Often called the most important Colonial and Revolutionary War figure in Rhode Island history, John Brown has had his share of admirers and detractors. At the close of the Revolutionary War, John Brown was considered one of the state's most important patriots. He had demonstrated his loyalty to the American cause by his involvement in the Gaspee affair, by bringing war supplies to Boston at great risk and by using his political abilities in the General Assembly to build a Rhode Island Navy to harass the British in Narragansett Bay.

During the years 1772 to 1775, the British were hesitant to actively pursue those they believed responsible for the burning of the Gaspee. Both Governor Wanton and Capt. James Wallace, the British commander in Narragansett Bay, were aware of the fact that John Brown played a leading role in the incident but were reluctant to make an arrest. When hostilities erupted in Lexington and Concord in 1775, however, the British thought they might use Brown's involvement in the affair to their own advantage. One week after the violence in Lexington, Capt. Wallace arrested Brown. He was taken to Boston in chains and charged with the destruction of the Gaspee. According to the memoirs of Elkanah Watson, one of John Brown's indentured servants, when Brown was arrested, the "whole community was indignant and exasperated at his seizure." He says a group went to Plymouth to fit out two armed schooners to capture the vessel Brown was on and release him. Watson, according to the story, with 60 to 80 others, embarked on two "dilapidated" fishing schooners with two old cannons. As they had no commission, if captured they could have been hanged as pirates. Fortunately, the 17-year-old Watson and his companions never contacted the British ships. Not long after, thanks to the intervention of his brother Moses and the desire of the British to get a settlement of hostilities, John Brown was released.

Providing at a profit

Early in the 1770s, John Brown, sensing that the Revolution was inevitable, stored large quantities of saltpeter for gunpowder and directed his workers at Hope Furnace in Scituate to make cannon. When war broke out, Brown became a principle supplier of war materials to the Continental Army and made a fortune as a result. A master politician as well as merchant, Brown persuaded the Rhode Island General Assembly to create a Rhode Island Navy in June 1775. He sold his 110-foot sloop Katy to the General Assembly to be the first ship of the Rhode Island Navy. Under the command of Abraham Whipple, the Katy harassed the British in Narragansett Bay to the extent that many began to believe that an American Navy would be a definite asset in the war against Great Britain. By October, Stephen Hopkins, Rhode Island's delegate to the Continental Congress, was able to persuade Congress to create a Continental Navy. The armed force was placed under the command of Esek Hopkins, brother of representative Stephen Hopkins and another of Brown's supporters. The Katy was renamed the Providence and went on to become one of the key ships in the small Continental Navy.

Hopkins was closely associated with Brown in a number of economic and political enterprises and, as a result, Brown received contracts to build vessels in his shipyards. In addition, Brown financed various privateers and made a considerable fortune from the Revolution.

At the onset of the Battle of Rhode Island, Brown had accompanied Nathanael Greene on Aug. 1, when Greene boarded the French ship Languedoc in an effort to persuade the French Admiral d'Estaing to remain in Rhode Island waters. This expedition failed, hurting the American hope to drive the British from Newport. At one point, when John Brown criticized General John Sullivan and the conduct of the Battle of Rhode Island, saying it was an "Inglorious campaign," he received a relatively harsh letter from General Nathanael Greene. According to The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, edited by Richard K. Showman, Greene, in defending the action on Aquidnick Island in 1778, wrote "I cannot help feeling mortified that those that have been at home making their fortunes and living in the lap of luxury and enjoying the pleasures of domestic life, should be the first to sport with the feelings of Officers who have stood as a barrier between them and ruin."

Brown quickly apologized to General Sullivan saying, "Disappointed persons will always, especially at the moment of misfortune, say harder things than they would at any other hour." Brown, according to editor Showman, more than made up for the criticism by serving on the committee of the Assembly and the Town of Providence to thank Sullivan for his efforts.

The story of John Brown will be continued.

Editor's Note: Watch for Don D'Amato's latest book, "Warwick's Villages: Glimpses from the Past" on sale at major bookstores.