Why Should Delaware Care?
As America marks its semiquincentennial on July 4, Delaware can be remembered for its service in the statesmanship and military service in the founding of the nation.
On July 1, 1776, Caesar Rodney was in Dover, questioning British loyalists when he received the fateful word from counterparts in Philadelphia at the Second Continental Congress.
His vote had become crucial, and his presence in Philadelphia was necessary the next day.
That stormy night was the culmination of weeks of change across the American colonies and in Delaware in particular. Less than three weeks prior, there was no Delaware to speak of.
After a decade of increasing British taxes, nationwide boycotts and a crackdown on colonial dissent, war broke out in Boston in 1775. The occupation of one of America’s key cities convinced the colonies of their need to assert their independence.
Within a year, each colony would craft its own constitution to declare themselves an independent state. In June 1776, Delaware was still considered “the Lower Counties” of the Pennsylvania colony.
But state delegates met in New Castle on June 15, 1776, where they declared Delaware’s independence from both Great Britain and Pennsylvania.
Rodney casts historic vote
After expending significant political capital to secure what Rodney thought would be a successful vote for independence, the third member of Delaware’s congregation, George Read, had decided to vote against separating from the British
With fellow Delaware delegate Thomas McKean voting in favor, Read’s dissent would leave Delaware – and potentially the nation – in a stalemate. The Continental Congress intended to declare national independence unanimously or not at all.
With the nation’s independence sitting on a razor-thin margin, Rodney embarked on his famous midnight ride to break the tie and swing the Delaware delegation’s support for independence.
For 18 hours overnight, he trekked the 80 miles to Philadelphia on horseback and by carriage through thunder and rain, as detailed in a letter Rodney sent to his brother, Thomas, on July 4, 1776 — the only such letter recovered from a Congressional delegate from that day.
Aside from the national implications of the watershed moment, Rodney’s ride was an act of personal courage as well. He hailed from southern Delaware originally, where the population held more sympathetic views towards the British — Rodney’s grandfather was even an Anglican minister — though his family believed in the revolution.
As put by Ciro Poppiti, the New Castle County Register of Wills and reenactor who recently completed a horse ride from Dover to Philadelphia to honor the anniversary of Rodney’s journey, the statesman also knew he was “riding to the gallows.”
In the midst of a raging war, Rodney was potentially exposing himself to targeting by the British as one of the deciding votes for independence. Additionally, at the time of his ride, Rodney was battling facial cancer that had left his cheek and nose deeply scarred, a significant disfigurement which Rodney concealed with a scarf.
The cancer would claim Rodney’s life nearly eight years to the day of his momentous ride.
Delaware had a conflicted populace
Rodney’s ride is perhaps the most notorious single piece of Delaware lore in relation to the American Revolution. But thanks to its location, resources, and an apprehensive and divided population, the state played a significant role in the struggle for America’s freedom from the British kingdom.
During the Revolutionary era, Delaware was viewed as a valuable strategic spot, particularly given its coastline and proximity to Philadelphia, the nation’s capital and largest city at the time. The territory’s largely rural environment further made it an agricultural hub, meaning it was also a popular supplier of food for the American armed forces to the north.
The state – second smallest with just 37,000 residents in 1776 – was a melting pot of cultures, including English, Swedes, Finns, Dutch, and French, along with native tribes, enslaved Africans and free Blacks.
Similar to today’s political partisanship, the state’s geography also played a role in residents’ opinion of the Revolutionary movement. The Wilmington area was primarily a Revolutionary stronghold, along with cities like New Castle, Dover and Lewes.
Sussex County was more sympathetic to the British, even drawing the presence of American forces at times to quash small-scale rebellions, while Kent County was split.
As evidenced by the division that necessitated Rodney’s ride, the state’s population had the same misgivings about independence as anywhere else, even as the war intensified after the Declaration.
British Loyalists in Delaware continued to organize against the revolutionaries during the war and after the Declaration of Independence was signed, and in response, roving “committees of inspection and observation” were established.
These committees acted as a kind of secret police force dedicated to snuffing out British-sympathetic activities among citizens, according to Ryan Schwartz, of the Lewes Historical Society, largely achieving this through intimidation as opposed to violence.
Many British Loyalists living in Delaware ended up fleeing to Canada as the war continued and after it ended, finding Delaware to be an increasingly inhospitable place to sow dissent.
Patriots fight in the war
Despite its location and festering opposition, Delaware’s native sons also raised up a respected regiment of soldiers known as the “Delaware Blues” for the color of their uniforms – there was no standard uniform in the Revolutionary War as each state outfitted its men how it could.
They would fight at some of the war’s earliest battles, including Long Island and White Plains. They crossed the Delaware River with Gen. George Washington on Christmas night 1776 for an attack at Trenton, New Jersey.
Their founding colonel, John Haslet, would be killed in January 1777 during the Battle of Princeton.
The state of Delaware only saw one major battle during the war, which took place at Cooch’s Bridge near Newark, though there were smaller skirmishes throughout the state.
But Delaware narrowly avoided potentially becoming another main theater of the war, Schwartz said. The British were focused on toppling Philadelphia, and with previous attempts to do so via land proving futile, their plans in the late summer of 1777 turned to a naval advance on the capital via the Delaware River.
Stymied by the Delaware River’s shoaly terrain and further deterred by strong American defenses established along the body of water, the British instead decided to land at nearby Elkton, Maryland, just beyond the Delaware border.
That then led to the Battle at Cooch’s Bridge on Sept. 3, 1777, which saw the undermanned Delaware battalion of 1,200 men, officially formed just a week before the battle, temporarily hold off a group of 16,000 British soldiers before eventually retreating north to join Washington’s forces. Casualties are unclear, but a British officer commented at the time that the fighting at Iron Hill was the worst they faced on their march to Philadelphia.
While the battle is recorded as a loss for the Americans, Joe Sullivan of the Delaware Public Archive said the battalion’s efforts derailed the British advance to Philadelphia for an additional five days after the fighting had ended. That gave Washington additional time to gather troops and prepare for the oncoming British forces.
Despite the apparent setback, the Delaware battalion had fulfilled Washington’s Sept. 2 directive: “Give them as much trouble as you possibly can.”
Days later, the Delaware soldiers would fight at the Battle of the Brandywine, just over the state border in Pennsylvania. It would be a humiliating defeat for the Americans as British Gen. William Howe outflanked Washington’s army.
Following their victory at Brandywine, the British forces would decamp to Wilmington, where they occupied the city and tended to their wounded for about a month before advancing up to Philadelphia.
Along the way, the Delaware Blues would fight at the Battle of Germantown, where they suffered significant losses, including the wounding of their second leader Col. David Hall.
Delaware’s soldiers would head south in 1780 and 1781 to fight in five more battles in the Carolinas before the end of the war.
An American victory at Saratoga generated enough optimism that the French then decided to support the revolutionary effort militarily. This forced the British to expand their fight on several international fronts, diverting resources from their troops on American soil and opening the door for the Americans to emerge victorious from the war.
Rodney’s ride would not be for naught.
