prior history as an American symbol, the rattlesnake was seen at the time in Gadsden's birthplace of Charleston, South Carolina as a "noble and useful" animal that gave warning before it attacked. Writing in 2008, Aron observed that as a man who "grew up in South Carolina's lowcountry," Gadsden would have "learned to respect rattlesnakes." Before being appointed to lead the Navy, Commodore Hopkins had previously led The United Companies of the Train of Artillery of the Town of Providence, a unit that flew a flag similar to Gadsden's. The Gadsden flag was first seen unfurled on the main mast of USS Alfred on December 20, 1775, while the ship rested at anchor in Chesapeake Bay. Whenever he was aboard, Hopkins flew the flag from the mainmast of the flagship as his personal banner. Alfred was also the first recorded ship to fly the Grand Union Flag, the first national flag of the United States, when Senior Lieutenant John Paul Jones hoisted it on December 3, 1775 while the ship floated in the Delaware River near Philadelphia. By winter 1775, the South Carolina Provincial Congress expected that the British would invade Charleston—which they attempted in June 1776—and decided to recall Gadsden home from Congress in Philadelphia to command the provincial troops, specifically the 1st South Carolina Regiment. By January 14, Gadsden had both his orders to return home and permission from the Continental Congress to leave. On Friday, February 9, 1776, he made a "triumphal entry" to the South Carolina Congress and presented an example of his yellow rattlesnake flag to the president of the Congress, William Henry Drayton. As Gadsden walked to the front of the room, some members cheered, and Drayton ordered the flag displayed to the left of his presidential chair. The Provincial Congress "promptly approved" a resolution thanking Gadsden for his service in Philadelphia, appointed him to a defense committee and, that same day, included his name on a committee tasked with forming a temporary system of government for the colony. The Continental Congress had recommended that the colonies create temporary governments and maintain them until the trouble with Britain was resolved; the day before Gadsden arrived, the South Carolina Congress created a committee to consider this recommendation, and this is the committee to which Gadsden was added. The next day, February 10, Gadsden announced his support for American independence and gave a speech that, according