|
Ordered, That the Members of this House, from the Towns of Needham, Newton, Weston, Waltham, Lincoln, Bedford, Woburn, Reading, Stonehatm, Lexington, Wilmington, and Maiden, be a Committee to apportion and make out what quantity it is proper each of said towns (and the Town of Natick) should supply, daily, of the fifty-eight cords, and to which place they shall send it; also, that the Members from the Towns of Roxbury, Dedham, Stoughton, Dorchester, Braintree, and Milton, with Messrs. Perry and Metcalf, be another Committee to determine what part of the seventeen cords each of said towns shall send to the camp at Roxbury, daily. As soon as said Committees have made return what quantity each town should supply, there go a recommendation from the honourable Court to said towns, to carry their respective quotas accordingly.
Ordered, That Mr. Story, Captain Goodman, and Colonel Orne, bring in a Resolve to direct a Committee to collect a part of the Militia, in the several Counties, agreeable to a Resolve of yesterday.
Upon a motion, Ordered, That Mr. Cutt be of the Committee on the Memorial from General Frye, and also of the Committee on the state and circumstances of the Sea-Coasts, in the room of Mr. Gerry.
Mr. Story, from the Committee, reported. Read, and accepted.
Resolved, That Mr. Guild, for the County of Suffolk;Messrs. Hopkins, Phillips, Mighil, and Major Cross, for the County of Essex;Colonel Spaulding, Colonel Barret, Colonel Smith, and Mr. Whitney, for the County of Middlesex;Colonel Cushing, Major White, and Colonel Sprout, for the County of Plymouth;Colonel Joseph Otis, for the County of Barnstable;Doctor Baylies, Major Hodges, and Captain Carpenter, for the County of Bristol; Mr. Singletary, Mr. Caldwell, Mr. Rice, Mr. Allen, and Captain Flagg, for the County of Worcester;Captain Goodman, Major Hawley, Major Bliss, and Colonel Field, for the County of Hampshire, be, and they hereby are severally appointed to use their utmost endeavours to raise the men, proportioned and fixed on the several towns, in their respective Counties, form them into Companies, and direct their march to Head-Quarters, agreeable to a Resolve of this House yesterday.
Ordered, That Mr. Hopkins procure one hundred copies of the above Resolve, to be printed as soon as may be.
The Committee on the Petition of John Stevens, Chairman of the Committee of Gloucester, reported. Read, and accepted, as follows, viz:
In the House of Representatives, December 2, 1775.
Considering the importance of the Harbour of Gloucester to this Colony, the exposedness of the same to the enemy, it appears necessary, that in addition to the provision already made, that more men should be stationed there to complete and defend the fortifications already erected and erecting,
Therefore, Resolved, That there be two Companies immediately raised, consisting of fifty men each, including Officers, upon the same establishment of the Forces raised for the defence of the Sea-Coasts: one Company of which to be employed to manage the artillery; and that suitable Officers be commissionated to raise and command the same. The above Companies to continue in said service till the first day of April next, unless discharged before that time by order of this Court.
And it is further Resolved, That a General Officer be appointed to take the command of the Forces stationed at Gloucester, who shall be empowered to call in the neighbouring Militia upon any emergency, as he shall judge necessary, and discharge them again, as soon as the service will admit of the same, and that the above Officers be chosen, by joint ballot, of the honourable Board and this House.
Colonel Saycr, agreeable to order, reported the following Resolve.Read, and accepted, viz:
Resolved, That Mr. Nye be appointed to repair to the East Regiment, in the County of Barwetable, and use his utmost endeavours to raise and form Companies, one hundred and twenty-eight men, who are to be officered, equipped, paid, and supported, in the same manner as is provided by a Resolve of this Court of yesterday, for raising men in several towns in this Colony, and the said men to cause to march, and to be at Head-Quarters on the 10th instant.
The Committee, for apportioning a quantity of Wood on a number of towns, reported.
Whereupon the following Order was passed, viz:
In the House of Representatives, December 2, 1775.
Whereas, the supply of the article of Wood for the Cambridge and Roxbury camps hath not been hitherto fully sufficient to answer the demands, notwithstanding the exertions of this Court for that purpose; and such a deficiency not only tends to the discouragement of the Soldiers from again inlisting into the service of the United Colonies, but, also, may be attended with a dispersion of the Army, the loss of our lives, devastation of towns in the neighbourhood, and ruin of the inhabitants:
Therefore, Resolved, That it be, and hereby is, strongly recommended to the towns in schedule annexed, to take effectual measures for daily supplying the camps with at least the quantities of Wood respectively annexed to their names, and that they by no means fail in this matter, as they regard their own safety and their country's welfare; and it is earnestly requested of the Selectmen and Committees of Correspondence in the towns above, named, that they use such precaution as will, at all times, prevent the smallest deficiency of the quantity aforesaid, by means of difficult travelling, or any other contingency.
To be carried to ROXBURY
| Cords. | Cords. |
| Roxbury, | 2 | Btaintree, | 4 |
| Dedham, | | Milton, | 3 |
| Stoughton, | 2 | Medfield, | 2 |
| Dorchester, | 3 | Walpole, | 2 |
To PRPOSPECT-HILL
| Cords. | Cords. |
| Lexington, | 5 | Wilmington, | 3 1/2 |
| Bedford, | 4 Watertown, | 31/2 |
| Lincoln, | 3 1/2 |
| To CAMBRIDGE. |
| Cords. | Cords. |
| Concord, | 3 | Newton, | 6 |
| Natick, | 3 | Weston, | 6 |
| Needham, | 5 | WaLTham, | 4 |
To WINTER-HILL
| Cords. | Cords. |
| Medford, | 3 | Reading, | 51\2 |
| Stoneham, | 21\2 | Woburn, | 51\2 |
| Maiden, | 31\2 | Wilmington, | 1 |
Ordered, That Mr. Jewet, Mr. Kingsbury, Captain Moody, Mr. Cooper, and Colonel Mclntosh, be a Committee to procure a number of copies of the foregoing Resolve printed or written, as can be done with the greatest despatch.
Upon a motion, Ordered, That Mr. Story bring in a Resolve for the dismissing a number of men stationed on the Sea-Coast.
Charles Chauncy, Esquire, brought down a Letter from , James Sullivan, Esq., giving an account of the works of defence in the Town of Falmouth, and representing the necessity of further provision for the safely of that town, and enclosing a copy of the Proceedings of the Conven-" tion of the County of Cumberland*
* FALMOUNTH, November 26, 1775.—SIR: Some time ago I troubled the honourable Board with two letters, wherein I aimed to treat of matters which I thought to be of great importance to the Continent in general, and this Colony in particular, hut fearing that a further "proceeding in that way might by them be deemed assuming and affront," and supposing that the benevolent disposition of your mind, would at the same time it pardons my intruding a long letter on you will induce you to lay such parts of it before the honourable Council, as will have a pertinent tendency to urge them to take under their considers, tion the importance of preventing the enemies gaining a camp here.
But previous to my treating of the importance of holding this place, and as evidence to support me therein, I beg leavo to give you a history of what has been done hero since Falmouth was destroyed. Soon;after Commodore Mowat, who burnt the town, had sailed for Boston, Captain Symons, in the Cerberus, arrived here, and demanded twenty sheep, two tons of hay, and twenty bushels of potatoes, as a reward for his sparing the few remaining houses; these were denied him by the people, and an alarm spread that he was going to land four hundred men; at the same time the people concluded that the Ministerial army designed to take possession of an eminence on the peninsula of Fulmoulh-Neck, for rea
|