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AMERICAN
PRIVATEERS OF THE
REVOLUTIONARY WAR
ANGUS KONSTAM
ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL WRIGHT
NEW VANGUARD 279
AMERICAN PRIVATEERS OF
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
ANGUS KONSTAM
ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL WRIGHT
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
• Design and shipbuilding
• Vessel types and rigs
• The purpose-built privateer
4
5
14
THE BUSINESS OF PRIVATEERING
• Owners and captains
• Letters of marque and instructions
27
LIFE ON BOARD
PRIVATEERS IN ACTION
FURTHER READING
INDEX
34
41
47
48
AMERICAN PRIVATEERS OF
THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
INTRODUCTION
The naval side of the American War of Independence (or American Revolution)
has long played second fiddle to the fighting on land. This is understandable.
With a few notable exceptions the American naval contribution to the
struggle was fairly negligible, and definitely less spectacular than the
terrestrial battles fought at Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Germantown, Guilford
Courthouse, or Yorktown. Strategically, though, the maritime element of
the war was of immense importance. The American colonies were utterly
reliant on the import of weapons, powder, and other war materials in order
to stay in the fight, while Britain depended on shipping to supply her armies
in the Americas, and for her own prosperity. That meant both sides were
strategically vulnerable, due to their dependence on ships, trade, and the
maintenance of the sea lanes.
From the start, the rebellious American colonists developed a three-
pronged approach to their naval campaign. First was the creation of a
small Continental Navy, which in theory was there to protect American
A British merchant ship of the
period, pictured at sea in the
English Channel from three
different angles. Unarmed
merchant vessels of this kind
were easy prey for American
privateers, until they began
sailing as part of a well-
armed convoy.
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The lines of the three-masted
privateering ship
Rhodes
of
Salem, Massachusetts. She first
put to sea in July 1780, under
Captain Nehemiah Buffington,
taking ten prizes before her
own capture by a British ship-
of-the-line in February 1782.
shipping, and the coastline of the rebelling colonies. Secondly, several states
established their own small fleets, which functioned in a similar way. Both
of these forces, though, were eventually deployed in a commerce-raiding
role, as they lacked the naval strength to take on the British fleet. That
strategic challenge was eventually taken up by America’s allies and, from
1778 on, the French navy was particularly active in challenging British naval
supremacy in American waters, from Newfoundland down to the West
Indies. The third prong, however, was privateering. Both individual states
and the Continental Congress issued privateering “letters of marque” to ship
captains, empowering them to hunt down British merchant ships on the
high seas.
In return the authorities received a cut of the substantial profits to be
made from privateering, without any of the financial outlay or having to
share the often-significant risks. In addition, dozens of Loyalist privateers
also put to sea, and preyed on the shipping of their rebel countrymen. As the
war dragged on the number of active privateers increased steadily. By its end,
a new breed of large, purpose-built American privateers was more powerful
than most of the warships in the fledgling American Navy. Arguably, their
attacks encouraged Britain to end this damaging conflict by granting America
its independence, and so ending this huge drain on the British economy.
This book traces the development of these remarkable “private ships of
war,” and explains how they made such a significant contribution to the
American cause.
BACKGROUND
PRIVATEER, a vessel of war, armed and equipped by particular merchants,
and furnished with a military commission by the admiralty, or the officers
who superintend the marine department of a country, to cruise against the
enemy, and to take, sink, or burn their shipping, or otherwise annoy them as
opportunity offers. These vessels are generally governed on the same plan with
his majesty’s ships, although they are guilty of many scandalous depredations,
which are rarely practiced by the latter.
Falconer’s Marine Dictionary
(1780)
This contemporary definition of a privateer says a lot. First, it highlights
the lofty ideals behind privateering. The idea was that in time of war,
private ship owners holding state-issued letters of marque would send
privateers to sea which would effectively act as auxiliary warships, and
which would operate in a similar way to fully fledged men-of-war. The
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