Rebels at sea, p.32
Rebels at Sea, page 32
107 “You cannot”: Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), 349.
107 The Treaty of Amity and Commerce granted: The Franco-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce, February 6, 1778, FONA, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-25-02-0477, accessed May 11, 2021.
108 “were not a major”: Alan G. Jamieson, “American Privateers in the Leeward Islands, 1776–1778,” The American Neptune 43, no. 1 (January 1983): 30.
108 “part of a broader”: Willis, The Struggle for Sea Power, 192.
108 “Oh God”: Benjamin Terry, A History of England from the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria, 4th ed. (Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1908), 939.
108 The French, too: Malo, “American Privateers at Dunkerque,” 935.
109 In 1776, 34: NRAR, 217–496; and Jack Coggins, Ships and Seamen of the American Revolution (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1969), 74.
Chapter 6: PrIvateerIng TrIumphs and TragedIes
111 The Newburyport General Arnold: Background for this section on the General Arnold comes from Smith, History of Newburyport, 105–14; and Edgar Stanton Maclay, Moses Brown, Captain U.S.N. (New York: The Baker and Taylor Company, 1904), 40–44, 69–97.
111 Between 1775 . . . astonishing $3,950,000: Smith, History of Newburyport, 106–7.
112 “but a single”: Maclay, Moses Brown, 44.
112 “killed or wounded . . . though a prisoner”: Smith, History of Newburyport, 110–13.
116 “I arrived home”: Maclay, Moses Brown, 97.
116 The other General Arnold: Background for this section on the General Arnold comes from Barnabas Downs, A Brief and Remarkable Narrative of the Life and Sufferings of Barnabas Downs, Jun[ior] (Boston: E. Russell, 1786)—all of the quotes are from this source; C. F. Swift, Genealogical Notes of Barnstable Families, Being a Reprint of the Amos Otis Papers, vol. 1 (Barnstable: F. B. & F. P. Goss, 1888), 351–57; and NRAR, 308.
116 Captain James Magee, an experienced: Cornelius Marchant, “A Sketch of the Number of Cruises,” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. 12 (Boston: John Wilson and Son, 1899), 198.
119 As for Captain Magee: Henry Lee, “The Magee Family and the Origins of the China Trade,” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 81 (1969): 105–12.
119 When the storm: Charles Edward Banks, The History of Martha’s Vineyard, Dukes County, Massachusetts, vol. 1 (Boston: George H. Dean, 1911), 410.
119 At the age of thirteen: Background for this section on John Greenwood and all the quotes come from John Greenwood, The Revolutionary Services of John Greenwood of Boston and New York, 1775–1783, ed. Isaac J. Greenwood (New York: De Vinne Press, 1922).
124 After the war, he became a dentist: John Miller, “John Greenwood (1760–1819),” George Washington’s Mount Vernon, https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital -encyclopedia/article/john-greenwood-1760-1819/, accessed February 26, 2021); George Washington to John Greenwood, February 16, 1791, FONA, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0210, accessed May 11, 2021; J. A. Taylor, History of Dentistry (Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger, 1922), 68; and Esther Forbes, Paul Revere and the World He Lived In (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999; orig. 1942), 131–33.
125 “Washington’s favorite”: Miller, “John Greenwood.”
125 Everyone expected: Background for this section on the Penobscot Expedition comes from James S. Leamon, Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1995), 104–19; John Calef, The Siege of Penobscot by the Rebels (London: G. Kearsley, 1781); Gilbert Nash, The Original Journal of General Solomon Lovell (Weymouth, MA: Weymouth Historical Society, 1881), 52–83; William D. Williamson, The History of the State of Maine: From Its First Discovery, A.D. 1602, to the Separation, A. D. 1820, Inclusive, vol. 2 (Hallowell, ME: Glazier, Masters & Smith, 1839), 468–78; Jon M. Nielson, “Penobscot: From the Jaws of Victory—Our Navy’s Worse Defeat,” The American Neptune 37, no. 4 (October 1977): 288–305; “Intelligence from Penobscot,” Massachusetts Spy, August 12, 1779; “Sir George Collier; Embellishments; British,” Pennsylvania Journal, September 22, 1779; Clark, Naval History of the United States, vol. 1, 97–104; and James Sullivan to John Sullivan, August 30, 1779, in Thomas C. Amory, Life of James Sullivan, vol. 2 (Boston: Phillips, Sampson and Company, 1859), 376–78.
126 The fort would serve: Henry Clinton, The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775–1782, with an Appendix of Original Documents (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1954), 423–24.
126 Despite these sweeteners: Allen, Massachusetts Privateers, 52.
126 “Some part”: Nash, The Original Journal of General Solomon Lovell, 58.
127 “willful & unaccommodating”: Leamon, Revolution Downeast, 109.
127 “behaved towards”: Samuel Eliot Morison, John Paul Jones: A Sailor’s Biography (Boston: Northeastern University, 1959), 52.
127 “a true old”: Williamson, The History of the State of Maine, vol. 2, 471.
127 “endeavoring to capture”: State of Massachusetts Bay to Solomon Lovell, July 2, 1779, Documentary History of the State of Maine, vol. 16, ed. James Phinney Baxter (Portland, ME: Lefavor-Tower Company, 1910), 321; and Nielson, “Penobscot: From the Jaws of Victory,” 295.
127 “We can’t but flatter”: William Frost to War Office, July 7, 1779, Documentary History of the State of Maine, 330.
127 “bid high”: “Extract of a letter from Penobscot, dated 22d August, 1779,” The Boston and Country Gazette, The Journal, September 27, 1779.
128 “take oaths”: Calef, The Siege of Penobscot, 28.
128 In fact, the Massachusetts: James Sullivan to John Sullivan, August 30, 1779, Life of James Sullivan, vol. 2, 377.
129 “I was in no”: George Augustus Wheeler, History of Castine, Penobscot, and Brooksville, Maine (Bangor, ME: Burr & Robinson, 1875), 332.
129 “The transports then”: Nash, The Original Journal of General Solomon Lovell, 78.
130 How many Americans: Leamon, Revolution Downeast, 117; and Calef, The Siege of Penobscot, 25.
130 “want of proper . . . reduced the enemy”: Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, chapter 459, “Resolves requesting the council to make strict inquiry into the detaching 1,500 men for the Penobscot expedition, to send a copy of the report on the failure of said expedition, and the papers accompanying the same, to Congress, and directing the secretary to publish the report in a Boston newspaper as soon as the court-martial of the Commodore is over,” vol. 21 (Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., 1922), 216–17.
130 Some have argued: To George Washington from Henry Babcock, November 20, 1779, FONA, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-23-02-0288, accessed May 11, 2021.
131 “the dishonorable”: “Report of J. H. Allan,” September 10, 1779, Documentary History of the State of Maine, 108.
131 “A prodigious wreck”: Williamson, The History of the State of Maine, vol. 2, 476.
131 “The severe blow”: Clinton, The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton’s Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775–1782, 424–23.
132 “the attack on”: James P. Baxter, “A Lost Manuscript,” Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, second series, vol. 2 (Portland, ME: Published by the Society, 1891), 365.
133 “We have lost”: James Duncan Phillips, Salem in the Eighteenth Century (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1969), 417.
133 Robert Wormsted’s: Background for this section on Wormsted and the quote come from Timothy Alden, A Collection of American Epitaphs and Inscription, with Occasional Notes (New York: S. Marks, 1814), 122–29.
134 Luke Ryan, a pale: Background for this section on Luke Ryan comes from Clark, Ben Franklin’s Privateers; Donald A. Petrie, “The Piracy Trial of Luke Ryan,” The American Neptune 55, no. 3 (1995): 185–204; and Joseph Shiels, “Captain Luke Ryan of Rush,” Dublin Historical Record 24, no. 2 (March 1971): 25–40.
136 “The King’s”: Jared Sparks, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 1 (Boston: Charles Tappan, 1844), 426.
136 Not long before: Catherine M. Prelinger, “Benjamin Franklin and the American Prisoners of War in England during the American Revolution,” William and Mary Quarterly 32, no. 2 (April 1975): 272–76.
137 “We are all in”: Clark, Ben Franklin’s Privateers, 53.
138 “Being much”: Ibid., 96.
138 “We continue to”: Benjamin Franklin to John Jay, October 4, 1779, The Private Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 1, ed. William Temple Franklin (London: Henry Colburn, 1818), 430.
138 “Complaints are very”: Clark, Ben Franklin’s Privateers, 115.
138 From March through: “Extract of a Letter from Glasgow, April 15,” The New-York Gazette: and The Weekly Mercury (New York, NY), August 14, 1780.
138 “on the west coast”: Petrie, “The Piracy Trial of Luke Ryan,” 193.
139 The cruises were . . . as a ruse: Clark, Ben Franklin’s Privateers, 129–30.
140 “Despite all Franklin’s”: Ibid., 173.
140 Luke Ryan’s luck: Donald Petrie, “The Piracy Trial of Luke Ryan,” 185; and Shiels, “Captain Luke Ryan of Rush,” 34.
140 Realizing the enormity: “Extract of a Letter from Edinburgh, April 18,” Royal Georgia Gazette (Savannah, GA), July 12, 1781.
140 “to be struck”: Shiels, “Captain Luke Ryan of Rush,” 35.
141 Ryan was put: “The Trial of Captain Luke Ryan and Thomas Coppinger, for Piracy, with a Striking Likeness of Captain Ryan,” The Hibernian Magazine, April 1782, 169–70; and The New-York Gazette: and The Weekly Mercury, May 27, 1782.
141 “captured more”: The Gentlemen’s Magazine, June 1789, 578.
141 Adams begged Genet: Background for the battles of the Thorn comes from Allen, A Naval History of the American Revolution, vol. 2, 415–17—all the quotes are from this source; and Clark, Naval History of the United States, vol. 1, 81–82.
141 “glorious combat . . . from New York”: John Adams to Edmé Jacques Genet, May 3, 1780, FONA, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-09-02-0156, accessed May 11, 2021.
143 The Pennsylvania privateer brig: Background for this section on the Holker and the Admiral Rodney is from William Bell Clark, “That Mischievous Holker: The Story of a Privateer,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 79 (January 1955): 38–39; “July 10,” Diary of the American Revolution from Newspapers and Original Documents, vol. 2, ed. Frank Moore (New York: Privately printed, 1865), 298–99; “New-York, July 10,” Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, vol. 4, ed. William Nelson (Trenton, NJ: State Gazette Publishing Co., 1914), 491; “Philadelphia, July 12,” New-Jersey Gazette (Burlington), July 19, 1780; and NRAR, 218, 339.
143 “a very close”: “July 10,” Diary of the American Revolution from Newspapers and Original Documents, vol. 2, 298–99. See also “New-York, July 10,” Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, vol. 4, 491.
143 “So much justice”: “July 10,” Diary of the American Revolution, 298.
143 “the enemy sheared”: Clark, “That Mischievous Holker,” 39.
144 Owned by Blair: Ibid., 27–62.
144 In one of . . . Washington’s troops: Ibid., 45–46.
144 “could hear the screeches”: Jacob Nagle, The Nagle Journal: A Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841, ed. John C. Dann (New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988), 19.
145 The only other . . . was hanged: Clark, “That Mischievous Holker,” 47–48 (quote from this); and Nagle, The Nagle Journal, 23.
146 “He acknowledged”: Clark, “That Mischievous Holker,” 32.
146 The brig arrived: “Holker, on a cruise, September 1, 1779,” Pennsylvania Packet, September 11, 1779.
146 Its cargo included: Clark, “That Mischievous Holker,” 31.
146 “pair of very”: George Washington to George Geddes, September 30, 1779, FONA, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-22-02-0468, accessed May 11, 2021.
146 An article from: “From Rivington’s Royal Gazette, New-York, May 5,” Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9, 1781.
147 “after a successful”: Clark, “That Mischievous Holker,” 51. See also “Philadelphia, June 6,” New-Jersey Gazette, June 13, 1781.
147 The end finally . . . run was over: Clark, “That Mischievous Holker,” 60–61.
147 During the Revolution, Connecticut governor: Background for this section on whaleboat privateers comes from Jackson Kuhl, “The Whale-Boat Men of Long Island Sound,” Journal of the American Revolution, November 1, 2013, https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/11/whale-boat-men-long-island-sound/, accessed March 14, 2021; Wallace Evan Davies, “Privateering Around Long Island During the Revolution,” New York History 20, no. 3 (July 1939): 291–93; James F. Collins, “Whaleboat Warfare on Long Island Sound,” New York History 25, no. 2 (April 1944): 195–201; Griswold, Connecticut Pirates & Privateers, 68–75; and Alexander Rose, Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring (New York: Bantam, 2006), 226–33.
147 One of the most enterprising: Middlebrook, History of Maritime Connecticut, vol. 2, 189–90; “Stamford’s Three-Gun Armada,” Connecticuthistory.org, https://connecticuthistory.org/stamfords-one-gun-armada/, accessed March 13, 2021; and Elijah B. Huntington, History of Stamford, Connecticut, from Its Settlement in 1641, to the Present Time (Stamford, CT: Published by the author, 1868), 217.
148 “it has been lately”: “Governor Trumbull Notified That Depredators from Connecticut Plunder Long Islanders,” Public Papers of George Clinton, First Governor of New York, vol. 6 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, 1902), 778.
148 “many evils”: “At a Meeting of the Governor and Council of Safety at Lebanon, Tuesday, 23d January, 1781,” The Public Records of the State of Connecticut, vol. 3, ed. Charles J. Hoadly (Hartford, CT: Press of the Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., 1922), 292–93.
148 “that in some . . . may be obtained”: “Governor Trumbull Points Out the Mode of Redress for Persons Plundered on Long Island,” Public Papers of George Clinton, vol. 6, 803.
149 “One of the party . . . they are robbed”: Caleb Brewster to George Clinton, August 20, 1781, Public Papers of George Clinton, First Governor of New York, vol. 7 (Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon Company, 1902), 233–34.
150 Brewster’s alarming: “Governor Clinton Suggests to Governor Trumbull the Necessity for the Revocation of Certain Commissions,” ibid., 234–36.
150 “landing or going”: “At a Meeting of the Governor and Council of Safety Holden at Hartford on the 15th Day of September, 1781,” The Public Records of the State of Connecticut, vol. 3, 513.
150 Hoping to finally: “At a Meeting of the Governor and Council of Safety at Lebanon, Friday 23d November, 1781,” The Public Records of the State of Connecticut, vol. 3, 553.
150 “After this, complaints”: Kuhl, “The Whale-Boat Men of Long Island Sound.”
151 “that when the General”: “ ‘Burnt All Their Houses’: The Log of HMS Savage During a Raid up the Potomac River, Spring 1781,” ed. Fritz Hirschfeld, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 99, no. 4 (October 1991): 516–17.
152 “It would have been”: “To Lund Washington, Mount Vernon,” April 30, 1781, The Life of General Washington, vol. 2, ed. C. W. Upham (London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, 1851), 21–22.
152 “You cannot conceive”: From the Marquis de Lafayette to General Washington, April 23, 1781, The Life of General Washington, vol. 2, 23.
152 After leaving the Potomac: Background for this section on the battle between the Savage and the Congress comes from “An Account of the Action betwixt the Savage Sloop of War of 16 Guns, Capt. Stirling, and the Congress, an American Frigate of 20 Guns, Capt. Geddis; from a Letter of Capt. Stirling’s to Rear-Admiral Graves,” September 23, 1781, The Annual Register, Or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1781 (London: J. Dodsley, 1791), 251–53—all quotes from this source; and Arthur D. Pierce, Smuggler’s Woods: Jaunts and Journeys in Colonial and Revolutionary New Jersey (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1992), 76–77.
153 As the Americans were sailing the Savage: “Notice Is Hereby Given,” The London Gazette, December 15, 1789.
154 He heard the: Julie Winch, A Gentleman of Color: The Life of James Forten (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 30–31.
154 James Forten was nearly ten: Ibid., 3–51; and Robert Purvis, Remarks on the Life and Character of James Forten, Delivered at the Bethel Church, March 30, 1842 (Philadelphia: Merrihew and Thompson, 1842), 4–8.
154 “My great-grandfather”: Sidney Kaplan, The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, 1770–1800 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1973), 47.
154 “was marked for”: Purvis, Remarks on the Life, 4. For “disinterested,” see Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different (New York: Penguin Press, 2006), 16.
154 An Act for the Gradual: An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, March 1, 1780, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/documents/1776-1865/abolition-slavery.html, accessed February 15, 2021.
155 “What the quality”: Winch, A Gentleman of Color, 36.
155 Royal Louis: NRAR, 449; and John A. McManemin, Captains of the Privateers During the Revolutionary War (Spring Lake, NJ: Ho-Ho-Kus Publishing Company, 1985), 307–8.
155 “fired with the”: Purvis, Remarks on the Life, 4.
155 Most gave up: Winch, A Gentleman of Color, 39–40; and Stephen H. Gloucester, “A Discourse Delivered on the Occasion of the Death of Mr. James Forten Sr.,” April 17, 1842, University of Detroit Mercy Black Abolitionist Archives, Doc. No. 006615, 10, https://www.logcollegepress.com/stephen-henry-gloucester-18021850, accessed February 15, 2021.
155 “loud huzzas”: Purvis, Remarks on the Life, 5.
155 “His mind was”: Ibid.
