One whaleboat from Warren joined the longboats from Providence and Bristol
to attack the English navy schooner Gaspee.
Capt. Greenwood brought a whaleboat of Warren men to attack the Gaspee. Omsbee's statement
describing this whaleboat of men is the first known (as of 2006) mention of a person coming from Warren to participate. Ormsbee
says he was in a whaleboat, but he does not mention specifically the place from whence his "whale boat" left on the
night of the attack. The three most likely points of departure are:
# 1. Warren,
# 2. Bristol, or
# 3. Providence. (It is consistent with Ormsbee's
choice of words that Ormsbee was with some men who went from Warren to Providence and left
in one of the boats from Providence.)
Omsbee's statement, written in Warren, was:
"In June 1772 when the English Revenue Cutter
Gaspee was burnt in Providence River, I was one that went from this town and
helped do it. Capt John Greenwood, James Smith, Abner Luther, Abel Easterbrooks,
Nathaniel Easterbrooks, Hezekiah Kinnicut and myself went together in a whale
boat and we helped burn her."
His use of the words saying he was "one that went from this town" and then
saying the list of persons ". . . . and myself went together in a whale boat"
suggests more likely than not that the men all went in one boat that left from
Warren.
Furthermore, a whaleboat is not likely to fall within the description of
"eight of the largest long-boats in the [Providence] harbor" which departed from
Providence, and certainly was not near the Bristol boat of Potter when Briggs
was impressed to help row the Bristol boat.
So our conclusion is that this whaleboat with seven men left from Warren.