[554] Ibid., Journals of South Carolina Navy Board, October 9, 12,

1776.

[555] Cooper, Statutes of South Carolina, IV, August 23, 1777.

[556] Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, February

8, 1780.

[557] Force, American Archives, 5th, II, Journals of South Carolina

Navy Board, October 17, 1776.

[558] Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, September

10, 1779. The contract with Cochran was being dissolved.

[559] Notes of Mr. A. S. Salley, Jr., Secretary of the Historical

Commission of South Carolina.

[560] Cooper, Statutes of South Carolina, IV, January 16, 1777.

[561] Cooper, Statutes of South Carolina, IV, February 13, 1777,

January 26, March 28, 1778. On February 13, 1777, a new act relating

to the Court of Admiralty was passed.

[562] Ibid., October 9, 1778.

[563] In 1776 the following vessels were employed as merchantmen:

schooners, “Polly,” “Peggy” and “Little Thomas;” the brigantine

“Notre Dame,” and the sloop “Margaret.”

[564] South Carolina Archives, Miscellaneous Records, A, 18, 19.

[565] Files of South Carolina and American General Gazette, and

Gazette of State of South Carolina.

[566] Gazette of State of South Carolina, July 21, November 4, 1777.

[567] Ibid., April 7, 1779.

[568] Moultrie, Memoirs of American Revolution, I, 193-99; South

Carolina and American General Gazette, April 23, May 28, June 4,

1778; Ramsay, Revolution in South Carolina, I, 71; Clowes’s Royal

Navy, IV, 10.

[569] Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, August 31,

1779.

[570] Ibid., September 6, 1779. The Senate was not willing to make so

large a naval increase.

[571] Ibid., February 14, 1780.

[572] South Carolina Archives, Miscellaneous Records, A. Among the

vessels to which the Governor gave commissions were the following:

galleys “Congress,” “South Edisto,” “Revenge,” “Beaufort,” “Lee,”

“Marquis de Bretigny,” and “Carolina;” sloop “Count de Kersaint,”

brigantines “General Lincoln” and “Beaufort,” schooner “Eshe,”

and the vessel “Lovely Julia.” The following vessels, a number of

which were impressed, were in the service of the state in 1779 or

1780: galley “Rutledge,” schooners “Polly,” “Rattlesnake,” “Sally,”

“Anthony,” “General Moultrie,” “Nancy,” “Three Friends,” brig “Wasp”

and brigantine “Ballony.”

[573] Almon’s Remembrancer, 1780, II, 44-47.

[574] Previous to the siege of Charles Town, His Majesty’s navy had

captured the following vessels: February, 1777, “Defence” taken by

the “Roebuck” and “Perseus;” December, 1777, “Comet,” taken by the

“Daphne;” April, 1779, “Hornet,” taken by the same.

[575] Gibbes, Documentary History of American Revolution, 1776-1782,

181, 183.

[576] Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, February

12, 1780.

[577] Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, March 5,

1783.

[578] South Carolina Archives, Miscellaneous Records, A, 66, 67;

Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, March 10, 1783,

report of a committee on certain papers of Commodore Gillon.

[579] South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, I, 28-32,

136-47, two letters of Gillon.

[580] New York Historical Society Collections, Deane Papers, IV, 450,

468, 478, 519; Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence, IV, 546-47, note.

[581] Pennsylvania Packet, March 5, May 31, and June 4, 1782. The

issue of June 4 contains a letter of Gillon to Governor Mathewes of

South Carolina, dated May 15, 1782, containing an account of the

expedition; Gibbes, Documentary History of American Revolution,

1776-1782, 170.

[582] Connecticut Gazette, June 14, 1782.

[583] Clowes’s Royal Navy, IV, 91.

[584] Journals of South Carolina House of Representatives, March 10,

1783.

[585] McCrady, South Carolina in Revolution, 1775-1780, 219.

[586] Cooper, Statutes of South Carolina, V, December 21, 1814.

[587] Conversations with Hon. J. T. Gantt, Secretary of State of

South Carolina.

CHAPTER XVI

THE MINOR NAVIES OF THE SOUTHERN STATES

Naval administration in Maryland was vested in the Committee of

Safety until March 22, 1777, when it passed to the Governor and

Council, the executive under the first state constitution of

Maryland. The Committee was given a free hand in its control of

the navy. The Provincial Convention empowered it to fix the pay of

officers and seamen, and to appoint the commanders of the smaller

naval vessels. The Convention, however, established the pay of

marines, which was the same as that of the state troops; and it

decided that the uniform of the marines should be a blue hunting

shirt.[588] The first naval work of the Committee of Safety was

the fitting and arming, in February and March, 1776, of the ship

“Defence,” twenty-two 6-pounders, Captain James Nicholson, the chief

vessel in the Maryland navy. In March the schooner “Resolution” was

purchased as a tender for the “Defence.” The Committee of Safety,

which held its meetings in Annapolis was early in 1776 assisted

in its work at Baltimore, the chief port of the state, by the

Baltimore Committee of Observation; and, later in the year, by Jesse

Hollingsworth, who was appointed naval agent for Baltimore.

In June and July, 1776, the Provincial Convention ordered the

Committee of Safety to build seven row-galleys, and to fit out three

small vessels, mounting not more than ten guns each, and a number

of armed boats not to exceed six.[589] By the spring of 1777 the

Committee of Safety had built, fitted, and officered the galleys

“Baltimore,” “Conqueror,” “Independence,” and “Chester,” and the

armed boat “Plater;” it had in process of construction, ready to

launch, the galleys “Johnson” and “Annapolis,” and it had purchased

the tender “Amelia” and the schooner “Dolphin.” During the first

years of the war the Committee of Safety hired or purchased several

small vessels, which were used chiefly as merchantmen.[590] It is

not always easy to distinguish these craft from the naval vessels,

which were now and then sent on trading voyages. Maryland’s most

common commercial venture was to ship flour and tobacco to the firm

of Harrison and Van Bibber at Martinique, and there laden her vessels

for the homeward voyage with munitions of war.[591]

As an inducement to recruits, the Provincial Convention, in October,

1776, offered a bounty of $20 to able seamen, and $10 to landsmen.

Officers and seamen who received bounties and wages were given

one-third of their prizes, the share granted by the Continental

Congress; those who did not receive bounties and wages were given

the whole of their prizes.[592] Maryland was unable to meet the

competition with privateers for seamen, and her vessels were often

forced to remain in port for lack of crews. In December, 1776, the

naval agent at Baltimore wrote that he could “load twenty vessels

rather than man and sail two. The money paid to captains and sailors

is wonderful, and no way to shun it.”[593]

Maryland established in her navy the rank of commodore. On June

8, 1778, her Governor commissioned Thomas Grason, who had been

appointed commodore on April 21 by the General Assembly.[594] In 1782

a “Commodore Whaley” was in the naval service. Her most prominent

captains were James Nicholson, who in 1776 became the senior captain

in the Continental navy; and George Cook, who had served seven years

in the British navy. Lieutenant John Henry Boucher resigned early in

1776 to enter the Virginia naval service, where he soon rose to the

highest rank.

In May, 1776, the Provincial Convention, pursuant to the resolves

of the Continental Congress, established a Court of Admiralty,

consisting of a judge, marshal, and register. The procedure was to

be that usual in such courts; trial by jury was made optional; and

the judge was permitted to determine the places of sitting.[595]

The privateers of Maryland were generally small craft, mounting on

the average eight 4-pounders. They plied their trade chiefly in

Chesapeake Bay. From April 1, 1777, to March 14, 1783, a period of

almost six years, Maryland issued letters of marque and reprisal to

248 privateers, carrying a total of 1,810 guns.[596]

Since a number of her vessels had been for some time idle for lack

of crews, Maryland in the first half of 1779 sold all of her naval

craft, except the galleys “Conqueror” and “Chester,” and the schooner

“Dolphin.”[597] From 1780 to the end of the Revolution the trade in

the Chesapeake, and the property of the inhabitants of the Maryland

coasts, on both sides of the Bay, suffered severely from the ravages

of the British refugee barges, privateers, and small naval craft.

These conditions led Maryland to make frequent attempts, during the

last years of the war, to provide a naval armament for the defence of

the Bay. In 1780 she was moved to renew her naval activities by still

other considerations. The success of the British this year in South

and North Carolina and on the coasts of Virginia made the outlook for

Maryland very threatening. It was also known that Clinton wished to

carry the war into Maryland and Virginia.

In October, 1780, Maryland passed her first act for the defence of

the Bay. The Governor and Council were ordered to provide, officer,

and man four large barges or row-boats, each to carry at least

twenty-five men, one galley to be armed with two 18’s and two 9’s,

and one sloop or schooner to carry ten 4’s. They were to enlist one

hundred marines for three years. The marines were to be paid £2, 5s.

a month and a bounty of $40, and the seamen £3 a month and a bounty

of $20.[598] During the May session of the legislature in 1781, just

after Arnold’s invasion into Virginia, this act was amended. The

Governor and Council were now directed to procure two galleys and a

number of barges not to exceed eight.[599]

In passing, mention should be made of the service which Maryland

rendered the Continental army in 1781, in transporting troops. When,

in the spring of that year, Lafayette and his army were on their way

to Virginia to attempt the capture of Arnold, Maryland impressed

upwards of one hundred transports, together with three small armed

vessels, which she placed under the command of Captain James

Nicholson. This fleet carried a large part of Lafayette’s troops,

stores, guns, and baggage from the head of Elk to Annapolis. In

August and September the state rendered similar aid to Washington’s

army, which was then on its way to Yorktown. Every vessel in the

state was pressed into service.[600]

During the last year of the war the British were especially annoying

to the trade and coasts of Maryland and Virginia. Fifteen or twenty

small craft which made their headquarters on the islands in the

Chesapeake were very destructive, and their depredations called forth

protective measures not only in Maryland, but in Virginia, as we have

seen. In each state private initiative did what it could to stop the

pillaging, but it was not able to cope with the enemy.

On June 13, 1782, the Maryland legislature appointed William Paca,

Walter Tilghman and Robert Goldsborough commissioners to provide for

the defence of the Bay. They were ordered to procure four barges

and a galley or other vessel of force, to fit them for immediate

service against the enemy, and to turn them over to the Governor and

Council when ready to be employed. The legislature also appointed

William Hanson Harrison, a commissioner to go to Richmond and concert

with the Virginia executive or legislature a joint defence of the

Bay. A new naval establishment was now effected. The Governor and

Council were to raise and officer two hundred and fifty able seamen,

watermen, landsmen, and marines, who were to serve until January

1, 1783, or longer. They were to fix the pay and rations of the

officers. Officers and seamen who should lose a limb, or be otherwise

maimed or hurt, were to receive the same benefits which the state

should hereafter give to her soldiers in the Continental army. The

naval forces were to be subject to the naval rules and regulations

provided by Congress for the Continental navy. A penalty of £50 was

prescribed for enticing seamen away from the state service. The

expense incurred in providing this naval increase was to be met

chiefly from an appropriation of £10,000 and from the sale of the

confiscated property of Tories.[601]

Owing to the continuance of the depredations of the British, the

legislature in its November session of 1782 passed another act for

the defence of the Bay. The Governor and Council were directed to

fit out a certain galley or ship, now building for the state, and

the barges “Somerset,” “Terrible,” “Fearnaught,” and “Defence,” and

enlist three hundred and fifty men to serve until January 1, 1784.

Two-thirds of the proceeds of captures were now to be given to the

captors. The expense of this establishment was to be met by import

duties on rum, brandy, and other distilled spirits; on wine, loaf

sugar, and coffee; and on all goods and merchandise, with certain

exceptions.[602]

The navy of Maryland rendered miscellaneous services. It convoyed

merchantmen, imported and distributed arms and provisions,

transported troops, watched the fleet of the enemy to report its

movements, and defended the trade and coasts of the state. Except

when used for commercial purposes, Maryland’s vessels rarely passed

outside the Capes at the mouth of the Chesapeake. Attempts which

were made to bring about the coöperation of the Maryland and

Virginia fleets did not often succeed. A few small prizes were

taken, but none of them were of much value. In the fall of 1776 the

“Defence,” Captain Cook, cruised as far southward as the West Indies,

and captured five small prizes, laden with logwood, mahogany, indigo,

rum, and sugar.[603] Several sharp encounters between the vessels

of Maryland and the enemy took place in the Bay. As early as March,

1776, the “Defence,” 22, Captain James Nicholson, checked the advance

up the Chesapeake of the British sloop-of-war “Otter,” 10, and

recaptured several prizes.[604] Now and then attempts were made to

dislodge the British from some of the islands in the Bay. So late as

the latter part of March, 1783, the state sent a small schooner and

two barges against a rendezvous of the British on Devil’s Island, one

of the Tangiers.[605]

On November 30, 1782, the Battle of the Barges occurred near the

Tangier islands. The mortality of the Americans in this engagement

was relatively greater than in any other sea fight of the Revolution.

In its carnage and in the bravery displayed by the Americans, this

fight does not suffer from a comparison with that of Jones off

Flamborough Head. The Maryland fleet, which had been joined by a

volunteer Virginia barge, was commanded by Commodore Whaley of the

barge “Protector.” The British fleet of barges was under the command

of Captain Kidd of the “Kidnapper,” mounting 18-pounders. For one

cause or another the “Protector” was the only American barge which

engaged the British fleet. While the “Protector” inflicted much

damage on the vessels of her adversary, she naturally was unable

to fight long against such tremendous odds. An extract from the

simple and pathetic narrative of the fight written by Colonel John

Cropper, a volunteer Virginia officer on board the “Protector,”

possesses interest: “Commodore Whaley was shot down a little before

the enemy boarded, acting the part of a cool, intrepid, gallant

officer. Captain Joseph Handy fell nigh the same time, nobly fighting

with one arm, after the loss of the other. Captain Levin Handy was

badly wounded. There went into action in the Protector sixty-five

men, twenty-five of them were killed and drowned, twenty-nine were

wounded, some of whom are since dead, and eleven only escaped being

wounded, most of whom leaped into the water to save themselves from

the explosion.” Colonel Cropper, to whom, on the death of Whaley, the

command of the “Protector” fell, was wounded three times, “and after

the surrender knocked down by a four-pound rammer.”[606]

During the last years of the war Maryland in her attempts to defend

the Chesapeake, obtained as many as ten barges.[607] She had also in

the naval service at this time a schooner, the “Flying Fish.” The end

of her navy may be dated with the statute passed by her legislature

in May, 1783, which authorized the Intendant to sell “the galley and

the barges.”[608]

North Carolina’s initial step in procuring a naval armament was taken

on December 21, 1775, when her Council of Safety resolved to fit

out three armed vessels for the defence of the trade of the state.

It appointed three Boards of Commissioners, each of which was to

immediately purchase, arm, man, and victual a vessel. The board

for Cape Fear was composed of five men; for Newbern, of eight; and

for Edenton, of six.[609] Since it proved difficult to assemble a

quorum of the Newbern Board, the Council of Safety in June, 1776,

vested its powers in three of its members.[610] In May, 1776, the

Provincial Congress fixed the monthly wages of officers, seamen, and

marines. Captains were to be paid £10; lieutenants, masters, captains

of marines, and doctors, £8 each; marines, £2, 13s., 4d.; “seamen

complete,” £4; “seamen not complete,” £3.[611]

By October, 1776, the Cape Fear Board had fitted out the brigantine

“Washington;” the Newbern Board, the brigantine “Pennsylvania

Farmer;” and the Edenton Board, the brigantine “King Tammany.” The

Council of Safety now ordered these three vessels to protect the

trade of the state at Ocracoke Bar, and to proceed against the

enemy’s Jamaicamen homeward bound from the West Indies. “It may be

necessary to inform you,” it wrote on October 1 to Captain Joshua

Hampstead of the “Pennsylvania Farmer,” “that the Jamaica fleet will

sail for Europe about the middle of this month under the convoy of a

twenty-gun ship only, from the best intelligence we can obtain.”[612]

For one reason or another these three vessels accomplished very

little. For a long time the “Washington,” Captain Edward Ingraham,

could not obtain a crew. The “Pennsylvania Farmer,” Captain Joshua

Hampstead, was idle during the summer of 1776, for lack of shot.

James Davis, one of the Commissioners for fitting out this vessel,

made serious accusations against his fellow Commissioners and the

officers and crew of the vessel. As Davis had suffered real or

supposed injuries at their hands, his words no doubt must be heavily

discounted. In October, 1776, he wrote that the “Pennsylvania Farmer”

lay in Newbern “with 110 men on board at the Expence of near Forty

Pounds per day, upwards of six months; in the most inglorious,

inactive, and dissolute state that perhaps was ever suffered in any

Country.” The crew of the vessel consisted of “men of all nations and

conditions, English, Irish, Scotch, Indians, Men of Wars Men, and

the most abandoned sett of wretches ever collected together. Two of

the officers broke open the Gun Room, and with a number of the men

went off with the Boat, with Intent to join Lord Dunmore’s fleet, and

actually reached Currituck County. They were apprehended, and are

still at large on board. They have wasted near 100 pounds of powder

in wantonly firing at and bringing to all Boats, Canoes, and Vessels

of every sort, even Passengers in the Ferry Boat have been insulted.

Capt. Thos. Shine of the Militia, with his Company on board coming

up to the General Muster, was fired on and a ball passed within a

few inches of his Arm.”[613] These are but few of the derelictions

contained in Davis’s remarkable list. His overstatement of his case

causes one to suspect that he was not entirely free from malice.

By December, 1777, the “Washington” was ordered to be sold; and

commissioners had been appointed to load the other two vessels

and send them on voyages to foreign ports. In April, 1778, the

legislature decided to sell the “Pennsylvania Farmer.” On May 30 this

vessel at a public sale in Edenton “was cried out by John Blackburn

on Mr. Joseph Hewes, after which Mr. Hewes denied having bid the sum

which she was cried out at.”[614]

No other subject of naval interest engaged the attention of North

Carolina so much as the defence of Ocracoke Inlet. It is recalled

that the waters of Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds are separated from

the Atlantic by a long sandbar, which is only at a few points broken

by inlets. These connect the waters of the Atlantic with the waters

of the Sound. The most important inlet at the time of the Revolution

was that of Ocracoke. The protecting and the keeping open of this

entrance was a matter of importance not only to North Carolina,

but to Virginia and the Continental Congress, as well. Most of the

foreign trade of Newbern and Edenton, the two main ports of the

state, passed through this inlet. In a similar way, the trade of

Southern Virginia, outward or inward bound, found it convenient to

use this channel. In the first years of the Revolution, especially

in 1778, not a few goods coming from foreign marts, and destined

for the Continental Army, rather than risk capture off the entrance

to the Chesapeake or the Delaware Bay, entered Ocracoke, passed on

through Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds into Chowan River, and thence

by the branches of this river to the town of South Quay, in southern

Virginia, near the confluence of the Nottaway and Blackwater rivers.

From South Quay the goods were carried by wagons to Suffolk on the

Nansemond, and thence by boat up the Nansemond into the James. This

route constituted the southern division of the so-called “Inland

Navigation.” It was along this road that North Carolina salt pork

and beef, and shoes made by North Carolina Quakers, passed northward

on their way to the “Grand Army.” In 1778 and 1779 South Quay and

Suffolk were important _entrepôts_ for Continental goods.

Since the keeping open of communication through Ocracoke Inlet was

of importance to both North Carolina and Virginia, the two states

concerted a joint naval armament for this purpose. On May 9, 1776,

the North Carolina Provincial Congress appointed Allen and Thomas

Jones to attend the Provincial Congress of Virginia, “for the purpose

of recommending to them the expediency of fitting out two Armed

Vessels at the expense of that Colony, to act in conjunction with the

armed vessels already fitted out by this Colony for the protection of

the trade at Ocracoke.”[615] As her part of the joint undertaking,

Virginia agreed to construct at South Quay two galleys, to be

employed in the defence of the Inlet.

Virginia carried out her promise, and built at the “South Quay

ship yard” two ships, the “Caswell” and “Washington.”[616] North

Carolina ordered her brigantines to defend Ocracoke; and she voted

£2,000 towards the equipping of Virginia’s ships, and appointed

commissioners to invest this money in anchors, guns, rigging,

and canvas.[617] Finally, as we shall see, she maintained at

her expense one of the Virginia ships on the station at Ocracoke

for a considerable period. She did not, however, meet Virginia’s

expectations, which state several times expressed the belief that

North Carolina had not done her share in keeping up the joint

establishment.[618]

Until 1778 the trade which passed through Ocracoke was rather free

from annoyance. It was in January of that year that Joshua Martin,

the late Royal Governor of North Carolina, wrote from New York to

Lord George Germaine in London: “That the contemptible port of

Ocracock has become a great channel of supply to the rebels, while

the more considerable ports have been watched by the King’s ships.

They have received through it considerable importations.”[619] On

January 1, 1778, there arrived at Newbern a sloop from Martinique,

a schooner from St. Eustatius, a schooner with salt from Bermuda, a

French schooner from Hispaniola, and two schooners from the Northern

states; a French scow was at the same time reported at Ocracoke.[620]

A letter from Edenton, dated June 9, informs us that several foreign

vessels were at the Inlet, and that a sloop had recently arrived at

Edenton from France, which had on board for the Continental Congress

thirteen thousand pairs of shoes, a large quantity of clothing, and a

“marble Monument for Genl. Montgomery.”[621]

In the spring of 1778 the North Carolina legislature voted to

purchase from Virginia the ship “Caswell,” stating that it had not

been able to keep its agreement with Virginia in providing a joint

defence of Ocracoke. The legislature fixed the pay of the officers

and seamen on board the “Caswell.”[622] In May this ship, under the

command of Captain Willis Wilson, with one hundred and seventy men

on board, lay off Ocracoke bar. Captain Wilson reported to Governor

Caswell on May 20 that the place was not infested with British

cruisers, and that a French ship and brig lay outside the Inlet,

waiting to come in. In June, however, Wilson wrote that “the enemy

(one ship, two sloops, and a brig) take a peep at us every now and

then, but are not disposed to venture in.”[623] A sloop was now

purchased at Beaufort, to act as a tender for the “Caswell,” and

Richard Ellis was appointed agent at Newbern to purchase provisions

and naval supplies.[624]

In December, 1778, the “Caswell” was still afloat, but by June,

1779, she had sunk at her station at Ocracoke.[625] With the loss of

this vessel North Carolina’s naval enterprises came to an end. Her

attention was now engrossed by threatening invasions of the enemy

from South Carolina.

North Carolina maintained admiralty courts at several ports on

the coast. There were such courts at Beaufort, Bath, Roanoke and

Currituck. As early as April 25, 1776, a special court of admiralty

was appointed to try a prize case.[626] A few of the privateers

of this state rendered valuable services. The brig “Bellona,” 16,

Captain Pendleton, fitted out at Newbern, cruised very successfully.

Georgia’s naval armament was small and unimportant. Her Provincial

Congress, however, commissioned one of the first armed vessels of the

Revolution. In June, 1775, it gave Captains Oliver Bowen and Joseph

Habersham command of a 10-gun schooner, and directed them to assist

Captains Joyner and Barnwell of South Carolina in capturing a certain

British ship, laden with powder, and expected to arrive at Savannah.

On July 10 the joint forces of the two states captured the ship and

obtained thirteen thousand pounds of the highly prized article.

Georgia sent five thousand of her share of nine thousand pounds to

the Continental Congress at Philadelphia.[627]

On July 5, 1776, the Continental Congress resolved to build four

galleys under the direction of the Georgia Provincial Congress.[628]

In August the Committee of Safety was building some row-galleys,

and also fitting out an armed vessel for which purpose £2,000 were

voted. On August 28 the Committee of Safety ordered Captain Bowen to

go to Hispaniola to purchase armed vessels to the amount of £3,000,

materials for fitting out vessels, and various warlike stores. In

October it ordered Captain Pray to go to Cape Francois on a similar

errand. Pray was authorized to mount on his vessel carrying his

purchases to Georgia as many guns as it would conveniently bear.[629]

Whether these two men actually carried out their commissions is not

known.

In the spring of 1777 Georgia had three galleys in service, and

later she had a fourth. These were named the “Washington,” “Lee,”

“Bulloch,” and “Congress.” This little fleet was placed under the

command of Commodore Oliver Bowen, and it was employed on the

Georgia seacoast chiefly in conjunction with the army. Under orders

of President Gwinnett three of the galleys commanded by Commodore

Bowen assisted the army in its unsuccessful expedition against East

Florida in April and May, 1777.[630] In April, 1778, off Frederica,

Georgia, the “Washington,” Captain Hardy, “Lee,” Captain Braddock,

and “Bulloch,” Captain Hatcher, with three hundred troops on board,

captured His Majesty’s brigantine “Hinchinbrooke,” 12, the sloop

“Rebecca,” and a brig.[631]

In the campaign around Savannah early in 1779 all four galleys were

lost. In January the “Washington” and “Bulloch” were stranded near

Ossabaw Island on the Georgia coast, and were burned by their crews,

to prevent their capture. In March, 1779, the “Congress,” Captain

Campbell, and the “Lee,” Captain Milligan, engaged near Yamasee Bluff

the British galleys “Comet” and “Hornet.” The Americans, after losing

three killed, among whom was Captain Campbell, and six wounded,

were forced to abandon their galleys. Out of 104 men on board the

American galleys the British captured but ten.[632] The occupation

of Southern Georgia by the enemy from this time until the end of the

Revolution stopped further naval endeavors on the part of the Patriot

party of the state.

Georgia had a prize court in operation as early as November, 1776.

Her constitution of February, 1777, provided for the hearing of prize

cases by special county courts, much as in Connecticut.[633]

FOOTNOTES:

[588] Force, American Archives, 4th, IV, 744-45; 5th, III, 94.

[589] Force, American Archives, 4th, VI, 1487, 1496.

[590] The following vessels were employed as trading craft:

Sloop “Molly;” schooners “Ninety-Six,” “General Smallwood,” and

“Friendship;” brigs “Sam” and “Friendship,” and ship “Lydia.”

[591] Maryland Archives, XI, XII, XVI, XXI.

[592] Force, American Archives, 5th, III, 128.

[593] Ibid., 1025.

[594] Maryland Archives, XXI, 125.

[595] Force, American Archives, 4th, V, 1596, 1597-98.

[596] Scharf, History of Maryland, II, 205.

[597] Maryland Archives, XXI, 399.

[598] Statutes of Maryland, October session, 1780, chapter XXXIV.

[599] Statutes of Maryland, May session, 1781, chapter XXXIV.

[600] Scharf, History of Maryland, II, 439-40, 456, 461.

[601] Statutes of Maryland, April session, 1782, Chapter III.

[602] Statutes of Maryland, November session, 1782, Chapter XXVI.

[603] Maryland Archives, XII, 500.

[604] Ridgely, Annals of Annapolis, 175-77.

[605] Scharf, History of Maryland, II, 481-82.

[606] Southern Literary Messenger, XXIV, (1857), 218, Colonel John

Cropper to Colonel Williams Davies, his superior in command in the

Continental line.

[607] Scharf enumerates the following barges: “Revenge,” “Terrible,”

“Intrepid,” “Protector,” “Experiment,” “Venus,” “Defence,”

“Reformation,” “Dolphin,” and “Fearnaught.” These barges were about

forty-two feet long, eight feet wide, and three deep. Each carried

about twenty-four oars, from sixteen to thirteen feet long, and

mounted two large guns.—Scharf, History of Maryland, II, 204.

[608] Statutes of Maryland, April session, 1783, chapter XVI, Votes

and Proceedings of Maryland Senate, April session, 1783, 63. For

the pay-rolls of the “Flying Fish,” “Defence,” and several Maryland

barges, see Maryland Archives, XVIII, 606-15.

[609] North Carolina Colonial Records, X, 352.

[610] Ibid., 637.

[611] Ibid., 584.

[612] North Carolina Colonial Records, X, 831-32, 848-49, 875-77;

North Carolina State Records, XI, 356.

[613] North Carolina Colonial Records, X, 834-36.

[614] North Carolina State Records, XII, 173, 244, 623, 796.

[615] Force, American Archives, 4th, V, 1357.

[616] These vessels were at first called galleys.

[617] North Carolina Colonial Records, X, 981.

[618] North Carolina State Records, XIV, 19, 126.

[619] Ibid., XIII, iii-iv.

[620] Ibid., 354.

[621] North Carolina State Records, XIV, 154-55.

[622] Ibid., XII, 574-75, 742, 746; XIII, 138-39, 171-72. In June,

1779, Governor Jefferson of Virginia wrote to Governor Caswell

offering to sell both the “Caswell” and “Washington.” Virginia had

found the trade through Ocracoke inconvenient.—North Carolina State

Records, XIV, 126, 136.

[623] Ibid., XIII, 132, 171.

[624] North Carolina State Records, XIII, 138-39, 174-75.

[625] Ibid., XIV, 136.

[626] Force, American Archives, 4th, V, 1339.

[627] Jones, History of Georgia, II, 181.

[628] Journals of Continental Congress, July 5, 1776.

[629] Collections of Georgia Historical Society, V, part I;

Proceedings of Georgia Council of Safety, 96, 101-02, 113.

[630] Jones, History of Georgia, II, 269.

[631] McCall, History of Georgia, II, 137-38; Moultrie, Memoirs of

American Revolution, II, 375.

[632] McCall, History of Georgia, II, 179, 224-25.

[633] Jameson, Essays in Constitutional History of United States, 10.

CHAPTER XVII

THE MINOR NAVIES OF THE NORTHERN STATES

Rhode Island was the first colony to undertake a defence by means

of armed vessels. Her initial legislation preceded that of the

Continental Congress by almost four months. During 1775 her coasts

and trade were annoyed by the vessels of the enemy. In the early

summer the conduct of Captain James Wallace, the commander of His

Majesty’s frigate “Rose,” was especially vexatious and insulting.

On June 13 Nicholas Cooke, Deputy-Governor of Rhode Island, in

accordance with a resolution of the General Assembly, wrote to

Wallace demanding the immediate restoration of certain captured

vessels, and especially of two packets belonging to citizens of

Providence. The acts of Wallace were obviously in the minds of the

members of the General Assembly, when, on June 15, it ordered the

Committee of Safety to charter and fit out two suitable vessels for

the defence of the trade of Rhode Island.

The General Assembly also appointed a committee of three to appraise

and hire the two vessels. It ordered the larger vessel to be

equipped with eighty men and ten 4-pounders; the smaller vessel was

to be manned with not more than thirty men. It appointed Abraham

Whipple commander of the larger vessel with the rank and power of

commodore over both vessels, and named his lieutenants, master, and

quarter-master. Officers were also chosen for the smaller vessel.

The establishment of the little fleet was assimilated to that of

the land forces of the state. Its cruises were to be determined by

the Lieutenant-General, Brigadier-General, and the Committee of

Safety.[634]

Two sloops, the “Katy” and “Washington,” were at once chartered.

Commodore Whipple tells us that on the same day he received his

commission, June 15, he captured a tender of the frigate “Rose.”[635]

This was the first authorized capture of a naval vessel of the enemy.

During the summer of 1775 the “Katy” and “Washington” cruised chiefly

in Narragansett Bay for the defence of Rhode Island. In August the

“Washington” was sent outside of the Bay to warn incoming vessels

laden with powder and warlike stores of their danger from British

craft. It was at this time that Washington proposed that one of the

sloops should be sent to the Bermudas for powder, which military

necessity was much needed by his army.[636] Commodore Whipple, in the

“Katy,” was dispatched on this errand in September. Arriving at the

Bermudas, Whipple found that he had come too late as the powder had

already been sent to Philadelphia.

It was while the “Katy” was on this errand that Governor Cooke,

on October 10, received orders from the Continental Congress to

send his little fleet to the northward to intercept two British

transports. The “Washington” was unfit for so large an undertaking.

The “Katy,” having arrived from the Bermudas, was ordered on

November 12, 1775, to cruise between Nantucket Shoals and Halifax.

Later her destination was changed, and she was directed to carry to

Philadelphia the seamen which Commodore Esek Hopkins had enlisted

for the Continental service.[637] On the arrival of the “Katy” in

Philadelphia she was taken into the Continental service under the

name of the “Providence.” About the same time the “Washington” was in

all probability returned to her owner, as she had become more or less

unseaworthy.

Meantime the General Assembly had ordered the construction of two

galleys, to carry sixty men, to have fifteen oars on a side, and to

mount one 18-pounder in the bow.[638] The work was placed under the

direction of a superintendent. In January, 1776, the General Assembly

appointed John Grimes commodore of the galleys at a salary of £9 a

month. The galleys were named the “Washington” and “Spitfire.” They

rendered a variety of services in the Bay, cruising in defence of

trade, acting as transports, and covering landing parties sent after

forage and supplies.[639] In July, 1776, they were ordered to proceed

to New York and to assist in the defence of the Hudson.[640] It is

probable that this detail was not carried out. By the summer of 1778

they had been captured or destroyed by the enemy.

From June, 1775, until December, 1776, naval administration in Rhode

Island during the recess of the General Assembly, was vested in the

Committee of Safety, or Recess Committee, as it was sometimes called.

This Committee, as constituted by the session of the General Assembly

beginning on October 31, 1775, consisted of the Governor and

eighteen members, together with such members of the General Assembly

as happened to be present at the meetings of the Committee. Any seven

members constituted a quorum. The composition of the Committee varied

slightly at different times. On December 13, 1776, a Council of War

was appointed, with whom naval administration was now vested. The

Council of War, which included the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor,

consisted of nine members, any five of whom formed a quorum. In

May, 1778, a Council of War comprising twenty-one members, and

representative of the whole state was chosen. The Council of War was

virtually the Committee of Safety under a change of name.[641]

In January, 1776, the General Assembly appointed a committee of three

to draw up a bill establishing a prize court. On March 18 a bill

became a law which established a court of justice for the trying

of prize cases. It was to be presided over by a judge, appointed

annually. The same act established state privateering. Privateersmen

were to enter into bond for £2,000 to observe the provisions of

the act and the instructions of the Governor. They were to be

commissioned by the Governor. In May, 1776, this act was brought into

conformity with the resolutions of Congress on the same subject.

Captors were given one-half of all armed vessels and one-third of all

other prizes.[642] A list containing the names of 193 privateers from

Rhode Island has been compiled.[643]

In June, 1777, the General Assembly undertook to add two armed

vessels to the naval force of the state, but for some reason its

order was not carried out.[644] The same resolution directed the

Council of War to procure three merchantmen to be used in importing

supplies. The ship “Aurora” and sloop “Diamond” were two of the

vessels purchased for commercial purposes.

For a time Rhode Island relied in part for her naval defence upon the

two Continental frigates, “Providence” and “Warren,” which were built

at Providence in 1776, and officered and manned largely with Rhode

Island men. The General Assembly and the Council of War furthered

the work of the local naval committee which had charge of the

construction of the frigates. These two ships left Providence early

in 1778. During 1778 and 1779 the state continued to depend upon

Continental assistance.

It is recalled that during the summer of 1778 Washington concerted

with the French fleet a campaign to drive the British from Newport.

General Sullivan commanded the land forces of the Americans. On June

25, 1778, Congress directed the Navy Board at Boston to build three

galleys, or procure three suitable vessels, for the defence of the

Providence, Warren, and Taunton rivers in Rhode Island, if upon

advising with the Rhode Island Council of War and General Sullivan,

the Navy Board should find such measure expedient. At a conference

of the Navy Board, the Council of War, and Sullivan it was decided

to procure one large ship. Such a vessel was obtained by Sullivan,

but he was compelled soon to return it to its owners.[645] With the

consent and recommendation of the Rhode Island authorities, Sullivan,

in November, procured the “Pigot” galley, and in the spring of 1779

the sloop “Argo.”[646] First the “Pigot,” and later the “Argo,” was

placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Silas Talbot, of the

Continental army.

Already Talbot had been twice recommended by Congress for promotion

on account of gallant conduct in naval exploits. The Rhode Island

General Assembly had recognized his bravery in capturing the “Pigot”

galley off the coast of Rhode Island in October, 1778, by voting him

a “genteel silver-hilted sword.” As commander of the “Pigot” and

later of the “Argo,” Talbot was under the orders of Sullivan, and

of Gates, Sullivan’s successor. During the summer of 1779 Talbot in

the “Argo,” assisted at times by privateers and the state vessels of

Massachusetts, captured fifteen small prizes.[647] As a reward for

the conspicuous ability which he showed in this work, Congress made

him a captain in the Continental navy. Early in 1780 the “Pigot” and

“Argo” closed their services under Continental and state auspices.

Rhode Island’s last naval enterprise was made in 1781. In May of

that year the General Assembly appointed a committee to “charter

a suitable fast sailing Vessel, in order to be fitted out as a

Cruiser to clear the Coast of the piratical Boats that infest the

same.” The committee was voted $5,000, and was ordered to man the

vessel, appoint its officers, and send it to sea. It was directed

to procure a small vessel of thirty to fifty tons burden, mounting

four 3-pounders or 4-pounders. It at once obtained the sloop “Rover,”

which it placed under the command of Captain Richard Olney.

The “Rover” served the state but a short time, and accomplished

little.[648]

New York was led to purchase her first armed vessel in order to

prevent persons inimical to the liberties of the American Colonies

from supplying the Ministerial army and navy with provisions. It

was for this purpose that her Provincial Congress on December 20,

1775, appointed a committee of two to buy, arm, and fit out a proper

vessel at a cost not to exceed £600. The committee purchased the

sloop “General Schuyler,” and by March, 1776, had the vessel ready

for service. James Smith, who in the summer of 1775 had served as

“Commodore on the Lakes,” that is, Lakes Champlain and George,

was appointed commander of the “General Schuyler.” In March the

Provincial Congress ordered the sloop “Bishop Landaff” to be fitted

out.[649]

On March 11, 1776, the Provincial Congress appointed five of its

members, all from New York, a Marine Committee. It empowered this

Committee “to take such measures, and give such directions, and

employ such persons for the protection or advantage of trade as they

may think proper, useful, or necessary.” The Marine Committee was a

permanent navy board vested with the management and direction of the

naval affairs of the state. Three of its members formed a quorum.

Thomas Randall was its chairman. It was authorized to keep secret

such matters as it saw fit. It reported to the Provincial Congress,

when the Congress was in session, and at other times to the Committee

of Safety. It was directed to apply to the Provincial Congress when

in need of advice.[650] In March and April it purchased the sloop

“Montgomery,” and the schooner “General Putnam,” and sold the “Bishop

Landaff.”[651]

On April 17 the New York Committee of Safety issued commissions

to Captain William Rodgers of the “Montgomery,” Captain James

Smith of the “General Schuyler,” and Captain Thomas Cregier of the

“General Putnam.” Rather singularly, these captains executed bonds

in favor of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress,

and were given the commissions of Continental privateers. The naval

establishment of New York was a mixed one. Her fleet was governed by

the Continental naval rules and regulations. The enlisting contract

of the “Montgomery” reads at points as if the vessel belonged to the

Continental Congress: “The said William Rogers, for and in behalf of

himself and the said Thirteen Colonies of North America, doth hereby

covenant and agree to and with said officers, seamen, and marines” to

advance a month’s wages. In sharing prizes, in granting bounties to

wounded soldiers, and in rewarding exceptional merit, the contract

followed the naval regulations of the Continental Congress.[652] On

the other hand, the three vessels were owned, fitted out, officered,

and manned by New York, which state directed their cruises, and paid

their officers and seamen. This mixed establishment may in part be

explained by the fact that at first New York’s intention was to have

Congress take her vessels into the Continental service.[653]

On the evacuation of Boston by the British on March 17, 1776,

Washington at once proceeded to New York, whither, it is recollected,

the scene of war soon shifted. In April Washington asked for the

loan of the New York vessels to assist in the defence of New York

city. After some disagreement as to the terms upon which he should

receive them, the “General Putnam” and the “General Schuyler” were

turned over to him.[654] Hereafter the state seems not to have had

the direction of the “General Schuyler.” In October, 1776, a mutiny

having occurred on board the “General Putnam,” the New York Committee

of Safety ordered this vessel to be sold.[655]

New York’s fleet captured some eight or ten prizes. It cruised

chiefly in the waters surrounding Long Island. The “Montgomery” had

best success. On April 19, 1776, the Marine Committee reported to the

Committee of Safety a draft of instructions for Captain Rodgers. He

was ordered to cruise between Sandy Hook and Cape May, or from Sandy

Hook to the east end of Long Island, and he was cautioned to always

keep “some inlet under your lee, so that you may secure a retreat

from a superior force.”[656] Prizes were to be sent to some place

of safety in the United Colonies. The “Montgomery” cruised in this

general region until June, 1777; in July she was sold for £3,550. She

captured several merchantmen, which were libeled in the admiralty

courts of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maryland. In the condemning

and selling of these prizes, New York’s interests were attended to by

agents appointed for the purpose. The “Montgomery’s” most valuable

prize was the schooner “Hannah,” libeled in Baltimore, which, with

her cargo of clothing, cloths, and provisions, sold for £11,281.

Another prize, the “Minerva,” with a cargo of salt, was tried by the

court at the same time with the “Hannah,” and was freed; whereupon,

Francis Lewis, a delegate of New York to the Continental Congress,

which was then in session in Baltimore, appealed the case of the

“Minerva” to Congress.[657]

In August, 1776, the Secret Committee, which was assisting in the

defence of the Hudson, was fitting out two small armed sloops, the

“Camden” and “Hudson.”[658] As late as January, 1777, the Committee

of Safety was planning for a naval armament; orders were then given

for cutting the timbers for a 74-gun ship.[659] The permanent

occupation of New York city by the British stopped New York’s naval

enterprises on state account. She continued, however, to grant a few

privateering commissions, until the end of the war. In passing, one

should mention that in 1776 New York contributed officers, seamen,

and naval supplies to Arnold’s campaign on lakes Champlain and

George. By the terms of New York’s Constitution of 1777 the Governor

was “commander-in-chief of all the militia and admiral of the navy of

this state.” The Constitution implied that there was to be a Court

of Admiralty, although it did not make definite provision for such

court.[660]

New Hampshire’s only naval undertaking was her participation, at the

suggestion of Massachusetts, in the Penobscot expedition of July,

1779. She contributed to the ill-starred fleet the “Hampden,” 22,

Captain Titus Salter, which vessel was captured by the British.[661]

On July 3, 1776, New Hampshire passed an act “to encourage the fixing

out of Armed Vessels to defend the seacoast of America, and to cruise

on the enemies of the United Colonies, as also for erecting a court

to try and condemn all Ships and other Vessels.” This act was modeled

on similar acts of Massachusetts. It established state privateering.

A “Court Maritime,” consisting of one judge, was erected at

Portsmouth to try cases of capture. Salvage was prescribed in

accordance with the proportions fixed by the Continental Congress.

In cases of prizes captured by a Continental vessel, appeals lay from

the Court Maritime to the Continental Congress.[662]

In July, 1776, a Committee of Newark, New Jersey, requested the New

Jersey Provincial Congress to build four “gondolas,” or row-galleys,

to be mounted with cannon, and to ply between the mouths of the

Passaic and Hackensack rivers and the town of Perth Amboy. The

Provincial Congress referred the proposition to a committee of

four. It finally ended the business by referring the report of this

committee to the Continental Congress.[663]

Until October 5, 1776, when New Jersey passed an act establishing

an admiralty court, her Provincial Congress decided prize cases. So

early as February 15, 1776, a committee of the Provincial Congress,

which had been appointed to draft an ordinance for erecting a Court

of Admiralty, reported that it had consulted William Livingston,

one of the New Jersey delegates to the Continental Congress, on the

subject, and had proposed to him, whether it would not be of manifest

advantage to the Colonies if “Congress should, by one general

ordinance, institute the powers and mode of erecting a Court of

Admiralty to be adopted by all the Colonies.” Livingston agreed to

take the first opportunity for proposing the matter to Congress.[664]

Nothing came of the recommendation.

FOOTNOTES:

[634] Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, June, 1775.

[635] Staples, Annals of Providence, 265.

[636] Force, American Archives, 4th, III, 69.

[637] Ibid., 36-37, 461, 653; Collections of Rhode Island Historical

Society, VI, 134-35; see Chapter I, page 55.

[638] Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, August, 1775.

[639] Providence Gazette, April 20, April 27, 1776; Acts and Resolves

of Rhode Island, November, December, 1776; Arnold, History of Rhode

Island, II, 397.

[640] Rhode Island Colonial Records, VII, 582.

[641] Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, December, 1776, May, 1778.

[642] Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, March, May, 1776.

[643] W. P. Sheffield, Rhode Island Privateers and Privateersmen.

[644] Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, June, 1777.

[645] Publications of Rhode Island Historical Society, VIII, papers

of William Vernon and Navy Board, 249, 250.

[646] Journals of Rhode Island Council of War, July 17, August 24,

November 11, 1781; Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, February, 1779.

[647] Providence Gazette, August 14, September 25, 1779; Connecticut

Gazette, June 24, 1779; Pennsylvania Packet, September 9, 1779.

[648] Acts and Resolves of Rhode Island, May and October, 1781.

[649] Journals of New York Provincial Congress, December 20, 1775,

March 9, 1776.

[650] Journals of New York Provincial Congress, March 11, 1776.

[651] Journals of New York Committee of Safety, April 25, 1776.

[652] Journals of New York Committee of Safety, April 19, 1776;

Fernow, New York in Revolution, 530-33.

[653] Journals of New York Provincial Congress, January 22, 1776.

[654] Journals of New York Committee of Safety, April 24, May 10,

1776.

[655] Ibid., September 21, September 24, October 7, 1776.

[656] Ibid., April 19, 1776.

[657] Journals of New York Committee of Safety, February 13, 1777;

Journals of New York Provincial Congress, April 1, 1777.

[658] Journals of New York Provincial Congress, August 16, 1776.

[659] Journals of New York Committee of Safety, January 15, 1777.

[660] New York Constitution of 1777. See Carson, Supreme Court

of United States, p. 45, for further references to the admiralty

legislation of New York.

[661] New Hampshire Archives, VIII, 106, 186, 195. In March, 1776,

the New Hampshire House of Representatives appointed a committee

of three to look out for an armed vessel to guard the coast. It is

believed that no vessel was procured.

[662] Force, American Archives, 5th, I, 90-96.

[663] Minutes of Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of New

Jersey, 1775-1776, 510, 520, 525, 528.

[664] Minutes of Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of New

Jersey, 1775-1776, 370-71, 396, 479.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

A BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE CONTINENTAL NAVY

MANUSCRIPT SOURCES

Adams, John. Letters for 1775 and 1776, deposited for the present

by Charles Francis Adams with the Massachusetts Historical Society,

Boston.

A few letters are valuable for the early history of the

Continental Navy.

Continental Congress. Manuscript Journals.

Supplements and corrects the printed journals.

Continental Congress. Records and Papers, formerly found in the

Bureau of Rolls and Library, Department of State, Washington;

but now in most part in the Library of Congress, Division of

Manuscripts. There are many volumes of these documents. Most of the

material relating to the navy is found in the following volumes:

No. 28, 1 vol., Reports of committees of Congress on naval

affairs, 1776-1786.

No. 37, 1 vol., Reports of Marine Committee and Board of

Admiralty, 1776-1780.

No. 50, 1 vol., Letters of Oliver Pollock, Commercial Agent

at New Orleans, to President and to committees of Congress,

1776-1782.

No. 58, 1 vol., Letters and Papers of John Hancock.

No. 78, 24 vols., Letters to President of Congress.

No. 90, 1 vol., Letters of the commercial agents at Martinique to

President of Congress.

No. 137, 3 vols., Letters and Reports of Robert Morris, Agent of

Marine.

No. 138, 3 vols., Reports of the Board of Treasury, 1784-1789.

Nos. 82-96, 132, 168, and 193.

The Records and Papers of the Continental Congress are

especially valuable for the years from 1780 to 1783. They

contain many important letters of John Paul Jones. The letters

of Pollock give a full account of his services at New Orleans.

Deane, Silas. Papers in the library of the Connecticut Historical

Society, Hartford.

A few of these papers relate to the navy.

Force Transcripts. These are copies of many of the Records and

Papers of the Continental Congress, made by Peter Force, and

now in the possession of the Library of Congress, Division of

Manuscripts.

The copying is accurately done. The pagination often differs

from that of the originals.

Hopkins, Esek. Letters and papers, in the library of the Rhode

Island Historical Society, Providence.

Quite valuable for 1775, 1776, and 1777. The best of them have

been printed in Edward Field’s Esek Hopkins.

Jones, John Paul. Manuscripts, in the Division of Manuscripts,

Library of Congress. Have been excellently catalogued by C. H.

Lincoln in Calendar of John Paul Jones Manuscripts.

An important original source for the naval history of the

Revolution. A number of the most important manuscripts,

however, have been published, notably in Sands’s Life and

Correspondence of John Paul Jones.

Marine Committee Letter Book. Letters of the Marine Committee and

the Board of Admiralty, in the Division of Manuscripts, Library

of Congress.

Quite the most important manuscript source for the history of

the Continental navy from 1776 to 1780. Contains 217 pages,

folio, and 505 letters. They are copies of the originals. Of

these letters, 371 were written by the Marine Committee between

August 22, 1776, and November 20, 1779; and 134 by the Board of

Admiralty between December 10, 1779, and September 19, 1780.

Eighty-six letters are addressed to the Navy Board at Boston.

Hitherto the Marine Committee Letter Book has been little used.

Tucker, Samuel. Papers, in the Harvard Library, Cambridge.

Valuable for the career of Samuel Tucker, a captain in the

Continental navy. The best of the papers have been published by

J. H. Sheppard in his Life of Samuel Tucker, 1868. (See entry

under Sheppard.)

Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Division of Manuscripts, Library of

Congress

Of noteworthy importance is a list of commissioned officers in

the Continental navy, far more complete than any yet published.

PRINTED SOURCES

Adams, John. Works, 10 vols. Boston, 1856.

Almost the only source for the debates in Congress on naval

affairs in the fall of 1775. His Notes on Debates are more

reliable than his Autobiography.

Appleton. Cyclopedia of American Biography. 7 vols. New York,

1898-1900.

Contains a little information of interest to students of

naval history.

Annual Register for 1775-1783. London.

Of slight value for naval history.

Bancroft, George. History of the United States. 6 vols. New

York, 1884-85.

A few references to naval history.

Barney, Mary. Memoirs of Commodore Joshua Barney. Boston, 1832.

Not satisfactory.

Beatson, Robert. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain,

1727-1783. London, 1804.

Contains accounts of some of the important naval engagements

of the Revolution.

Bigelow, John. Works of Benjamin Franklin. 10 vols. New York,

1887-88.

Contains valuable original material for Franklin’s naval

services in Paris.

Bolton, C. K. Private Soldier under Washington, New York, 1902.

A few references to the navy.

Boston Gazette for 1775-1783. Boston.

Of great value for a history of the movements of the

Continental vessels. In its advertisements of libeled

prizes, one of the very best sources for the work of the

Massachusetts privateers.

British Marine Encyclopedia, in Hogg’s Naval Magazine for 1801.

London.

Excellent for definitions of naval terms used in the British

navy.

Buell, A. C. Paul Jones, Founder of the American Navy. 2 vols.

New York, 1900.

Very interesting; attractive style. Contains many

inaccuracies. Chapter II, Volume I, entitled, Founding of the

American Navy, is in no small part fiction.

Canadian Archives, report on, for 1895. Ottawa.

Under the subject Prince Edward Island, will be found

references to Broughton and Selman’s expedition in 1775.

Carson, H. L. Supreme Court of the United States. Philadelphia,

1902.

Contains a brief account of the prize courts of the

Revolution.

Caulkins, Frances M. History of New London, Connecticut. New

London, 1852.

A few valuable references to the Continental navy.

Clark, Thomas. Naval History of the United States.

Philadelphia, 1814.

The earliest history of the United States navy. Has

considerable merit. Gives sources of his information. His

interviews with naval officers constitute original material.

Clowes, W. L. Royal Navy. 7 vols. Boston and London, 1897-1903.

Chapter XXXI, Volume III, and Chapter I, Volume IV, are

important sources for the engagements of Continental vessels

with vessels of the Royal Navy. Scientific treatment. Some

sources have been used which are not accessible in America.

The most important contribution to the history of the

Continental navy since Cooper’s naval history, written in

1839.

Connecticut Colonial Records for 1775-1776; Connecticut State

Records for 1776-1780. Hartford, 1890, 1894-95.

Contains references to the Continental vessels built in

Connecticut.

Connecticut Gazette for 1775-1783. New London.

Contains important bits of information relating to the

movements of the Continental vessels.

Connecticut Historical Society Collections, vol. VIII.

Hartford, 1901.

Contains rolls of the Connecticut companies who served in the

navy on Lake Champlain.

Continental Congress, Journals of, for 1775-1788. 13 vols.

Philadelphia, 1777-88.

The most valuable and extensive source for the history of

naval legislation and administration during the Revolution.

The edition of W. C. Ford, now being published by the Library

of Congress, supersedes previous editions.

Continental Congress, Secret Journals, for 1775-1788. 4 vols.

Boston, 1821.

Contributes some information on the work of naval agents

abroad.

Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser for 1776-1783. Boston.

Supplements the information found in the Boston Gazette.

Cooper, James Fenimore. History of the Navy of the United

States of America. London, 1839.

Several editions of this work have been issued. The first

part treats of the Continental navy. This varies little in

the different editions. Clear and interesting style. The most

satisfactory account of the engagements of the Continental

navy. Treats of its fights with merchantmen and privateers,

as well as with the vessels of the Royal Navy. More complete

than Clowes, but not so scientific.

Deane Papers. Collections of the New York Historical Society. 5

vols. New York, 1886-90.

Valuable for the naval services of Silas Deane in France.

Emmons, Lieutenant G. F. Navy of the United States. Washington,

1853.

Names of the Continental vessels and their prizes arranged

in tables. Treatment statistical. Valuable, but far from

complete. Privateers of the Revolution similarly treated.

Field, Edward. Esek Hopkins. Providence, 1898.

Valuable. Prints many important Hopkins papers.

Field, Edward. State of Rhode Island and Providence

Plantations. 3 vols. Boston and Syracuse.

Contains some additional information relating to the early

life of Esek Hopkins.

Force, Peter. American Archives. 9 vols. Folio. Washington,

1837-53.

A source of very great very great value for naval history

during 1775 and 1776. Prints the chief public records

for these years, together with important letters and

miscellaneous papers.

Ford, W. C. Writings of George Washington. 14 vols. New York

and London, 1889-93.

One of the chief sources for the history of Washington’s

fleets.

Ford, W. C. Letters of William Lee. 3 vols. Brooklyn, 1891.

Valuable for the work of the commercial agents in France.

Goldsborough’s Naval Chronicle. Washington, 1824.

Griffin, M. I. J. Commodore John Barry. Philadelphia, 1903.

Especially valuable for the numerous documents which are

printed.

Hale, Edward Everett and Edward Everett, jr. Franklin in

France. 2 vols. Boston, 1887.

Prints many documents. Chapter XI, American Prisoners,

Chapter XVI, Privateers from Dunkirk, and Chapter XVII,

Captain Landais, Volume I, are of special interest to

students of naval history.

Hamersly, L. R. Naval Encyclopedia. Philadelphia, 1881.

Suggestive.

Hamilton, J. C. Works of Alexander Hamilton. 7 vols. New York,

1850-51.

Contains Hamilton’s views on single-headed executives.

Hatch, L. C. Administration of the American Revolutionary Army,

Harvard Historical Studies, X. New York and London, 1904.

Suggestive for the Continental navy.

Independent Chronicle and Universal Advertiser for 1775-1783,

Boston.

Supplements the Boston Gazette.

Ingraham, E. D. Papers relating to Silas Deane. Philadelphia,

1855-57.

Relate to his controversy with Congress.

Jameson, J. F. Essays in the Constitutional History of the

United States. Baltimore, 1886.

Chapter I gives a good account of the Continental prize

courts. Chapter II treats of the administrative organs of the

Continental Congress. Scientific.

Johnston’s Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay. 4

vols. New York, 1890-93.

Volume I contains a valuable letter of Jay’s relating to

naval administration.

Jones, C. H. Gustavus Conyngham. Philadelphia, 1903.

A brief, but good account.

King’s Regulations and Admiralty Instructions for 1772. London.

Gives the rules and regulations of the Royal Navy at the

opening of the Revolution.

Lincoln, C. H. Calendar, John Paul Jones Manuscripts.

Washington, 1903.

Excellent catalogue and digest of the Jones manuscripts in

the Library of Congress. Dr. Lincoln’s purpose is to enlarge

his calendar so as to include the additional Jones material

which is found in the Records and Papers of the Continental

Congress.

Lossing, B. J. Field-Book of the American Revolution. 2 vols.

New York, 1851-52.

Slight naval information.

Maclay, E. S. History of the United States Navy. 2 vols. New

York, 1894.

Narrative of the Continental navy somewhat popular.

Massachusetts Historical Society Collections. Boston, 1806-.

Brief references to the Continental navy.

New England Historical and Genealogical Register for 1865.

Boston.

Contains a list of prisoners confined at Mill prison,

Plymouth, during the Revolution.

New Hampshire Gazette for 1775-1783. Portsmouth.

Contains information concerning the Continental vessels which

were built in New Hampshire, or which arrived at Portsmouth.

New London County Historical Society, Records and Papers.

Volume I. New London, 1890-94.

Gives a most excellent account of the fight between the

Continental frigate “Trumbull” and the Liverpool privateer

“Watt.”

Outlook, January 3, 1903. Tragedy of the Lost Commission by

James Barnes.

A brief, but excellent, account of the exploits of Captain

Gustavus Conyngham.

Pennsylvania Archives, 1st Ser. 12 vols. Philadelphia, 1852-56.

Of special value for the movements of the Continental vessels

in the Delaware river and bay.

Pennsylvania Packet for 1775-1783. Philadelphia.

Valuable for the movements of the Continental vessels and

the Pennsylvania privateers. The prizes which were sent into

Philadelphia are advertised in its columns.

Providence Gazette for 1775-1783. Providence.

Valuable for Continental vessels in 1775 and 1776. Contains

names of prizes.

Rhode Island Historical Society Publications, VIII. Providence,

1900. Papers of William Vernon and the Navy Board.

A valuable source of information for the work of the Navy

Board at Boston. A number of important letters and documents

are printed.

Root, M. P. Chapter Sketches of Connecticut Daughters of the

American Revolution. New Haven, 1901.

Contains the best account of the life of Nathaniel Shaw, jr.,

naval agent at New London.

Royal Navy, List of. New York, 1782.

Sands, R. Life and Correspondence of John Paul Jones. New York,

1830.

Valuable reprints.

Scribner’s Magazine for 1898. New York. John Paul Jones in the

American Revolution, by Captain A. T. Mahan.

Contains a technical account of the fight between the “Bon

Homme Richard” and the “Serapis.”

Sheppard, J. H. Commodore Samuel Tucker. Boston, 1868.

A good account of Tucker’s life. Reprints the best of the

Tucker papers found in the Harvard Library.

Sherburne, J. H. Life of John Paul Jones. New York, 1825, 1851.

A fair account.

Sparks, Jared. American Biography, 2nd Ser. Vol. IX. Gammell’s

Life of Samuel Ward. Boston, 1846.

Contains a bit of important information with reference to the

founding of the navy.

Sparks, Jared. Gouverneur Morris. 3 vols. Boston, 1832.

Volume I contains Morris’s description of an ideal secretary

of the navy.

Spears, J. R. History of Our Navy. 5 vols. New York, 1897-99.

The account of the Continental navy is somewhat popular.

Staples, W. R. Annals of Providence. Providence, 1843.

Of some value for 1775 and 1776.

Stevens’s Facsimiles. 24 portfolios. London, 1889-95.

Valuable for the diplomatic relations between England and

France for 1776 and 1777, and for the movements of American

vessels in European waters during these years.

Sumner, W. G. Financier and Finances of the American

Revolution. 2 vols. New York, 1891.

Gives a few facts about Morris’s career as Agent of Marine.

Town, Ithiel. Some Details of the American Revolution. New

York, 1835.

Of slight value for naval history.

Waite, H. E. Origin of the American Navy. Boston, 1890.

Contains letters written by John Adams, Elbridge Gerry, and

John Langton in 1813. These relate chiefly to the services of

Washington’s fleet at Boston.

Wells, W. V. Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams. 3 vols.

Boston, 1865.

Adds to our knowledge of Samuel Adams as member of the Marine

Committee.

Wharton, Francis. Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence,

1775-1783. 6 vols. Washington, 1889.

Of primary importance for the history of the naval services

of American representatives in foreign countries.

Williams, Gomer. Liverpool Privateers. Liverpool, 1897.

Valuable for the sea fights of the Liverpool privateers.

Winsor, Justin. Narrative and Critical History of the United

States. 8 vols. Boston and New York, 1884-89.

Volume VI contains a history of the Revolutionary navy by E.

E. Hale.

Brief and suggestive.

THE STATE NAVIES

THE NAVY OF MASSACHUSETTS

Amory’s James Sullivan. 2 vols. Boston, 1859.

Throws some light upon Massachusetts’s prize courts.

Austin’s Elbridge Gerry. 2 vols. Boston, 1828-29.

Contains information in respect to prize courts.

Boston Gazette for 1775-1783. Boston.

Of the highest value for the cruises, engagements, and

prizes of the Massachusetts navy.

Clowes. W. L. Royal Navy. 7 vols. Boston and London,

1897-1903.

Volume IV contains an account of the naval battle at the

mouth of the Penobscot.

Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser for 1775-1783.

Boston.

Supplements the Boston Gazette.

Goodell, Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts. 5 vols. 1869-86.

Volume V contains the legislation of Massachusetts with

reference to prize courts. The notes to the laws are a

valuable guide to the sources of the events which led to

the passage of the laws.

Maclay, E. S. History of American Privateering. New York,

1899.

Of value for the Revolutionary privateers of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Historical Society Collections. 67 vols.

Boston, 1792-1894.

Contains references to the Penobscot expedition.

Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings. 30 vols.

Boston, 1859-94.

Contains information upon the Penobscot expedition.

Massachusetts, Journals of the House of Representatives for

1775-1783.

Contemporaneous print. Incomplete. The journals found in

the state library may be supplemented by those found in the

library of the Boston Athenaeum.

Massachusetts, Records of the Council for 1775-1776.

Are printed in part in Force’s American Archives.

Massachusetts, Journals of the Third Provincial Convention,

1775.

Are printed in Force’s American Archives. The chief sources

for the early civil history of the Massachusetts navy are

the Journals of the Third Provincial Convention, Journals

of the House, Records of the Council, and the Resolves of

the General Court.

Massachusetts, Records of the General Court for 1775-1783.

MSS.

Supplements the Journals and the Resolves.

Massachusetts Resolves, for 1775-1783.

Contemporaneous print. A most valuable source. Most of the

naval legislation of Massachusetts was passed in the form

of Resolves, and not Laws.

Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, MSS.

A very extensive and valuable source. Many volumes contain

material relating to the navy. Volumes XXXIX, XL, and XLIV

have the greatest value. They contain the rolls of naval

vessels, letters of officers,

and miscellaneous papers. Volume CXLV has many documents

relating to the Penobscot expedition. The Archives are

rich in material relating to privateers. The Board of War

Letters, Board of War Minutes, and Board of War Orders

contain much naval material. An Index compiled by Justin

Winsor affords a valuable key to the Archives.

Pickering and Upham’s Timothy Pickering. 4 vols. Boston,

1867, 1874.

Of value for the work of the Massachusetts prize courts.

Virginia Gazette for 1779. Williamsburg.

Prints a valuable letter about Massachusetts privateers.

Weymouth Historical Society Publications. 2 vols. Boston,

1881-85.

Volume I gives the best account of the Penobscot

expedition, and prints the original Journal of General

Solomon Lovell kept on the expedition.

Winsor, Justin. Narrative and Critical History of the United

States. 8 vols. Boston and New York, 1884-89.

Article on the Revolutionary navy by E. E. Hale, in Volume

VI, contains information on the Massachusetts navy.

Valuable bibliography.

Works of John Adams. 10 vols. Boston, 1856.

Gives John Adams’s opinion of the Massachusetts statute

establishing privateering.

THE NAVY OF CONNECTICUT

Caulkins, Frances M. History of Norwich. Norwich, 1845.

Contains information relative to the naval part which

Norwich and Norwich men played in the Revolution.

Connecticut Revolutionary Archives. MSS.

Contains much miscellaneous information relating to the

Connecticut navy. Volumes VIII and IX contain valuable

material concerning the prizes captured by Connecticut

vessels.

Connecticut Colonial Records for 1775-1776. Hartford, 1890.

Valuable for the beginnings of the Connecticut navy.

Connecticut Gazette for 1775-1779. New London.

The best newspaper for naval news in the state. Captured

prizes are advertised in its columns.

Connecticut Historical Society Collections. 8 vols. Hartford,

1860-1901.

Volume II contains a description of Bushnell’s submarine

boat.

Connecticut in the Revolution. Hartford, 1889.

Of slight naval value.

Connecticut Journal for 1775-1779. New Haven.

Supplements the Connecticut Gazette in a few particulars,

but contains much less news.

Connecticut State Records, 1776-1779. 2 vols. Hartford,

1894-95.

Of great value for the years covered.

Force, Peter. American Archives. 9 vols. Folio. Washington,

1837-53.

Contains miscellaneous information relating to the

Connecticut navy.

Ford, W. C. Writings of George Washington. 14 vols. New York

and London, 1889-93.

Volume X contains Washington’s account of Bushnell’s

submarine boat.

Hartford Courant for 1775-1779. Hartford.

For naval news, the newspaper in the state next in

importance to the Connecticut Gazette.

New London County Historical Society. Records and Papers.

Volume I. New London, 1890-94.

Valuable. Contains a fair account of the Connecticut navy,

and a list of Connecticut privateers.

Wharton, Francis. Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence. 6

vols. Washington, 1889.

Volume II has a reference to the voyage of the “Spy” to

France in 1778.

THE NAVY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Almon’s Remembrancer for 1778. London.

Valuable for an account of the British raid to the north of

Philadelphia in May, 1778.

Bioren, Laws of Pennsylvania. 4 vols. Philadelphia, 1810.

Contains statutes relating to the establishment of prize

courts.

Barney, Mary. Memoirs of Commodore Barney. Boston, 1832.

Of value for a history of the “Hyder Ally.”

Jameson, J. F. Essays in the Constitutional History of the

United States. Baltimore, 1886.

Chapter I, Predecessor of the Supreme Court, gives an

excellent account of the capture of the sloop “Active” by

the brig “Convention.”

Pennsylvania Archives. 1st and 2nd Ser. 31 vols. Philadelphia

and Harrisburg, 1852-90.

The most important source after the Colonial records.

Volume I of the second series contains the minutes of the

Pennsylvania Navy Board, a brief historical account of the

navy, and a list of Pennsylvania privateers.

Pennsylvania Colonial Records. 16 vols. Philadelphia, 1852-53.

A source of great value for the history of the Pennsylvania

navy.

Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser for 1775-1783.

Philadelphia.

Supplements the Pennsylvania Packet.

Pennsylvania Packet for 1775-1783. Philadelphia.

Valuable for the prizes captured by Pennsylvania naval

vessels and by privateers. Not printed while the British

occupied Philadelphia.

Scharf and Westcott. History of Pennsylvania. 3 vols.

Philadelphia, 1884.

Contains bits of naval information.

Wallace, J. W. Colonel William Bradford. Philadelphia, 1884.

Valuable for the naval campaigns around Philadelphia.

THE NAVY OF VIRGINIA

Almon’s Remembrancer for 1779 and 1781. London.

Contains original material for the raids into Virginia of

Matthews and Collier, and of Arnold and Phillips.

Calendar of Virginia State Papers. 10 vols. Richmond, 1875-92.

Volumes I-III throw light upon the years 1780-1783. Volume

VIII, pages 75-240, prints the Journals of the Committee of

Safety of Virginia, February 7 to July 5, 1776.

Force, Peter. American Archives. 9 vols. Folio. Washington,

1837-53.

Prints important state records.

Ford, W. C. Writings of Jefferson. 10 vols. New York and

London, 1892-99.

Of value for Jefferson’s naval services while governor of

Virginia.

Hening’s Statutes of Virginia. 13 vols. Philadelphia and New

York, 1823.

A most important source for naval legislation and

administration in Virginia.

Lull, E. P. History of the United States Navy yard at

Gosport, Virginia. Washington, 1874.

Gives the early history of the navy yard at Norfolk.

Maryland Archives, 21 vols. Baltimore, 1883-1901.

Contains information about Commodore Boucher of the

Virginia navy.

North Carolina Records. 18 vols. Raleigh, 1886-1900.

Contains information upon the raid of Matthews and Collier.

Rowland, K. M. George Mason. 2 vols. New York, 1892.

Volume I is valuable for Virginia’s “Potomac river fleet.”

Southern Literary Messenger for 1857. Richmond.

Contains a series of valuable articles entitled the

“Virginia Navy of the Revolution.” A good account of the

Virginia navy. Somewhat extravagant in tone. Popular rather

than scientific.

Virginia Archives, Richmond. Letter Book of Governor Thomas

Jefferson; Letter Book of Governor Benjamin Harrison. MSS.

Contain bits of naval information.

Virginia Archives, Richmond. Journals of the Virginia Navy

Board. MSS.

A valuable source for both the civil and military history

of the navy.

Virginia Archives, Richmond. Virginia State Navy Papers. 2

vols. MSS.

An important original source. Contains much information

relative to the different vessels of the navy.

Virginia Gazette for 1775-1779. Williamsburg.

Not complete files. Those in the Library of the Virginia

Historical Society may be supplemented by those in the

Virginia State Library. Of some value for the cruises of

the Virginia fleet.

Virginia Historical Register. 6 vols. Richmond, 1848-53.

Contains some important bits of naval information.

THE NAVY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Almon’s Remembrancer for 1780. London.

Valuable for the naval defence of Charleston, 1779-1780.

Clowes, W. L. Royal Navy. 7 vols. Boston and London,

1897-1903.

Gives good accounts of the cruise of the “Randolph” in

1778, and the capture of the “South Carolina” in 1782.

Connecticut Gazette for 1782, New London.

Reports the capture of the Bahamas by the Spaniards and

Commodore Gillon.

Cooper’s Statutes of South Carolina. 10 vols. Columbia,

1836-41.

Valuable for naval legislation.

Deane Papers. Collections of the New York Historical Society.

5 vols. New York, 1886-90.

Serviceable for Gillon’s movements in Europe.

Drayton, W. H. Memoirs of the American Revolution. 2 vols.

Charleston, 1821.

Throws light on the naval history of 1775.

Force, Peter. American Archives. 9 vols. Folio. Washington,

1837-53.

Prints important South Carolina official records, notably

the early journals of the South Carolina Navy Board. The

manuscript journals of the South Carolina Navy-Board are

in the New York State Library at Albany.

Gazette of State of South Carolina for 1776-1779. Charleston.

Files for part of the period at Charleston. Valuable for

the cruises of the naval vessels.

Gibbes, R. W. Documentary History of the American Revolution.

3 vols. New York, 1853-57.

Contains some naval information.

McCrady, Edward, History of South Carolina in the Revolution.

2 vols. New York and London, 1901-02.

Of value for 1775 and for a history of the “South Carolina.”

Moultrie, William. Memoirs of the American Revolution. 2

vols. New York, 1802.

Of little value for naval history.

Poore’s Constitutions. Washington, 1877.

Contains the constitution of South Carolina of 1776.

Pennsylvania Packet for 1782. Philadelphia.

Contains valuable material for the movements of the “South

Carolina” during 1782.

Ramsay, David. Revolution of South Carolina, Trenton, 1785.

Of slight value for naval history.

South Carolina and American General Gazette for 1776-1779.

Charleston.

Files for part of the period at Charleston. Valuable for

the cruises of the naval vessels.

South Carolina Archives, Columbia. Journals of General

Assembly for 1776. MSS.

Of value for the civil history of the navy.

South Carolina Archives, Columbia. Journals of the House of

Representatives for 1779-1780. MSS.

Throws light upon the naval history for 1779-1780.

South Carolina Archives, Columbia. Journals of the House of

Representatives for 1783. MSS.

Valuable for the naval services of Commodore Gillon.

South Carolina Archives, Columbia. Miscellaneous Records A. MSS.

Contains some important naval records.

South Carolina Historical Society Collections. 3 vols.

Charleston, 1857-59.

Reprints a part of the Journals of the South Carolina

Committee of Safety.

South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. 2 vols.

Charleston, 1900-01.

Prints two important letters of Commodore Gillon.

Wharton, Francis. Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence. 6

vols. Washington, 1889.

Contains a note upon Commodore Gillon.

THE MINOR NAVIES OF THE SOUTHERN STATES

Force, Peter. American Archives. 9 vols. Folio. Washington,

1837-53.

Prints official records. Of considerable value for the navies

of Maryland, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Georgia Historical Society Collections. 5 vols. Savannah,

1840-1902.

Prints a part of the proceedings of the Georgia Council of

Safety. Contains a few naval items of importance.

Jones, C. C., jr. History of Georgia. 2 vols. Boston, 1883.

Contains a few references to the work of the Georgia galleys.

Maryland Archives. 21 vols. Baltimore, 1883-1901.

Contains much information concerning the Maryland navy. This

may be found by consulting the index for the names of the

vessels.

Maryland Statutes. Kilty, 2 vols. Annapolis, 1799-1800.

Kilty is best. Hanson supplements Kilty.

McCall, Hugh. History of Georgia. 2 vols. Savannah, 1811-16.

Volume II gives some information in respect to the Georgia

galleys.

North Carolina Records. 18 vols. Raleigh, 1886-1900.

The most valuable source for the history of the North Carolina

navy.

Ridgely, David. Annals of Annapolis. Baltimore, 1841.

Narrates an important event or two in the history of the

Maryland navy.

Scharf, J. T. History of Maryland. 3 vols. Baltimore, 1879.

Volume II contains naval information of considerable value.

Southern Literary Messenger for 1857. Richmond.

Contains an excellent account of the Battle of the Barges.

THE MINOR NAVIES OF THE NORTHERN STATES

Arnold, Samuel G. History of Rhode Island, 2 vols. New York, 1859.

Volume II contains a few items of naval information.

Carson, H. L. Supreme Court of the United States. Philadelphia,

1902.

Contains references to the admiralty legislation of New York.

Connecticut Gazette for 1779. New London.

Gives a good account of the achievements of Captain Talbot.

Fernow’s New York in the Revolution. Albany, 1887.

Contains the rolls of several New York vessels.

Force, Peter. American Archives. 9 vols. Folio. Washington,

1837-53.

Prints important records for Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and

New York.

New Hampshire Archives. MSS. Concord.

References to the “Hampden.”

New Jersey, Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of

Safety, 1775-1776. Trenton, 1879.

Of some value for the prize legislation in New Jersey.

New York, Journals of New York Provincial Convention, etc. 2

vols. Albany, 1842.

Valuable for the history of the New York navy.

Providence Gazette for 1775-1779. Providence.

Valuable for the movements and prizes of Rhode Island vessels.

Pennsylvania Packet for 1779. Philadelphia.

Contains original material for the cruises of Captain Talbot.

Poore’s Constitutions. Washington, 1877.

Contains the constitution of New York for 1777.

Rhode Island, Acts and Resolves for 1775-1783.

Contemporaneous prints. A valuable source for the history of

the Rhode Island navy.

Rhode Island Colonial Records. 10 vols. Providence, 1856-65.

Supplements the information contained in the Acts and Resolves.

Rhode Island Historical Collections. 8 vols. Providence, 1827-92.

Contains letters which are valuable for the naval history of

1775.

Rhode Island Historical Society Publications VIII. Providence,

1900.

Important for the naval history of Rhode Island for 1778.

Rhode Island. Journals of the Council of War. MSS. Providence.

Of some value for the years 1779-1781.

Staples, W. R. Annals of Providence. Providence, 1843.

Contains a brief account of the Rhode Island navy.

Sheffield, W. P. Rhode Island Privateers and Privateersmen.

Newport, 1883.

A fairly good account.

APPENDIX B

A LIST OF COMMISSIONED OFFICERS WHO SERVED IN THE NAVY

AND MARINE CORPS OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE AMERICAN

REVOLUTION[665]

NAVY

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

1. Esek Hopkins.

CAPTAINS

1. Joseph Nicholson.

2. John Manly.

3. Hector McNeil.

4. Dudley Saltonstall.

5. Nicholas Biddle.

6. Thomas Thompson.

7. John Barry.

8. Thomas Read.

9. Thomas Grennel.

10. Charles Alexander.

11. Lambert Wickes.

12. Abraham Whipple.

13. John B. Hopkins.

14. John Hodge.

15. William Hallock.

16. Hoysted Hacker.

17. Isaiah Robinson.

18. John Paul Jones.

19. James Josiah.

20. Elisha Hinman.

21. Joseph Olney.

22. James Robinson.

23. John Young.

24. Elisha Warner.

25. John Ayres.

26. Peter Brewster.

27. William Burke.

28. Samuel Chew.

29. Gustavus Conyngham.

30. Benjamin Dunn.

31. John Green.

32. Seth Harding.

33. John Hazard.

34. Henry Johnson.

35. Peter Landais.

36. John Nicholson.

37. Samuel Nicholson.

38. William Pickles.

39. John P. Rathburn.

40. Thomas Simpson.

41. John Skimmer.

42. William Stone.

43. Silas Talbot.

44. Samuel Tucker.

45. Daniel Waters.

LIEUTENANTS

1. Robert Adamson.

2. Joseph Adams.

3. Thomas Albertson.

4. Blaney Allison.

5. John Angus.

6. James Armitage.

7. Rhodes Arnold.

8. Josiah Audibert.

9. John Baldwin.

10. William Barnes.

11. Joshua Barney.

12. Benjamin Barron.

13. William Barron.

14. Benjamin Bates.

15. George Batson.

16. Daniel Bears.

17. John Bellenger.

18. Elijah Bowen.

19. Christopher Bradley.

20. Jacob Brooks.

21. John Brown.

22. Philip Brown.

23. Isaac Buck.

24. Charles Bulkley.

25. Edward Burke.

26. Ezekiel Burroughs.

27. Samuel Cardal.

28. George Champlin.

29. John Channing.

30. Seth Clarke.

31. David Cullam.

32. Richard Dale.

33. James Degge.

34. William Dennis.

35. Peter Deville.

36. Silas Devol.

37. Arthur Dillaway.

38. Joseph Doble.

39. Marie Sevel Dorie.

40. William Dunlap.

41. William Dupar.

42. John Fanning.

43. Joshua Fanning.

44. Wilford Fisher.

45. Patrick Fletcher.

46. Robert French.

47. William Gamble.

48. Nicholas E. Gardner.

49. Joseph Greenway.

50. Stephen Gregory.

51. William Grinnell.

52. James Grinwell.

53. Simon Gross.

54. Elijah Hall.

55. William Ham.

56. Benjamin Handy.

57. James Handy.

58. Robert Harris.

59. Abraham Hawkins.

60. John Hennesey.

61. Stephen Hill.

62. Christopher Hopkins.

63. Esek Hopkins, jr.

64. William Hopkins.

65. George House.

66. Robert Hume.

67. Aquilla Johns.

68. John Kemp.

69. John Kerr.

70. Michael Knies.

71. Benjamin Knight.

72. William Leeds.

73. Edward Leger.

74. John Lewis.

75. Muscoe Livingston.

76. George Lovie.

77. Cutting Lunt.

78. Henry Lunt.

79. John McDougal.

80. John McIvers.

81. Jonathan Maltbie.

82. John Margisson.

83. Robert Martin.

84. Richard Marvin.

85. Luke Mathewman.

86. William Mollison.

87. John Moran.

88. William Moran.

89. William Morrison.

90. Alexander Murray.

91. Isaac Olney.

92. Benjamin Page.

93. David Phipps.

94. James Pine.

95. Jonathan Pitcher.

96. Robert Pomeroy.

97. David Porter.

98. William Potts.

99. Jonathan Pritchard.

100. Benjamin Reed.

101. Peter Richards.

102. John Rodez.

103. James Robertson.

104. John Robinson.

105. Peter Rosseau.

106. Robert Saunders.

107. John Scott.

108. Robert Scott.

109. John Scranton.

110. Nicholas Scull.

111. Benjamin Seabury.

112. James Sellers.

113. Josiah Shackford.

114. Peter Shores.

115. John Sleymaker.

116. Daniel Starr.

117. James Stephens.

118. John Stevens.

119. Adam W. Thaxter.

120. Mathew Tibbs.

121. Daniel Vaughan.

122. Thomas Vaughan.

123. Joseph Vesey.

124. Thomas Weaver.

125. David Welch.

126. Hezekiah Welch.

127. John Wheelwright.

128. Jacob White.

129. Jacob White (?).

130. Richard Wickes.

131. James Wilson.

132. Robert Wilson.

133. Hopley Yeaton.

134. Samuel York.

FOOTNOTES:

[665] This list is compiled from two lists of naval officers

which are now found in the Division of Manuscripts of the Library

of Congress. One of these was prepared by the Naval Department

in 1781, the other by the Auditor’s Office of the Treasury

Department in 1794. A complete roster of the naval officers of

the Revolution does not exist. The list now printed is almost

complete. It may contain a few inaccuracies. The names are

arranged alphabetically, with the exception of those of the first

twenty-four naval captains, which are arranged according to rank.

MARINE CORPS

MAJOR

1. Samuel Nichols.

CAPTAINS

1. Edward Arrowsmith.

2. Seth Baxter.

3. Abraham Boyce.

4. Isaac Craig.

5. Benjamin Dean.

6. James Disney.

7. John Elliott.

8. Robert Elliott.

9. Joseph Hardy.

10. John Hazard.

11. William Holton.

12. William Jones.

13. Dennis Leary.

14. William Mathewman.

15. William Morris.

16. Robert Mullen.

17. William Nicholson.

18. George Jerry Osborn.

19. Richard Palmes.

20. Matthew Parke.

21. Miles Pennington.

22. Andrew Porter.

23. —— Rice.

24. Gilbert Saltonstall.

25. Samuel Shaw.

26. Joseph Shoemaker.

27. —— Spence.

28. John Stewart.

29. John Trevitt.

30. Elihu Trowbridge.

31. John Welch.

LIEUTENANTS