey, he and his fellow-conspirator couldn’t refrain from talking about a larger plot that involved deserting to the British and bribing their fellow soldiers to join them, as well as destroying Colonial arms, and perhaps even kidnapping and/or killing Washington and his staff when the British fleet arrived in New York.  Loose lips sink conspiracies as well as ships, as Hickey discovered to his rue.

Further south, outside the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, a small fleet of British ships, under the command of Admiral Sir Peter Parker (an ancestor of Spiderman) attempted to invade that city by way of two islands lying outside the harbor - Long Island and Sullivan’s Island.  A land force commanded by General Henry Clinton was dropped off on Long Island to wade across the narrow channel to Sullivan’s Island to assault its incomplete fort, while the fleet under Admiral Parker would bombard the fort from the sea.  Sadly, the landing party found the channel was a bit too deep for wading and had to be retrieved.  Then the British fleet discovered it was ever so slightly out of range of the fort, and the shots that did connect were simply absorbed by the soft palmetto wood of its construction.  The guns of Fort Sullivan, however, proved distressingly accurate, and after a day of withering fire the British fleet decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and withdrew to join the main fleet bearing down on New York City.  Fort Sullivan was later renamed Fort Moultrie after its heroic commanding officer, and 85 years later would play a major part in another American war.  But that’s another story.

Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present.              
                  from George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior



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