124 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



was passed by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 

 November, 1775, authorizing captures upon the seas, the 

 first avowal of active hostility against England. The honor 

 of hoisting the first American flag, and of causing the first 

 British ship to strike her colors, are both credited to a 

 citizen of Marblehead. For service in the field, Marble- 

 head furnished one entire regiment, which won for itself 

 great credit and lasting fame on the eve of the battle of 

 Trenton by transporting Washington's army safely across 

 the Delaware, then filled with floating cakes of ice. At the 

 close of the struggle for national independence it was found 

 that the historic fishing town of Marblehead had paid noble 

 sacrifice at the altar of freedom. The nature of the sacri- 

 fices are summarized by Sabine, who says: 



"To remark, now, that, in 1772, the tonnage of Marble- 

 head was upwards of twelve thousand, and the number of 

 polls was twelve hundred and three ; that in 1780 the polls 

 were but five hundred and forty-four ; and that the tonnage 

 of the place was only fifteen hundred and nine; to state 

 that nearly every able-bodied citizen was abroad, engaged 

 in the public service, either 'upon land or water'; to show 

 from a document presented to the general court of Mas- 

 sachusetts, that, at the close of the contest, there were 

 within the borders of this single town four hundred and 

 fifty-eight widows, and nine hundred and sixty-six father- 

 less children is to sum up its sufferings in the cause of 

 freedom, and to prove that, as has been averred, 'it was 

 a mere wreck and ruin,' when we emerged from the war. 

 No other town in the United States, of the same population 

 and property, lost so large a proportion of both, probably, 

 as Marblehead." 



The effects of the War of the Revolution upon the fish- 

 ing industry cannot be ascertained accurately. It will 

 never be known how many fishermen enlisted at different 

 times in the Continental service, either on land or on sea. 



