It's common knowledge the "shot heard 'round the world" started the American Revolution. Lesser known is the fact that Commodore Abraham Whipple fired the first shot of the revolution on the water when he captured the British sloop Rose. Earlier, in 1772, Whipple also led the first uprising against a British ship when he captured and burned the British schooner Gaspee. Whipple and most of his raiding party that overtook the Gaspee were members of St. John's Lodge 1 in Providence, Rhode Island. After the Rose incident, the sloop's captain Sir James Wallace sent Whipple an angry message: "You, Abraham Whipple, on the 10th of June, 1772, burned His Majesty's vessel, the Gaspee, and I will hang you at the yard-arm. –James Wallace." To this, Brother Whipple replied, "To Sir James Wallace, Sir: Always catch a man before you hang him. –Abraham Whipple"
