“The Burning of the Gaspee, 1772” by Charles DeWolf Brownell


    Alexander Hamilton never needed to worry about leading a tedious, uneventful life. Drama shadowed his footsteps. When his ship caught fire during his three-week voyage to North America, crew members scrambled down ropes to the sea and scooped up seawater in buckets, extinguishing the blaze with some difficulty. The charred vessel managed to sail into Boston Harbor intact, and Hamilton proceeded straight to New York.”


    - Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow


    September 1772


    "Fire! Fire!"


    Alex''s eyes shot open as shouts rang out beyond his door. Fumbling with his belt, he stumbled out of his room, nearly tripping as the boat rocked under his feet. At the end of the passageway, Alex could see flickering orange light and shadows of the frantic crew. He ran up the ladder into a scene of chaos. People were throwing buckets of water at the fire, which had spread halfway across the deck. After a moment of shock, Alex ran to the side of the boat where sailors had tied ropes to the deck and were being hauled back up with full buckets. There was a big gap in one of the bucket lines and Alex jumped in, hauling the water a few paces to the sailors surrounding the fire. It was hot, dirty work. Soot, sweat and seawater soon caked his body, but the fire kept blazing. It was almost three hours until the last ember had burnt out. Sailors were sprawled out across the deck, and with the sun rising, the full scope of the damage could be seen. Blackened boards covered a full third of the surface of the ship, climbing up one mast and down into the storage area. Luckily the fire had been fought back before the cargo was ruined, but there was definitely going to be damage.


    The captain, sweaty and dirty, thanked the crew for saving the ship and said a few words to Alex and the other passenger who had helped out. Exhausted, Alex quickly excused himself and returned below deck where he immediately fell asleep.


    Map of Boston in the 1770s by Sir Thomas Hyde


    References


    D: Faneuil Hall (Market)A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    E: City Hall


    F: Old Meeting House


    G: Prison


    Map of Boston in the 1770s by Sir Thomas Hyde


    https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3764b.ct000250/?r=-0.8,-0.272,2.599,1.557,0</a>


    Drawing of Boston Harbor 1730 - 1760


    https://www.loc.gov/resource/pga.04612/</a>


    Idealized Drawing of Boston Harbor 1775


    https://www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.30573/</a>


    October 1772


    After nearly being forced to abandon ship in the mid Atlantic, the rest of the trip went smoothly. Five weeks after leaving St. Croix, Alex’s ship crawled into Boston Harbor, drawing no small amount of attention from the blackened deck and mast. Alex’s eyes widened as they started to approach. Hundreds of ships filled the area, packed into scores of wharfs along the island. Ships and trade had been part of his life since he was a child, but the sheer scale of Boston Harbor took his breath away. As the ship docked Alex regained his composure, and before long he stepped onto the American Colonies for the first time, head raised high.


    It took over an hour to secure passage to New York City but he finally found a ship leaving later in the afternoon and deposited his trunk in the hold. Not wanting to be late he didn’t wander far. Leaving the Long Wharf he walked up King Street. Straight ahead was a regal building that could only be City Hall and a crowd of people and carriages filled the street. He walked forward and was swept away to the right along a street with the name Merchants Row carved into the stone of the building as he passed. Shops of every possible type lined both sides of the road with people constantly rushing to and fro, shouts, banter and conversation mixing together into a general level of noise. After a few hundred paces he emerged into open space again, with a dock stretching out to his left and a single hall positioned in the center of it all acting as a general marketplace. Alex stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and then began exploring. Passing the small slave market, he entered under an epigraph reading Faneuil Hall. Over the next couple hours Alex played the tourist, wandering throughout the market and the rest of the area. As he walked between shops he picked up a newspaper.


    The first page was filled with an impassioned response to last week’s paper. Returning to the wharf by this point, Alex found a place to sit and started reading more thoroughly. The article was through and wandering and yet ask he walked to his boat the phrase “Glorious Seat of Justice” kept repeating in his brain.


    The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal


    Containing the Freshest Advices Foreign and Domestic


    Monday, 12 October 1772


    “He who dares my rights invade


    By Nature’s oldest Law is made


    My Victim or My Slave”


    … I ask whether such a government as is over this distant land is worth preserving ; yea rather I ask,–whether the cry ought not to be as in the days of Sampson, know you not that the Philistines are rulers over you? …


    https://www.masshist.org/dorr/volume/4/sequence/241</a>