British Vice Admiral Samuel Graves promises not to impress men from Salem if they continue to allow British warships to get supplies there
Vice Admiral Graves was in a difficult situation: he had to get supplies for the British army in Boston, as well as for the navy, from a countryside that was now not only hostile, but actually at war against them. Before, it had been difficult for the citizens of Boston to get food and other supplies, because of the Boston Port Act that shut down all commercial shipping in Boston Harbor. Now, those who still remained in Boston (some had already left, after Lexington and Concord) were in a worse fix, and the British troops were in the same boat. No supplies could or would be brought in by land, because the New England militia surrounded the town on the landward side. And although the Royal Navy still controlled the sea, who would sell them supplies? Certainly not the towns that had sent their men to besiege the British in Boston.
In this difficult situation, Graves tried to bargain with the town of Salem, Massachusetts: he offered to release any men of Salem who had been “pressed”, to not “impress” any more, and to protect the town. In this case, the word “impress” had a different meaning than what you may be thinking of; it meant taking men from non-military ships and forcing them to join the navy. Not surprisingly, a lot of people weren’t terribly eager to live on a cramped ship, eat bad food, follow strict discipline and risk being shot at (in addition to the normal risks of sailing), so the navy sometimes got the men they needed by stopping merchant ships and “impressing” their sailors. Here is part of Graves’ letter:
If the Town of Salem mean to approve themselves good Subjects, quiet and peaceably disposed, they have now an Opportunity to shew it….let me have assurances that my People may come as formerly to purchase and that they shall be supplied and allowed to carry away what they want for the Kings Service, paying for the same, and I will not only order every prest man to be discharged who is an inhabitant of Salem, and direct no more to be impressed but I will give the Town any Protection and Assistance they can desire to enable them to continue firm in a dutiful Conduct towards his Majesty…
Naval Documents of the American Revolution, vol. 1, p. 501
Interestingly, Graves also ordered that ships would be allowed to come straight to Boston rather than having to stop at Salem first. I think that the reason they had to stop at Salem in the first place was that they had to check in at the customs office (that is, the place where British officials collected taxes for things being shipped in or out), and the Boston Port Act had made it so that there was no longer a customs office at Boston. Graves said that his reason for making it so that ships no longer had to stop at Salem was “to facilitate and encourage the bringing to Boston of Hay, Lumber, Fuel and Provisions for the use of the Garrison”. I think that part of the reason was that he knew that if ships with supplies for the British stopped at Salem, the rebels might attack and capture or destroy them.