Privateers and Privateering
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P. STATHAM, R.N. AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF THE 'BRITANNIA,'" AND JOINT AUTHOR OF "THE HOUSE OF HOWARD" WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS New York JAMES POTT & COMPANY 1910 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN OX 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 incidents, and heroes of what " " the French term la course ; and as such it is hoped that it will find favour with a large number of readers. While the author has thus aimed at the simple and graphic narration of such adventures, every effort has been made to ensure that the stories shall be truly told, without embroidery, and from authentic sources ; and it has been found necessary, in some instances, to point out inaccuracies in accounts already published ; necessary, in view of the fact that these accounts are accessible to any one, and probably familiar to not a few possible readers of this volume, and it appears to Of? VI Preface be only fair and just that any animadversions upon these discrepancies should be here anticipated and dealt with. It has not been considered necessary, save in rare instances, to give references for statements or narra- tives ; the book is designed to amuse and entertain, and copious references in footnotes are not enter- taining. It will be noticed that the vast majority of the lives of privateers and incidents are taken from the eighteenth century ; for the simple reason that full and interesting accounts during this period are avail- able, while earlier ones are brief and bald, and often of very doubtful accuracy. Some excuse must be craved for incongruities in chronological order, which are unavoidable under the circumstances. They do not affect the stories. There remains to enumerate the titles and authors of modern works to which the writer is indebted, and of which a list will be found on the adjoining page. 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 18 12." 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-prefet. 1889. " The British Fleet." By Commander C. N. Robinson, R.N. 1894. " The Royal Navy." By Sir W. Laird Clowes, etc. 1894. " Old Naval Ballads," etc. The Navy Records Society. 1894. "A History of the Administration of the Royal Navy," etc. By M. Oppenheim. 1896. " History of the Liverpool Privateers," etc. By G. Williams. 1897. " Naval Yarns, Letters, and Anecdotes," etc. By W. H. Long. 1899. " A History of American Privateers." By E. S. Maclay. 1900. " Sea Songs and Ballads." By C. Stone. 1906. " Les Corsaires." Par Henri Malo. 1908. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTORY I TWO EARLY INCIDENTS CHAPTER II ANDREW BARTON ig THE " AMITY " AND THE SPANIARDS ... 28 PRIVATEERING IN THE SOUTH SEAS CHAPTER III WILLIAM DAMPIER 35 CHAPTER IV WOODES ROGERS 41 CHAPTER V woodes Rogers—continued .... 60 x Contents CHAPTER VI PAGE GEORGE SHELVOCKE AND JOHN CLIPPERTON . 75 SOME ODD YARNS CHAPTER VII " CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, OF THE " ALEXANDER . 95 " " THE CASE OF THE ANTIGALLICAN . .96 CHAPTER VIII " CAPTAIN DEATH, OF THE " TERRIBLE . 106 " " MR. PETER BAKER AND THE MENTOR . Ill CAPTAIN EDWARD MOOR, OF THE "FAME" . 115 " CAPTAIN JAMES BORROWDALE, OF THE " ELLEN II7 TWO GREAT ENGLISHMEN CHAPTER IX FORTUNATUS WRIGHT 123 CHAPTER X — fortunatus wright continued . 135 CHAPTER XI GEORGE WALKER I49 CHAPTER XII GEORGE walker—continued .... 171 Contents xi SOME FRENCHMEN CHAPTER XIII PAGE JEAN BART I9I CHAPTER XIV DU GUAY TROUIN 208 CHAPTER XV JACQUES CASSARD ...... 22Q CHAPTER XVI ROBERT SURCOUF 24O CONCERNING THE FRONTISPIECE . 263 SOME AMERICANS CHAPTER XVII CAPTAIN SILAS TALBOT 269 CHAPTER XVIII CAPTAIN JOSHUA BARNEY 282 CHAPTER XIX CAPTAINS BARNEY AND HARADEN . 299 CHAPTER XX CAPTAIN THOMAS BOYLE 307 xii Contents CHAPTER XXI " THE " GENERAL ARMSTRONG 317 SOME MORE ODD YARNS CHAPTER XXII THE " PRINCESS ROYAL " PACKET 329 TWO COLONIAL PRIVATEERS 333 CHAPTER XXIII " THE AFFAIR OF THE " BONAPARTE 341 CHAPTER XXIV THE " WINDSOR CASTLE " PACKET 354 THE " CATHERINE "... 357 THE " FORTUNE "... 360 " THE " THREE SISTERS 362 CONCLUSION .... 364 INDEX 367 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS " the invention," French privateer . Frontispiece From a drawing by Commander E. P. Statham, R.N. FACIN'G PAGE WILLIAM DAMPIER, THE FAMOUS CIRCUMNAVIGATOR . 36 From a photograph by Emery Walker after the painting by Thomas Murray in the National Portrait Gallery. CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH EAST INDIAMAN " CARNATIC " BY THE "MENTOR" PRIVATEER ...... II4 By permission of the Library Committee of the Corporation of Liverpool. " CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH ARMED SHIPS " MARQUIS D'ANTIN AND "LOUIS ERASME" BY THE " DUKE " AND "PRINCE FREDERICK" PRIVATEERS ...... I5O From an engraving by Ravenet after a painting by Brooking. " ACTION BETWEEN THE SPANISH 74-GUN SHIP " GLORIOSO AND THE " KING GEORGE " AND "PRINCE FREDERICK " OF THE " ROYAL FAMILY " PRIVATEERS ..... 182 From an engraving by Ravenet after a painting by Brooking. JEAN BART, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN . 202 From an engraving by J. Chapman. RENE DUGUAY-TROUIN, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN 22C CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH PRIVATEER " JEUNE RICHARD " BY THE " WINDSOR CASTLE " J-ACKET ..... 356 From an engraving by William Ward after the painting by S. Drummond, A.R.A. INTRODUCTORY 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 thrill- ing tales, half truth, half fiction, have been written about him ; and if he has not infrequently been con- founded with his first cousin the pirate, it must be admitted that for such confusion there is consider- able justification. The privateer is a licensed, the pirate an unlicensed, plunderer ; but plunder, not patriotism, being, as a rule, the motive of the former, it is not perhaps surprising that, failing legitimate prey, he has sometimes adopted, to a great extent, the tactics of the latter. Before proceeding to give an account of some of these licensed rovers and their adventures, let us con- sider for a moment or two the origin and development of privateering ; this will assist us in forming an appreciation of the advantages and drawbacks of the system, and also of the difficulties which presented 3 4 Introductory themselves to an honest and conscientious privateer captain—for such there have been, as we shall see, though there are not too many who merit such terms. It is not very easy to say when privateering was first inaugurated, though it is pretty certain that the term " privateer " did not come into use until well on in the seventeenth century ; licensed rovers, or private men-of-war, were known previous to this period by " some other title, such as " Capers —from a Dutch " word, " Kaper —or " letters of marque," the latter a very incorrect term, adopted through a loose manner of speech, for a " letter of marque " is, strictly speak- ing, a very different affair from a privateer ; indeed, the application of such a term to a ship is obviously absurd : to convert a piece of paper or parchment with writing on it into a seaworthy vessel would be a con- siderably more marvellous piece of conjuring than turning a pumpkin into a carriage, as the good fairy did for the accommodation of Cinderella. There is no doubt that the employment of private vessels for the purposes of war, and the granting of letters of marque, went on side by side for a great number of years. From the earliest times, before the Norman Conquest, there were hordes of sea-rovers who, entirely on their own account, and solely for the purpose of plunder, infested the seas, robbing without scruple or distinction every defenceless vessel they encountered, and in many instances wantonly slaughter- ing the crews ; they would also, on occasion, make a descent upon the coast either of their own or some adjacent country—they were quite impartial in this Introductory 5 respect—and sack the farms and dwellings within easy reach, retiring to their vessels before any force could be assembled to deal with them.