James Angell to the Massachusetts Congress

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Providence, Rhode-Island, April 28, 1775.

SIR: At the request of his Honour the Deputy Governour, I have undertaken to answer yours of the 26th instant.

We, Sir, sensibly feel the distresses of our brethren in the Massachusetts-Bay, and can only say, that, as Brigadier of the three Battalions under my command in the County of Providence, I will furnish you, upon any alarm, with six hundred men; but the situation of matters is such, occasioned partly by our Assembly' s not appointing officers for the fifteen hundred men which they ordered to be raised for your assistance, and partly by the seizure made by the Man-of-War at Newport of three hundred barrels of flour bought by this Colony for supplying our Army, that it will be impossible for our forces immediately to proceed to join your Army, unless they go destitute of provision, which, we imagine here, would rather be a burden than a help to our friends. However, men are enlisting very fast, and when our Assembly meets here, which will be next week, you may rely on it that our forces will, as fast and as soon as possible, march to your assistance. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

JAMES ANGELL