The colonial army also had issues with supply, and with command. Few people had any to sell and fewer would part with them. Orders were issued to purchase firearms from private people. In order to supply the Colonial army ,besieging Boston, with the necessary means of defense, a request for firearms was made to Massachusetts, but on a closer look, it their public stores afforded only 200 arms. Some time later, Commodore Hopkins stripped Providence, one of the Bahama Islands, of a number of artillery and stores but the whole, procured from all these quarters, was far short of what was needed. Some swift-sailing vessels had been dispatched to the coast of Africa to purchase what could be procured a party from Charleston forcibly took about 17,000 pounds of gunpowder from a vessel near the bar of St. The British losses consisted of two British soldiers killed and the British ship Diana destroyed.Ī secret committee of Congress had been appointed, with ample powers to lay in a stock of this necessary article. The Battle of Chelsea Creek resulted in American victory. The British attempted to stop the removal any livestock or supplies by the Continentals and this led to the Battle of Chelsea Creek. On May 27-28,1775, the colonials began clearing the other islands in Boston Harbor of supplies useful to the British. The militia drove off the British and managed to destroy 80 tons of hay when they set fire to the island’s barn. This did not go unnoticed, and the militia attacked the British raiding party on Grape Island. On May 21, General Thomas Gage sent troops out to some of the islands in Boston Harbor to raid farmers for supplies. They recovered more than 180 cannons, along with other weapons and supplies that would prove useful for the Continental Army to break the Siege of Boston. Along with capturing the forts, they also captured a large military vessel on Lake Champlain when they were raiding Fort Saint-Jean in Canada. Under the joint leadership of Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen, a Connecticut militia company captured both Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Crown Point. On the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized Benedict Arnold to raise forces to raid Fort Ticonderoga in order to acquire its heavy weapons. This act sparked outrage in the colonies and contributed to the passing of legislation by the Second Continental Congress that established the Continental Navy. This resulted in the Burning of Falmouth.

Their resistance of the coastal communities led Admiral Samuel Graves to authorize a reprisal in October. These coastal communities and local militias rose up and resisted the British. American privateers were able to harass any supply ships however.Īdmiral Samuel Graves authorized the Royal Navy and Loyalist merchant ships to acquire supplies and other building materials. While the Royal Navy were able to resupply the city from Nova Scotia, among other locations, supplies in Boston were short. Conditions within the town were harsh for all who remained although the British maintained control of Boston Harbor, provisions dwindled while they waited for supply ships to arrive. This left Charlestown, Bunker Hill, Breed’s Hill, and Dorchester heights undefended.ĭuring the Siege many patriot residents moved out of Boston, and some Loyalists, fearing that they were no longer safe, from the surrounding countryside moved into town. In a strategic blunder, General Thomas Gage moved the forces from Charlestown to Boston, basically abandoning Charlestown. They also fortified the high ground in Boston proper. The British, under command of General Thomas Gage, ordered lines of defenses with ten twenty-four pound guns at Roxbury. In the meantime, The Massachusetts militia, under William Heath’s command, built a siege line around the Boston and Charlestown peninsulas that extended from Chelsea to Roxbury. Very Early Map of the Siege of Boston in June 1775

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