Commander-in-Chief's Guard - Hickey Mutiny

Hickey Mutiny

Several members of the Commander-in-Chief's Guard were involved in a shadowy conspiracy early in the war. After the conclusion of the Boston campaign in 1776, General Washington and the Continental Army marched to New York City and prepared for an anticipated attempt by the British to occupy the city. The Royal Governor of New York, William Tryon, had been driven out of the city by American Patriots and was compelled to seek refuge on a ship in New York Harbor. Nevertheless, the city had many residents who favored the British side, known as Loyalists.

In the spring of 1776, Sergeant Thomas Hickey, a member of the Guard, was arrested with another soldier in New York for passing counterfeit money. While incarcerated, Hickey revealed to another prisoner that he was part of a wider conspiracy of soldiers who were prepared to defect to the British once the expected invasion came. Hickey claimed that eight members of the Guard were involved in the plot. William Greene, a drummer in the Guard, was one of the conspirators, and David Mathews, the Mayor of New York City, was accused of funding the operation to bribe soldiers to join the British. The suspected men of the Guard were taken into custody by the provost marshal of the Continental Army. The conspiracy became greatly exaggerated in rumor, and was alleged to include plans to kidnap Washington, assassinate him and his officers, and blow up the Continental Army's ammunition magazines. Hickey, the only conspirator put on trial, was court-martialed and found guilty of mutiny and sedition. He was executed in New York on 28 June 1776 before a crowd of 20,000 spectators.