Sturdy Beggar

Sturdy Beggar (1) Commander John McKeel Sloop-of-War [] Brig/Sloop 19 November 1776- Maryland Privateer Brigantine (2) Commander James Campbell 5 August 1777-[] 14 December 1777

Commissioned/First Date: 19 November 1776 Out of Service/Cause: []14 December 1777/foundered in the Bay of Biscay

Owners: (1) Lux, Bowley & Co. of Baltimore, Maryland [ Samuel and Robert Purviance, Hugh Young, John Smith, Lux and Bowley, Archibald Buchanan, John M’Lure, David Stewart, Nicholson & Kenndy, Garret Brown] ; (2) Samuel and Robert Purviance and Lux, Bowley & Co. et al, all of Baltimore, Maryland

Tonnage: 135

Battery: Date Reported: 19 November 1776 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels: ten

Date Reported: 10 March 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels:

Date Reported: 9 April 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels:

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --1-- Date Reported: 30 April 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels:

Date Reported: 5 August 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/4-pounder 56 pounds 28 pounds Total: 14 cannon/56 pounds Broadside: 7 cannon/28 pounds Swivels: fourteen

Date Reported: 6 August 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/6-pounder 84 pounds 42 pounds Total: 14 cannon/84 pounds Broadside: 7 cannon/42 pounds Swivels:

Date Reported: 17 September 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels:

Date Reported: 19 September 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 14/ Total: 14 cannon/ Broadside: 7 cannon/ Swivels:

Date Reported: June 1778 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels:

Crew: (1) 19 November 1776: 101 [] total (2) 10 March 1777: 110 [] total (3) 9 April 1777: 120 [] total

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --2-- (4) 5 August 1777: 84 [] total (5) 17 September 1777: 93 [] total (6) 19 September 1777: 100 [] total (7) June 1778: “near” 100 [] total

Description: The “handsomest Vessel ever built in America,” and “remarkable for fast sailing.”

Officers: (1 ) First Lieutenant William Coward [] Garlin , 5 August 1777-[] 14 December 1777; (2) Second Lieutenant James Tibbitt, 5 August 1777-August 1777; (3) Second Lieutenant Benjamin Chew, August 1777-; (4) Master (Sailing Master) Benjamin Chew, 5 August 1777-August 1777; (5) Master Gabriel Slocom [ Salkum, Slacom] , August 1777-; (6) Prize Master G. Brown, -2 February 1777; (7) Prize Master Gabriel Slocom []Slacom , August 1777-August 1777; (8) Prize Master George Sampel, August 1777-[] 14 December 1777; (9) Prize Master Jesse Harding, August 1777-[] 14 December 1777; (10) Prize Master Robert Ewart, August 1777-[] 14 December 1777

Cruises: (1) Baltimore, Maryland to Martinique, French West Indies, []December 1776-March 1777

(2) Martinique, French West Indies to Saint-Domingue, French West Indies, [][] 10 April 1777- April 1777

(3) Saint-Domingue, French West Indies to New Bern, North Carolina, May 1777-June 1777

(4) New Bern, North Carolina to sea, []October 1777-[] 14 December 1777

Prizes: (1) Brig [] unknown , off the Madeira Islands, January 1777

(2) Ship Elizabeth (Joseph Snowball), 2 February 1777, at 17 E12 NN, 48 E24 NW

(3) Brig Providence and Mary (Thomas Glynn), 2 February 1777, at 17 E12 NN, 48 E24 NW

(4) Ship Marquis of Rockingham (Isaac Pocock), 7 February 1777

(5) [][] slaving vessel , March 1777

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --3-- (6) Ship St. George (Moore), [] 10 April 1777

(7) Snow [][] unknown , April 1777

(8) Snow Georgia , [] November 1777

(9) Brig Annie , 11 November 1777

(10) Brig Glasgow , 15 November 1777

(11) Ship Smyrna Galley , 1 December 1777, 240 niles NNW of Cape St. Vincent

Actions: (1) Action with unknown ship, 18 January 1777 (2) Action with Elizabeth and Providence and Mary , 2 February 1777 (3) Action with Marquis of Rockingham , 7 February 1777 (4) Action with the Glasgow , 15 November 1777 (5) Action with Smyrna Galley , 1 December 1777

Comments:

Maryland Privateer Brigantine (or Brig) Sturdy Beggar was constructed at Baltimore, Maryland in the summer of 1776 for the trading firm of Lux and Bowley. On 24 September 1776 the final payment of £853.9.8 was made to the builder by John Kennedy and John McKeel. 1 She had been constructed by Colonel Richard Graves in his yard at Worton Creek in Kent County and was rigged as a brigantine. 2

Sturdy Beggar was first commissioned on 19 November 1776 under Commander John McKeel, possibly of Baltimore, Maryland. 3 Sturdy Beggar was listed as having a battery of fourteen guns, with ten swivel guns, and a crew of 100 men. She measured 135 tons. 4 Her $10,000 bond was executed by McKeel, John Muir of Annapolis, and Frederick Green. 5 Her owners are listed as Lux,

1 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers , 390

2 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers , 386

3 NRAR, 465; NDAR, “Continental Bond for the Maryland Privateer Brig Sturdy Beggar ,” 7:212

4 NDAR, “A List of Commissions of Letters of Marque and Reprisal granted by the Council of Safety for the State of Maryland,” 8:139

5 NRAR, 465; NDAR, “Continental Bond for the Maryland Privateer Brig Sturdy Beggar ,” 7:212

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --4-- Bowley & Co. of Baltimore. 6

Under McKeel Sturdy Beggar made a cruise to the West Indies in late 1776 and early 1777. In January 1777 she was off the Madeira Islands, where she captured a brig with a cargo of oats, which she ordered into Baltimore. This vessel had not arrived in port by 24 March 1777. 7

McKeel then steered toward the West Indies. About 18 January the Sturdy Beggar fell in with a large ship, perhaps an old East India vessel, or so McKeel thought. Sturdy Beggar sailed down but the British showed considerable fight and the privateer “ . . . could make nothing of hur fighting Consaderable more Guns than us and all under Cover . . .” Sturdy Beggar moved away from this one and continued her cruise. 8

On 1 February 1777 Sturdy Beggar met a small group of eight sail. McKeel moved in close to look them over. Several of the vessels were of “Considerable force . . .” and two were trailing astern. McKeel didn’t like the look of this at all and moved on to look for easier pickings. 9

On 2 February 1777, at 17 E12 NN, 48 E24 NW10 (or 17 EN, 58 EW; 11 17 EN, 68 EW), 12 ship Elizabeth (Joseph Snowball) 13 and the brig 14 or brigantine Providence and Mary (Thomas Glynn), 15 both sailing out of Cork, Ireland, were met by the Sturdy Beggar . Both vessels had cargoes of bread, flour, and coal; 16 were bound for the West Indies; 17 and were armed; each with fourteen guns. 18

6 NDAR, “Continental Bond for the Maryland Privateer Brig Sturdy Beggar ,” 7:212; “A List of Commissions of Letters of Marque and Reprisal granted by the Council of Safety for the State of Maryland,” 8:139

7 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

8 NDAR, “Captain John McKeel to Robert Purviance and Daniel Bowly, Baltimore Merchants,” 7:1092

9 NDAR, “Captain John McKeel to Robert Purviance and Daniel Bowly, Baltimore Merchants,” 7:1092

10 NDAR, “Joseph Snowball to Governor Thomas Johnson,” 9:179

11 NDAR, “Libel in Maryland Admiralty Court Against Prize Ship Elizabeth ,” 8:193-194

12 NDAR, “Captain John McKeel to Robert Purviance and Daniel Bowly, Baltimore Merchants,” 7:1092

13 NDAR, “Joseph Snowball to Governor Thomas Johnson,” 9:179

14 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

15 NDAR, “Libel Filed in Maryland Admiralty Court Against the Prize Brig Providence and Mary ,” 8:173 and note

16 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

17 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note; “Joseph Snowball to Governor Thomas Johnson,” 9:179

18 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --5-- According to later reports, both were British Army transports. 19 A two and a half hour fight followed. 20 Sturdy Beggar captured both vessels and sent them in to Baltimore. 21 With G. Brown, the prize master of the Elizabeth , McKeel forwarded a report to the owners. 22 The two prizes had arrived by 23 March 1777. 23 Elizabeth was libeled in the Maryland Admiralty Court on 24 March. 24 The Providence and Mary evidently arrived about 20 March, for she was libeled on 21 March. 25 Elizabeth was condemned on 17 April 1777, 26 and ordered sold on 21 April. 27

Following the fight with the Elizabeth and the Providence and Mary , Sturdy Beggar continued her cruise. On 7 February she fell in with the ship 28 Marquis of Rockingham 29 (Isaac Pocock) 30 bound from Bristol, England, 31 to Tortola 32 (or St. Kitts), British West Indies, with a cargo of dry goods 33 valued at £8000. This ship was also armed with fourteen guns. A five hour fight followed before

19 NDAR, “Maryland Journal , Tuesday, March 25, 1777,” 8:199

20 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

21 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note; “Joseph Snowball to Governor Thomas Johnson,” 9:179

22 NDAR, “Captain John McKeel to Robert Purviance and Daniel Bowly, Baltimore Merchants,” 7:1092

23 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note; “Joseph Snowball to Governor Thomas Johnson,” 9:179

24 NDAR, “Libel in Maryland Admiralty Court Against Prize Ship Elizabeth ,” 8:193-194

25 NDAR, “Libel Filed in Maryland Admiralty Court Against the Prize Brig Providence and Mary ,” 8:173 and note

26 NDAR, “Minutes of the Maryland Court of Admiralty,” 342. The British in New York knew of these captures by 7 April, attributing them to a sloop of eight guns. NDAR, “New-York Gazette , Monday, April 7, 1777.

27 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers , 391

28 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7:781-782; “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

29 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7:781-782; “Vice Admiral James Young to Philip Stephens,” 8:70- 72

30 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7:781-782

31 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7:781-782; “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note; “Vice Admiral James Young to Philip Stephens,” 8:70-72

32 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7: 781-782; “Vice Admiral James Young to Philip Stephens,” 8:70-72

33 NDAR, “An Account of Ships and Vessels taken as Prize of War, by his Majesty’s Ships and Vessels under the Command of Vice Admiral Young at Barbado’s, and the Leeward Islands and in the Seas adjacent; between the last Account transmitted the 9 th Decemr 1776, and the 10 th March 1777,” 8:82-83

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --6-- she was captured. When Pocock finally surrendered the Americans discovered she was owned by Richard Champion, a former business associate of Willing, Morris & Co. of Philadelphia. Pocock was carrying a letter from Champion to Willing, Morris & Co. soliciting their aid for Pocock should he be captured. Pocock was removed to the Sturdy Beggar . He was “used on board the Privateer with the greatest Civility & has every Indulgence that can possibly be shewn to any.”34 This prize was also sent off for Baltimore, 35 and Sturdy Beggar steered for Martinique. 36 Marquis of Rockingham had not arrived by 24 March. As one of Sturdy Beggar ’s owners wrote, “She has had some hard fighting & Lost two Men . . .” McKeel ran into Martinique in the French West Indies to refit and reported to his owners from there. 37 On 5 April 1777, one of the investors noted that Sturdy Beggar ’s “best Prize” had not arrived yet, and he had begun to “fear” for her. 38

Marquis of Rockingham would not arrive in an American port, as she was re-captured by HM Frigate Perseus .39 Perseus was about 450 miles northeast of Antigua, British West Indies on 14 February 1777. She sighted a sail at 0600 and began chasing. At 1700 she came up with the Marquis of Rockingham and fired a single shot, which brought a prompt surrender. 40 She was sent into Antigua, British West Indies. 41

During this cruise she reporting having taken four slavers and “many other valuable prizes.”42 Two of these were the ones sent into Martinique, about March 1777. These were referred to as “valuable prizes.” One had a cargo of twenty-seven tons of ivory and gold dust, valued at £7000, in addition to slaves, and the governor of Senegal as a passenger. 43 She was bound to London from Senegal. 44

34 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7:781-782

35 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

36 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7:781-782

37 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringles,” 8:192-193 and 193 note

38 NDAR, “George Woolsey to John Pringle, Philadelphia,” 8:278

39 NDAR, “Vice Admiral James Young to Philip Stephens,” 8:70-72

40 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Perseus , Captain George Keith Elphinstone,” 7:1206

41 NDAR, “Richard Champion to Willing, Morris & Co.,” 7: 781-782 and 782 note; “An Account of Ships and Vessels taken as Prize of War, by his Majesty’s Ships and Vessels under the Command of Vice Admiral Young at Barbado’s, and the Leeward Islands and in the Seas adjacent; between the last Account transmitted the 9 th Decemr 1776, and the 10 th March 1777,” 8:82-83

42 NDAR, “South-Carolina and American General Gazette , Thursday, July 3, 1777,” 9:108

43 NDAR, “Pennsylvania Journal , Wednesday, May 14, 1777,” 8:965-967

44 The Pennsylvania Evening Post [] Philadelphia , Tuesday, May 13, 1777

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --7-- An intelligence report dated 10 March, from St. Lucia in the French West Indies, puts her at Martinique. She is noted as having fourteen guns and a crew of 110 men. 45 Another intelligence report, from Martinique, dated 9 April 1777, reports the Sturdy Beggar (McHell) as being in port. She is listed with sixteen guns and a crew of 120 men. 46

Sturdy Beggar sailed about 9 April. She quickly captured the ship St. George (Moore), owned in London. 47 St. George had either 400 48 or 450 slaves aboard and was bound to Grenada, British West Indies from Africa. She also had gold dust and ivory aboard. The whole cargo was estimated to be worth £20000. 49 Sturdy Beggar was sailing with her on 11 April 1777, when the two fell in with the Beaumarchais ship Le Marquis de la Chalotais (François Foligné-Deschalonges). Le Marquis de la Chalotais took the prize under escort. Off Cape Isabella the French ship and the American prize fell in with three “Jamaica Cruizers,” which nosed around and then left. The prize was safely delivered into Saint-Domingue. 50

Sturdy Beggar continued on her cruise and captured a snow, but this vessel was re-captured soon after. 51

About this time (before 30 April) there was a false report from Grenada, British West Indies, that the Sturdy Beggar , a fourteen gun brig, had engaged and been captured by HM Sloop Fly . McKeel was supposedly killed in the action. 52 The skirmish might have been real, but McKeel was hardly killed, nor Sturdy Beggar captured.

It was probably about this time that Sturdy Beggar put into Saint-Domingue. Evidently some prizes were sold there, and the crew of the brig demanded the payment of the full amount of their prize money. The skipper refused, stating that the shipping articles called for the full amount to be paid only in Baltimore. What happened next is not clear. Sturdy Beggar sailed for North

45 NDAR, “Extrac t of a letter from a Gentleman at St. Lucia, to a Merchant in this town [] London , dated March 10, 1777,” 8:81

46 Jamieson, Alan G., “American Privateers in the Leeward Islands, 1776-1778,” in The American Neptune , [ volume unknown] , reprinting a table from CO 101/20.

47 NDAR, “Gazette of the State of South-Carolina , Monday, May 12, 1777,” 8:956-957

48 NDAR, “Gazette of the State of South-Carolina , Monday, May 12, 1777,” 8:956-957

49 NDAR, “Extract of a letter from Grenada, April 18,” 8:372

50 NDAR, “Gazette of the State of South-Carolina , Monday, May 12, 1777,” 8:956-957

51 The Massachusetts Spy: Or, American Oracle of Liberty []Worcester , Thursday, June 26, 1777, datelined Charles Town, April 21

52 NDAR, “Extract of a Letter from Grenada, in the West Indies, dated April 30,” 8:489

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --8-- Carolina, but whether McKeel was aboard or remained in Saint-Domingue is unclear. 53

Sturdy Beggar was chased ashore on Caicos Bank by a British “Frigate” on 12 May 1777. She managed to get off. 54 Sturdy Beggar had arrived at Ocracoke Bar before 13 June 1777. 55

Between the 15th to 17th of June 1777, an English gentleman from St. Vincent’s, one Thomas Warner, was visiting at St. Pierre, Martinique. He was shown in the public prison a number of English prisoners, being held for “Bingham employed as and styling himself the Agent of the American Congress. . . .” Bingham told Warner there were seventy-two or seventy-three prisoners; that they would not be released until the Americans in English prisons were released; and that they were going to be sent to America aboard the Sturdy Beggar . The sailors spoke to Warner: “ . . . they were Starving and dying each meal there.” Warner was the only Englishman present and “all the People at St. Pierres appeared to be violent friends to the American He this Deponent thought it not prudent to hold any further Conversation with them.”56 While the story of the prisoners may be true, either the proposed prison vessel was not our Sturdy Beggar (she was in North Carolina), or Warner’s dates are wrong.

From North Carolina members of Sturdy Beggar ’s crew went up to Baltimore. Their complaints were loud and long against McKeel, who was not present. The owners heard the “Tongue of Calumny busy in traducing your Character” concerning McKeel’s proceedings at Hispaniola. The owners suspected it was no fault of McKeel’s. However, with the crew returned to Baltimore and spreading their malicious reports, the owners believed the privateer would not be manned under McKeel. The owners later said the only reason for appointing another commander was “on Account of the Clamour raised against You . . . which rendered it impossible to procure another Crew to Man the Vessel . . .” The owners had to send a crew to Carolina. 57

On 5 August 1777 the owners applied for a new commission for the Sturdy Beggar , with James Campbell as commander. She was stated to be a 135-ton brig, armed with fourteen 4-pounders and fourteen swivels, with a crew of eighty men. Her officers were given as First Lieutenant William Coward, Second Lieutenant James Tibbit, and Master Benjamin Chew. She was bonded for $10000 by Campbell and Charles Wallace. The applicants then explained that the commission previously issued to John McKeel was unavailable for surrender. 58 The commission was duly issued; the owners

53 NDAR, “Maryland Journal , Tuesday, November 4, 1777,” 10:389-390

54 NDAR, “Gazette of the State of South-Carolina , Monday, June 2, 1777,” 9:8

55 NDAR, “South-Carolina and American General Gazette , Thursday, July 3, 1777,” 9:108

56 NDAR, “Deposition of Thomas Warner,” 9:771-772

57 NDAR, “Maryland Journal , Tuesday, November 4, 1777,” 10:389-390

58 NDAR, “Petition for Commission and Bond for Maryland Privateer Brig Sturdy Beggar ,” 9:713-714. See also NRAR, 465. In Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution , 48, her date of commission is given as 3 August. See also NDAR, “List of Bonds given on issuing Commissions for Privateers in the State of Maryland, delivered into the Office,” 10:703-704.

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --9-- being listed as Samuel and Robert Purviance, Lux & Bowley, and others of Baltimore. 59

The day before Campbell was commissioned, on 4 August 1777, the North Carolina Gazette carried an advertisement for recruits for the “well known Brig of War Sturdy Beggar ,” commanded by James Campbell. She was then laying at New Bern. According to the advertisement she was the “handsomest Vessel ever built in America,” was completely furnished, and was “remarkable for fast sailing.” The owners offered a $20 bounty for sailors and Marines, and stated that petty officers and prize masters were particularly needed. The intention of the owners, as stated in the advertisement, was to sail after the Jamaica convoy. 60 A similar advertisement had appeared in Dixon and Hunter’s Virginia Gazette on 25 July 1777. 61

Meanwhile McKeel returned to Baltimore. He gave his accounts to the owners who were satisfied with his actions at Saint-Domingue. The owners furnished McKeel a letter of reference, which he had published in the Baltimore newspapers on 3 November 1777, clearing him of the aspersions cast by his former crew. 62

The recruiting for the Sturdy Beggar covered all of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Among those who enlisted was John Kilby, at Vienna, Maryland on 6 August 1777. Kilby stated the brig (her rig had been slightly altered) was armed with fourteen 6-pounders. Kilby was sent to Baltimore, where he waited eight days while the crew collected and transportation to New Bern was arranged. Kilby continues the story, with a different list of officers included:

“Then went down the bay under the command of First Lieutenant William Garlin, Second Lieutenant Benjamin Chew, Sailing-master Gabriel Salkum, Prize-masters George Sampel, Jesse Harding, Robert Ewart, and many more officers of lower rank. On our way down the bay we were pursued by the enemy and compelled to put into a place, called Chesconnessex, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia , where we lay eight days. At length we arrived in Portsmouth, near Norfolk, Virginia , where we lay three days. Then we set out and arrived at North Landing, Virginia , at which place we all remained eight days, waiting for craft to take us on. Then we set off and arrived at Newberne, North Carolina, where the brig then lay.”63

About mid-September 1777 two British brigs appeared off Ocracoke Bar, crossed into the sound, and captured several vessels there. Other vessels waiting to go out ran up the various rivers to

59 Archives of Maryland: Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, January 1-March 20, 1777 , 16:326

60 NDAR, “Advertisement for Seamen for Maryland Privateer Brig Sturdy Beggar ,” 9:706

61 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers , 386

62 NDAR, “Maryland Journal , Tuesday, November 4, 1777,” 10:389-390

63 Kilby, John, “Narrative of John Kilby,”in Scribner’s Magazine , vol. 38, July 1905, pp. 24-41. Hereafter Kilby’s Narrative. Online at Scribner’s.

©awiatsea.com-posted April 2020 --10-- safety. An expedition was prepared at New Bern to drive out the British. North Carolina Privateer Sloop Heart of Oak , North Carolina Navy Brig Pennsylvania Farmer , and Sturdy Beggar were involved. Sturdy Beggar was listed in this report as having fourteen guns and a crew of 100 men. 64

The British version of this event was quite different. According to the British, the British Privateer Favourite Betsey (Squires) ran into Ocracoke Inlet on 17 September 1777. Among the vessels anchored there were the Sturdy Beggar , reported by the British as sixteen guns and ninety-three men, a ten gun sloop, and seven other vessels, all bound to Saint-Domingue. When the British hoisted their colors and fired a gun, the Americans got under way, crossed the bar, and ran up the river. The British captured two vessels. 65

Kilby, reporting the preparations for the cruise, includes a detail that casts considerable doubt on the British version of the above event: “We then dropped down to Ocracoke Bar. A lighter was to bring down our guns, because we could not get over the Bar with them on board. The lighter on her way down sunk with all our guns on board, which detained us some time. At length we got them on board and sailed on a cruise .” 66

In the next nine months Sturdy Beggar made a cruise to France. Campbell recaptured the snow 67 Georgia ,68 which had been captured by Maryland Navy Ship Defence (Captain George Cook) and recaptured by the British. 69

On 11 November 1777 Sturdy Beggar captured the brig Annie , bound from Newfoundland. 70 A prize crew of ten men went aboard 71 and she was probably ordered to a Spanish port. At 0700 on 5 December 1777, some thirty-six miles north of Cape Finisterre, in moderate and fair weather, Annie was sighted by HMS Bedford (Captain Western Varlo), to the southwest. At 1200 the Annie was recaptured. The British stated she was bound to Bilbao, Spain or Bordeaux, France. 72 Early in January 1778 the Bedford arrived at Portsmouth with her ten prisoners from the Sturdy

64 NDAR, “North-Carolina Gazette , Friday, September 19, 1777,” 10:943

65 The New-York Gazette; and the Weekly Mercury , Monday, October 13, 1777

66 Kilby’s Narrative

67 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution , 71

68 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution , 48

69 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution , 71

70 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Bedford , Captain Western Varlo,” 11:1069-1070

71 NDAR, “Philip Stephens to Captain Robert Roddam, R.N.,” 11:912 and note

72 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Bedford , Captain Western Varlo,” 11:1069-1070

On 15 November 1777 the Sturdy Beggar met a double decked brig,the Glasgow , bound from Glasgow, Scotland to St. Johns, Newfoundland with a cargo of naval stores. After an action of one and a quarter hours she was captured. The sailing master, “Gabriel Slakum,” went aboard as prize master, with orders to get into any American port. 74 Glasgow was eventually recaptured by the British, and Slocum was sent to Forton prison. 75

By 1 December 1777 the Sturdy Beggar was in the Bay of Biscay, about 240 miles north northwest of Cape St. Vincent. 76 On that day she encountered the ship Smyrna Galley , bound from Smyrna, Turkey to London, England. She was armed with eighteen guns and chose to fight. After an action of forty-five minutes, the Smyrna Galley was captured. 77 The invoices of her cargo totaled £80000. 78 Prize Master George Sampel, an Irishman, was sent on her as prize master, and John Kilby was among the prize crew. Sturdy Beggar stayed with her prize. 79

Kilby recounts what happened next: “For several nights after , we frequently fell in with many Dutch Doggers. Sampel, the prize-master, fired into them many times. I suppose he thought they were enemies. Campbell having his doubts of Sampel’s true love for the cause he was then in, took him out, and put on board Second Lieutenant Chew, an American, who had been an old commander of ships out of Baltimore, although a young man.”80

For nine days the prize and the captor sailed together. On the morning of 9 December they were about 100 miles northwest of Cape Ortugal. Also near them was HMS Resolution (Captain Sir Chaloner Ogle), a 74-gun battleship. At 0600 the Resolution sighted two sail, away to the south. She promptly wore ship and began chasing in windy, cloudy weather. At 1130 she was alongside the Smyrna Galley . The prize crew was removed and a British prize crew, consisting of the Fourth Lieutenant and eight more men went aboard. At 1300 the chase after the Sturdy Beggar began

73 NDAR, “Philip Stephens to Captain Robert Roddam, R.N.,” 11:912 and note

74 Kilby’s Narrative

75 NDAR, “Journal of Timothy Connor,” 11:930 and note

76 NDAR, “Extract of a Letter from on board the Smyrna Galley , arrived in Standgate-creek, Dec. 19, from Smyrna,” 11:1123

77 Kilby’s Narrative

78 Kilby’s Narrative; NDAR, “Extract of a Letter from on board the Smyrna Galley , arrived in Standgate-creek, Dec. 19, from Smyrna,” 11:1123

79 Kilby’s Narrative

80 Kilby’s Narrative

Kilby takes up the story: “. . . the man-of-war gave chase after the Rebel, as they so called her. The little brig hauled her wind and out-sailed the seventy-four. The evening began to be very squally , and the brig hove to, and reefed topsails . The officers of the seventy-four cried out: ‘The Rebel has struck.’ Lieutenant Chew observed that they had not got the Rebel yet , nor would they get her. The brig filled her topsails and kept close on a-wind. The seventy-four pressed so much sail that about one half an hour by sun at night , she carried away her fore topmast, off by the cap, and lost three men overboard. They then gave over the chase.”83

Kilby then tells of the fate of the Sturdy Beggar : “On the 13th day of the same month and year , we had an uncommon gale of wind which lasted nearly fifty hours. The seventy-four lost her main-yard, and it was with great difficulty that the ship could be saved. In the same gale, the Sturdy Beggar was foundered and every soul lost.”84

On 23 January 1778 Chew and Slocum arrived in Forton prison, with forty-six other prisoners. 85 Chew escaped on 23 July 1778. 86 Chew got to Europe and then to Virginia, where he took passage to the Chesapeake on a schooner commanded by one Deane. The schooner wrecked on the Tangier Islands and fourteen people died. Chew was among them. He was said to be “… a brave and worthy young gentleman, who had but lately escaped from Forton Prison in England …” 87

The of Sturdy Beggar ’s loss news arrived at Baltimore in June 1778. The papers reported that the Sturdy Beggar , of sixteen guns and “near 100 men,” had wrecked on the coast of France, “and every soul on board perished.”88

81 NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Resolution , Captain Sir Chaloner Ogle), 11:1078

82 NDAR, “Extract of a Letter from on board the Smyrna Galley , arrived in Standgate-creek, Dec. 19, from Smyrna,” 11:1123

83 Kilby’s Narrative

84 Kilby’s Narrative

85 NDAR, “Journal of Timothy Connor,” 11:930 and note

86 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution , 57-58

87 The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser []Philadelphia , Saturday, January 2, 1779, datelined Baltimore, December 22, 1778

88 The Pennsylvania Packet [] Philadelphia , Wednesday, June 17, 1778, datelined Baltimore, June 6