Privateers And Privateering - free ebook by Edward Phillips Statham

AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF THE 'BRITANNIA,'" AND JOINT AUTHOR OF "THE HOUSE OF HOWARD"

London: HUTCHINSON &amp; CO. Paternoster Row 1910...

7 minute read

Read Chapter

PREFACE

A few words of explanation are necessary as to the pretension and scope of this volume. It does not pretend to be a history of privateering; the subject is an immense one, teeming with technicalities, legal and nautical; interesting, indeed, to the student of history, and never comprehensively treated hitherto, as far as the present author is aware, in any single work. The present object is not, however, to provide a work of reference, but rather a collection of true stories of privateering inci

1 minute read

Read Chapter

LIST OF MODERN AUTHORITIES

"History of the American Privateers and Letters of Marque in the War of 1812," etc. By George Coggleshall. 1856. "Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence." By Dr. Doran. 1876. "The Naval War of 1812." By T. Roosevelt. 1882. "Studies in Naval History." By Sir John K. Laughton. 1887. "The Corsairs of France." By C.B. Norman. 1887. "Life Aboard a British Privateer in the Reign of Queen Ann." By R.C. Leslie. 1889. "Robert Surcouf, un Corsaire Malouin." Par Robert Surcouf, ancien Sous-préfet. 1889.

54 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER V

WOODES ROGERS— continued...

2 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER X

FORTUNATUS WRIGHT— continued...

2 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XII

GEORGE WALKER— continued...

3 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY The privateersman, scouring the seas in his swift, rakish craft, plundering the merchant vessels of the enemy, and occasionally engaging in a desperate encounter with an opponent of his own class, or even with a well-equipped man-of-war, has always presented a romantic and fascinating personality. Many thrilling tales, half truth, half fiction, have been written about him; and if he has not infrequently been confounded with his first cousin the pirate, it must be admitted that for s

15 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER II

ANDREW BARTON There was living at the commencement of the sixteenth century a Scotsman, named Andrew Barton, who acquired considerable notoriety by reason of his exploits at sea; and indeed, he was instrumental in bringing to a definite issue the condition of high tension existing between England and Scotland at that time, which culminated in the battle of Flodden Field. It appears, from certain State Papers, that one John Barton, the father of Andrew, somewhere about the year 1476, in the reign

16 minute read

Read Chapter

PRIVATEERING IN THE SOUTH SEAS

the 'dampier' WILLIAM DAMPIER, THE FAMOUS CIRCUMNAVIGATOR...

4 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER III

WILLIAM DAMPIER The title of this section requires, perhaps, some explanation; and first as to the phrase "South Seas." In the sixteenth and two following centuries this term was applied to that portion of the Pacific Ocean which borders the west coast of South America, from Cape Horn to the Gulf of Panama. It had been first exploited by the Spaniards, and became a great treasure-hunting ground for them, until France and England stepped in to obtain a share in the spoils, and the Spanish treasur

6 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IV

WOODES ROGERS Captain Woodes Rogers was a very different stamp of man from Dampier, and far better adapted by nature for the command of a privateering expedition. His father was a Bristol man, a sea-captain, and subsequently resided at Poole; Woodes Rogers the younger was probably born at Bristol, about the year 1678. Of his early life we know nothing in detail, but he was evidently brought up as a seaman and attained a good position, for in the year 1708 he proposed to some merchants of Bristol

23 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER V

WOODES ROGERS— continued Rogers and his companions made no long stay at Juan Fernandez. Having now arrived upon their cruising ground, all were eager to be at work, and on February 14th they were once more under way, the banished Vanbrugh being received on board the Duke again. "I hope for the best," says Captain Rogers doubtfully. On the 17th a committee-meeting was held at sea, in order to appoint responsible persons for the custody of "plunder." There was evidently considerable anxiety among

17 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VI

GEORGE SHELVOCKE AND JOHN CLIPPERTON About seven years after Captain Woodes Rogers returned from his cruise another privateering expedition to the South Seas was started by some London merchants; but, as England was not then at war with Spain, it was to sail under commission from the Emperor Charles VI.—which was quite a legitimate proceeding. The owners selected, as commanders of the two ships—named Success and Speedwell —George Shelvocke, who had formerly served in the Navy as purser, and also

22 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VII

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS OF THE "ALEXANDER" In the year 1744 a British 20-gun ship, the Solebay , was captured, together with two others, by a French squadron under Admiral de Rochambeau. Less than two years later the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty called before them a certain Captain Phillips, master mariner, commanding the Alexander privateer; and the following is the "minute" of the interview, officially recorded: "29 April, 1746. Captain Phillips, of the Alexander privateer, attending, was cal

12 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VIII

CAPTAIN DEATH, OF THE "TERRIBLE" One of the bloodiest privateer actions on record was that between the Terrible , owned in London, and the Vengeance , of St. Malo. The Terrible carried 26 guns, with a crew of 200 men, and was commanded by Captain Death. She was cruising off the mouth of the Channel at the end of the year 1756, and had had some success, capturing an armed French cargo ship, the Alexandre le Grand , (the narrator very simply translates this "Grand Alexander"!), which she was escor

17 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IX

FORTUNATUS WRIGHT Surely the fairies must have been busy with suggestions at the birth and naming of this fighting seaman—great seaman and determined fighter, and withal a smack of romantic heroism about him, which is suggested at once by his Christian name—Fortunatus. No man with such a name, one is disposed to assume, could be an ordinary and commonplace sort of person, muddling along in the well-worn grooves of every-day life. This, of course, would be an absurd assumption; men have been name

13 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER X

FORTUNATUS WRIGHT— continued In 1755 it became apparent that a renewal of hostilities between France and England could not be long delayed; and the staunch little Fame not being again available, Wright had a vessel built for him at Leghorn—quite a small vessel, which he named the St. George . The Tuscan authorities were, however, in spite of declared neutrality, very strongly in sympathy with France, and they did not regard Captain Wright's little ship-building venture with any favour; in fact,

16 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XI

GEORGE WALKER In the year 1745 some merchants of London fitted out three privateers—the Prince Frederick , 28 guns, 244 men, commanded by Captain James Talbot, who was in chief command; the Duke , of 20 guns, 150 men, Captain Morecock; and the Prince George , 20 guns, 134 men. This little squadron sailed from Cowes on June 2nd, and on the 7th a frightful disaster befell them, the Prince George , under circumstances not explained, capsizing and going down. These vessels were very heavily masted,

26 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XII

GEORGE WALKER— continued It was towards the end of this year—1745—after a visit to Madeira—where some of the crew got into trouble over a very foolish practical joke, putting a handful of soot in the holy-water fount at a church door—and a short cruise off the Azores, that Walker and his men were called upon to face death in a new form: not amidst the interchange of cannon-shot, the rattle of musketry, the clash of steel, but the gradual encroachment of the sea in a desperately leaky ship, threa

21 minute read

Read Chapter

SOME FRENCHMEN

the 'bart' JEAN BART, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN...

4 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIII

JEAN BART Privateering was very much resorted to in France, from the middle of the seventeenth century onwards; it was greatly encouraged by the State, and frequently men-of-war were lent to private individuals or corporations, who maintained them at their own cost, and of course pocketed the proceeds of the prizes captured. Some of these were large and powerful vessels, mounting fifty or sixty guns, and, having been built for men-of-war, were far superior to most privateers, which were frequent

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIV

DU GUAY TROUIN Another hero, privateer first and naval officer later, was Du Guay Trouin—this being the name by which he was eventually known, and which has been bestowed upon more than one vessel of the French Navy in commemoration of his exploits. His family name was, properly speaking, Trouin; his father was Luc Trouin, calling himself, after an estate which he owned, Trouin de la Barbinais. The future privateer captain and hero was the third son, and was born on June 10th, 1673, being named

26 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XV

JACQUES CASSARD Among the less well-known French privateersmen is Jacques Cassard, a native of Nantes, where there stands to this day a commemorative statue of him. He was born in 1672, and so was a contemporary of Du Guay Trouin. The son of a seafarer, young Jacques was predestined to a similar life, but there is very little known of his early doings. He appears to have commenced as a privateer at the early age of fourteen, and he must evidently have established, during the following ten years,

12 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVI

ROBERT SURCOUF Robert Surcouf, another prominent French privateersman, was born on December 12th, 1773—just one hundred years after Du Guay Trouin, to whose family he was related. Like his famous relative, he was intended for the Church; but he speedily manifested a militant spirit by no means of an ecclesiastical quality—he was, in fact, an awful pickle at home and at school; insubordinate, always fighting with some one, tearing his clothes to pieces, and quite unamenable to parental or pedagog

32 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVII

CAPTAIN SILAS TALBOT During the American War of Secession in the eighteenth century, as well as in that of 1812, American seamen took very kindly to privateering. There were many smart vessels afloat, commanded by intrepid and skilful men, with hardy and well-trained crews, and British naval historians are all agreed as to the success of their ventures and the immense amount of damage inflicted upon our sea-trade by them. Their fast-sailing schooners were usually able to outpace our men-of-war a

15 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVIII

CAPTAIN JOSHUA BARNEY Among the earlier privateersmen in the War of Secession was Joshua Barney, a naval officer, who, after having been a prisoner of war for five months, was released by exchange, and, failing naval employment, went as first officer of a privateer under Captain Isaiah Robinson—also a naval officer. Barney had previously made a venture on his own account in a small trading-vessel, which was speedily captured, the English captain landing his prisoners on the Chesapeake. After som

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIX

CAPTAINS BARNEY AND HARADEN In April of the following year, 1782, Barney was again afloat in command of a privateer, the Hyder Ali (spelt HydeA lly in Mr. Maclay's book), fitted out, by merchants of Philadelphia, with sixteen 6-pounder guns and a crew of 110. In this vessel he fought a remarkable and successful action against the General Monk , a British man-of-war, of alleged superior force, though this is not borne out by British accounts. She was formerly the General Washington , was captured

9 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XX

CAPTAIN THOMAS BOYLE Upon the declaration of war with England in 1812 Americans naturally inaugurated at once a vigorous privateering campaign. War was declared on June 18th, and by the end of the month two privateers had put out from Salem, and a dozen more were almost ready for sea; while New York had sent out, by the middle of October, twenty-six vessels, mounting some three hundred guns, and manned by more than two thousand men. On July 10th occurred a curious episode, quite impossible in th

11 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXI

THE "GENERAL ARMSTRONG" One of the most formidable American privateers during this war was the General Armstrong , a large brig, armed with a heavy long gun amidships, and eight long 9-pounders. The last action in which she was engaged was of a most desperate nature, against the boats of a British squadron. The privateer was lying, on September 26th, 1814, at Fayal, in the Azores, and her commander, Samuel Chester Reid, having been on shore to see his Consul and arrange about a supply of water,

10 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXII

THE "PRINCESS ROYAL" PACKET In the days of sailing-vessels the mails were regularly carried by fast-sailing brigs, which were known as packets. They were virtually men-of-war, but were not heavily armed, nor did they carry a numerous crew. The captain's first duty was to convey the mails with expedition and safety, and he was not expected to go out of his way to engage an enemy, but to escape if possible. Some fire-eating commanders of packets required, indeed, to be admonished as to their dutie

15 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIII

THE AFFAIR OF THE "BONAPARTE" In the year 1804 there was a very formidable French privateer cruising in the West Indies, by name the Bonaparte , carrying 18 guns and a crew of over 200. This vessel encountered, in the month of August, the British ship of war Hippomenes —a capture from the Dutch at the surrender of Demerara in the previous year—of 18 guns, commanded by Captain Kenneth McKenzie, who had in some measure disguised his ship in order to entrap privateers. The Frenchman was so far dece

16 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIV

THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" PACKET One of the most brilliant instances of the defence of a packet is that of the encounter of the Windsor Castle with the French privateer Jeune Richard . The packet was outward bound to the West Indies, and fell in with the privateer not far from Barbadoes, about half-past eight on the morning of October 1st, 1807. The privateer immediately gave chase, being probably well aware of the class of vessel she would encounter, and confident in her very great superiority in nu

13 minute read

Read Chapter