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.