Broad Street Incident was a raid by the Sons of Liberty on June 6, 1775, in the early days of the American Revolutionary War. The raid was on the British soldiers' cannons, munitions and military supplies from New York City. A five-wagon British military supply convoy became a target for American patriots shortly after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. The seizure of the arm helped the patriots of the Revolutionary War.

Raid

The raid followed the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which was the first major military action between the Kingdom of Great Britain's British Army and Patriot militias of the Thirteen Colonies. The citizens of New York heard of the Battles of Lexington and Concord from a letter from Stephen Hopkins, which arrived in New York from Providence, Rhode Island on April 23, 1775. Stephen Hopkins wrote that the British army had …engaged in butchering and destroying our brethren in the most inhuman manner. The Battles of Lexington and Concord angered many New York City residents. The anger rose, and rioting started in the city. To arm themselves against British forces, the New York City British armory was stormed on April 23, 1775, in the New York Armory Raid. After the New York Armory Raid, a New York hundred-patriot citizens' committee took over the affairs of New York, and the British New York Provincial Assembly was disbanded. The committee gave permission for the 200-strong British 18th, the Royal Irish Regiment, to depart New York and sail to Boston. The troops were told to take no New York arms with them. But fearing that more British arms would be captured, there was a need for more arms in Boston for the upcoming Battle of Bunker Hill. The British troops in New York planned to take the remaining arms in New York with the Royal Irish Regiment to Boston. The British troops and the five wagons of arms headed down Broad Street to the New York Harbor. At the harbor waiting for them was the HMS Asia. The HMS Asia was a 1764, 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Thomas Bucknall. The HMS Asia was used as a cargo ship and troop transport ship in the American Revolutionary War. Seeing the wagons of munitions and the cannons heading to the docks, Marinus Willett went to the Tontine Coffee House adn then the Merchants Exchange a few blocks away and sent out a call to action to the Hearts of Oak militia and the Sons of Liberty. Willett sent out the word to gathered patriots. Willett confronted Mayor Whitehead Hicks, who was talking with the British officer, Lieutenant-General Sir John Sebright, who was with troops and wagons at Beaver Street. Willett and John Morin Scott stopped the horses of the lead wagon. Scott reminded the troops that the citizens' committee had given no permission to remove any New York arms. With Willett, Scott, many Sons of Liberty and other patriot citizens now outnumbering the troops, the patriots took the wagons and cannon with no British troop resistance. The military supplies were taken up Beaver Street and placed in a warehouse. All the patriots cheered as the arms were taken away. Later, the Patriot militias allowed the Royal Irish Regiment to depart New York without their wagon loads of arms.

Aftermath

The April 23, 1775, and the June 6, 1775, raids intensified tensions in the city and inspired other raids. On July 20, 1775, Patriots seized British supplies in Turtle Bay, New York in the Capture of Turtle Bay Depot. These two raids marked a turning point in New York from moderate negotiation to radical direct action. The supplies of the two raids were later used in the American Revolutionary War. The seized arms were used to arm the first Continental troops raised in New York by order of the Continental Congress. These raids, along with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, marked the beginning of British aggression and fueled the armed revolution. George Washington arrived in New York on June 25 from Mount Veron, he addressed the New York Colony Congress and continued on to Cambridge.

Location

The intersection of Broad Street and Beaver Street is in lower Manhattan, about 6 blocks from the harbor. The area today is known as the New York Manhattan Financial District, as Wall Street is just a few blocks north of Broad Street and Beaver Street. The Tontine Coffee House was at 88 Wall Street, and the Merchants Exchange was near Broad Street and Water Street.

See also

External links