As the fleet was returning to Newport on Sunday, February 25, Mr. de Tilly’s 64-gun Eveille and a frigate captured nine small vessels in Gardiner’s Bay. They were headed to join Benedict Arnold’s squadron in the Chesapeake.436
The privateer Rambler captured a French privateer of eight guns and the French captured the Liverpool privateer Lady Strahan and brought her to Dunkirk about February 13.437
Before February 17, the letter of marque Prince William captured the 500-ton French ship Le Saint Tarasion. She was bound from Martinique to Bordeaux with coffee, indigo, and cotton and taken to Kinsale. Captain Moore’s Dublin privateer Fame captured a French Turkeyman bound from Smyrna to Marseilles and brought her to Leghorn. She was valued at £10,000.438
Some French men-of-war captured three British ships from India and brought them to the Cape of Good Hope before February 22.439
Before February 27, the British vessel Alarm, of 10 swivel guns, was captured and taken to Brest. A 16-gun French privateer captured the London privateer Dove and brought her to Havre de Grace (Le Havre, France). And Captain Sloper’s privateer Mercury captured Captain La Saintoigne’s French ship St. Royan, bound from Nantes to the West Indies with wine and brandy, and took her to Jersey.440
The French frigate Hermione captured a ship bound from Bermuda to New York in March 1781 and sent her to Newport, where she arrived on Tuesday, March 27.441
The Jersey privateer Mars captured the 16-gun French privateer Allemand and sent her to Falmouth, England, on Thursday, March 1. The following day, the Dunkirk privateer Victory took Captain James’s Enterprize bound from Swansea, England, to Portsmouth. After her guns and other fittings were removed, she was sunk. Her captain and crew were taken to Brest.442
Two 50-gun ships—one French the other English—engaged in an indecisive action in the English Channel about March 4. Both vessels left the scene of the action at the same time.443
The HM Sloop-of-War Wasp and the privateer Dragon captured M. Scaliger’s 36-gun French frigate St. Angoumois after a hot engagement of one hour and sent her to Milford before March 13. The St. Angoumois lost her captain and 20 crewmen killed and many wounded. The privateer and the sloop had only four men killed and five wounded.444
Captain Trelane’s schooner Success fell in with and retook Captain Sutter’s New York brig Fortune, bound to Newfoundland, on Tuesday, March 13. Captain Peter Richards’s 16-gun, 90-man Whig privateer brig Marquis de Lafayette, belonging to New London, had taken the Fortune three days earlier and sent her to Halifax. She was part of a convoy of 14 vessels that left Newport on Thursday, March 8, in company with the French fleet. Captain Richards left the fleet the night after they sailed.445
The French ship Marquis Fayette was headed from France to America with a cargo of clothing and other supplies when she encountered a 40-gun ship off Cape Clear, Ireland, about March 13. After an engagement of three hours, two 74-gun ships came up and joined the fight and captured the Marquis Fayette.446
A French privateer, carrying 20 guns and 140 men, captured two vessels from Yarmouth off Land’s End on Thursday, March 15. The vessels, laden with malt, arrived in the bay at Yarmouth on Monday, March 19, and were ransomed.447
Admiral Charles René Dominique Sochet Destouches’s French squadron of seven ships-of-the-line (Destouches’s 80-gun Le Duc de Bourgogne, La Grandière’s 74-gun Le Conquérant, Mr. Medine’s 74-gun Le Neptune, Mr. Laclocheterie’s 64-gun Le Jason, Mr. Tilly’s 64-gun EveiIle, Mr. Marigny’s 64-gun Ardent, and Mr. Lombard’s 64-gun Provence) and three frigates (the 44-gun Romulus, the 77-gun Hermione, and the 18-gun Fantasque), carrying a total of 583 guns, met Admiral Arbuthnot’s slightly larger British fleet of seven ships of the line (the 90-gun London, the 74-gun Bedford, the 74-gun Robust, the 64-gun Prudent, the 64-gun America, the 64-gun Europe, and the 50-gun Adamant) and three frigates, including one of 90 guns, carrying a total of 660 guns, at 8:15 AM on Friday, March 16. They were 11 leagues east-southeast of the Virginia Capes. Both fleets were sailing in line of battle in opposite directions. The west wind, fog, rain, and rough seas prevented both fleets from sailing directly into the bay.
It took both fleets a while to tack to get into position. The British attempted to attack the French from the leeward but Destouches moved to the leeward at 9:15 AM, making a large curving column movement that brought the French line around on the opposite course from Arbuthnot’s line. The British squadron tacked to parallel the French and was approaching the rear about 11 AM.
The Robust fired on the ships in the French van, beginning the battle at noon. The lead ships of both lines engaged each other. Le Conquérant, the lead French ship, returned the London’s fire and fought her for at least a quarter-hour within musket range. The Jason and the Ardent fired broadsides at the other two British ships. Le Neptune fired two broadsides at the Robust’s stern, putting her out of commission. She signaled a frigate for help and the British ships were in confusion for a while.
When the British turned downwind, the French followed and kept firing broadsides. The ensuing exchange of fire inflicted much damage on both vans and broke the French line. Unable to accomplish his original mission and unable to debark his troops under fire, Destouches moved his squadron in front of Arbuthnot’s at 1 PM.
The British turned away as the fifth French ship brought her guns to bear on Arbuthnot’s lead ships. The rear of both squadrons continued to exchange fire with little effect. Both sides ceased firing at 2 PM. Instead of taking advantage of the wind which had now “settled down to the northeast” and was favorable to enter the bay, Destouches led the rest of his squadron out to sea about 3 PM, firing broadsides at the British ships along the way.
Admiral Arbuthnot pursued in the Royal Oak, but soon lost sight of the French ships which disappeared in the haze. The French ships threw their top sails to the masts and remained in that situation for 15 hours with lights in the tops during the night, expecting the action to be renewed. However, by daybreak, the British fleet had disappeared. Admiral Arbuthnot abandoned the chase and entered the Chesapeake Bay because the Robust, Prudent, Europe, and London were disabled by the heavy enemy fire. The squadron anchored in Lynnhaven Bay.
The Conquérant, which had led the French battle line and engaged Arbuthnot’s flagship London, sustained the most damage and the most casualties: 43 killed and 50 wounded. The entire squadron had a total of 72 killed and 112 wounded, including two naval officers killed (commandant en second Cheffontaine Trévient of the Conquérant and ensign Kergus). The Conquérant also lost her rudder, and her wheel was so badly damaged that she had to be towed. The Ardent and Neptune were also damaged.
The British had 30 men killed and 73 wounded. Although they suffered the most damage in the engagement, they succeeded in getting control of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, allowing Major General William Phillips to sail to Portsmouth, Virginia, with reinforcements for General Benedict Arnold.
A French frigate was sent to shore and her captain reported that he learned the British fleet sailed to the Virginia Capes. One of their main ships was being towed by two others, and another large ship had lost her topmasts. The French fleet remained in formation off the capes nearly the whole of the next day. Destouches convened his captains the following morning and decided that the Conquérant’s condition made it impossible to continue the battle. Finding that the British were not inclined to renew the action and, with the wind blowing from the westward, Destouches decided to return to Newport to refit. The squadron arrived on March 26.448
A French privateer mounting 20 guns and 140 men captured Captain Sinnot’s Lark, of Dublin, off Scilly, about 6 PM Friday, March 16, and ransomed her for 4,000 guineas. She was bound from London to Dublin.449
Captain Izatt’s Mullet Hall sailed from Portsmouth for Jamaica on Thursday, March 15. He intended to join the West India fleet but was taken two days later by a French privateer of 26 guns and taken to St.-Malo. She was a very valuable ship and heavily laden. The privateer that captured her was part of the French fleet of 11 vessels of equal force, that sailed from Concale Bay on February 14.450
As the French squadron was heading back to Newport from the Chesapeake Capes after the engagement of March 16, Captain Latouche-Tréville’s frigate Hermione captured the 200-ton English merchantman Union or Unity at 3 PM on Monday, March 19. She was en route from the West Indies to New York with six officers returning from leave, a few crewmen, and a cargo of molasses and sugar with an estimated value of 40,000 to 50,000 livres.451
The Waterford privateer Star and Garter arrived at Kinsale on Tuesday, March 20. She brought in with her a large French sloop, of 16 guns and 120 men, which captured many coasting vessels along the Irish coast. Some of those prizes were ransomed and the others sent to France.452
The British letter of marque Fanny had an engagement with a French frigate which was just going to strike her colors when two other vessels came up, forcing the Fanny to run. They chased her for two hours but could not catch her. The Fanny arrived at Plymouth on Wednesday morning, March 28, having lost her fore-mast and her rigging badly damaged.453
Before March 28, the privateer Antelope captured the French ship Marshall Belleisle. She was bound from Guadeloupe to Havre de Grace (Le Havre) with sugars, indigo, and cotton. She was taken to Jersey. Captain Ridgly’s Dartmouth privateer Phoenix captured a French packet with dispatches from India and brought her to Penzance. They had thrown their packet overboard.454
The Liverpool privateer Good Look Out and the Guernsey privateer Prince of Orange retook a vessel bound from Cork to Barbados with provisions before Thursday, March 29. The vessel had previously been captured by a French privateer off Cork.455
The French fleet, returning to Newport after an encounter with the British fleet, captured two vessels between March 16 and 31. One of them was a large ship from Jamaica with sugar.456 The French frigate Surveillante also captured a large brig, which she sank before March 31.457
Admiral Darby’s fleet was joined by the Gibraltar and New York fleets and departed from the Cove of Cork, past the Galley Head, Ireland, on March 27. Some vessels from the fleet captured two French privateers before April 3. One of them mounted 32 guns, the other 28 guns.458
The French privateer La Josephine, from Havre de Grace (Le Havre), captured a British packet bound from Falmouth to New York before April 3. The dispatches from the British ministry for General Clinton and Vice Admiral Arbuthnot were immediately sent to Versailles.459
Three privateers from the Île-de-France (Réunion and Mauritius) captured seven English merchantmen before April 6. They were richly laden. One had $600,000 in specie on board.460
Captain Patten’s HMS Belle Poule and the HMS Berwick captured Commander Luke Ryan’s 32-gun, 240-man privateer Callonne (formerly the Tartar) from Dunkirk. She was taken 4 miles off St. Abb’s Head, near the entrance of the Firth of Edinburgh, after a short action at daybreak on Friday, April 7. The privateer mistook the Berwick for a Greenland ship and ordered her to come to. They fired several broadsides before discovering their mistake. When the Berwick’s lower ports were opened, they tried to make off at the same time by crowding their sails and cutting adrift a boat with a lieutenant and 13 men, which was lying at the stern, for the purpose of boarding the supposed Greenlandman. The Belle Poule shot ahead of the Berwick, chased the privateer, and engaged her for 45 minutes until the Berwick came up. The privateer struck her colors at 8:30 AM. She had one man killed and two wounded. The Berwick had one man wounded and the Belle Poule had no casualties.
Captain Ryan had been out from Dunkirk only five days and had captured Captain Ramsay’s Nancy bound from Aberdeen to Newcastle, which he ransomed for 300 guineas.461
The packets Anna Teresa and Antelope sailed from Falmouth on March 15. The Anna Teresa was bound for New York and the Antelope for Jamaica. A French frigate of 38 guns intercepted them 20 leagues to the westward of Scilly. The Anna Teresa was taken after a chase of six hours and brought to Lorient. The Antelope escaped.462
The French lost 24 privateers before April 11, 1781. They include:
• one of 44 guns, two of 36 guns, four of 30 guns, all from St.-Malo;
• four of 36 guns, three of 32 guns, and three of 28 guns from Havre de Grace (Le Havre);
• two of 36 guns from Brest;
• one of 32 guns and two of 28 guns from Bayonne, France;
• one of 30 guns and one of 28 guns from Dunkirk.463
The Liverpool privateer Sisters also captured the French snow Ferret. She was bound from Nantes to Martinique with dispatches. However, the letters were thrown overboard and sunk.
Captain Gorham’s Whig sloop Nancy sailed in company with a fleet of 80 vessels, 40 of which were convoyed by three French frigates. They parted from the convoy and headed south on the fourth day of the cruise. The other vessels—under convoy of the Whig frigates Confederacy, Deane, and Saratoga—headed to the Delaware River. A British ship captured the Nancy in latitude 38.30 and sent her to New York on Sunday, April 15, with her cargo of sugar and coffee.464
When Holland entered the war in 1781, the British government decided to send an expeditionary force to southern Africa to capture the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Commodore George Johnstone commanded the squadron, which consisted of the 74-gun Hero and the 74-gun Monmouth; the Romney, the Jupiter, and the Isis (all 50 guns); the Diana, the Jason, and the Active (all 32 guns); eight smaller Navy vessels and 10 East Indiamen (all 26 guns). They departed on Tuesday, March 13, with a large number of troops and accompanied by Vice Admiral George Darby’s Channel Fleet en route to Gibraltar.
The French sent Admiral Comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, Bailli de Suffren, to thwart this plan. He commanded a squadron of five vessels: the Héros and the Annibal (both 74 guns); and the Artésien, Sphinx, and Vengeur (all 64 guns). They left Brest on March 22 with the Comte François de Grasse’s fleet. They also transported troops.
Commodore Johnstone arrived at Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands on April 11 and anchored. His flagship, the Romney, was in a cluster of other vessels, severely restricting its field of fire. The Isis sighted a squadron to the northeast at 9:30 AM on Monday, April 16, and signaled its approach. Johnstone was caught completely by surprise. He had 1,500 men on shore relaxing and collecting food, livestock, and water.
Suffren arrived at Porto Praya to collect water, not expecting to find the British squadron there. He immediately decided to engage Johnstone’s squadron. He maneuvered around the east point of the bay in a column with his own ship, the Héros, in the lead, flying the signal for attack. Suffren anchored about 500 feet to the starboard of Commodore Johnstone’s flagship Hero and opened fire. The Annibal, astern of the Héros, failed to clear for action and consequently contributed little to the fight. The Artésien was third in line and got entangled with one of the East Indiamen when her captain got killed and the second-in-command failed to anchor. The wind pulled the two vessels out to sea. The last two vessels, the Sphinx and the Vengeur, fired a broadside as they sailed past the mouth of the bay.
Suffren realized that nothing more could be achieved after the four-hour engagement and headed for the open sea. Commodore Johnstone ordered his ships to pursue. All but the Isis could do so. Captain Evelyn Sutton reported that his spars and rigging were so badly damaged that they would not bear up under the wind. Johnstone insisted that they do so. Shortly afterward, the fore-topmast of the Isis tumbled overboard, leaving Johnstone unable to keep pace with Suffren. The Isis and the Monmouth were at least 2 miles behind as night approached and the sea was growing heavier. Johnstone decided not to attempt a night engagement, allowing Suffren to escape. He abandoned the pursuit and returned to Porto Praya, where he remained for another two weeks. He ordered Captain Sutton arrested but he was later acquitted.
The British lost nine men killed and 47 wounded in the convoy by stray fire. Total losses were 36 killed and 130 wounded. French losses were 105 killed and 204 wounded, almost all of them aboard the Héros and the Annibal.465
The British privateer Carlisle captured Captain de la Feuillade’s Spanish ship N. S. Valenze de Alcantara and brought her to Waterford on Monday, April 16. She was bound from Bayonne to Cadiz with military supplies. The Carlisle, having received some damage to her rigging in an engagement with a French privateer, put into Cork for repairs.466
Captain de Latouche’s French frigate Hermione captured a vessel at 5:15 AM on Thursday, April 19. She was an American vessel captured in Long Island Sound the previous day by a privateer bound to New York carrying two cannons and three men. As she had nothing of value on board, Captain de Latouche had her burned.467
The French privateer brigantine Le Cerf, carrying 18 9-pounders and 170 men, took the Kingston privateer Hercules and a ship from Liverpool and sent them to Hispaniola before April 21.468
Captain Collins’s HMS Aurora fell in with the St.-Malo privateer Esperance on Monday, April 23, between Scilly and Land’s End. Esperance carried 10 6-pounders, six swivels, and 70 men. She was captured after a short chase and taken to Mounts Bay in the evening.469
The same day, Captain Pelley’s 16-gun Glasgow privateer Rusden captured the Dunkirk privateer Filander, with six guns and 20 men. She was on her first cruise and had taken no prizes. Captain Chandler’s English privateer Salisbury, of 20 6-pounders, also engaged a French privateer, of 26 12-pounders. They fired at each other for almost two hours. Captain Chandler and nine of his men were killed and 10 wounded.470
Before April 24, the British letter of marque Mars captured the French privateer St. Quentin, of 16 6- and 9-pounders, and sent her to Kinsale. And the HMS Cerberus captured the French privateer Duc de Brissac, carrying 20 6-pounders and 110 men, and sent her to Plymouth.471
The Guernsey privateer Medway engaged a French frigate off Scilly on Wednesday, April 25. She had all her rigging shot away and arrived at Plymouth a wreck. The French frigate had 10 men killed and seven wounded and left the Medway to pursue two vessels under English colors that came into sight.472
Captain John Barry’s Continental frigate Alliance, in company with a 40-gun French frigate, captured a 36-gun, 120-man Guernsey privateer brig and sent her to Boston about April 25. The privateer made some resistance, but, on receiving a broadside from the Alliance, she struck her colors. She had 15 tons of gunpowder on board and mounted 20 iron 12-pounders and 16 bronze 4-pounders and had a crew of 112 men. Her consort, of 20 guns, escaped but was soon overtaken and left in company with the Alliance.473
Captain Niel’s Whig privateer Bold Attempt and Captain Ryan’s Dunkirk frigate La Colombe arrived at Hellevoetsluis on Thursday, April 26 with the English privateer Kitty. This was the 22nd prize taken in a span of five weeks.474
La Dame de Granville captured seven or eight prizes valued at about 700,000 livres before April 27.475
The HM Armed Ship Leith, a Greenlandman, captured the Dunkirk privateer Necker, carrying 18 guns and 85 men, and sent her to Lerwick, Shetland, before April 28. The Necker first gave chase to the Leith which found she could not escape, so she lay to and prepared for battle. The Necker, suspecting her to be a frigate, declined an engagement and sheered off. The Leith, in turn, gave chase. The Necker crowded her sails and sprung her topmast. As the Leith approached her quickly, the Necker threw her guns overboard to facilitate her escape. When the Leith overtook her, the Necker had nothing with which to defend herself and fell an easy prey. She had three hostages on board, one of whom was ransomed for £800. Her officers were put aboard the Leith, which was returning from convoying ships to Shetland. The crew proceeded to Edinburgh by land.476
Two French frigates met a Dutch East Indiaman at sea on Friday, April 27. The Dutch did not know of the declaration of war between Holland and England. The frigates conducted her safely to Cadiz. They went out again on their cruise and fell in with two 20-gun ships a few days later. They were the Charlotte from London and the Phoenix from Bristol, which they captured and brought to Cadiz.477
The 20-gun St.-Malo privateer de Bourgois captured six homeward-bound merchantmen off Newport before May 2 1781.478
Admiral Rodney captured the brig Atlantick at St. Eustatius and sent her to Plymouth, where she arrived on May 13. She sailed in company with 32 merchantmen under the convoy of four men-of-war. They fell in with seven French ships in latitude 49.26 N longitude 8.18 W about 40 leagues from land, on Saturday, May 2. The commodore immediately hoisted the signal to disperse, but the captain of the Atlantick said he saw many of the leeward ships captured.479
Captain Collins’s HMS Aurora fell in with Le Comte de Guichen in the Celtic Sea on May 3. She was a Morlaix privateer lugger carrying 16 guns, 10 carronades and swivels, and 80 men. She had been previously called the Black Princess and was cutter-rigged, first commanded by Luke Ryan then by a Mr. McCarty.480
M. la Motte Picquet entered Brest on Tuesday, May 8, with 21 merchant vessels and a privateer, part of the British fleet he captured off the Lizard. They also sank a merchant ship and a privateer. The fleet was bound from St. Eustatius to England under convoy of two ships-of-the-line and two frigates.
Two French privateers later captured six merchant ships. The others escaped with the men-of-war and frigates. The cargoes consisted of 8,485 hogsheads of white sugar, 2,275 hogsheads of tobacco, 1,100 elephant teeth, 9332 tierces of coffee, 1,389 hides, 300 bales of cotton, 293 hogsheads of ginger, and eight tierces of indigo. The ships and their cargoes had an estimated value of 16,456,375 French livres.481
The Plymouth privateer Alexander recaptured a large ship from St. Eustatius about 30 leagues west of Scilly. The Alexander retook her from the French and brought her to Plymouth on Sunday, May 13.482
Commander James Wallace’s 64-gun HMS Nonsuch fell in with a 90-gun French flagship in the Bay of Biscay about mid-May. The two had a very severe engagement during the night in which the Nonsuch lost 23 men killed and 47 wounded. The French vessel escaped to a French port.483
Rear Admiral Rowley’s squadron captured a French brigantine bound from La Rochelle to Cape François before Wednesday, May 16.484
A French privateer, of 14 6-pounders, attacked an English brig with a few small guns off Balmbrough Castle (Bamburgh Castle, England) on Thursday morning, May 17. They engaged for about two hours before the brig got off by running to shore under the castle guns, which forced the privateer to sheer off. The privateer sent her boats to cut out the brig but Captain Horsall, commanding part of the Yorkshire militia, beat them off with the assistance of the castle guns. The brig then got to Holy Island harbor.
A little later the same morning, the privateer attacked a brig off Sunderland Point. The brig engaged the privateer heading toward Balmbrough with the privateer chasing her in a running fight. The privateer then broke off the engagement.485
The Guernsey privateer Eagle, mounting only 12 6-pounders, captured the French privateer Ajax in latitude 39.23 on Saturday, May 19. The Ajax, from St.-Malo, mounted 24 guns, 9- and 6-pounders. She lost four men killed and seven wounded in the 28-minute action.486
The Jersey privateer Friendship, mounting 14 6- and 9-pounders, fell in with a French privateer of 18 guns off Scilly on Monday, May 20. The two were engaged for some time but became separated and lost sight of each other with nightfall accompanied by a gale.487
The same day, a French privateer cutter appeared off Dunbar at 9 AM, greatly alarming the inhabitants. She was in chase of a smack and the privateer Thistle, both belonging to Dunbar. Both vessels anchored close to the harbor for shelter. The French cutter, crowding all the sail possible, bore right in on them.
The local militiamen mustered along the pier and prepared to protect the town and vessels as best they could. The French fired a broadside, which was returned, and the engagement continued for 1½ hours when the French privateer sheered off. A great many cannonballs fell in the streets.488
Captain Langmure’s Commerce fell in with a 22-gun French privateer between Dungarvan and Youghall, Ireland, on Friday night, May 25. They engaged for one hour before the Commerce beat off the privateer.489
Captain William Pierre Williams, of the HMS Flora, in company with Captain Pakenham’s HMS Crescent, discovered two Dutch frigates near Ceuta, Morocco, about 5 AM on Thursday, May 24. They prepared for action, but an approaching storm obliged them to wait for a more favorable opportunity. The storm abated at 7 PM and the British frigates kept the Dutch frigates in sight throughout the night. They approached the Dutch vessels at daybreak and began the action at close range at 5 AM. The engagement continued for 2¼ hours before the Dutch surrendered. They proved to be Captain Peter Melville’s frigate Castor from Rotterdam, carrying 26 12-pounders and 10 6-pounders and a crew of 230 men, and the frigate Brill, mounting 26 12-pounders, two sixes, and eight 4-pounders. A shot carried away the Crescent’s main and mizzen masts, forcing her to strike her colors. However, the Flora got her head toward the Crescent and prevented the Dutch from taking possession of her.
The Flora had nine men killed and 32 wounded, 18 mortally. The Crescent lost 26 men killed and 67 wounded, two of them mortally. The Castor lost 22 men killed and 41 wounded, 11 of them mortally. A French frigate retook the Castor about five days later. The British fired 1,200 shots and 5,000 pounds of powder.490
Captain Daniel’s (or Davis’s) ship William arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, from the coast of Africa on Saturday, May 26, with 350 choice slaves on board. During her eight-week passage, she fell in with the privateer Secour, which had taken a French packet boat bound from Île-de-France (Réunion and Mauritius) to France. The dispatches were delivered to Captain Daniel, who brought them to Kingston for the inspection of the government. The commander of the Secour did not have enough crewmen to guard the prisoners, so he took what he could from the vessel and let her depart.491
Lieutenant Douglas’s HM Cutter Resolution captured Louis le Chevalier’s French privateer Bienvenu, carrying 10 carriage guns, six swivels, and 41 men, about May 27. She was from Dunkirk and taken to Tinmouth. She was in sight of the privateer Antigallican when taken.492
The 32-gun French frigate Josephine took Captain Brander’s Aurora eight leagues off the Lizard on Monday, June 4, 1781. She was bound from Lisbon to London with wine and taken to Havre de Grace (Le Havre).493
Captain Bligh’s HMS Nemesis took the Dunkirk privateer cutter Alliance or Black Princess after a four-hour chase about 6 leagues south of Waterford harbor on Tuesday, June 5. The Alliance, commanded by John Lauder, a Whig, carried 16 6-pounders, 20 9-pounders, and 87 men. She was eight days out from Morlaix and had captured nothing.494
Captain Molstron’s Dunkirk privateer Vulture, of 16 6-pounders, 20 9-pounders, and 120 men, took Captain Jenkins’s privateer cutter St. Peter and brought her to Morlaix on June 6. The same day, Lieutenant George’s HM Cutter Rambler took the French privateer brig Union, of six guns, 11 swivels, and 57 men, after a short action off Shoreham. The prize was from St.-Malo and taken to Spithead on June 9.495
Captain Cadogan’s HMS Licorne took a French Guineaman with a rich cargo of gold dust and ivory which arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, on June 15.496
Captain Evans’s HM Frigate Charlestown arrived at Halifax on Thursday, June 14, and brought a valuable French prize which he captured off Cape Cod. The prize was bound from France to Boston with gunpowder, small arms, brandy, flour, wine, and many other valuable articles. Several other store ships sailed at the same time, laden with all kinds of military stores for the French army at Rhode Island and clothing for the Continental Army.497
A French privateer cutter captured six vessels at the mouth of the River Tees, within sight of Hartlepool, England, on Thursday, June 14. Five of the vessels were ransomed and one carried out to sea.498
Lieutenant Berkeley’s cutter Liberty, in company with the HM Sloop Alderney and the Custom House Cutter Hunter, captured Captain Fre. Barthelemy Blouin’s two-gun, 21-man Dunkirk privateer cutter La Puce and the Ferret, of 12 carriage and 16 swivel guns, on Tuesday, June 19.499
The Crown privateer Associate took the 18-gun French privateer Triton at the mouth of the Shannon River and brought her to Limerick before June 21.500
Two Crown revenue cutters captured a French lugsail privateer and brought her to Aldborough about 7 PM on Thursday, June 21. She was bound from Dunkirk to Holland with some dispatches which were thrown overboard and sunk before she struck. The cutters had six men slightly wounded; the privateer had two men killed and five wounded.501
Captain de Latouche’s French frigate Hermione crowded her sails at dawn on Sunday, June 24, and chased a vessel in a weak northwest wind. The vessel hoisted American colors, fired a gun, and continued the chase. The Hermione fired several guns at her to slacken sails at 7 AM. As she was out of range of the cannonballs, she continued to be chased. As the Hermione approached her at 9 AM, the vessel turned about and came athwart the Hermione. She was a 20-gun privateer from Salem returning from a cruise on the coast of Ireland where she captured seven prizes.502
Captain Donaldson’s letter of marque Alexander engaged a French privateer for an hour before June 26. She might have captured the privateer if a fire had not broken out in the privateer’s powder room, which blew her up along with all her crew.503
Master Thomas Cockrill’s pink New Recovery was bound from Newcastle to Redbridge with coals on Thursday, June 28. She fell in with a French privateer cutter of 10 carriage guns, some swivels, and small arms off Ensbury Head. They engaged for 2½ hours before the French privateer was forced to sheer off. The New Recovery mounted only three carriage guns and had nine men and boys on board. Her fore-topmast, mizzen topmast, and jib boom were all shot away and her sails and rigging shot to pieces. She received a number of shots in her hull but none of her crew were harmed. When the engagement began, she had a brigantine from Sunderland in company which had 10 portholes and was supposed to mount six or eight guns. When the master of the brigantine saw the pink’s fore-topmast gone, he crowded sail and went to Portsmouth, where he arrived on Friday, the 29th.504
Captain de la Villeneuve Cillard’s 36-gun French frigate Surveillante captured a schooner bound from the West Indies to New York and sent her to Newport before June 30. Two days earlier, she fell in with a British 50-gun ship, believed to be the Isis, which she engaged for some time. The Isis had her foremast shot away in the action. When another vessel, believed to be her consort, came into sight, Captain de la Villeneuve Cillard thought proper to retire.505
Before June 30, the Crown privateer Enterprize captured the 16-gun Chevalier Luzerne bound from Lorient to Philadelphia. Also, Captain Carlyon’s Lively captured the privateer Marquis d’Aubiterre, from Brest, with 12 6-pounders and eight swivels, and retook two brigs that the privateer was convoying into port.506
Captain Stephen Decatur, Sr.’s Philadelphia privateer ship Royal Louis took the New York sloop Phoenix in July 1781. She was previously captured by a French frigate and retaken by the HM Sloop-of-War Swallow. An officer was conducting her to New York when Captain Decatur retook her and brought her to Philadelphia.507
Dunkirk privateers captured 17 prizes between July 1 and August 1, 1781. Nine of them were retaken and eight were ransomed.508
The HM Frigate Charlestown captured an 800-ton French ship and brought her to Halifax before July 2. She was a very valuable prize and was one of a fleet of 14 vessels that arrived in Boston. She was blown from her anchors at the lighthouse in a violent wind storm. She was loaded with clothing, provisions, arms, and a great quantity of flour.509
The British grand fleet, returning from Gibraltar, captured seven French ships-of-the-line under the command of M. la Mothe Picquet before Tuesday, July 10.510
Captain Biggs’s HM Frigate Amphitrite captured a very large store ship of 700 or 800 tons named the Stanislaus before July 14. Her cargo consisted of a large quantity of articles for the French army at Rhode Island, including one 16-inch mortar, the largest ever known in America.511
Before July 19, two frigates at Sligo captured a Whig privateer, mounting 22 9-pounders on one deck and several howitzers, and a French privateer, carrying 16 6-pounders and four 3-pounders on her quarter deck. These privateers had taken several vessels on the west coast of Ireland and were in close pursuit of a heavily laden brig in Sligo Bay. Also, the Guernsey privateer Holdernesse captured the French ship St. Beaujolais and brought her in. She was bound from Martinique to Bordeaux with sugar and cotton valued at £12,000.512
Captain Donovan, of the revenue cutter Waller, secured the quartermaster of the French privateer ship-of-war Tartar and lodged him in the Skibbereen jail on Friday, July 20. He was concealed on board a pilot boat in Baltimore harbor, intending to cut out a Dutch prize anchored in that harbor. The crew of the pilot boat were also secured and the privateer was off the coast.
Four men were put in the Cork County jail on Friday, August 3. One of them was an officer belonging to the Tartar. The others were pilots belonging to Crookhaven. They were found reconnoitering the southwest coast of Ireland in order to capture some vessels there. They intended to take a Dutch prize anchored in Baltimore harbor on the night of their capture by Captain Donovan.513
Captain Griffiths’s New York brig Defiance fell in with two privateers from St.-Malo, the 20-gun Le Frederick and the 12-gun Tartar, off Shellick Rock to the North of Cape Clear on Friday, July 20. They ransomed Captain Griffiths and left him cruising from the Cape to the Misen Head, Ireland, for four days.514
The Glasgow privateer Robust captured the French privateer Favourite and brought her to Penzance before July 22. She was from Havre de Grace, mounted 12 guns, and had a crew of 49 men. She was taken out of the Downs by 18 of her crew who convoyed the other part of the crew. They brought her to Calais, where they sold her for £3,000. A hostage on board was ransomed for £500.515
The Limerick privateer Briton, carrying 18 6- and 9-pounders, had an engagement with a French privateer which lasted two hours and 20 minutes before July 26. The French had 16 men killed and 12 wounded. The Briton had 11 men killed and nine wounded and all her rigging shot away. The French, finding the Briton would not strike, took advantage of her condition and sheered off. The Briton returned to Limerick on July 26.516
The Limerick privateer Thunder captured two French privateers and brought them to Limerick on July 26. They were the same vessels that patrolled the Irish coast for more than three months and had nine hostages on board. One of the privateers mounted 10 6-pounders. The other had eight guns, 6- and 9-pounders, and a number of swivels. They sailed from Dunkirk on April 2 with six months’ provisions on board and captured 28 vessels during their cruise.517
The Liverpool privateer Harlequin captured Master John Simmons’s French vessel Ruzi and sent her to the Cove, Guernsey, where she arrived on July 26. She was returning home to Brest with naval stores from Rhode Island.518
Before July 27, the Dunkirk privateer La Fantaise captured Captain Wage’s Betsey and Polly. She was bound from Exon to Liverpool and was ransomed for 120 guineas. Also, Master Patrick Dowlin’s 16-gun Dunkirk privateer lugger Fanny took Captain Isaac Kelsick’s brig Pallas about one league from the Saltees. She was bound from Workington to Cork with coals and was ransomed for 500 guineas. Some of the privateer’s crew told Captain Kelsick’s men that they had 25 hostages on board and that their ransom bills amounted to nearly £40,000.519
The English privateer Live Oak took the French ship Theresa bound from Marseilles to Nantes and brought her to Kinsale before July 29. She sailed on June 8 but met with bad weather, sprung a leak, and returned to port where she was repaired.520
Captain Fraga’s Liverpool privateer Harlequin took a French snow and sent her to Cork before Monday, July 30. She was bound from France to Boston and valued at 500,000 livres.521
The crew of a French privateer landed at Beaumaris on Tuesday, July 31, and carried off 30 sheep, some pigs, and poultry. Early the next morning, they attempted to land again, but the militiamen mustered and were determined to oppose them. The French returned to the vessel which fired several guns but did no damage except knocking down an old hovel which served as a shelter for cattle.522
Before August 3, 1781, Admiral la Motte Picquet’s squadron captured a fleet of 18 British ships bound from Lisbon to Newfoundland. Only their convoy escaped. The same squadron also took almost all of Admiral Rodney’s vessels from St. Eustatius. French and Whig privateers captured the New Adventure and the Hope bound for the West Indies and brought them to France. In addition, the French privateer Flora took the Guernsey privateers Quincey, of 14 guns, and Hector after an engagement of 1½ hours.523
The French brig Lafayette captured the HM Tender Brig Kitty after a short engagement on Friday, August 3. The Kitty was in search of the fleet.524
Two French privateers cruising on the Irish coast captured more than 20 vessels in 10 days between July 25 and August 4, 1781. Sixteen of these vessels were ransomed.525
The 80-gun St. Esprit, of Admiral de Grasse’s squadron, suffered considerably from the fire of the 74-gun HMS Russell in an action with Admiral Hood before August 9. She had 48 men killed and nearly double that number wounded.526
The HM Frigate St. Margaretta captured Le Juring bound from Saint-Domingue to Nantes with sugar and brought her to Cork on August 9.527
French and Dutch privateers plundered the inhabitants along the coast of Milford in early August. They took a vessel out of the harbor during the night of Saturday, August 11. Only a man and boy were on board, probably sound asleep from fatigue due to what they had undergone the day before.528
A French privateer cutter sank two coasting vessels off Wicklow Head on Sunday, August 12. Captain Cooper, of the HMS Stag, sent his second lieutenant, Mr. Lewis Vickers, in the cutter Hope to search for the privateer. He fell in with her off Bardsey Island on August 16. She proved to be the Chardon, carrying 20 6-pounders and 150 men, commanded by John Kelly, an Irishman. Lieutenant Vickers engaged the Chardon for an hour and 10 minutes when he was wounded in the thigh by a musket ball. All the officers of the Hope were either killed or wounded, so she was forced to submit. She had only 12 4-pounders and 55 men on board, six of whom were killed and 16 wounded.529
That night, the HMS Solebay took a French lugger to New York. She was bound from Lorient to Rhode Island with dry goods valued at £15,000.530
A French privateer captured a sloop off Hartland the week of August 12. She had been discharging tea at Newton. Within a few days, 11 other vessels were taken at the same place. The captain of one of them, named Tudball, of Minehead, offered to ransom his vessel for £600 but was refused.531
Captain Myles Urion’s Loyalist privateer whaleboat Ladies Delight (or Lady’s Delight) captured five prizes before August 25. Her crew boarded and took a sloop mounting six 4-pounders on Monday, August 13. She had on board part of the cargo of the Porpoise bound from Havana to Philadelphia. The Porpoise had been run ashore by some Loyalist cruisers.
The Ladies Delight captured a French brigantine bound from Cape François to Boston with sugar and molasses and sent her in the same day. She also captured a sloop bound from St. Thomas to Philadelphia with a cargo of rum and sugar and Captain Charles’s sloop Delight.532
Seven French frigates with 32 transports were about six leagues off Guernsey when a privateer captured two of them and brought them to Guernsey before August 14. They had the enemy signals on board. It was generally believed that the French were preparing to attack Jersey or Guernsey.533
The French frigate Résolu captured a large transport ship, a brig laden with stores, and a brig bound from Madeira to Québec with wines which she brought in with her on Saturday, August 18.534
Captain Cadogan’s HMS Licorne and Captain Perkins’s tender schooner Punch returned to Kingston from cruises on Sunday, August 19. The Licorne brought in a French brig, part of the homeward-bound convoy to Saint-Domingue. She was laden with sugar and was taken out of a harbor near Cape François by the Licorne’s boats.535
The French frigates Hermione and Astrée captured Captain Cobb’s Lockhart Ross before August 20. She was bound from Québec to Cork and taken to Boston.536
The French privateer Le Chardon captured and ransomed the following vessels before August 20, 1781:
• Captain Lipson’s Tryal for £450;
• Captain Lawrence’s Speedwell, bound from Workington to Dublin, for 300 guineas;
• Captain Mortimer’s John, bound from Liverpool to Penzance, for 550 guineas;
• Captain Watson’s John, bound from Wexford to Whitehaven, for 300 guineas;
• Captain Alexander’s Johnson, bound from Liverpool to Cork, for £300;
• Captain Hodgson’s Elizabeth, bound from Neverstone to Newham, for 280 guineas;
• Captain Peters’s Hope, bound from Cardiff to Dublin, for £100;
• Captain Man’s Jane, bound from Cork to Liverpool;
• Captain Dawson’s James and Ann, bound from Wicklow to Bardskay, for 200 guineas;
• Captain Bonow’s Molly, bound from Alverstone to Cardiff, for 200 guineas;
• Captain Huddeston’s Powel, bound from Dublin to Whitehaven, for £200;
• Captain Bell’s James and Ann, from Maryport to Newry, for 100 guineas;
• Captain Richards’s Speedwell, bound from Guernsey to Crecton, for £500;
• Captain Walters’s George, from Ulverstone, Tasmania, for 375 guineas;
• Captain Cunningham’s Molly and Betty, bound from Newbury to Chester, for £130.537
The HMS Solebay captured Master Jean B. Bublel’s lugger the Aimable Elizabeth, bound from Lorient to Philadelphia with dry goods and wine, and brought her to New York between August 11 and 22.538
The French and Spanish captured about 30 British ships near the English Channel before August 22.539
A 40-gun British ship captured the French ship Marquis de Lafayette off Cape Clear after an engagement of three hours before August 25 and before two 74-gun ships came up. The French ship was bound from France to America with clothing.540
Count de Grasse’s fleet of 28 ships-of-the-line captured a packet from Charleston with Lord Rawdon on board before August 26.541
The French privateer Duc de Nivernois, carrying 16 guns, 9- and 12-pounders, and full of men, was sunk within three leagues of Aberdeen in an engagement with Captain Johnson’s privateer Mansfield about August 28. All the crew were drowned except for five men who were taken up with great difficulty by a boat from the Mansfield.542
Captain Buchannan’s privateer ship Goodrich, belonging to Messrs. Shedden and Goodrich, took the schooner Industry bound from North Carolina to Boston in latitude 36.28 on Monday, August 27. A French fleet of 11 vessels chased the Goodrich and brought her to. The Industry arrived at New York during the week of September 2.543
The 32-gun French privateer ship-of-war Sartine took 15 prizes in the Irish Channel in the course of three months, June to September 1781. The prizes were ransomed or sent to French ports.544 The French frigate Amphitrite arrived in Brest Road with an eight-gun English privateer in early September.545
Two French men-of-war took the HM Frigate Crescent and her prize, a Dutch frigate (the Castor?), and brought them to Lorient before September 1, 1781.546
The HM Frigate Assurance, of 44 guns and 10 carronades, from Halifax, and Captain Douglass’s 50-gun Chatham had a severe engagement with the 32-gun (26 of them 18-pounders) French frigate Magicienne at the entrance of Boston harbor on Saturday morning, September 1. The Magicienne was arriving from Piscataqua (Portsmouth, New Hampshire), convoying the Marie-Françoise. She was obliged to strike her colors after a conflict of nearly 1½ hours at half pistol range. She had 60 men killed and more than 40 wounded. The Chatham had two men killed and six wounded. Both ships were badly damaged. The Marie-Françoise reached Alderton Point, at Hull, Massachusetts, that evening.547
Before September 3, the Jamaica convoy captured the large French ship Marquis de Lafayette, armed en flute and laden with clothing for the Continental Army. Admiral Darby’s fleet took the 18-gun St.-Malo privateer Le Frederick and the French brig Voyageur, from Bayonne, and sent them to Plymouth.548
The HMS Zebra fell in with a fleet of French ships-of-the-line and frigates 60 leagues off the Virginia Capes on Monday, September 3.549
A small victualing sloop which sailed from Rhode Island with Admiral de Barras’s fleet returned to Providence on Wednesday evening, September 12. Her rudder and sails were damaged and she was unable to keep up with the fleet. She lost sight of them in the evening of September 4. They captured two transports bound from Charleston to New York with some soldiers and a number of women and children on board.550
Captain Stanhope’s HM Frigate Pegasus fell in with a French fleet of about 12 ships-of-the-line and several vessels under their convoy heading toward Virginia on Tuesday, September 4. Captain Stanhope, having seven vessels under convoy, made the signal for them to disperse, which they did immediately. Three of the vessels were captured.551
While General George Washington was marching south on Thursday, August 30, Admiral François Joseph Paul Comte de Grasse arrived in the Chesapeake Bay with his entire fleet of 24 ships of the line. He debarked 3,000 French troops a few days later to join General Marie-Joseph du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
General Charles Cornwallis wrote a coded message to General Henry Clinton on August 31, telling him that he could clearly see the sails of about 40 enemy vessels between Cape Charles and Cape Henry off the Virginia coast, “mostly ships of war and some of them very large.” Clinton responded that he would try to help Cornwallis, either by sending reinforcements or by mounting a diversion. Clinton decided he could not send reinforcements until the Royal Navy could transport them or protect them on the long march overland. He decided to mount a diversion instead. He sent Benedict Arnold on a raid on Fort Trumbull in New London and on Fort Griswold in Groton, hoping this would convince General Washington to keep troops in New England rather than move them south.
Admiral Thomas Graves, the British naval commander in New York, meanwhile had put out to sea in late August with 19 ships-of-the-line, hoping either to intercept Admiral Louis, Comte de Barras’s squadron or to block de Grasse’s entry into the Chesapeake. He failed to find de Barras, and, when he arrived off Hampton Roads on September 5, he found de Grasse already in the bay.
When Graves saw the French ships coming out past Cape Henry, he ordered his fleet to reverse their order in the battle line. Admiral Samuel 1st Viscount Hood, who preceded the fleet, now occupied the rear. He assumed that Graves would attack the French, who had not yet formed for battle. Graves delayed for an hour, giving de Grasse time to finish drawing up his battle line. Around mid-afternoon, Graves ordered the attack.
De Grasse knew that Admiral de Barras was on his way from Newport to the Chesapeake with General Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de Rochambeau’s siege artillery. He could not let the British fleet intercept him, but he had to wait for the tide to turn. When the tide turned, around noon, de Grasse ordered his ships to prepare for battle.
The French, who had more ships and greater firepower, sallied forth to meet Graves. The action commenced at 4:15 PM and continued for two hours. Both fleets had almost ceased firing, except for some ships to the leeward, about 6:30 PM, and they were edging southward. The firing ceased on both sides at 7 PM. Both fleets were badly damaged in the inconclusive engagement. The British suffered more damage because the French had greater firepower. The British lost the only vessel sunk in the battle—the 74-gun Thunderer, which sank two days later.
The action had not resumed by 6 AM the following morning and a British frigate chased the privateer ship Marquis de Lafayette which soon lost sight of the fleets. The Marquis de Lafayette returned to Newport on Tuesday, September 11. For all practical purposes, the victory lay with the French. While the fleets maneuvered at sea for five days following the battle, de Barras’s squadron slipped into the Chesapeake, and the French and Continental troops got past the British fleet into the James River. Then, de Grasse returned to the Chesapeake on Monday, September 10, where he joined de Barras’s squadron with several heavy cannon and tons of salt beef aboard his ships. The combined French fleet now numbered 35 ships-of-the-line.
Graves thought the enemy now had “so great a naval force in the Chesapeake that they [were] absolute masters of its navigation.” He turned to Admiral Hood, his second-in-command, for advice. Hood replied, “Sir Samuel would be very glad to send an opinion, but he really knows not what to say in the truly lamentable state we have brought ourselves.” Graves decided his only alternative was to bring his “shattered fleet” to New York to refit. The Battle of the Chesapeake confirmed French command of the Chesapeake and sealed the fate of Cornwallis’s army.552
The South Carolina frigate South Carolina took the privateer Alexander off Dogger Bank on Thursday, September 6. The South Carolina carried 40 guns, 20 of which were French 36-pounders, equal to English 42-pounders. Her quarter guns were French 12-pounders. She had a crew of 556 men and was laden with a large quantity of plate, clothing, arms, and military accoutrements for 30,000 land troops. She also had 26 passengers, including some members of Congress. She sailed from the Texel on August 13 and captured and burned a cutter from Berwick a few days before she took the Alexander (c. September 2, 1781). She took eight of the Alexander’s crew on board and put 26 French soldiers with an officer, a Whig prize master and mate on board.553