Christmas 1776 ~ 2006

We hope this letter gets to you. Communications are difficult because the English Navy guards our coast so close. It has been a desperate year. On the 8th July the Continental Congress in Philadelphia declared our independence from England and read the news to the populace from Independence Hall. Here in Rhode Island the declaration was read to the populace from these very steps of the English Governor’s Colony House on the 20th July where we are pictured in better times.

In the Newport Artillery Company we were divided in our loyalties. The English ordered our leader Captain Malbone to surrender the City of Newport to them and he did. However half of us have refused to be part of this and have left to join part of the American army based in Tiverton across the East Passage on the mainland. We plan to lay siege to Aquidneck Island and so prevent the English breaking out and fighting us on the mainland.

Things have not gone well for our cause. General Washington laid siege to the English in Boston but was disastrously defeated in an attack on Bunker Hill. He was able to rescue the Army and withdraw to New York but he was again defeated and has had to fall back on New Brunswick which he was forced to abandon last month. The main army is not paid in months, has little food and almost no arms or supplies. We wonder what the Continental Congress is doing in Philadelphia. They do not seem to be supporting our army. Most of Washington’s men have said they will not sign their re-enlistment papers for the New Year and will go home. Many already have in the dark of the night.

As we write we have news that General Washington has given us a glorious victory to end the year. On Christmas Day he arranged for the remaining loyal army members to be ferried across the Delaware River in the dark of the night. We hear it was a fearful operation as most men had no clothing or shoes, the ice was thin and they had to keep quiet so as to not raise an alarm. Cannon had to be hauled out the water and then hauled miles afterwards on hard snow covered roads. On the 26th he has attacked and completely surprised the feared Hessian German mercenaries the English had stationed at Trenton. They are utterly routed and mostly captured and we have lost only 4 men of the 2,400 loyal army members who attacked. We now have supplies and a great victory. The password for the day was “Victory or Death”.

We hope the news is true and that 1777 will be a better year for our cause and that we will prevail.

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Historical Note - The Continental Congress resolved to declare independence on July 2nd 1776, The populace in Philadelphia were the first to hear the news on the 8th. The Declaration was not actually signed by most members of the Congress till the 20th July and it was backdated to the 4th July - which is why we celebrate the 4th as Independence Day.

Thanks - To Rodger Grinnell of the Artillery Company of Newport and Karen Romanski for lending us their uniform and colonial dress.