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Famed Rhode Island commodore (1718–1802) who served as Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Revolutionary War-dated LS, one page, 7.75 x 6.5, March 18, 1776. Addressed from "Onboard the Alfred," a letter to the Dartmouth Committee of Safety written shortly after Hopkins's successful New Providence expedition in the Bahamas, the Continental Navy's first amphibious assault, and among the earliest American naval actions conducted beyond the mainland. Writing after learning that New Bedford and Dartmouth lacked sufficient coastal defenses against possible British naval attack, Hopkins requests artillery captured during the expedition, in part: "I understand by Captain Jenning that you was in want of Guns, and I have sent by him two 9 lb guns and some Shott, which please to accept and make such use of them, as you think best; and if Opportunity permits, send the Shott he has or fears that are too big for your guns to Providence or Howlands Ferry, and you will oblige." In very good to fine condition, with professional repairs to splitting along the folds.
Esek Hopkins was appointed the first Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy by the Continental Congress in December 1775, assuming command of the small fleet organized during the opening months of the American Revolution. In February 1776, rather than proceeding directly against British naval forces in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Carolina coast as originally ordered, Hopkins led the Continental Navy's expedition against New Providence in the Bahamas, capturing substantial quantities of cannon, mortars, ammunition, and military supplies badly needed by the American forces. The operation is widely regarded as the Continental Navy's first amphibious assault and among the earliest offensive naval actions undertaken by the United Colonies beyond the mainland.
Written aboard Hopkins's flagship, Alfred, on March 18, 1776, shortly after the fleet's return voyage north, the letter concerns the redistribution of captured artillery and military stores to local patriot authorities in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Hopkins writes in part: "I have sent by him two 9 lb guns and some shot, which please accept and make such use of them as you think best." The letter directly reflects the urgent wartime shortages facing the Revolutionary cause during the conflict's opening year, when captured British military supplies often represented the colonies' principal source of artillery, ammunition, and naval stores. Hopkins's naval career later became controversial, and he was removed from command in 1778.
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