Fisher’s Island
Yet another one of the Royal Navy’s many excursions to get food and supplies for themselves and the soldiers in Boston.
Twelve ships, including both transports and warships, showed up near New London, Connecticut, on the morning of Sunday, August 6. The locals were afraid at first, thinking that the British were going to attack, but then they realized that the British were really just after the livestock on Fisher’s Island, which was not far off the coast. Unlike some of the British foraging expeditions, which resulted in skirmishes, this one took place peacefully (because there were no American troops on the island) and was successful. Samuel Ward, a Rhode Islander, wrote to his old friend Benjamin Franklin about what he encountered on his way home from Philadelphia:
On my Return I found the People of Connecticut in Arms for sixty Miles, a Fleet of twelve Sail of Men of War and Transports had been at the Mouth of Newlondon Harbor, an Attack was expected from them but they only went to Fishers Island and got about 1000 Sheep and Lambs and 30 head of indifferent horned Cattle the only fat ones being brought off a few Days before; The Wretch who owns the Island sold this Stock undoubtedly for his Tenant had made yards down by the Sea and got his Sheep and Cattle ready for them before they landed, the People deeply resent his Behaviour: The Fleet then stood for Gardners Island…
It was certainly a worthwhile trip for the Royal Navy, but I have to wonder how long this supply of meat lasted, since there were thousands of soldiers and civilians in Boston, in addition to the sailors in the area.
I also have to wonder how all the animals were loaded onto the transports. Were they hoisted over the side with slings? If so, that would have been a long, hard day’s work.
Notes
The phrase “indifferent horned Cattle” doesn’t mean that the cattle didn’t care about being hauled off, but that they weren’t great quality cattle.
“The Fleet then stood for Gardners Island” meant that they started heading in that direction. Gardner’s Island was to the south-southwest, close to Long Island.
The fleet was commanded by Captain James Wallace.
Source
“To Benjamin Franklin from Samuel Ward, 12 August 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-22-02-0095. [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 22, March 23, 1775, through October 27, 1776, ed. William B. Willcox. New Haven and London:: Yale University Press, 1982, pp. 167–169.]
The full map can be found on the Library of Congress website at https://www.loc.gov/item/73691553/. It was made in 1766.