Wow. I hadn't heard of Ezek Hopkins, or at least the details of his service. I have empathy for Mr. Hopkins in that he was placed in command of a new group of ships, new Crews, no training and no experience. I would have thought that a period of training and shake down would have been a wise course of action and, maybe that is why the excursion to the Bahamas? At any rate, I find it commendable that he asked to be relieved of command, at the cost of his reputation, he remained a Patriot.
Interesting story, I have never heard of him as we usually don't remember failures that are the result of incompetence. I'm sure we had many other failures that are not well know but the fight for the cause never left! Washington had many failures but he learned from each one and kept the cause in the forefront of all he did. We can see the difference between these to leaders, one left one fought on! Thanks Tara!!!
Shoulda - coulda - woulda... Some ways, the idea of getting ammunition could have served land fighters very well... maybe could have helped to attack the British Navy harrassing VA and points south if they coordinated with land forces. Congress seemed to be frequently misaligned with military needs, opportunities, or leadership. Instead of facilitating connections between the nascent Navy and ground forces, they broke things up in a way that was haphazard. Getting some ammunition from the Bahamas 1st at least would show some ROI before throwing so much away at VA...
John Paul Jones had been one of the ships in Esek's group that attacked the Bahamas. He hadn't made his name as a daring captain in the Revolutionary War *yet*. Esek was censured before the Raid on Canso began. And Congress suspended Esek before JP Jones took command of the Ranger. What strikes me about Jones was that the also had lots of issues getting his subordinates to follow him, and he had problems with Congressional leadership. Jones also seemed to have gotten some reputation for capturing glory to use to his advantage. So the mystery for me is how Jones succeeded in the face of similar problems while Esek crashed and burned from them so early?
Men either go one way or the other when given authority and responsibilities. For Esak Hopkins it was the loss of his reputation. What a contrast to our Medal of Honor recipients and brave soldiers who are willing to risk their lives for American causes. Good lesson, Tara, especially at this perilous time for our Republic.
Wow. I hadn't heard of Ezek Hopkins, or at least the details of his service. I have empathy for Mr. Hopkins in that he was placed in command of a new group of ships, new Crews, no training and no experience. I would have thought that a period of training and shake down would have been a wise course of action and, maybe that is why the excursion to the Bahamas? At any rate, I find it commendable that he asked to be relieved of command, at the cost of his reputation, he remained a Patriot.
Thank you Tara for another great history lesson.
Interesting story, I have never heard of him as we usually don't remember failures that are the result of incompetence. I'm sure we had many other failures that are not well know but the fight for the cause never left! Washington had many failures but he learned from each one and kept the cause in the forefront of all he did. We can see the difference between these to leaders, one left one fought on! Thanks Tara!!!
Shoulda - coulda - woulda... Some ways, the idea of getting ammunition could have served land fighters very well... maybe could have helped to attack the British Navy harrassing VA and points south if they coordinated with land forces. Congress seemed to be frequently misaligned with military needs, opportunities, or leadership. Instead of facilitating connections between the nascent Navy and ground forces, they broke things up in a way that was haphazard. Getting some ammunition from the Bahamas 1st at least would show some ROI before throwing so much away at VA...
John Paul Jones had been one of the ships in Esek's group that attacked the Bahamas. He hadn't made his name as a daring captain in the Revolutionary War *yet*. Esek was censured before the Raid on Canso began. And Congress suspended Esek before JP Jones took command of the Ranger. What strikes me about Jones was that the also had lots of issues getting his subordinates to follow him, and he had problems with Congressional leadership. Jones also seemed to have gotten some reputation for capturing glory to use to his advantage. So the mystery for me is how Jones succeeded in the face of similar problems while Esek crashed and burned from them so early?
Men either go one way or the other when given authority and responsibilities. For Esak Hopkins it was the loss of his reputation. What a contrast to our Medal of Honor recipients and brave soldiers who are willing to risk their lives for American causes. Good lesson, Tara, especially at this perilous time for our Republic.
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Thank you, Tara.
I never heard the name before today. A great lesson none the less. Thank you Tara.
I never heard of Esek Hopkins. It seems that history has never taught much of incompetency or failure.
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Thank you Tara hadn't heard of Esek, I tend to agree with Wally. He seems to have made the wrong decisions and paid for it.
I am sure Navy men know this history but I didn't. Thank you for this vision of our past and humanity!!
Sad. I'd never known this though....
Well done!