Esek Hopkins
Encyclopedia
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
Esek Hopkins (April 26, 1718 – February 26, 1802) was the first and only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy
Continental Navy
The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...
during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. He was also an accomplished merchant captain and privateer.
Early life and career
Scituate, Rhode Island
Scituate is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,329 at the 2010 census.-History:Scituate was first settled in 1710 by emigrants from Scituate, Massachusetts...
. Before the Revolutionary War he had sailed to nearly every quarter of the earth, commanded a privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, and served as a deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly
Rhode Island General Assembly
The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and the upper Rhode Island Senate with 38 senators...
. Appointed a brigadier general to command all military forces of Rhode Island in October 4, 1775, he immediately began to strengthen Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
's defenses with the help of his deputy, William West. A few months later, December 22, 1775, Hopkins was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy authorized by the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
to protect American commerce. He also was a founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati
Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a historical organization with branches in the United States and France founded in 1783 to preserve the ideals and fellowship of the American Revolutionary War officers and to pressure the government to honor pledges it had made to officers who fought for American...
.
In September 1764, during his time as a privateer and merchant, Hopkins took command of the slave ship Sally, owned by Nicholas Brown and Company. Hopkins had no prior experience in operating a slave trading vessel at the time, and the 15 month voyage would result in disaster with 109 out of 196 slaves dying after being acquired. In late 1765, the Sally arrived at its first trading destination in the West Indies, but the surviving African captives were in such poor health that most sold for very little. Hopkins' failed command of the Sally contributed to the Brown brothers reconsidering their participation in the active slave trade of Rhode Island in the 18th century.
Revolutionary War Service
On January 5, 1776, Congress gave Hopkins his set of orders. "You are instructed with the utmost diligence to proceed with the said fleet to sea and if the winds and weather will possibly admit of it to proceed directly for Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and when nearly arrived there you will send forward a small swift sailing vessel to gain intelligence....If...you find that they are not greatly superior to your own you are immediately to enter the said bay, search out and attack, take or destroy all the naval force of our enemies that you may find there. If you should be so fortunate as to execute this business successfully in Virginia you are then to proceed immediately to the southward and make yourself master of such forces as the enemy may have both in North and South Carolina...Notwithstanding these particular orders, which it is hoped you will be able to execute, if bad winds, or stormy weather, or any other unforeseen accident or disaster disenable you so to do, you are then to follow such courses as your best Judgment shall suggest to you as most useful to the American cause and to distress the Enemy by all means in your power."Hopkins took command of eight small merchant ships that had been altered as men of war
Man of war
The man-of-war was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship from the 16th to the 19th century. The term often refers to a ship armed with cannon and propelled primarily by sails, as opposed to a galley which is propelled primarily by oars...
at Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. After much deliberation about taking on the overwhelming British forces listed in his orders, Hopkins utilized the last portion of his orders. Esek Hopkins sailed south February 17, 1776 for the first U.S. Fleet operation that took the fleet to Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
in the Bahamas. He felt that it would be much more advantageous to seize a prize for the Continental Army than take a chance of destroying the Continental Navy in its infancy. He knew that the British port in Nassau would be poorly guarded and had friends there who would help his cause. The Battle of Nassau
Battle of Nassau
The Battle of Nassau was a naval action and amphibious assault by American forces against the British port of Nassau, Bahamas during the American Revolutionary War...
, an assault on the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
colony there March 3, 1776 was also the first U.S. amphibious landing. Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
and sailors landed in "a bold stroke, worthy of an older and better trained service," capturing munitions desperately needed in the War of Independence. The little fleet returned to New London
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
on April 8, 1776, having also made prizes of two British merchantmen and a six-gun schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
, but failing to capture
Action of 6 April 1776
The Battle of Block Island was a nighttime naval encounter between the Continental Navy, returning from a successful raid on Nassau in The Bahamas on its maiden voyage, and , a Royal Navy dispatch boat...
but injuring severely the on April 6. John Hancock
John Hancock
John Hancock was a merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
, President of the Continental Congress, wrote Hopkins: "I beg leave to congratulate you on the success of your Expedition. Your account of the spirit and bravery shown by the men affords them [Congress] the greatest satisfaction . . ." Not only did Hopkin's expedition get needed war supplies for the Continental Army, but it showed the British Navy that they would have to divert their ships from the belligerent colonies to protect non-belligerent areas, thereby leaving fewer British ships to fight on the war front. John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to...
was a lieutenant at this time under Hopkins.
Hopkins decision to go to Nassau rather than pursue another part of his orders concerning Chesapeake Bay of Virginia and North and South Carolina, upset southern members of the Continental Congress which added to the political, social, economic, religious, and philosophical differences already occurring between members of the Congress.
What happened next in the ensuing months was politically complex and controversial. The Continental Congress allowed privately owned ships to help in the battle against Britain. There were virtually thousands of these ships which overtook British ships helping the war effort at sea. These privateer ships were allowed to claim any items found on the British ships they conquered as their own. They therefore were able to pay their seamen and officers nearly twice the amount that the Continental Navy could pay their crews since the items captured by Continental ships went for the good of the colonies. Even after the Congress built and outfitted several more ships for Commodore Hopkins to use, he could not find adequate personnel to man the ships. John Adams, Sam Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Henry Lee, Robert Treat Pain and John Paul Jones came to the defense of Hopkins.
Neverthelss, on August 12, 1776, Congress censured Hopkins. Humiliation and an injured reputation followed after the censure. Many sources say it would have been better if Hopkins was relieved of his command after the censure, rather than resume his command with a disgraced reputation and a loss of respect from his officers. Yet shortly after this John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress wrote a resolution to have a schooner remade into a war ship and named the Hopkins, although there are no records that indicate his resolution was fulfilled.
Hopkins' little fleet was mostly blockaded in Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...
by the superior British sea power for the rest of Hopkins' tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy partly due to the fact that he had inadequate manpower to confront the enemy. A disloyal group of Hopkin's officers finally went directly to the Congress while at the same time leaving their ships without permission. Later it was proven that the allegations the officers took to Congress could not be substantiated. Not in time though, to squelch what was to happen. As time progressed, pressure on the nature of Hopkins' character and ability became increasingly significant. Even though John Hancock had congratulated Hopkins at the time, Hopkin's decision to go to Nassau in the Bahamas and the escape of the "Glasgow" was used by politically charged legislators against him. Even with the impassioned defense of John Adams, the Continental Congress voted on 2 January 1778 to relieve Hopkins of his command permanently. Nevertheless, the first act Hopkins did at the beginning of the war in Nassau, which proved later to be an effective method for the Continental Navy to use against an overwhelming British Navy, was politically used against him. Substantiating this, John Paul Jones, who had been a lieutenant directly under Hopkins, gained great respect while continuing this same type of naval warfare against an overwhelming British Navy as early as 1776 and throughout the Revolutionary War. After he became Captain of the U.S.S. Providence, U.S.S. Ranger and other ships, he continued to force the British Navy to divert their ships away from the belligerent colonies to non-protected belligerent areas such as Nova Scotia, Canada, Britain, Ireland, and Scotland, by attacking them on both land and sea.
After the Revolution and legacy
Esek Hopkins was highly respected in Rhode Island and continued to serve the Rhode Island General Assembly through 1786, then retired to his farm where he died February 26, 1802. His home, the Esek Hopkins HouseEsek Hopkins House
Esek Hopkins House is an historic home on 97 Admiral Street in Providence, Rhode Island. The house was the home of Esek Hopkins, the first commander-in-chief of the American Navy during the American Revolution....
, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
See USS Hopkins
USS Hopkins
USS Hopkins has been the name of more than one United States Navy ship, and may refer to:, a destroyer in commission from 1903 to 1919, a patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1920, a destroyer commissioned in 1921, converted into a fast minesweeper in 1939, and decommissioned in 1945...
for ships named in his honor.
Family
Hopkins was the brother of Rhode IslandRhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
governor Stephen Hopkins
Stephen Hopkins (politician)
Stephen Hopkins was an American political leader from Rhode Island who signed the Declaration of Independence. He served as the Chief Justice and Governor of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and was a Delegate to the Colonial Congress in Albany in 1754 and to the...
, a signer of the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
and first Brown
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
chancellor in conjunction with the tenure of president James Manning.
Hopkins married to Desire Burroughs (1724-1794) in November 1741. The marriage produced 9 children, including;
- John Burroughs Hopkins (1742-1796), a participant in the Gaspee AffairGaspée AffairThe Gaspée Affair was a significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. The HMS Gaspée, a British customs schooner that had been enforcing unpopular trade regulations, ran aground in shallow water on June 9, 1772, near what is now known as Gaspee Point in the city of Warwick, Rhode...
, who later became a captain in the Continental NavyContinental NavyThe Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...
. - Susannah Hopkins (1756-1850), who married Jonathan MaxcyJonathan MaxcyJonathan Maxcy was the second president of Brown University ; the third president of Union College; and the first president of the University of South Carolina.Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts on September 2, 1768, Maxcy was educated at an academy in Wrentham, Massachusetts and...
, a BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister and second president of the formerly Baptist affiliated Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
which was then known as the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
External references
- Charles H. Miller, Admiral Number One, some incidents in the life of Esek Hopkins, 1718-1802 First Admiral of the Continental Navy. The William-Frederick Press, 1962
- James C. Bradford, Quarterdeck and Bridge: Two Centuries of American Naval Leaders(Annapolis, Maryland: U.S. Naval Institute, 1997)
- Craig L. Symonds, The Naval Institute Historical Atlas of the U.S. Navy (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001)
- Kenneth J. Hagan, In Peace and War (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2008)
- Edward L. Beach Captain, U.S.N (Ret.), The United States Navy: 200 Years (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1986)
- The Complete Book of U.S. Naval Power (Publications International, Ltd.,1991)