Maria Stuart Proctor's War - Halifax, April 1775-March 1776

When undeclared war broke out on 19 April 1775 at Lexington/Concord, three Royal Navy vessels were in the Halifax careening yard. Immediate instructions were sent to the 28-gun HMS Tartar to remain in Halifax Harbour 'for the protection of the King's Yard and Stores.' Still, those more knowledgeable about Nova Scotia, aware that the 9,000 odd New England Yankees in the colony were not liable either to support or rebel against British policy, had little else to worry about than the sudden, single torching of hay meant for the military garrison. Their real fears centred on the possibility of the Americans invading or rebel pirates from Machias, twenty miles south of the province. For Maria Proctor, about to reach the marriageable age of twelve, in a world where marriage for a woman was 'an economic necessity', the departure of four companies of the 65^th Regiment for Boston, leaving behind only three companies, totalling sixty-seven officers and men, seemed to promise a bleak future. There was no immediate prospect of gaining a potential husband with the immediate dearth of officers available. The arrival of the first refugee Loyalists from Boston or news that two Loyalist regiments were soon to be stationed in Nova Scotia¹ did little to raise her spirits.

The capture of HMS Margaretta by the Machias privateers and the news of Bunker Hill had an effect on Nova Scotia's Governor Francis Legge that spread through the town and could not have escaped notice by the Proctors. He proclaimed loyalty oaths be administered to all newcomers from the American colonies, the first of a long series of proclamations ranging from a six month ban on the export of arms, ammunition and saltpetre, a prohibition on aiding the rebels in New England to a ban on the distribution of American newspapers sympathetic to the rebel cause. The net effect of his suspicions, which, in June 1775 were not entirely well-founded, was to alarm the Halifax population and offend the Nova Scotia Yankees on the out-settlements. For Maria it must have been an uneasy time, especially if, in moments of solitude, she displayed the intense anxieties which dominated her adult life.²

To add to her unease, late June, 1775 saw an outbreak of a smallpox epidemic in Halifax. The pastor of St. Paul's, the Proctor family's church, exhorted his congregation to have themselves inoculated. Maria was probably among the first of his parishioners to heed his advice on July 1, when two of the town's doctors inoculated two hundred civilians and nineteen orphans. She may have known some of the first smallpox victims buried at the church on 23 July. These probably were Americans possibly known to her father through his Yankee origins. One hundred and forty people had died of the disease by December 1775 and about 200 soldiers fell ill with it.³

Among the merchant class a panic erupted over the activities of the Machias privateers in the Bay of Fundy, the sea approach to Halifax. One merchant refused to let his three vessels, loaded with hay for Boston, leave the harbour. '[W]e could not suffer the loss ourselves', he wrote in explanation to Boston, a sentiment undoubtedly sympathised with by the Proctors, failed merchants themselves. Further reminders of war came at 'about ½ past 10' on the night of 8 July, when a fire broke out at the naval dockyard in the 'Paint [Section] of the Boat-house'. The sparks swirling from the flames spiralling into the night air alarmed the town; fire was the greatest dread imaginable for colonial wooden towns of the eighteenth century. Maria Proctor probably stood in the crowd on the Halifax hillside watching the ominous red sky with great apprehension. Fortunately the fire was brought under control quickly but the morning after rumours spread it had been lit deliberately by rebel sympathisers in an attempt to destroy the yard's powder magazine. The sense of menace over Halifax grew as, thereafter, militia patrolled the streets at night looking for non-existent rebels. Governor Legge increased the guard around the ordnance store in the yard, leaving his own quarters without a sentry. Perturbed by the report of Halifax's lack of fortification, crumbling batteries, and that out of the 65^th Legge had only thirty effective men, the rest being unfit for service, Admiral Graves sent orders from Boston that a marine guard be used to defend the naval yard.⁴

Halifax began to change in ways that Maria Proctor could notice. One hundred and forty two artificers arrived from the home dockyards of Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth. These shipwrights, caulkers, house carpenters, joiners and labourers mounted 'guard every night for the protection of the yard &c.' One day in early September the children of the town, the young Proctors among them, were delighted by the sudden appearance of a recruiting sergeant and drummer beating up the main street. They were raising local recruits for the Loyalist Royal Highland Emigrants. Seven young men joined. Governor Legge, who had his own plans for raising one thousand men across Nova Scotia, quickly put an end to such efforts. Men-of-war began arriving in the harbour with prizes of rebel privateers captured in the Bay of Fundy. Workmen, hurrying against the frost and rains of the coming autumn, could be seen building temporary timber 'Block houses & Palisades' outside the Navy Yard. These would form a retreat for 'the People of the Town' should Halifax come under attack, and could easily be defended by them.⁵

The first snow, brought by a nor-wester, arrived about early October and had well and truly set in by the end of the month. Halifax was used to Royal Navy personnel but the increased numbers from the 64-gun Somerset, stationed to protect the dockyard and stores during the winter, the smaller Cerberus, there for careening, and the dismasted Orpheus, soon joined by the Fowey, carrying two small contingents of Loyalist troops raised in Boston, would not have escaped Maria Proctor's attention. It was common knowledge, too that the HMS Scarborough was patrolling the Bay of Fundy 'interrupting the American privateers. As in Boston, the navy was always short of crew. Press-gangs boarded Halifax merchantmen in the harbour and scoured the town streets, taverns close by the dockyard. The Proctor family, like everybody else in Halifax, feared a possible shortage of fuel 'and other necessary Supplies' should seamen shun the port to avoid impressment. The General Assembly made a special appeal to the Governor that 'Seamen belonging to the Vessels in Nova Scotia ma y not be impressed', a plea which would be ignored by the new Commander-in-Chief of the Port and Commissioner of the Dockyard, Commodore Marriott Artbuthnot, when he arrived in the Roebuck on 31 October, since more men-of-war meant the need for more presses.⁶

Though with Arbuthnot's arrival much work was immediately begun on improving the Naval Yard's fortifications, the only signs of preparation Maria might have seen were the stationing of a naval schooner at the harbour mouth to signal an attack by sea and the positioning of the Somerset and Roebuck to cover the shore before the yard and a hill close by its wall. Somewhat worrying for the people of Halifax was news from the Chignecto Isthmus connecting Nova Scotia to the mainland, of 'a large body of Rebels' led by Jonathan Eddy and John Allen, former members of the National Assembly. '[T]heir direction,' Commodore Arbuthnot remarked dismissively, 'was unknown.' For the moment, nothing came of this discontent. Much more alarming was the news in early December, as troops from Ireland brought the total strength at Halifax to six hundred men, that Montreal had fallen to the rebels on 13 November.. That great fear of the Nova Scotians that the army of Generals Philip Schuyler and Richard Montgomery would turn east to Halifax was re-awoken. Partly in response to these fears and partly because of the increasingly frequent depredations of American privateers along the Nova Scotia coast Governor Legge instantly declared martial law throughout the province.⁷

Apart from the ubiquitous presence of a supposedly more vigilant military, 384 of whom were stationed in Halifax, (though eighty-three of those were already ill when they arrived), one of Governor Legge's proclamations was perhaps more noticed by Maria Proctor. Thomas Proctor, probably a relative, was one of the Justices of the Peace to whom any and every visitor from the American coilonies had to 'report ... to signify their names' and addresses and give an explanation of their business in town. If they failed to do this within two hours of arrival they were to be 'treated as spies.' With such sentiments Maria undoubtedly heartily concurred. Years later she would describe the French revolutionaries as 'that infernal crew' because of their regicide. On Christmas Eve another troop transport from Ireland carrying three companies made its way into the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy, now 'hazardous and dangerous' with ice floes, to dock at last in Halifax Harbour. On Boxing Day the Proctor children watched saoldiers struggling with cannon 'without Carruages', dragging them from various points around the town toward the naval yard.They felt safer from the enemy, like the other townspeople, assured the sudden influx of troops would 'totally prevent any situation that may have been meditating against us either at present or in the future.' Halifax was now crowded with troops and the camp-followers that came with them. With the Loyalist Royal Hughland Emigrants arriving in early to mid-Januarythere were 300 women with their baggage with nowhere to put either. The barracks were falling down in parts with no means to repair them.  Even so, the Proctors had not yet again boarded officers. Of the fresh troops arriving in Halifax 'not more than 500' were 'very sickly.' Governor Legge's attempts to raise a militia and taxes to pay for them prompted 'universal ferment.' It was not a task that Thomas Proctor as a J.P. would have relished. The plan was so resisted it was abandoned. Civilian fears in the town were not assuaged, either, by the return of the Somerset to England or the despatch of the Roebuck to Virginia, leaving only the Savage and the Cerberus in the harbour, with the Cerberus being careened beacuse it had twice run on rocks. ⁸

Probably the most noticeable activity through the winter was the floating of logs out of the adjoining wilderness by yard workers and sailors down streams into the harbour for the dockyard to turn into spars and mainmasts. By early February though 'the harbour was totally froze up.' On the dinner table Maria would have found meat running short. Little news came from the thirteen rebellious colonies. Perhaps with some relief the townspeople noticed the influx of loyalists from the south had 'been much lower than was expected' and those who had come had proved mainly self-sufficient. By the end of March, however, the first of the troop and refugee stransports from Boston began to anchor in Halifax Harbour. Among the military was Maria Proctor's future husband, David Collins.⁹

1 John R. Elting, The Battle of Bunker's Hill, Monmouth Beach, NJ, 1975, p. 18; Vice Admiral Samuel Graves to Philip Stevvens, Preston,Boston, July 28, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) NDAR,Vol. 1, p. 997; Mancke, The Fault Lines of Empire,p. 77, Tiley, The British Navy and the American Revolution, p. 37; Marble, Surgeons, Smallpox and the Poor, pp. 102, 105, 276, f/n. 34; Liza Picard, Dr. Johnston's London. Life in London, 1740-1770, London, 2001, p. 188; Gwyn, Frigates and Foremasts, p. 165; Bridget Hill, Women,work and sexual politics in eighteenth century England, London, 2003, p. 192

2Mancke, The Fault Lines of Empire,p. 87; Currey, David Collins, pp. 73-75, 120-121.

3Marble, Surgeons, Smallpox and the Poor, pp. 108, 103, 106.

4Day & Saoult to William Sherriff, Halifax, July 28^th, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) NDAR.Vol. 1, p. 993; Admiral Graves to Philip Stevens, Preston, Boston, July 28, 1775 in Clark, ibid.,p.997; Francis Legge, Governor of Nova Scotia, to General Thomas Gage, Halifax, July 26^th, 1775, in Clark ibid., p. 975; Francis Legge, Governor of Nova Scotia to Lord Dartmouth, Halifax, July 31^st, 1775 in Clark, ibid., p. 1014; Rawlyk, Nova Scotia's Massachusetts, p. 231; Gwyn, Ashore and Afloat, p. 19.

5Gwyn, Ashore and Afloat, p. 25; Minutes of the Executive Council of Nova Scotia, 28^th September, 1775, in William Bell Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 2, Washington, 1966, p. 224; Captain Alexander McDonald to Col. Allen McLean, Halifax, 18^th Sept., 1775 in Letter Book of Captain Alexander McDonald of the Royal Highland Emigrants, americanrevolution.org; Diary of Simon Perkins, Liverpool, 30^th September, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 2, p. 246.

6John Ferling, Almost A Miracle. The American Victory in the War of Independence,New York, 2007, p. 93, for contiguous weather details; Gwyn, Frigates and Foremasts, pp. 57-58; 'Narrative of Captain Andrew Snape Hamond, RN, Halifax, October 31^st, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 2, pp. 855-657; Address of the Nova Scotia General Assembly to Francis Legge in Clark, (ed.) ibid.,p. 657' Commodore Marriot Arbuthnot to Captain Andrew Snape Hamond, HMS Roebuck,Halifax, 6^th November, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) ibid., p. 900.

7Commodore Narriot Arbuthnot to Captain Andrew Snape Hamond, [8 November 1775[ in Clark, (ed.) NDAR,Vol. 2, p. 926; Commodore Marriot Arbuthnot to Philip Stephens, [18 November, 1775] in Clark, (ed.) ibid.,pp. 1083-1084; Rawlyk, Nova Scotia's Massachusetts,p. 231; Commodore Marriot Arbuthnot to Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves, Halifax Yard, 7 November, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) NDAR,Vol. 2, p. 912; Commodore Marriot Arbuthnot to Philip Stevens in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 3, Washington, 1068, p. 251; Marble, Surgeons, Smallpox and the Poor, p. 107; Francis Legge, Governor of Nova Scotia to Lord Dartmouth, Halifax, Octr. 17, 1775, in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 2, p. 485; Francis Legge to Lord Dartmouth, Halifax, December 5^th, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) ibid., p. 1280.

8 Marble, Surgeons, Smallpox and the Poor, pp. 276-277, f/n. 44, 148;Proclamation by the Governor of Nova Scotia [5^th December, 1775 in Peter Force, (ed.) American Archives,S4,v,4,p. 722; Maria Collins cited in Currey, David Collins, p. 121. ; Commodore Marriot Arbuthnot to Philip Stephens, Halifax Yard, 26^th December, 1775in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 3, p. 251' Governor Francis Legge to Lord Dartmouth, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 22 december, 1775 in Clark, (ed.) ibid.,p. 303; Captain Alexander McDonald to Major Small, Halifax, 9^th January, 1775 in Letter-book of Captain Alexander McDonald of the Royal Highland Emigrants, americanrevolution.org ; P. J. Marshall, The Making and Unmaking of Empires. Britain, India and the Americas,1750-1783,Oxford, 2005, p. 3565; Governor Francis Legge to Lord Dartmouth, Halifax, January 12^th, 1776 in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 3, pp. 742-743; Commodore Marriot Arbuthnot to Vice-Admiral Samuel Graves, Jany 15^th, 1776 in Clark, ibid. p. 792.,

9Gwyn, Ashore and Afloat, pp. 104-105; Journal of Bartholomew James, February 10, 1776, in Clark, (ed.) NDAR, Vol. 3, p. 1192; Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman on board HMS Orpheus,dated Halifax, 15^th February, 1776 in Clark, ibid., p. 1300; Allen French, The First Year of the American Revolution, Cambridge, Mass., 1934, p. 571; Governor francis Legge to Lord Dartmouth, Halifax, 1`8^th March, 1776, William Bell Clark, (ed.) NDAR, vol. 4, Washington, 1969, p.358; Robinson, His Diaries and Sketches in America, p. 32; Currey, David Collins, p. 23.