Volume 5, Number 6

Welcome to this issue of your Colorado River Chapter, AZSSAR newsletter. The Colorado River, Red, White & Blue is an official publication of the Colorado River Chapter, AZSSAR.

We hope you enjoy this Newsletter and the updates and information it provides.

Chapter Meetings

Next Chapter Meeting September 14thMohave County Library

Lake Havasu City

Colorado River Chapter rotates meetings between Kingman and Lake Havasu in hopes that one locationwill be more appealing to you than the other.

Our meeting location in Kingman is Mohave County Community College, 1971 Jaegerson Ave, Kingman, which is about 4-5 miles north of I-40. The meeting room is in the Library Building in a really nice conference room across from the Library.

Our meeting location in Lake Havasu is Mohave County Library in the K-Mart Plaza at 1770 North McCulloch Blvd, Lake Havasu City.

June 2015

JROTC Award

The Colorado River Chapter participated on April 15th in the2015 Mohave High School, Bullhead City’sannual JROTC awards ceremony presenting our annual award to Cadet Major Brett Stokesberry.

Chapter President Don Rieghard makes this year’spresentation to Cadet Major Brett Stokesberry

Chapter President Donald Reighard and Cadet MajorBrett Stokesberry and his award

As a point of interest, here is a picture of what the JRTOC medal looks like, and a certificate is also partof the presentation:

Purple Heart Award

Over the past several years at the JROTC Awards presentation Don Reighard has had the honor of becoming friends with Ken Kruse a member of “The Military Order of The Purple Heart” in Arizona who also makes an annual award presentation.

Ken is a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart in Vietnam and in fact has a Purple Heart with 3 Oak Leaf clusters, meaning he was wounded 4 times.

At this year’s JROTC awards presentation Don decided he wanted to make a personal presentation toKen as a token of his appreciation for his service in Vietnam and his sacrifices which earned him the Purple Heart, so Don presented Ken a sheet of PurpleHeart stamps as shown below:

Don Reighard making presentation to Ken Kruse

I thought Chapter members would also be interested in learning more about the Purple Heart medal/award since, as you can see, the medal has a bust of George Washington in the center of the heart.

The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge ofMilitary Merit, was established by George Washington, then commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, by order from his Newburgh, NewYork headquarters on 7 Aug 1782.

The Badge of Military Merit was only awarded to three Revolutionary War soldiers. Although never abolished, the award of the badge was not proposed officially until after World War I.

The current design for the Purple Heart was based on the direction of General Douglas MacArthur, Army Chief of Staff, , 7 Jan 1931 to the Army heraldic specialists in the Office of the Quartermaster General, with support from the Washington Commission of Fine Arts and Elizabeth Will, and thisnewly designed medal became known as the Purple Heart.

The Purple Heart is a U.S. Military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed, while serving in action against theenemy, on or after 5 Apr 1917, with the U.S. Military.

With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members; the only earlier award being the obsolete Fidelity Medallion. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, NY.

Here is an estimate of the number of Purple Hearts which have been awarded to U.S. Military personnel:

World War I - 320,518World War II – 1,076,245Korean War – 118,650Vietnam War – 351,794Persian Gulf War – 607Afghanistan War – 7,027 (as of 5 June 2010) Iraq War – 35,321 (as of 5 June 2010)

As a point of interest for those of us living in Arizona, I-40 is designated a Purple Heart highway.

Campaigns and Battles of theAmerican Revolution

(1775-1783)

Our series on Battles of the American Revolution continues with this issue’s installment – Battle of Nassau (Naval Campaign, Caribbean). I hope you find it interesting and informative!

Battle of Nassau (Naval Campaign, Caribbean)

(Campaign: Feb 18 – Apr 8, 1776)

March 3, 1776

The Battle of Nassau occurred on a cold day in New England but a warm day in the Caribbean. The battlewas in the Atlantic Ocean offshore of the Colonies near the Bahamas.

Most of the action occurred near New Providence Island which is a part of the chain of islands known as the Bahamas with Nassau being the capital.

This chain of islands is just 50 miles southeast of Florida. On New Providence Island Fort Montagu (named for the Duke of Montagu) was the largest of two forts on the inland, the other being Fort Nassau. Fort Montagu was constructed of stone and shaped ina sturdy square, and was located just above the shoreline making it easily accessible, which led to later forts being constructed farther from the shoreline.

Fort Nassau was also constructed of stone but unlike Montagu was shaped like a 4-pointed star with two high-walled points which jutted northward into the harbor.

Fort Montagu today

Fort Montagu (which still stands today) guarded the eastern end of the harbor and Fort Nassau (which no longer exists and site is now a resort hotel) the western end of the harbor. The forts were located just 4 miles apart which provided for interlocking fields of fire within the harbor during any attack.

New Providence Island was governed by Governor Montfort Browne and he had a small Militia of British Loyalists. The two forts on New Providence Island had been constructed in the 1740’s and provided the only defensive positions on the island.

A look at events leading up to this battle included the formation of the Continental Navy on13 Oct 1775. By Dec 1775 the American Navy would have a smallfleet comprised of five ships: Alfred, Columbus, Cabot, Providence, and Andrea Doria. This fleet wasunder the command of Commodore Hopkins.

The tars, (or Jack Tar a common English term for seaman/sailors of the merchant marine or navy) spentNov and Dec 1775 rigging these small ships with cannon while continuing to recruit other seaman to man these vessels. On 10 Nov 1775, the Continental Congress, to support the American fleet, authorized formation of two battalions of Marines (founding of U.S. Marine Corps) to defend these ships while also providing the Navy an offensive infantry capability. The first Marine commanders were Captain Nicholas (aboard Alfred) and Lieutenant Craig (aboard Andrea Doria).

Commodore Hopkins and his neophyte navy were officially tasked to defend American commerce on the open seas on 22 Dec 1775. However, the fleet had been forming and outfitting ships at locations up the Delaware River and the river was frozen solid so the fleet was forced to remain inactive for the next few months until the ice melted so it could get to sea.

But Hopkins, not wasting any time during the winter-forced stand down, added three additional ships to thefleet: Fly, Hornet, and Wasp, while Marine Captain Nicholas recruited and organized five companies of Marines to sail with them.

It was 18 Feb 1776 before the Delaware thawed and Commodore Hopkins was able to maneuver his ships into the Atlantic Ocean for the navy’s first open water cruise. But by this time the new American fleet was comprised of the following eight vessels: Alfred with 30 guns; Columbus with 28 guns; AndreaDoria with 14 guns, Cabot with 14 guns; Providence with 12 guns; Hornet with 10 guns; Wasp with 8 guns; and Fly with 6 guns.

To give an indication of how outgunned this new American Navy was, most Navy ships during this era were outfitted with at least 74 guns, which would meant the American fleet would be sailing with little more than raw courage.

As the fleet set out to sea, Commodore Hopkins had orders which gave him the freedom to maneuver as he saw fit, however; wisely he decided against seeking out British warships and instead sailed for the West Indies. His target was the British port of Nassau, on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. Hopkins s felt that if he could capture Nassau he would be able to get his hands on the British gunpowder stored there.

Hopkins’ fleet conducted a rendezvous on 1 Mar 1776 at Great Abaco Island which was north of New Providence Island, the American ships sailed to an area known as “Hole-In-The-Wall” where they seizedtwo small Loyalists ships. The Americans forced the sailors of these two captured ships to guide them through local waters so that by the next day the American fleet sailed into Nassau Harbor.

When the Americans sailed into view of the British inNassau Harbor on 2 Mar 1776, Governor Browne was shocked. He ordered British artillery from both forts to engage the Americans with solid shot from their guns, but their shots were failing short of the American fleet.

This light British artillery barrage along with the few British sloops offshore of the island convinced Hopkins to reposition the American squadron out of range of the forts guns.

The American move left Governor Browne with a dilemma: if the American ships pressed for a decisivebattle, the British Loyalists could not hope to hold them off for long. Browne had only one British Officer and 40 Loyalists Militiamen to man the 104 guns in the forts. He was also convinced the Americans wanted to seize his large stock of gunpowder.

So in what would be conceived as a desperate move Browne ordered the bulk of his valuable gunpowder stores to be loaded on one of his sloops and sailed west to St Augustine, FL to keep them out of American hands.

While Browne was making his decision to move his gunpowder, Commodore Hopkins had surveyed the situation and decided to attack the forts from the landwith his Marines instead of getting into a risky naval bombardment.

On the morning of 3 Mar 1776, with American ships anchored in Hanover Sound, about nine miles east of Nassau, 284 American Marines and Sailors led by Captain Nicholas disembarked for an amphibious assault of the island.

When Browne found out about the American assault he and his British Lieutenant, and 40 Loyalist militiamen moved to oppose the landing, however after seeing the Americans coming ashore reconsidered this idea and returned to the fort for protection. Browne felt that concentrating his limitedmen at Fort Nassau on the opposite end of the island would be his best chance for defense of the harbor.

Browne had ordered his Loyalists to spike the artillery at Fort Montagu, however when the Americans drew near the fort several Loyalists deserted, a rather inauspicious sign for the already outnumbered Loyalists.

This action by the Loyalists caused Governor Browneto have a quick debate with his remaining men, and he decided to surrender his command to the Americans. So without firing a single shot, the Americans captured both forts and their small garrisons.

While Commodore Hopkins was happy for this easy victory, he would later find out that the night before the British had hauled 160 barrels of gunpowder ontoa sloop and sailed off to Florida. But at least with theloss of gunpowder, the Americans had seized two British forts, 88 cannons, 15 mortars, and other valuable supplies that would help the American war effort.

On 17 Mar 1776 with operations complete on New Providence Island, Commodore Hopkins ordered the American fleet to sail back north taking the prisoners with them, to include Governor Browne, the British Lieutenant, and a Loyalist officer from South Carolina.

But the Americans would add additional prizes to their bounty during their return trip north when they met up with two British merchant vessels which they captured and incorporated into the American fleet.

On 4 Apr 1776, while under sail, the Americans also met and engaged the small British warships Hawk, and Bolton, both immediately surrendered to Commodore Hopkins’s larger and stronger fleet. From the British sailors captured on the Hawk and Bolton, Hopkins learned a strong British fleet was nearby at Newport, RI. To avoid the British fleet Commodore Hopkins ordered his ships to sail towards New London, CT.

As the American fleet sailed towards New London, inpre-dawn darkness of 6 Apr 1776, they came across the British warship Glasgow, a 20 gun vessel commanded by British Captain Howe, with a crew of150 British sailors. The Glasgow was bound for Charleston, SC with British dispatches for commanders there.

When Howe spotted the American fleet he carefully approached to confirm their nationality, and when themystery ship answered his curiosity with gunfire, he replied in kind. Howe, unlike the captains of Hawk and Bolton, had no intention of raising the white flag of surrender without a fight, just because he was outgunned.

This heavy naval battle raged on for the next three hours, and although raked with iron that damaged the

Glasgow’s rigging and weakened her masts, Glasgowwas well handled and outmaneuvered her slower American opponents.

Howe returned the American fire as well as he could and did not break off contact until he had inflicted more damage than he had received. The Americans were unable to prevent Glasgow’s escape.

When this battle ended Commodore Hopkins orderedhis fleet to continue their homeward journey and on 8Apr 1776, the American fleet arrived safety in port ending the first American naval campaign.

The final results of this brief campaign were that the Continental Navy achieved perhaps more success than it had a right to expect on its first venture at sea. In addition these small victories bolstered morale andserved as grist for the American propaganda mill.

For young American naval officers like Lieutenant John Paul Jones, his service aboard the Alfred during the Battle of Nassau prepared him for a bold future maritime combat role in the American Revolution. Commodore Hopkins was not popular with his men or with Congress and his command was terminated by the Continental Congress on Jan 1777.

Although generally overlooked from the scope of its importance in the American Revolution, this first American naval campaign did have a minor strategic impact on the course of the war as the British had to reevaluate how and where it distributed supplies in the West Indies and elsewhere. Casualties were: British: (Battle of Nassau): no casualties, but 3 captured including Governor Browne; (Battle with Glasgow): 1 killed, 3 wounded. The Americans: (Battle of Nassau): none; (Battle with Glasgow): 10 killed, and 7 wounded.

Note: The Cabot’s Captain, John Hopkins was son of Commodore Hopkins and he was among the dead from the Battle with Glasgow.

Sources: A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution by Savas and Dameron.

NEXT: Battles of Fort Sullivan (also known as the First Battle of Charleston and Battle of Sullivan’s Island) (1st British Southern Expedition), 28 June 1776.

Chapter Member Birthdays

June 2015

Samuel Andress – 28th

July 2015

Brian Smith – 17th

Chapter Officers

Donald Reighard – President – (928) 680-4087

Ray Lackey – Vice President – (928) 754-1941

Mike Boop – Secretary – (928) 753-7968

Ray Lackey - Treasurer – (928) 754-1941

Jimmie Bodenhamer – Registrar/Genealogist – (928) 692-6636

Michael Boop – Sergeant at Arms – (928) 753-7968

Membership

If you need assistance with a membership issue, or know someone interested in joining the NSSAR, please provide me the contact information and I will work the issue for you.

Jimmie Bodenhamer, Registrar/Genealogist, Colorado River Chapter AZSSAR, 5805 N Cedar Ridge Lane, Kingman, AZ 86409-9345, jimmieb@frontiernet.net, (928) 692-6636.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

June 1st

Chapter Newsletter Mailed

June 14th

Flag DayFly Your Flag

June 21st

Father’s Day

July 4th

Independence Day

August 1st

Chapter Newsletter Mailed

Newsletter Editor

Hope you enjoyed this newsletter and I look forward to any comments or suggestion. Jimmie Bodenhamer,Editor, jimmieb@frontiernet.net.

Need another copy of this Newsletter? It is on our AZSSAR website link.