William Tryon and the Course of Empire by Paul David Nelson

Author:Paul David Nelson [Nelson, Paul David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, History, United States, Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)
ISBN: 9781469639512
Google: CWY6DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Published: 2017-11-01T03:21:56+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The Collapse of Royal Authority

By May 1775 Tryon's health had been restored to the point that he felt able to resume the burdens of his governorship in New York, although he still was not an entirely well man. He spent the last days of April terminating business in London, and on May 4 he and his family bade farewell to friends and acquaintances in London and journeyed by coach to Portsmouth. Three days later they went on board the ship Juliana to await favorable tidal and wind conditions for sailing. On May 9 they cleared the harbor and watched the Isle of Wight pass to starboard, as they once again sailed toward America. While at sea, the Juliana fell in with a ship from Maryland, the master of which apprised Tryon of political conditions in America since the skirmishing at Lexington and Concord. Hence, as he and his family arrived off Sandy Hook at the mouth of Lower New York Bay on June 25, he was aware that a new Continental Congress had formed, had organized a military force around Boston to oppose the British army, and had appointed George Washington of Virginia as Continental commander in chief.1

Tryon was surprised to learn from the New York City welcoming delegation which met him at Sandy Hook that General Washington was expected to arrive in town that very day. New Yorkers, faced with the necessity of giving both men official welcome, resolved their dilemma simply by laying on separate, and equally impressive, festivities. Tryon played his part in this political burlesque by agreeing with Fanning, who had come out to see him on board the Juliana, to wait until Washington's welcoming ceremonies were terminated before landing. At eight o'clock in the evening, Tryon and his party finally came ashore, and according to Councillor Smith, the governor was met at the ferry stairs “by a great Concourse” of citizens, including Mayor Whitehead Hicks and Colonel John Lasher's Independent Battalion of Militia in their spanking new uniforms. Then Tryon and his wife paraded up Broadway, where they were wildly cheered by the people, thus leading Tryon to conclude correctly that he still was popular with the citizens of New York. Nevertheless, according to Smith, when Tryon reached the home of Hugh Wallace, where he and his family were to spend the night, “He appeared grave . . . & said little.”2 It is no wonder that he was sober, for those same crowds that had just welcomed him with such warmth, and those same militiamen that had just saluted him so smartly, had only hours earlier been welcoming and saluting with equal fervor a rebel general who represented for him all the radicalism, disrespect for established authority, and rebellion that he abhorred.

Only one day after his return to New York, Tryon's countenance fell further when he learned that the opponents of taxation were in such overwhelming ascendancy in his government that, as he wrote General Gage, “I. . . find the Lieutenant Governor has little authority to transfer to me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.