Hill on Charles Town Peninsula. After 3 charges, the British take the hill in the misnamed Battle of Bunker Hill. June 19 – The post of Commanding General is created by the Continental Congress. July–December July 3 – American Revolution: George Washington takes command of the 17,000-man Continental Army at Cambridge. July 5 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress sends the Olive Branch Petition, hoping for a reconciliation. July 6 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress issues Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, which contains the words: "Our cause is just. Our union is perfect... being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves...". July 26 – The Second Continental Congress appoints Benjamin Franklin to be the first Postmaster General of what later becomes the United States Post Office Department. July 30 – Second voyage of James Cook: anchors off the south coast of England, Captain Cook having completed the first eastbound global circumnavigation. August 18 – Tucson is founded. August 21 – American Revolution – Siege of Fort St. Jean: American rebels launch an invasion of Canada. August 23 – American Revolution: Refusing to even look at the Olive Branch Petition, King George issues a Proclamation of Rebellion against the American colonies. August 29 – September 12 – The Independence Hurricane from South Carolina to Nova Scotia kills 4,170, mostly fishermen and sailors. September 25 – American Revolution: Siege of Fort St. Jean – Battle of Longue-Pointe: Thirteen Colonies revolutionary forces under Maj. Ethan Allen attack Montreal in Quebec, commanded by British General Guy Carleton. Allen's forces are defeated, and Allen himself is captured and held on British ships until he is released. October – The Sayre Plotters attempt to kidnap George III of the United Kingdom. October 13 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later the United States Navy). October 26 – American Revolution: George III announces to Parliament that the American colonies are in an uprising and must be dealt with accordingly. November – American Revolution: Colonel Richard Richardson's South Carolina revolutionaries march through Ninety-Six District in what becomes known as the Snow Campaign, effectively ending all major support for the Loyalist cause in the backcountry of South Carolina. November 7 – American Revolution: John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, British royal governor of the Colony of Virginia, signs Dunmore's Proclamation, declaring