The Agenda

The Revolutionary Importance of the Tavern

Contrary to popular history, the first major act of the Revolutionary War was not a Tea Party in Boston. On June 9, 1772, shattering voices and the burning of a British ship hailed the first overt act of the American Revolutionary War — right here in Rhode Island.

As any other bar in Providence today might be crowded on a week-night, in June of 1772 Sabin's tavern at Fenner's Wharf, near what is now South Main and Planet Streets, was packed. But two hundred thirty years ago, talk and gossip included revolution and world-change.

For months, the British revenue cutter H.M.S. Gaspee had been harassing vessels plying the waters of the Narragansett, trying to catch colonists attempting to evade ever-more-oppressive tariffs. The tavern occupants had heard the news that Benjamin Lindsey, captain of the Hannah, outfoxed the Gaspee, and tricked the British captain into shallow waters. Hannah, a shallow-draft trading packet, sped from Warwick through Narragansett Bay seven miles to Providence, dropping off smuggled goods and the news of Gaspee's plight. The English ship was run aground off Namquit Point in Pawtuxet, and had to wait until high tide at 3 a.m. to get back out to sea. As the news spread, so did the conviction. The colonists who called themselves The Sons of Liberty became bold with drink at Sabin's tavern and were determined to settle the matter themselves. According to the most authoritative account of what happened that night, respected merchant John Brown "immediately resolved on the destruction of the Gaspee," and after careful planning at Sabin's tavern, and a full mustering of boats, men, and munitions at Fenner's Wharf, led 60 men, many in their teens and early twenties, towards the British ship, warning them all to keep their identities a secret.

Eight long boats were deployed into the harbor, the oars and locks muffled with canvas, and they approached the silhouette of the Gaspee at midnight. The colonists took the ship with a single shot, wounding the captain, Lt. William Dudingston, whose infamous arrogance had inflamed the fury of Rhode Island's citizens. Once on board, the colonists stripped and bound the crew and took them ashore. The rest of the longboats plundered the revenue ship and went north, towards Providence, and the H.M.S. Gaspee went up in flames.

The burning of the Gaspee was "bold to the point of absurdity ... an act of sheer vengeance that would invite sure retribution"

The act was "bold to the point of absurdity," wrote Charles Rappleye, author of Sons of Providence. It was "an act of sheer vengeance that would invite sure retribution from the Royal Navy." Yet try as the British government might, no one was ever fingered, no one was ever brought before a judge, and no one was ever implicated in the Gaspee Affair. It was a conspiracy of silence, the likes of which Rhode Island has become quietly famed for.

The revolutionary act was followed by whispers and myths. The burning of the Gaspee became a legend that captures a Rogue's Island sensibility; a model of brothers-in-arms, fighting for a common cause, with the sense that loyalty never repeats a name. Even until 1972, with a commemorative plate, there were still misunderstandings about the taking of the Gaspee. A legend that this plate captures: the colonists dressed as Indians setting out to burn the ship. (This is still in debate among Gaspee historians; there's no definitive evidence that the attackers dressed this way, and most historians accept that they did not.)

One of our favorite modern legends is the tale of then Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, where he was rumored to have given her a china plate commemorating the burning of the Gaspee. A little research on our part reveals that while Buddy did meet with the Queen, the china plate he gave her actually bore the likeness of the Revolution-era sloop Providence (which was commissioned to fight Gaspee's more robust replacement) rather than a depiction of the Gaspee in flames-a more subtle joke to be sure.