The Burning of the GaspeePatriotic or Criminal Action?

Setting the Stage• There was already tension between the Rhode

Island smugglers and the British tax enforcers when the Gaspee arrived in March of 1772.

• The captain of the Gaspee (Lieutenant

Dudingston) proved to be determined to control the smuggling of foreign goods into Rhode Island. Dudingston was as determined as Charles Dudley (the captain of the Liberty) to control smuggling.

• Dudingston was a very stubborn man whose taking of the cargo on Rhode Island ships was sometimes unlawful.

June 9th, 1772 (noon)•Captain Benjamin Lindsey, a Rhode Island

merchant and captain of the boat Hannah, set sail from Newport to Providence.

•The Gaspee then followed the Hannah all the way up to Namquit Point in Warwick, in order to check the Hannah for smuggled goods.

•The Hannah tried to out maneuver the Gaspee; the Hannah was a much smaller boat, and it eventually lured the Gaspee into shallow water where the boat became stuck.

What Happened Next?• Benjamin Lindsey and the Hannah made it to

Providence around sunset. News travelled about what had happened. One spectator was quoted to say,

“a man passed along the main street, beating a drum, and informing the inhabitants of the fact that the Gaspee was aground on Namquit Point [and] would not float until 3 o’clock the next morning… and invited those persons who felt a desire to go and destroy the troublesome vessel.”

• A group of prominent Providence men including John Brown (a merchant) and Joseph Bucklin (a wealthy businessman) decided to burn the ship and Captain Abraham Whipple led the raid.

Burning the Boat•The boats from Providence were rowed with

muffled oars until they reached the stranded ship.

•Dudingston was awake and told to surrender. Shots were fired and Dudingston went down. The schooner (a type of boat) was boarded and, while a doctor was found to dress the captain’s wounds, the Rhode Islanders went through his papers and ransacked the ship.

• The crew and Dudingston were brought ashore at the Still-House Cove in Pawtuxet and the Gaspee was burned on site.

• Namquit Point is now called Gaspee Point, and the Gaspee Days parade is celebrated every June in Warwick, Rhode Island.