December 21st, 1775
Today arrived the Liverpool man-of-war, a frigate of twenty-eight guns, which eases our mind somewhat. We heard a great cheer go up from the rest of the fleet upon its appearance, as were we delivered.
We know not what command awaits or what the vessel’s arrival portends; but we tallied this day, and we have now five sizeable fighting ships — the Liverpool, the Otter, the Kingfisher, the William, and the Dunmore — as well as assorted schooners and sloops-of-war. I was on the larboard dogwatch this day, and so could observe the positioning of those ships, it appearing that we are preparing for some great action against the town of Norfolk.
The ships are arrayed thus: The Dunmore sits at the northern end of the town, the Kingfisher at the southern, and the Otter and Liverpool between them. They ride with springs on their cables, tampions out, as if prepared to open fire and level the town with broadsides.
They shall not mock us for many days longer.