The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-11-18
THE ORIGINAL THIRTEEN.
The Navy During the Revolution


A feature of the Centennial next year
will be the exhibition of memorials of
the past and evidence of the present
condition of the navy of the United
States The navy has been usually a
great subject of national interest, yet
after the close of the war under the Con-
federation, and until the Dey of Algiers
taught the United States the necessity
of maintaining navy for the defense of
the commercial marine, the nation had
practically no navy. The navy of the
Revolution was disbanded at the close of
the war; the officers gave up their COM
missions; the few public vessels that re-
NAMED were sold. Several of the States
maintained small cruisers, with the con-
sent of Congress. Each State had its
own Custom House and levied its own
duties, being only restricted by the pro-
visions of treaties made by Congress.
James Fennimore Cooper has given in
his naval history such facts as can be
gathered relative to the heroic navy of
the Revolution. During the last year or
two of the war it had dwindled almost
to nothing. This was in part due to the
fact that IFS place was taken by the
French, and in part to the circumstance
that the British navy so increased its
protection of transports and merchant
vessels that prizes became infrequent.
And the assertion of sovereignty on the
seas was not yet thought of, while indie
pendence on the land was not secured.
From Cooper's history we draw some
interesting memoranda. In December,
1775, Congress passed an act ordering
the building of 13 vessels, three Of "a
guns, five Of %, and five of 80. OF
these, the Randolph, 80, built in Philadel-
phia, was blown up in an action with the
British ship Yarmouth, 81 guns, in 177S.
Three other vessels were built IN Phila.
delphia, the Washington, 80, the Effing
ham, %, and the Delaware, "a. The
first two were destroyed by the British
army, in the Delaware, in IT'S, without
getting to sea, and the Delaware was
captured in the Delaware river in 1777.
OF the other nine vessels, the fate was as
follows: The Warren, 80, was burned in
the Penobscot river, in 1779, to prevent
her falling into the enemy's hands. The
Congress, %, and the Montgomery, %,
were destroyed in the Hudson river in
TIT, with the same object, never having
been to sea. The Hancock, 80, was cap
tured by the British in 1777; the Raleigh,
80, and the Virginia, %, were captured
in 177S, and the Trumbull, %, in 1781.
In each case the surrender was neces.
sity from the disparity of force. The
Virginia, never having been to sea, was
captured by a squadron off the Capes of
the Delaware. The Providence, %, and
the Boston, "a, fell into the hands of the
British at the capture of Charleston, s.
C., in 17S0. -Ha
Such is the story in very brief terms
of the "original thirteen" vessels ordered
by the Congress of the Thirteen United
Colonies, 1775. Not one of them sur
vived in the possession of the Colonies
to the close of the war. Probably a
gloomy inference would have been drawn
from this fact, if the navy had not been
kept up by the supplies of other vessels.
About ten vessels of a force ranging
from "a guns down to 10, and two even
smaller, were purchased and fitted out
as cruisers, while the "thirteen" " were
building. philadelphia Ledger.