in 1773 samuel noel was a boat builder who had lived in boston and newbury port.ere's what he wrote to o congress. i was one of those who perilled themselves in that celebrated achievement, the destruction of a cargo of tea in the harbor of boston. i was then young, enterprising and courageous, and i presumed my broad axe was never more dexterously used. this is how we talked in legal documents. your petitioner -- by which he meant himself -- views the destruction of said tea powerfully influenced and produced that civil rupture between great britain and her then-american colonies which has resulted in the independence of the united states and its unprecedented consequences. noel then goes on to describe an amazing revolutionary war career, his daring escape from occupied boston, his capture at sea, his imprisonment for 16 months in halifax, nova scotia, three of those in shackles as punishment for attempting to e cape, and his recovery from yellow fever while he was in prison. while he and his fellow prisoners were being transferred to occupied new york city, he