General Gage Orders Bostonians to Turn in Their Guns — Again
In Boston, General Gage and his British troops were really in enemy territory. Not everyone in Massachusetts was against the British, but the majority were — as shown by the militia troops that surrounded the town. Although his forces were strong, it was no joke living in such a situation. And although many of the townspeople who were against the British had already left town, not all of them had. Gage had ordered that everyone in town surrender their weapons, but evidently not everyone had obeyed. That was the situation when Gage published the following proclamation on July 19th:
Whereas, notwithstanding the repeated assurance of the Selectmen and others, that all the inhabitants of the Town of Boston had, bona fide, delivered their Fire-Arms unto the persons appointed to receive them, though I had advices at the same time of the contrary; and whereas I have had since full proof that many have been perfidious in this respect, and have secreted great numbers:
I have thought fit to issue this Proclamation, to require of those who have yet Fire-Arms in their possession immediately to surrender them at the Court-House to such persons as shall be authorized to receive them; and hereby to declare that all persons in whose possession any Fire-Arms may hereafter be found, will be deemed enemies to His Majesty’s Government.
Given at Boston, the nineteenth day of June, 1775, in the fifteenth year of our Sovereign Lord, George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
American Archives, Series 4, vol. 2, p. 1027.
Maybe not as many of the Bostonians still had their guns as Gage seems to have thought, but I’m sure that some of them did. And what was the result of this proclamation? I’m not really sure. I imagine that some people turned in their guns, but I doubt that everyone did; after all, they had already disobeyed orders once, so why wouldn’t they do it again?
Notes
Some terms that may be unfamiliar to you:
- bona fide: in good faith
- perfidious: treacherous
- Selectmen: town officials
- secreted: hidden