Appendix | Naval History of the American Revolution

Chapters

• Chapter 1: The Opening of Hostilities, 1775
• Chapter 2: Naval Administration and Organization
• Chapter 3: Washington’s Fleet, 1775 and 1776
• Chapter 4: The New Providence Expedition, 1776
• Chapter 5: Other Events in the Sea in 1776
• Chapter 6: Lake Champlain, 1776
• Chapter 7: Naval Operations in 1777
• Chapter 8: Foreign Relations, 1777
• Chapter 9: Naval Operations in 1778
• Chapter 10: European Waters in 1778
• Chapter 11: Naval Operations in 1779
• Chapter 12: The Penobscot Expedition, 1779
• Chapter 13: A Cruise Around the British Isles, 1779
• Chapter 14: Naval Operations in 1780
• Chapter 15: European Waters in 1780
• Chapter 16: Naval Operations in 1781
• Chapter 17: The End of the War, 1782 and 1783
• Chapter 18: Naval Prisoners
• Chapter 19: Naval Conditions of the Revolution
• Appendix

I. SOURCES OF INFORMATION

This list includes most of the authorities consulted. The abbreviations used in the footnotes are here indicated. Other works, cited only once or twice, are also referred to in footnotes.

Documents

Journals of the Continental Congress. Edited by Worthington C. Ford and Galliard Hunt. Washington, 1904-1912. [Jour. Cont. Congr.] Contain much naval information.

American Archives. Compiled by Peter Force. Series IV, vols. ii to vi, and V, vols. i to iii. Washington, 1837. [Am. Arch., IV, ii, etc.] A very important source, containing a vast amount of material for the years 1775 and 1776. In transcribing documents, occasional errors have crept in.

The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States. Edited by Francis Wharton. Washington, 1889. [Wharton.] Useful for operations in European waters.

B. F. Stevens’s Facsimiles of Manuscripts in European Archives Relating to America, 1773-1783. London, 1889-1895. [Stevens.] Correspondence of French and British ministers and others relating to neutrality, American naval cruisers and privateers, etc.

Extracts Relating to the Origin of the American Navy. Compiled by Henry E. Waite. Boston, 1890. Documents and letters chiefly relating to Washington’s fleet in Massachusetts Bay.

The Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775, and of the Committee of Safety. Boston, 1838.

Journals of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, 1775-1783. Contemporary print.

The Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. Vol. v. Boston, 1886.

Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts, 1780-1783. Boston, 1890.

Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Providence, 1856-1865.

Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut. Hartford, 1890.

Public Records of the State of Connecticut. Hartford, 1894.

Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the State of New York. Albany, 1842.

Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series. Vol. i. Harrisburg, 1874.

Pennsylvania Colonial Records. Philadelphia, 1852.

Maryland Archives. Baltimore, 1883-1901.

The Remembrancer, or Impartial Repository of Public Events. [Annual. Edited by J. Almon.] London, 1775-1783. [Almon.] Contains many official reports and letters; a very useful source.

A History of All the Engagements by Sea and Land that happened in America and Europe and the East and West Indies during the American Revolution. Manchester, 1787. Made up chiefly of reports of British officers.

Historical Manuscripts Commission. Fourteenth Report, Appendix I, Duke of Rutland. 1894. American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution. Vol. i. 1904. Various Collections. Vol. vi. 1909. Manuscripts of Mrs. Stopford-Sackville. Vol. ii. 1910. [Hist. Man. Com.] These British collections of manuscripts, printed in recent years, contain many references to American naval affairs.

A Calendar of John Paul Jones Manuscripts in the Library of Congress. Compiled by Charles Henry Lincoln. Washington, 1903. Full outline of letters, with extracts.

Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington. Prepared from the Original Manuscripts in the Library of Congress by John C. Fitzpatrick. Washington, 1906.

Naval Records of the American Revolution [Calendar], prepared from the Originals in the Library of Congress by Charles Henry Lincoln. Washington, 1906. Contains a list of nearly 1700 letters of marque issued by Congress, giving the name of each vessel, with other information. These calendars, as an aid in consulting the manuscripts in the Library of Congress, are indispensable.

Histories

Narrative and Critical History of America. Edited by Justin Winsor. Vols. vi and vii. Boston, 1887, 1888. [Narr. and Crit. Hist.] Contains an extensive bibliography, with critical discussion of authorities.

The American Nation. Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart. Vol. ix. The American Revolution. By C. H. Van Tyne. New York, 1905.

A History of the United States. By Edward Channing. Vol. iii. The American Revolution. New York, 1912. [Channing.] Contains the results of the latest researches in the Revolutionary period.

Statistical History of the Navy of the United States. By Lieutenant George F. Emmons, U.S.N. Washington, 1853. Lists of Continental navy, of captures, and of privateers.

A Contribution to the Bibliography of the History of the United States Navy. Compiled by Charles T. Harbeck. The Riverside Press, 1906.

Statistical and Chronological History of the United States Navy. 1775-1907. By Robert Wilden Neeser. New York, 1909. [Neeser.] Contains a most exhaustive bibliography and lists of captures.

Naval History of the United States. By Thomas Clark. Philadelphia, 1814. [Clark.] The author derived some of his information directly from actors in the scenes described.

United States Naval Chronicle. By Charles W. Goldsborough. Washington, 1824. Gives lists of officers and other data.

Battles of the United States by Sea and Land. By Henry B. Dawson. New York, 1858. [Dawson.] Official reports and very copious references.

History of the Navy of the United States of America. By J. Fenimore Cooper. London, 1839.

Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution. By Benson J. Lossing. New York, 1850.

The Navy of the American Revolution. By Charles Oscar Paullin. Chicago, 1906. [Paullin.] Gives an exceedingly valuable account of the organization and administration of the Continental navy and of the state navies, with full references. It contains a vast amount of information hitherto practically inaccessible and is indispensable for the student of this subject.

Diplomatic Negotiations of American Naval Officers. By Charles Oscar Paullin. Baltimore, 1912.

The Influence of Sea Power upon History. By Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N. Boston, 1890. [Mahan.]

Naval Strategy. By Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N. Boston, 1911.

The Annual Register. London, 1775-1783.

The First American Civil War. By Henry Belcher. London, 1911. [Belcher.]

England under the Hanoverians. Ry G. Grant Robertson. New York, 1911.

Naval Chronology. By Isaac Schomberg, R.N. London, 1802. [Schomberg.] Gives valuable statistics.

Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain. By Robert Beatson. London, 1804.

Naval Battles of Great Britain. By Charles Ekins, Rear Admiral. London, 1828.

Battles of the British Navy. By Joseph Allen, R.N. London, 1868.

The Royal Navy. By William Laird Clowes. Chapter xxxi. By A. T. Mahan. Chapter xxxii. By H. W. Wilson. Boston and London, 1898. [Clowes.]

A Short History of the Royal Navy. By David Hannay. London, 1909. [Hannay.] Gives much information respecting British naval administration and conditions in the navy.

Publications of the Navy Records Society. Vol. iii, Hood’s Letters. Vol. vi, Journal of Rear-Admiral James. Vols. xxix and xxxv, Instructions and Signals. By J. S. Corbett. Vols. xxxii and xxxviii, Barham Papers. London, 1895-1911. [Nav. Rec. Soc.) These volumes contain much original material of great value.

Histoire de la Marine Francaise pendant la Guerre de l’Independance Americaine. Par E. Chevalier. Paris, 1877. [Chevalier.] Contains extracts from official letters and ships’ journals.

Histoire de la participation de Ia France a I’etablissement des Etats-Unis d’Amerique. Par Henri Doniol. Paris, 1886. [Doniol.]

Franklin in France. By Edward Everett Hale and E. E. Hale, Jr. Boston, 1887. [Hale.]

A History of American Privateers. By Edgar Stanton Maclay. New York, 1899.

Rhode Island Privateers and Privateersmen. By W. P. Sheffield. Newport, 1883.

History of the Liverpool Privateers. By Gomer Williams. Liverpool, 1897. [Williams.] Contains letters and extracts from contemporary newspapers.

Economic and Social History of New England. By William B. Weeden. Boston, 1890.

Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties with an Account of the British Prisons and Prison Ships at New York. By Henry Onderdonk, Jr. New York, 1849. [Onderdonk.] Contains extracts from contemporary letters and newspapers.

Martyrs to the Revolution in the British Prison-Ships in the Wallabout Bay. [By George Taylor]. New York, 1855.

Some Account of the Capture of the Ship Aurora. By Philip Freneau. New York, 1899.

History of Castine, Penobscot, etc. By George Augustus Wheeler. Bangor, 1875. [ Wheeler.] Documents relating to the Penobscot Expedition.

Detail of Some Particular Services performed in America, 1776-1779, compiled from journals kept aboard the Ship Rainbow. By Ithiel Town. New York, 1835. [Town.]

Biographies

Writings of George Washington. Collected and Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford. New York, 1889. [Washington.]

The Works of John Adams. By Charles Francis Adams.
Boston, 1853. [Adams.]

The Writings of Benjamin Franklin. Edited by Albert Henry Smyth. New York, 1905.

Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Collected and Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. New York, 1892. [Jefferson.]

Life and Correspondence of John Paul Jones. [By
R. Sands.] New York, 1830. [Sands.]

Life and Character of John Paul Jones. By John Henry
Sherburne. New York, 1851. [Sherburne.]

The Life of Paul Jones. By Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, U.S.N. New York, 1846. [Mackenzie.]

Memoire de Paul Jones, ecrits par lui-meme en anglais et traduits sous ses yeux par Ie citoyen Andre. Paris, 1798.

Paul Jones, Founder of the American Navy. By Augustus C. Buell. New York, 1900. Mentioned only for the purpose of warning the reader of naval history against it as a fabrication. Made up largely of spurious documents ingeniously concocted by the author, it has deceived many, although often exposed by various investigators.

Publications of the Naval History Society. Vol. i. The Logs of the Serapis, Alliance, Ariel under the Command of John Paul Jones. Edited by John S. Barnes. New York, 1911. Contains biographical matter. Ile Society’s second volume (1912), under the same editorship, is a reprint of the life of Nathaniel Fanning, listed below. Vol. iii is the Despatches of Molyneux Shuldham, Vice-Admiral of the Blue and Commander-in-Chief of His Britannic Majesty’s Ships in North America, January – July, 1776. Edited by Robert W. Neeser. New York, 1913.

Memoirs of the Life of Captain Nathaniel Fanning, an American Naval Officer. New York, 1808. [Fanning.]

Esek Hopkins, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Navy. By Edward Field. Providence, 1898. [Hopkins.]

Commodore John Barry. By Martin I. J. Griffin. Philadelphia, 1903. [Barry.]

The Life of Samuel Tucker, Commodore in the American Revolution. By John H. Sheppard. Boston,1868. [Tucker.]

Life of Silas Talbot. By Henry T. Tuckerman. NewYork, 1850. [Talbot.]

An Historical Sketch to the End of the Revolutionary War of the Life of Silas Talbot. New York, 1803. Published the same year in London under a different title.

Life of Captain Jeremiah O’Brien. By Rev. Andrew M.
Sherman. Morristown, 1902. [O’Brien.]

Biographical Memoir of the late Commodore Joshua Barney. By Mary Barney. Boston, 1832. [Barney.]

Moses Brown, Captain, U.S.N. By Edgar Stanton Maclay. New York, 1904.

The Adventures of Ebenezer Fox in the Revolutionary
War. Boston, 1847. [Fox.]

Memoirs of Andrew Sherburne, a Pensioner of the Navy of the Revolution. By Himself. Providence, 1831. [A. Sherburne.]

The Old Jersey Captive, or a Narrative of the Captivity
of Thomas Andros. Boston, 1833. [Andros.]

The Prisoners of 1776. A Relic of the Revolution. By Rev. R. Livesey. Compiled from the Journal of Charles Herbert. Boston, 1854. [Livesey.]

Captain Thomas Dring. Recollections of Jersey Prison Ship. Morrisania, 1865.

Narrative of Joshua Davis. Boston, 1811. [Davis.]

The Original Journal of General Solomon Lovell, kept during the Penobscot Expedition, 1779. Published by the Weymouth Historical Society, 1881.

Diary of Ezra Green, M.D., Surgeon on board the Continental Ship-of-War Ranger. Edited by Commodore G. H. Preble, U.S.N. Boston, 1875. Reprinted from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

Colonel William Bradford, the Patriot Printer of 1776. By John William Wallace. Philadelphia, 1884. [Bradford.]

Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb. Edited by Worthington C. Ford. New York, 1893.

Letters from Sir George Brydges, now Lord Rodney, to His Majesty’s Ministers. London, 1789.

Periodicals

(Some of the more notable articles are mentioned.)
Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society.

Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society. January, 1901. Papers of William Vernon and the Navy Board.

Rhode Island Historical Magazine. July, 1885 – January, 1887. Journal of John Trevett, U.S.N.

Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. January, 1909. The Naval Career of Captain John Manley of Marblehead. By Robert E. Peabody. January-October, 1909. Records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Records and Papers of the New London County Historical Society.

New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

New Hampshire Genealogical Record.

Collections of the New York Historical Society.

New York Genealogical and Biographical Record.

Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography.

Virginia Historical Register.

Virginia Magazine of History and Biography.

South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine.

The American Historical Review. July, 1903. St. Eustatius in the American Revolution. By J. Franklin Jameson. October, 1904. Nova Scotia and New England during the Revolution. By Emily P. Weaver.

Historical Magazine.
American Historical Record.

Magazine of American History.

Magazine of History.

American Catholic Historical Researches.

Military and Naval Magazine of the United States, 1833-1836.

Naval Magazine, 1836.

United States Naval Institute Proceedings. No. 79 (1896) Howe and D’Estaing. A Study in Coast Defense. By Commander C. F. Goodrich, U.S.N.; No. 83 (1897) The Sailor in the Revolution. By Commander C. F. Goodrich, U.S.N.; No. 99 (1901) The Coast in Warfare. By Lieutenant-Commander J. H. Sears, U.S.N.; No. 126 (1908) The True Story of the America. By Robert W. Neeser; No. 139 (1911) American Privateers at Dankerque. By Henri Malo. Translated by Stewart L. Mims.

The United Service. July, 1895. Letters of Paul Jones. October, 1905. Campaign of Vice-Admiral D’Estaing. By G. Lacour-Gayet. Translated by Chaplain T. G. Steward, U.S.A. The earlier numbers of this magazine contain several biographical sketches of naval officers.

The Port Folio. Biographical sketches of naval officers.

Southern Literary Messenger. January – April, 1857. The Virginia Navy of the Revolution.

Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine.

Atlantic Monthly. September and October 1861, Journal of a Privateersman, 1741 [Edited by Charles Eliot Norton]; December, 1887, Paul Jones and the Armed Neutrality. By John Fiske.

The Century Magazine.

New England Magazine.

Scribner’s Magazine. February, July, and August, 1898. Articles by Captain Mahan on Lake Champlain and John Paul Jones.

Granite Monthly. 1881 and 1882. Log of the Ranger.

The Outlook. January 3. 1903. James Barnes on Conynghams Lost Commission.

Massachusetts Magazine. 1908-1912. The Massachusetts Navy. By F. A. Gardner.

Newspapers

The Boston Gazette and Country Journal (Watertown and Boston).

The New England Chronicle; name changed in September, 1776, to Independent Chronicle (Cambridge and Boston; had formerly been the Essex Gazette of Salem).

The Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser (Boston).

The Independent Ledger and American Advertiser (Boston).

The Evening Post and General Advertiser (Boston).

The Massachusetts Spy, or American Oracle of Liberty (Worcester).

The Salem Gazette.

The Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer.

The Connecticut Gazette and Universal Intelligencer (New London).

The Royal Gazette (New York).

The Royal American Gazette (New York).

The New York Packet and American Advertiser (Fishkill).

The Pennsylvania Gazette.

Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet, or the General Advertiser.

The Pennsylvania Evening Post.

The Freeman’s Journal, or North American Intelligencer (Philadelphia).

The Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser.

The London Chronicle.

Lloyd’s Evening Post and British Chronicle (London).

Manuscript Sources

Navy Department. All the following are copies: Logbooks and journals of the Ranger, November 26, 1777, to May 18, 1778; of the Bonhomme Richard, May 8 to September 24, 1779; of the Serapis, September 26 to November 21, 1779; of the Alliance, November 22, 1779, to June 12, 1780; of the Ariel, June 16 to October 14,1780; of the South Carolina, August 4, 1781, to May 21, 1782; and of the letter of marque ship Queen of France, August 20 to September 9, 1782. Letter-book of John Paul Jones, March, 1778, to July, 1779. Miscellaneous material, including the court martial of Captain Pearson and letters of Admiral Rodney (1780) criticizing Admiral Arbuthnot.

Library of Congress. Papers of the Continental Congress, containing much correspondence relating to naval affairs, reports of officers, etc. Marine Committee Letter Book, containing the instructions of the Marine Committee and Board of Admiralty to officers of the navy, letters to the navy boards, etc. Letters to Washington relating to naval affairs. John Paul Jones manuscripts in eleven volumes. Miscellaneous papers, including a list of officers in the Continental navy and marine corps. This material in the Library of Congress is of the utmost importance and is described more in detail in the bibliography of Paullin’s Navy of the American Revolution. The Library has also acquired transcripts of the Admiralty Records in the British Archives.

Massachusetts State Library, Archives Division. Records of the Great and General Court, beginning July 26, 1775. Records of the Honorable the Council. Massachusetts Archives and Revolutionary Rolls Collection. In volumes v to ix, xxviii, xxxv ii to xl, xliv, xlv, Iii, Iiii, cxxxix, cxlv, cxlviii to cliii, clvii, clviii, clix, clxiv to clxxii a large amount of information will be found, including bonds and commissions of privateers, correspondence about prisoners, prize cases, letters, orders and minutes of the Board of War, reports of officers of the state navy, rolls, documents relating to the Penobscot Expedition, and miscellaneous papers.

Massachusetts Historical Society. Papers of Colonel Timothy Pickering. Papers of Governor Trumbull of Connecticut. Papers of Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut.

Essex Institute. Miscellaneous papers. Most letters of interest have been printed in the society’s collections.

Harvard College Library. Sparks Papers. Arthur Lee Papers. Commodore Tucker Papers. Miscellaneous papers, including Luther Little’s narrative of the battle between the Protector and the Admiral Duff.

Private Collections. Papers of John Adams, deposited in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, examined through the courtesy of Charles Francis Adams, Esq. Copies of four letters kindly furnished by Charles T. Harbeck, Esq., viz.. Hopkins’s sailing orders to his captains, dated February 14, 1776, two letters of the Marine Committee, and a Jones letter of November 1, 1776. James Barnes, Esq., kindly sent a copy of a letter of William Bingham to Captain Conyngham. The Log of the Ranger (August 24, 1778, to May 10, 1780) was sold by the estate of E. P. Jewell, Esq. and an opportunity to copy extracts from it was obtained. This log, down to March 2, 1779, was published in the Granite Monthly.

Archives de la Marine aux Archives Nationales a Paris. Campagnes; Pays Etrangers, Commerce et Consulate; Travail du Roi et du Ministre; Ordres et Depeches; etc.

British Archives. Public Record Office. Admiralty Records: Admirals’ Despatches, Captains’ Letters, Consuls’ Letters, Courts Martial, Captains’ and Masters’ Logs. Transcripts of the British Admiralty Records and of the French papers from the Archives de Ia Marine, indispensable for a comprehensive study of Revolutionary naval history, were very kindly furnished by Robert W. Neeser, Esq. Customs House: Minutes of the Scottish Board of Customs; Irish Minute Books; Whitehaven Customs Letter- Book. Dr. Charles 0. Paullin kindly allowed the use of his transcripts of these Custom House papers.

In quoting from documents, newspapers, manuscripts, etc., pains have been taken to avoid changes from the original except in punctuation, which has been amended when so doing has seemed essential to clearness.

II. RULES FOR THE REGULATION OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED COLONIES

The Commanders of all ships and vessels belonging to the thirteen United Colonies are strictly required to shew in themselves a good example of honor and virtue to their officers and men, and to be very vigilant in inspecting the behaviour of all such as are under them, and to discountenance and suppress all dissolute, immoral, and disorderly practices, and also such as are contrary to the rules of discipline and obedience, and to correct those who are guilty of the same, according to the usage of the sea.

The Commanders of the ships of the thirteen United Colonies are to take care that divine service be performed twice a day on board, and a sermon preached on Sundays, unless bad weather or other extraordinary accidents prevent it.

If any shall be heard to swear, curse, or blaspheme the name of God, the Commander is strictly enjoined to punish them for every offense by causing them to wear a wooden collar, or some other shameful badge of distinction, for so long time as he shall judge proper. If he be a commissioned officer, he shall forfeit one shilling for each offense, and a warrant or inferior officer six pence. He who is guilty of drunkenness, if a seaman, shall be put in irons until he is sober, but if an officer, he shall forfeit two days’ pay.

No Commander shall inflict any punishment upon a seaman beyond twelve lashes upon his bare back with A cat of nine tails; if the fault shall deserve a greater punishment, he is to apply to the Commander in chief of the Navy, in order to the trying of him by a courtmartial, and in the mean time he may put him under confinement.

The Commander is never by his own authority to discharge a commission or warrant officer, nor to punish or strike him, but he may suspend or confine them, and when he comes in the way of a Commander in chief, apply to him for holding a court-martial.

The Officer who commands by accident of the Captain’s or commander’s absence (unless he be absent for a time by leave) shall not order any correction but confinement, and upon the captain’s return on board he shall then give an account of his reasons for so doing.

The Captain is to cause the articles of war to be hung up in some public places of the ship, and read to the ship’s company once a month.

Whenever a Captain shall inlist a seaman, he shall take care to enter on his books the time and terms of his entering, in order to his being justly paid.

The Captain shall, before he sails, make return to, and leave with the Congress, or such person or persons as the Congress shall appoint for that purpose, a compleat list of all his officers and men, with the time and terms of their entering; and during his cruize shall keep a true account of the desertion or death of any of them, and of the entering of others, and after his cruize and before any of them are paid off, he shall make return of a compleat list of the same, including those who shall remain on board his ship.

The men shall, at their request, be furnished with slops that are necessary by the Captain or purser, who shall keep an account of the same, and the Captain, in his return in the last mentioned article directed to be made, shall mention the amount delivered to each man, in order to its being stopped out of his pay.

As to the term “inferior Officer,” the Captain is to take notice that the same does not include any commission or any warrant officer, except the second master, surgeon’s mate, cook, armourer, gun-smith, master at arms and sail maker.

The Captain is to take care when any inferior officers or volunteer seamen are turned over into the ship under his command from any other ship, not to rate them on the ship’s books in a worse quality, or lower degree or station, than they served in the ship they were removed from; and for his guidance he is to demand from the commander of the ship from which they are turned over, a list, under his hand, of their names and qualities.

Any officer, seaman, or others, intitled to wages or prize money, may have the same paid to his assignee, provided the assignment be attested by the Captain or Commander, the master or purser of the ship, or a chief magistrate of some county or corporation.

The Captain is to discourage the seamen of his ship from selling any part of their wages or shares, and never to attest the letter of attorney of any seaman, until he is fully satisfied that the same is not granted in consideration of money given for the purchase of his wages or shares.

When an inferior officer or seaman dies, the Captain is forthwith to make out a ticket for the time of his service, and to send the same by the first safe conveyance to the Congress, or agents by them for that purpose appointed, in order to the wages being forthwith paid to the executors or administrators of the deceased.

A convenient place shall be set apart for sick or hurt men, to which they are to be removed, with their hammocks and bedding, when the surgeon shall advise the same to be necessary, and some of the crew shall be appointed to attend and serve them, and to keep the place clean.

The cooper shall make buckets with covers and cradles if necessary, for their use.

All ships furnished with fishing tackle, being in such places where fish is to be had, the captain is to employ some of the company in fishing; the fish to be distributed daily to each persons as are sick or upon recovery, provided the surgeon recommend it, and the surplus by turns amongst the messes of the officers and seamen without favour or partiality and gratis, without any deduction of their allowance of provisions on that account.

It is left to the discretion of Commanders of squadrons to shorten the allowance of provisions according to the exigencies of the service, taking care that the men be punctually paid for the same.

The like power is given to Captains of single ships in cases of absolute necessity.

If there should be a want of pork, the Captain is to order three pounds of beef to be issued to the men, in lieu of two pounds of pork.

One day in every week shall be issued out a proportion of flour and suet, in lieu of beef, for the seamen, but this is not to extend beyond four months’ victualling at one time, nor shall the purser receive any allowance for flour or suet kept longer on board than that time, and there shall be supplied, once a year, a proportion of canvas for pudding-bags, after the rate of one ell for every sixteen men.

If any ships of the thirteen United Colonies shall happen to come into port in want of provisions, the warrant of a Commander in chief shall be sufficient to the Agent or other instrument of the victualling, to supply the quantity wanted, and in urgent cases, where delay may be hurtful, the warrant of the Captain of the ship shall be of equal effect.

The Captain is frequently to order the proper officers to inspect into the condition of the provisions, and if the bread proves damp, to have it aired upon the quarter deck or poop, and also examine the flesh casks, and if any of the pickle be leaked out, to have new made and put in, and the casks made tight and secure.

The Captain or purser shall secure the cloaths, bedding, and other things of such persons as shall die or be killed, to be delivered to their executors or administrators.

All papers, charter parties, bills of lading, passports, and other writings whatsoever, found on board any ship or ships, which shall be taken, shall be carefully preserved, and the originals sent to the court of Justice for maritime affairs, appointed or to be appointed by the legislatures in the respective colonies, for judging concerning such prize or prizes; and if any person or persons shall wilfully or negligently destroy or suffer to be destroyed, any such paper or papers, he or they so offending shall forfeit their share of such prize or prizes, and suffer such other punishment as they shall be judged by a court-martial to deserve.

If any person or persons shall embezzle, steal or take away any cables, anchors, sails, or any of the ship’s furniture, or any of the powder, arms, ammunition, or provisions of any ship belonging to the thirteen United Colonies, he or they shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial shall order.

When in sight of a ship or ships of the enemy, and at such other times as may appear to make it necessary to prepare for an engagement, the Captain shall order all things in his ship in a proper posture for fight, and shall, in his own person and according to his duty, heart on and encourage the inferior officers and men to fight courageously, and not to behave themselves faintly or cry for quarters, on pain of such punishment as the offence shall appear to deserve for his neglect.

Any Captain or other officer, mariner, or others, who shall basely desert their duty or station in the ship and run away while the enemy is in sight, or, in time of action, or shall entice others to do so, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall inflict.

Any officer, seaman, or marine, who shall begin, excite, cause, or join in any mutiny or sedition in the ship to which he belongs, on any pretence whatsoever, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court-martial shall direct. Any person in or belonging to the ship, who shall utter any words of sedition and mutiny, or endeavour to make any mutinous assemblies on any pretence whatsoever, shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial shall inflict.

None shall presume to quarrel with or strike his superior officer on pain of such punishment as a courtmartial shall order to be inflicted.

If any person shall apprehend he has just cause of complaint, he shall quietly and decently make the same known to his superior officer, or to the captain, as the case may require, who shall take care that justice be done him.

There shall be no quarreling or fighting between shipmates on board any ship belonging to the thirteen United Colonies, nor shall there be used any reproachful or provoking speeches, tending to make quarrels and disturbance, on pain of imprisonment and such other punishment as a court-martial shall think proper to inflict.

If any person shall sleep upon his watch, or negligently perform the duty which shall be enjoined him to do, or forsake his station, he shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial shall judge proper to inflict, according to the nature of his offence.

All murder shall be punished with death.

All robbery and theft shall be punished at the discretion of a court-martial.

Any master at arms who shall refuse to receive such prisoner or prisoners as shall be committed to his charge, or having received them, shall suffer him or them to escape, or dismiss them without orders for so doing, shall suffer in his or their stead, as a court-martial shall order and direct.

The Captain, officers, and others shall use their utmost endeavours to detect, apprehend, and bring to punishment, all offenders, and shall at all times readily assist the officers appointed for that purpose in the discharge of their duty, on pain of being proceeded against and punished by a court-martial at discretion.

All other faults, disorders, and misdemeanours, which shall be committed on board any ship belonging to the thirteen United Colonies, and which are not herein mentioned, shall be punished according to the laws and customs in such cases at sea.

A court-martial shall consist of at least three Captains and three first lieutenants, with three Captains and three first lieutenants of Marines, if there shall be so many of the Marines then present, and the eldest Captain shall preside.

All sea officers of the same denomination shall take rank of the officers of the Marines.

The sentence of a court-martial for any capital offence, shall not be put in execution, until it be confirmed by the Commander in chief of the fleet; and it shall be the duty of the president of every court-martial to transmit to the Commander in chief of the fleet every sentence which shall be given, with a summary of the evidence and proceedings thereon, by the first opportunity.

The Commander in chief of the fleet for the time being, shall have power to pardon and remit any sentence of death, that shall be given in consequence of any of the aforementioned Articles.

There shall be allowed to each man serving on board the ships in the service of the thirteen United Colonies, a daily proportion of provisions, according as is expressed in the following table, viz.

Sunday, 1 lb. bread, 1 lb. beef, 1 lb. potatoes or turnips.

Monday, 1 lb. bread, 1 lb. pork, 1/2 pint peas and four oz. cheese.

Tuesday, 1 lb. bread, 1 lb. beef, 1 lb. potatoes or turnips, and pudding.

Wednesday, 1 lb. bread, two oz. butter, four oz. cheese and 1/2 pint of rice.

Thursday, 1 lb. bread, 1 lb. pork, and 1/2 pint of peas.

Friday, 1 lb. bread, 1 lb. beef, I lb. potatoes or turnips, and pudding.

Saturday, 1 lb. bread, 1 lb. pork, 1/2 pint peas and four oz. cheese.

Half a pint of rum per man every day, and discretionary allowance on extra duty and in time of engagement.

A pint and half of vinegar for six men per week.

The pay of the officers and men [per calendar month] shall be as follows:

Captain or commander, 32 dollars
Lieutenants, 20 dollars
Master, 20 dollars
Mates, 15 dollars
Boatswain, 15 dollars
Boatswain’s first mate, 9 1/2 dollars
Boatswain’s second mate, 8 dollars
Gunner, 15 dollars
Gunner’s mate, 10 2/3 dollars
Surgeon, 21 1/3 dollars
Surgeon’s mate, 13 1/3 dollars
Carpenter, 15 dollars
Carpenter’s mate, 10 2/3 dollars.
Cooper, 15 dollars
Captain’s or Commander’s clerk, 15 dollars
Steward, 13 1/3 dollars
Chaplain, 20 dollars
Able seamen, 6 2/3
Captain of marines, 26 2/3 dollars
Lieutenants, 18 dollars
Serjeants, 8 dollars
Corporals, 7 1/3 dollars
Fifer, 7 1/3 dollars
Drummer, 7 1/3
Privates [of] marines, 6 2/3 dollars

III. INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMANDERS OF PRIVATEERS

Continental Congress, April 3, 1776:

I. You may, by force of arms, attack, subdue and take all ships and other vessels belonging to the inhabitants of Great Britain, on the high seas, or between high water and low water mark, except ships and vessels bringing persons who intend to settle and reside in the United Colonies; or bringing arms, ammunition, or war-like stores, to the said colonies, for the use of such inhabitants thereof as are friends to the American cause, which you shall suffer to pass unmolested, the commanders thereof permitting a peaceable search and giving satisfactory information of the contents of the ladings and destinations of voyages.

II. You may, by force of arms, attack, subdue and take all ships and other vessels whatsoever, carrying soldiers, arms, gunpowder, ammunition, provisions, or any other contraband goods, to any of the British armies or ships of war employed against these colonies.

III. You shall bring such ships and vessels, as you shall take, with their guns, rigging, tackle, apparel, furniture, and ladings to some convenient port or ports of the United Colonies, that proceedings may thereupon be had in due form, before the courts which are or shall be appointed to hear and determine causes civil and maritime.

IV. You, or one of your chief officers, shall bring or send the master and pilot and one or more principal person or persons of the company of every ship or vessel by you taken, as soon after the capture as may be, to the judge or judges of such court as aforesaid, to be examined upon oath, and make answer to the interrogatories which may be propounded, touching the interest or property of the ship or vessel and her lading; and, at the same time, you shall deliver, or cause to be delivered to the judge or judges, all passes, sea-briefs, charter-parties, bills of lading, cockets, letters and other documents and writings found on board, proving the said papers by the affidavit of yourself or of some other person present at the capture, to be produced as they were received, without fraud, addition, subduction or embezzlement.

V. You shall keep and preserve every ship or vessel and cargo by you taken, until they shall, by a sentence of a court properly authorized, be adjudged lawful prizes; not selling, spoiling, wasting, or diminishing the same, or breaking the bulk thereof, nor suffering any such thing to be done.

VI. If you, or any of your officers or crew, shall, in cold blood, kill or maim, or by torture or otherwise, cruelly, inhumanly, and contrary to common usage and the practice of civilized nations in war, treat any person or persons surprized. in the ship or vessel you shall take, the offender shall be severely punished.

VIII. You shall, by all convenient opportunities, send to Congress written accounts of the captures you shall make, with the number and names of the captives, copies of your journal from time to time, and intelligence of what may occur or be discovered concerning the designs of the enemy and the destination, motions and operations of their fleets and armies.

VIII. One-third, at least, of your whole company shall be landsmen.

IX. You shall not ransom any prisoners or captives, but shall dispose of them in such manner as the Congress, or, if that be not sitting, in the colony whither they shall be brought, as the general assembly, convention, or council, or committee of safety, of such colony shall direct.

X. You shall observe all such further instructions as Congress shall hereafter give in the premises, when you shall have notice thereof.

XI. If you shall do anything contrary to these instructions, or to others hereafter to be given, or willingly suffer such thing to be done, you shall not only forfeit your commission and be liable to an action for breach of the condition of your bond, but be responsible to the party grieved for damages sustained by such malversation.

Additional articles, April 7, 1781:

1. You are to pay a sacred regard to the rights of neutral powers and the usage and customs of civilized
nations; and on no pretence whatever, presume to take or seize any ships or vessels belonging to the subjects of princes or powers in alliance with these United States [with certain exceptions] . . . under the pains and penalties expressed in a proclamation [See Appendix IV] issued by the Congress of the United States, the ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight.

2. You shall permit all neutral vessels freely to navigate on the high seas or coasts of America except such as are employed in carrying contraband goods or soldiers to the enemies of these United States.

3. You shall not seize or capture any effects belonging to the subjects of the belligerent powers on board neutral vessels, excepting contraband goods; and you are carefully to observe, that the term contraband is confined to those articles which are expressly declared to be such in the treaty of amity and commerce, of the sixth day of February, 1778, between these United States and his most Christian majesty, namely: arms, great guns, bombs, with their fusees and other things belonging to them, cannon-balls, gun-powder, matches, pikes, swords, lances, spears, halberts, mortars, petards, grenadoes, salt-petre, muskets, musket-ball, bucklers, helmets, breast-plates, coats of mail, and the like kind of arms proper for arming soldiers, musket-rests, belts, horses with their furniture, and all other warlike instruments whatever.

IV. A PROCLAMATION

Whereas Congress have received information and complaints, ‘that violences have been done by American armed vessels to neutral nations, in seizing ships belonging to their subjects and under their colours, and in making captures of those of the enemy whilst under the protection of neutral coasts, contrary to the usage and custom of nations”: to the end that such unjustifiable and piratical acts, which reflect dishonour upon the national character of these states, may be in future effectually prevented, the said Congress hath thought proper to direct, enjoin and command, and they do hereby direct, enjoin and command, all captains, commanders and other officers and seamen belonging to any American armed vessels, to govern themselves strictly in all things agreeably to the tenor of their commissions, and the instructions and resolutions of Congress; particularly that they pay a sacred regard to the rights of neutral powers and the usage and custom of civilized nations, and on no pretence whatever presume to take or seize any ships or vessels belonging to the subjects of princes or powers in alliance with these United States, except they are employed in carrying contraband goods or soldiers to our enemies, and in such case that they conform to the stipulations contained in treaties subsisting between such princes or powers and these states; and that they do not capture, seize or plunder any ships or vessels of our enemies, being under the protection of neutral coasts, nations or princes, under the penalty of being condignly punished therefor, and also of being bound to make satisfaction for all matters of damage and the interest thereof by reparation, under the pain and obligation of their persons and goods. And further, the said Congress doth hereby resolve and declare, that persons wilfully offending in any of the foregoing instances, if taken by any foreign powers in consequence thereof, will not be considered as having a right to claim protection from these states, but shall suffer such punishment as by the usage and custom of nations may be inflicted upon such offenders.

Given in Congress at York, in the state of Pennsylvania, this ninth day of May, Anno Domini 1778.

V. VESSELS IN THE CONTINENTAL SERVICE

The dates indicate the period of active service, or, where no service was performed during the war, the date of launching is given. The Serapis is included for the reason that she served temporarily as Commodore Jones’s flagship, replacing the Bonhomme Richard.

Continental Navy

Alfred, 24, ship, 1775-1778
Columbus, 20, ship,1775-1778
Andrew Doria, 14, brig, 1775-1777
Cabot, 14, brig, 1775-1777
Providence, 12, sloop, 1775-1779
Hornet, 10, sloop, 1775-1777
Wasp, 8, schooner, 1775-1777
Fly, 8, schooner, 1775-1777
Lexington, 16, brig, 1776-1777
Reprisal, 16 brig, 1776-1777
Hampden, 14, brig, 1776-1777
Independence,10, sloop, 1776-1778
Sachem, 10 sloop, 1776-1777
Mosquito, 4 sloop, 1776-1777
Raleigh, 32 frigate, 1777-1778
Hancock, 32 frigate,1777
Warren, 32, frigate,1777-1779
Washington, 32, frigate, 1777
Randolph, 32, frigate, 1777-1778
Providence, 28, frigate, 1777-1780
Trumbull, 28 frigate, 1777-1781
Congress, 28, frigate, 1777
Virginia, 28, frigate, 1777-1778
Effingham, 28, frigate, 1777
Boston, 24, frigate, 1777-1780
Montgomery, 24, frigate, 1777
Delaware, 24, frigate, 1777
Ranger, 18, ship, 1777-1780
Resistance, 10, brigantine, 1777-1778
Surprise, sloop, 1777
Racehorse, 10, sloop, 1777
Repulse, 8, xebec, 1777
Champion, 8, xebec, 1777
Indien, 40, ship, 1777
Deane (later Hague), 32, frigate, 1777-1783
Queen of France, 28, frigate, 1777-1780
Dolphin, 10, cutter, 1777
Surprise, 10, lugger, 1777
Revenge, 14, cutter, 1777-1779
Alliance, 32, frigate, 1778-1785
General Gates, 18, ship, 1778-1779
Retaliation, brigantine, 1778
Pigot, 8, schooner, 1778
Confederacy, 32, frigate, 1779-1781
Argo, 12, Sloop, 1779
Diligent, 12, brig, 1779
Bonhomme Richard, 42, ship, 1779
Pallas, 32, frigate, 1779
Cerf, 18, cutter, 1779
Vengeance, 12, brig, 1779
Serapis, 44, ship, 1779
Axiel, 20, ship, 1780-1781
Saratoga, 18, ship, 1780-1781
America, 74, ship of the line, 1782
General Washington, 20, ship, 1782-1784
Due de Lauzun, 20, ship, 1782-1783
Bourbon, 36, frigate, 1783
Packets :
Active
Baltimore
Despatch
Enterprise
Fame
Georgia Packet
Horn Snake
Mercury
Phoenix

Washington’s Fleet, 1775-1776

Hannah, schooner
Lynch, schooner
Franklin, schooner
Lee, schooner
Harrison, schooner
Warren, schooner
Washington, brigantine
Hancock, schooner
General Schuyler, sloop
General Mifflin, sloop
Lady Washington, galley

Lake Champlain, 1776

Enterprise, 12, sloop
Royal Savage, 12, schooner
Revenge,8, schooner
Liberty, 8, schooner
New Haven, 3, gondola
Providence, 3, gondola
Boston, 3, gondola
Spitfire, 3, gondola
Philadelphia, 3, gondola
Connecticut, 3, gondola
Jersey, 3, gondola
New York, 3, gondola
Lee,6, galley
Trumbull,8, galley
Congress, 8, galley
Washington, 8, galley
Gates, 8, galley

Mississippi River, 1778-1779

Morris, ship
West Florida , sloop
Morris, schooner

VI. OFFICERS IN THE CONTINENTAL NAVY AND MARINE CORPS

A list of Revolutionary officers was compiled in 1794. It is “formed from the Minutes of the Marine Committee and Navy Boards, and from the Rolls of the several Vessels; many of the Officers served only for a Cruize” (Miscellaneous Naval Papers, March 18, 1794, in the Library of Congress). A previous list had been given out by the Board of Admiralty in September 1781 (Papers of the Continental Congress, 37, 473), which is an incomplete register of the officers of that date. The following list has been made up from these two (see also Paullin’s Navy of the Revolution, Appendix B). A very few unimportant attempts at emendation in spelling, etc., that seemed warranted by other authority, have been made. The names of captains which are numbered comprise those appointed October 10, 1776, in the order of rank; the numbered lieutenants were commissioned October 12, 1776. The same officers generally had earlier commissions, which are also indicated when known; these commissions were superseded in October, 1776. A number of other dates of commission, taken from the 1781 list and other sources, are also given. Annexed to the main list will be found a number of names, not included in either of the old lists, comprising officers commissioned in France and others (see Journals of the Continental Congress, April 17, June 6, 1776, June 14, 1777, September 8, 1779; Calendars of Naval Records and of Jones Papers – indices; Goldsborough’s Naval Chronicle, p. 8; Field’s Life of Hopkins, p. 186); some of them were doubtless never regularly commissioned. To make a wholly complete and accurate list would be impossible.

CONTINENTAL NAVY

Captains and Commanders

Esek Hopkins, commander-in-chief, December 22, 1775.

1. James Nicholson, June 6, 1776.
2. John Manley, April 17, 1776.
3. Hector McNeill, June 15, 1776.
4. Dudley Saltonstall, December 22, 1775.
5. Nicholas Biddle, December 22, 1775.
6. Thomas Thompson, June 6, 1776.
7. John Barry, June 6, 1776.
8. Thomas Read, June 6, 1776.
9. Thomas Grinnell, June 15, 1776.
10. Charles Alexander, June 6, 1776.
11. Lambert Wickes.
12. Abraham Whipple, December 22,1775.
13. John Burrows Hopkins, December 22, 1775.
14. John Hodge, August 22, 1776.
15. William Hallock.
16. Hoysted Hacker.
17. Isaiah Robinson.
18. John Paul Jones.
19. James Josiah.
20. Elisha, Hinman, August 13, 1776.
21. Joseph Olney.
22. James Robinson.
23. John Young.
24. Elisha Warner.
John Nicholson, November 19, 1776.
Samuel Nicholson, December 10, 1776.
Henry Johnson, February 5, 1777.
John Peck Rathburne, February 15, 1777.
Gustavus Conyngham, March 1, 1777.
Samuel Tucker, March 15, 1777.
Daniel Waters, March 17, 1777.
John Green, February 11, 1778.
William Burke, May 1, 1778.
Pierre Landais, June 18, 1778.
Seth Harding, September 23, 1778.
Silas Talbot, September 17, 1779.
John Ayres.
Peter Brewster.
Samuel Chew.
Benjamin Dann.
John Hazard.
William Pickles.
Thomas Simpson.
John Skimmer.
William Stone.

Lieutenants

1. Peter Shores, July 22,1776.
2. Robert Harris.
3. Jonathan Maltbie, August 22, 1776.
4. John Brown, June 15, 1776.
5. Ezekiel Burroughs, December 22, 1775.
6. Luke Matthewman.
7. George House.
8. Thomas Albertson.
9. John Baldwin.
10. Simon Gross.
11. David Phipps, August 22, 1776.
12. John Sleymaker.
13. Joshua Barney.
14. Jonathan Pritchard.
15. Adam W. Thaxter.
16. Benjamin Handy.
17. Joseph Greenway.
18. Benjamin Page.
19. Hopley Yeaton.
Rhodes Arnold, December 22, 1775.
Jonathan Pitcher, December 22, 1775.
Benjamin Seabury, December 22, 1775.
Thomas Weaver, December 22, 1775.
John McDougal, December 22, 1775.
Daniel Vaughan, December 22, 1775.
Joseph Doble, June 6, 1776.
John Wheelwright, July 22, 1776.
Josiah Shackford, July 22, 1776.
William Barnes, August 17, 1776.
Thomas Vaughan, August 17, 1776.
Hezekiah Welch, October 19, 1776.
Patrick Fletcher, November 20, 1776.
Blaney Allison, December 20, 1776.
Elijah Bowen, February 5, 1777.
Robert French, March 25, 1777.
Robert Martin, April 22, 1777.
Elijah Hall, June 14, 1777.
Matthew Tibbs, June 17, 1777.
John Rodez, August 6, 1777.
John Fanning, August 10, 1777.
William Mollison, August 12,1777.
Arthur Dillaway, September 19, 1777.
Joseph Vesey, November 13, 1777.
Silas Devol, January 28, 1778.
Muscoe Livingston, July 27, 1778.
Stephen Gregory, August 4, 1778.
Michael Knies, August 7, 1778.
Samuel Cardal, August 15, 1778.
Peter Deville, August 25, 1778.
Benjamin Bates, December 4, 1778.
Richard Dale, August, 1779.
Alexander Murray, July 20, 1781.
Joseph Adams.
Robert Adamson.
John Angus.
James Armitage.
Josiah Audibert.
Benjamin Barron.
William Barron.
Goerge Batson.
Daniel Beam
John Bellenger.
Christopher Bradley.
Jacob Brooks.
Philip Brown.
Isaac Buck.
Charles Bulkley.
Edward Burke.
George Champlin.
John Channing.
Seth Clarke.
David Cullam.
James Degge.
William Dennis.
Marie Sevel Doris.
William Dunlap.
William Dupar.
Joshua Fanning.
Wilford Fisher.
William Gamble.
Nicholas E. Gardner.
William Grinnell.
James Grinwell.
William Ham.
James Handy.
Abraham Hawkins.
John Hennessey.
Stephen Hill.
Christopher Hopkins.
Esek Hopkins, Jr.
William Hopkins.
Robert Hume.
Aquilla Johns.
John Kemp.
John Kerr.
Benjamin Knight.
William Leeds.
Edward Leger.
John Lewis.
George Lovie.
Cutting Lunt.
Henry Lunt.
John McIvers.
John Margisson.
Richard Marvin.
John Moran.
William Moran.
William Morrison.
Isaac Olney.
James Pine.
Robert Pomeroy.
David Porter.
William Potts.
Benjamin Reed.
Peter Richards.
James Robertson.
John Robinson.
Peter Rosseau.
Robert Saunders.
John Scott.
Robert Scott.
John Scranton.
Nicholas Scull.
James Sellers.
Daniel Starr.
James Stephens.
John Stevens.
David Welch.
Jacob White.
Richard Wickes.
James Wilson.
Robert Wilson.
Samuel York.

MARINE CORPS

Major

Samuel Nicholas, June 25, 1776.

Captains

Matthew Parke, May 26, 1776.
Andrew Porter, June 25, 1776.
Samuel Shaw, June 25, 1776.
Benjamin Deane, June 25, 1776.
Robert Mullen, June 25, 1776.
John Stewart, June 25, 1776.
Gilbert Saltonstall, June, 1776.
Richard Palmer, July 7, 1776.
George Jerry Osborne, July 22, 1776.
Seth Baxter, October 10, 1776.
James Disney, October 22, 1776.
Joseph Hardy, October, 1776.
Dennis Leary, June 21,1777.
William Morris, June, 1777.
William Jones, March 4, 1778.
Edward Arrowsmith, October 20, 1778.
William Nicholson, September 6, 1781.
Abraham Boyce.
Isaac Craig.
John Elliott.
Robert Elliott.
John Hazard.
William Holton.
William Matthewman.
Miles Pennington.
– Rice.
Joseph Shoemaker.
– Spence.
John Trevett.
Elihu Trowbridge.
John Welch.

Lieutenants

Daniel Henderson, June 25, 1776.
David Love, June 25, 1776.
Franklin Reed, June 25, 1776.
Peregrine Brown, June 25, 1776.
James McClure, June 25,1776.
William Gilmore, June 25,1776.
Abel Morgan, June 25, 1776.
Hugh Montgomery, June 25, 1776.
Thomas Pownal, June 25,1776.
Richard Harrison, June 25, 1776.
Stephen Meade, July 22, 1776.
Nathaniel Thwing, July 22, 1776.
Benjamin Thompson, July 22,1776.
Alpheus Rice, August 24,1776.
Jacob White, October 16, 1776.
Thomas Plunkett, December 9, 1776.
William Jennison, February, 1777.
William Waterman, March 4,1778.
Thomas Elwood, August 24,1778.
Peter Green, September 25, 1778.
Abraham Vandyke, July 24, 1779.
William Barney.
Henry Becker.
Peter Bedford.
David Bill.
Gurdon Bill.
Benjamin Catlin.
Seth Chapin.
John Chilton.
James Clarke.
James Cokely.
James Connolly.
William Cooper.
David Cullam.
Robert Cummings.
Robert Davis.
Henry Dayton.
John Dimsdell.
Stephen Earle,
Thomas Elting.
Panatier de la Falconier.
Zebadiah Farnham.
William Fielding.
Thomas Fitzgerald.
John Fitzpatrick.
Samuel Gamage.
John Guignace.
Roger Haddock.
James Hamilton.
Jonas Hamilton.
William Hamilton.
John Harris.
Samuel Hempstead.
Samuel Holt.
Benjamin Huddle.
William Huddle.
Robert Hunter.
Hugh Kirkpatrick.
Daniel Longstreet.
Eugene McCarthy.
Richard McClure.
Charles McHarron.
Robert McNeal.
Peter Manifold.
Jonathan Mix.
William Morris.
Alexander Neilson.
James Gerald O’Kelly.
Avery Parker.
Samuel Powars.
Samuel Pritchard.
William Radford.
Jerry Reed.
Nathaniel Richards.
Jabez Smith.
Walter Spooner.
Edmund Stack.
Daniel Starr.
I. M. Strobach.
George Trumbull.
Thomas Turner.
Louis de la Valette.
Zebulon Varnam.
– Wadsworth.
Samuel Wallingford.
James Warren.
James H. Wilson.
Jonathan Woodworth.

SUPPLEMENTARY LIST

Captains

Isaac Cazneau, April 17, 1776.
Samuel Tomkins, June 6, 1776.
Christopher Miller, June 6, 1776.
Henry Skinner.
John Roach.
Ralph Moor.
Denis Nicolas Cottineau.
Joseph Varage.
Philippe Nicolas Ricot.

Lieutenants

Eli Stansbury, December 22, 1775.
Israel Turner, June 6, 1776.
Mark Dennet, June 6, 1776.
-Plunkett, July 20, 1781.
Peter Amiel.
Robert Robinson.
John Buckley.
James Linda.
Henri le Meignen.
Pierre Magonet.
Beninge Mischateau.
Armand la Coudrais.
Pierre de Nantes.
Nicolas de St.Valery.

Captains of Marines

John Grannis.
Maurice O’Connell.
Antoine Felix Wybert.
Paul de Chamillard.

Lieutenants of Marines

George Stillman.
Barnabas Lothrop.

VII. CONTINENTAL PRIVATEERS

A list of the private armed vessels to which letters of marque were issued by the Continental Congress has been printed by the Library of Congress in the Calendar of Naval Records of the American Revolution, published in 1906. With the name of each vessel are given the state where owned, the rig, the number of guns and of men, the amount of the bond furnished, and the names of the commander, the bonders, and the owners. The bonds are contained in sixteen volumes of the papers of the Continental Congress (No. 196). The most important of the statistics compiled from them are given below. The numbers of guns and of men in these tables are smaller than they should be, for the reason that in several cases (thirty of the former – eighteen of the latter) the numbers are not stated.

By type:
Ships 301
Brigs and brigantines 541
Schooners, sloops, etc. 751
Boats and galleys 104
Total 1697

By State:
New Hampshire 43
Massachusetts 626
Rhode Island 15
Connecticut 218
New York 1,
New Jersey 4
Pennsylvania 500
Maryland 225
Virginia 64
South Carolina 1
Total 1697

By year:
1776 34
1777 69
1778 129
1779 209
1780 301
1781 550
1782 383
1783 22
Total 1697

Number of guns, 14,872.
Number of men, 58,400

VIII. CONCORDAT

Agreement between Messieurs John Paul Jones, captain of the Bonhomme Richard; Pierre Landais, captain of the Alliance; Denis Nicolas Cottineau, captain of the Pallas; Joseph Varage, captain of the Stag; and Philippe Nicolas Ricot, captain of the Vengeance; composing a squadron that shall be commanded by the oldest officer of the highest grade and so on in succession in case of death or retreat. None of the said commanders, whilst they are not separated from the said squadron by order of the minister, shall act but by virtue of the brevet which they shall have obtained from the United States of America, and it is agreed that the flag of the United States shall be displayed.
The division of the prizes to the superior officers and crews of the said squadron shall be made agreeable to the American laws, but it is agreed that the proportion of the whole coming to each vessel in the squadron shall be regulated by the Minister of the Marine Department of France and the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America.

A copy of the American laws shall be annexed to the present agreement, after having been certified by the commander of the Bonhomme Richard, but as the said laws cannot foresee nor determine as to what may concern the vessels and subjects of other nations, it is expressly agreed that whatever may be contrary to them should be regulated by the Minister of the French Marine and the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America.

It is likewise agreed that the orders given by the Minister of the French Marine and the Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States shall be executed.

Considering the necessity there is of preserving the interests of each individual, the prizes that shall be taken shall be remitted to the orders of Monsieur le Ray de Chaumont, honorary intendant of the Royal Hotel of Invalids, who has furnished the expenses of the armament of the said squadron.

It has been agreed that M. le Ray de Chaumont be requested not to give up the part of the prizes coming to all the crews, and to each individual of the said squadron, but to their order, and to be responsible for the same in his own and proper name.

Whereas the said squadron has been formed for the purpose of injuring the common enemies of France and America, it has been agreed that such armed vessels, whether French or American, may be associated therewith by common consent, as shall be found suitable for the purpose, and that they shall have such proportion of the prizes which shall be taken as the laws of their respective countries allow them.

In case of the death of any of the before mentioned commanders of vessels, he shall be replaced agreeably to the order of the tariff, with liberty however for the successor to choose whether he will remain on board his own vessel and give up to the next in order the command of the vacant ship.

It has moreover been agreed that the commander of the Stag shall be excepted from the last article of this present agreement, because in case of a disaster to M. de Varage, it shall be replaced by his second in command and so on by the other officers of his cutter the Stag.

J. P. JONES.
P. LANDAIS.
DE COTTINEAU.
DE VARAGE.
P. RICOT.
Le RAY DE CHAUMONT.