p=2^y 
 

 The Administration of the Massachusetts 
 and Virginia Navies of the American 
 Revolution* 
 
 By CHARLES OSCAR PAULLIN. 
 
 Reprinted from the Proceedings of the United 
 States Naval Institute, Vol XXXII, * 
 No. I, Whole No. U7. 
 
[COPYRIGHTED. ] 
 
 U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE, ANNAPOLIS, MD. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 AND VIRGINIA NAVIES OF THE AMERICAN 
 
 REVOLUTION. 
 
 By Charles Oscar Paullin. 
 
 With the exception of New Jersey and Delaware each of the 
 thirteen original states during the Revolution owned one or more 
 armed vessels. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Mary- 
 land, Virginia, and South Carolina had the largest fleets. New 
 Hampshire with its one ship and Georgia with its four galleys just 
 escaped being in the same class with New Jersey and Delaware. 
 The navies of Rhode Island, New York, and North Carolina were 
 small. The navy of no one state was so large as that of Con- 
 gress. The total number of state craft, however, greatly ex- 
 ceeded the number of vessels in the Continental navy. The state 
 vessels on the average were smaller and not so well armed as the 
 Continental vessels. The states generally had less means for 
 naval purposes at their disposal than had Congress, and were 
 therefore not so well able to build large vessels. Then, too, the 
 chief need of each state for a navy was to defend its seaports, 
 coasts, and trade. For such services small craft adapted for run- 
 ning in and out of shallow harbors, rivers, and bays, were de- 
 manded. The states, therefore, provided themselves with armed 
 boats of various sizes, galleys with and without sails, half-galleys, 
 floating batteries, barges, and fire-ships. Besides such vessels 
 as these most of the states had a few larger and stouter sailing 
 craft, mounting generally from ten to twenty guns and fairly well 
 fitted for deep-sea navigation. The one state whose deep-sea 
 exceeded its inshore craft was Massachusetts. 
 
132 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 The history of naval administration in the several states pos- 
 sesses some common features. It will be recalled that in most 
 of the states the provincial government about the year 1775 was 
 superseded by a revolutionary government, and this in turn about 
 a year later was succeeded by a permanent state government. 
 The revolutionary government consisted of a legislative body, or 
 Provincial Congress, and of an executive body, or Committee of 
 Safety. The permanent state government consisted of a Legis- 
 lature of one or two Houses and an Executive, which was either 
 a Council, or a Governor and Council. The initial naval admin- 
 istration in the states usually fell to the Committee of Safety, or 
 Revolutionary Executive, which upon the change to a permanent 
 state government bequeathed its naval duties to the Council or 
 to the Governor and Council. In most of the states the details 
 of naval administration were at some time during the Revolution 
 lodged with an Executive Board. In some states there were sep- 
 arate boards for naval and military affairs ; in others, one board 
 performed both functions. 
 
 The history of naval administration in the states falls into two 
 periods, one embracing the years from 1775 to 1778, the other the 
 years from 1779 to 1783. In the first period each state procured 
 a naval armament, as a rule for the general purpose of providing 
 a naval defence, and not to meet some specific call for armed ves- 
 sels. By 1779 the first naval craft had been largely captured, 
 destroyed, or sold ; and often the first machinery of naval admin- 
 istration had been in large part removed. In response to special 
 needs for armed vessels, calls for which came most often from 
 those who were suffering from the ravages of the British fleets, 
 the states now procured additional vessels, and often devised new 
 administrative machinery to manage them. 
 
 In defensive warfare the problem in each state was to provide 
 for the defence of its ports, trade, coasts, and shipping. The of- 
 fensive warfare of the state navies, which was quite secondary 
 in importance, consisted chiefly of commerce-destroying, con- 
 ducted along the great ocean-paths of British trade. The princi- 
 pal problem here was for the American vessels in leaving home 
 ports and in returning with their prizes to elude the British ves- 
 sels, which hovered along the American coast, especially at the 
 mouths of the Chesapeake, Delaware, and Narragansett bays. It 
 is always to be remembered that in all the states the privateers 
 
 Gift 
 tkor 
 
 '. Person) 
 
 * -^06 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 133 
 
 exceeded the state craft, which were often insignificant in com- 
 parison. 
 
 The reader will recall that in June, 1775, the battle of Bunker 
 Hill was fought, a British army occupied Boston, and British ves- 
 sels sailed the New England seas with little or no opposition. 
 These vessels had already committed depredations and " piracies " 
 upon the coasts and trade of Massachusetts, and were obstructing 
 the importation of ammunition and provisions for the Continen- 
 tal army. It was under these circumstances that Massachusetts 
 took her first step towards procuring a naval armament. On 
 June 7, her Third Provincial Congress appointed a committee of 
 nine " to consider the expediency of establishing a number of 
 small armed vessels, to cruise on our seacoasts, for the protection 
 of our trade, and the annoyance of our enemies." The Provin- 
 cial Congress, which moved very cautiously, enjoined secrecy on 
 the committee. On June 10, three additional members were 
 added to the committee; but later in the day a new committee 
 consisting of seven members was apparently substituted for the 
 old one. On June 12, the committee " appointed to consider the 
 expediency of establishing a number of armed vessels " made a 
 report which provided for the fitting out of not less than six ves- 
 sels, to mount eight to fourteen carriage guns, and to cruise under 
 the orders of the Committee of Safety — the chief executive organ 
 of the Provincial Congress, consisting of nine members, three of 
 whom were from Boston. This report came up several times 
 between June 12 and June 20. Finally on the latter date " the 
 matter was ordered to subside." * The Battle of Bunker Hill-, 
 which was fought on June 17, may have had something to do with 
 this action of the Provincial Congress. 
 
 On July 19, 1775, the Revolutionary Government in Massachu- 
 setts was superseded by a permanent government consisting of a 
 House of Representatives and a Council of eighteen members 
 elected by the House; the two houses were called the General 
 Court. The continued depredations of the British now caused 
 several endangered ports to ask the General Court to provide 
 
 1 Journals of Third Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, June 7, June 
 io, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 16, June 19. and June 20, 1775. All 
 references to the state records of Massachusetts refer to the manuscripts 
 or early printed copies to be found in the State Library or State Archives 
 at Boston. 
 
134 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 them with a naval defence. The part of Massachusetts which 
 during the Revolution was most exposed to the attacks of the 
 British, and which was most troublesome to defend, was the 
 coast of Maine, then often referred to as the Eastern Coast. In 
 August, 1775, a petition came to the General Court from Machias, 
 a town situated on the Maine coast a few miles west of the pres- 
 ent Eastport, asking that commissions be granted to officers and 
 men on board two armed vessels which citizens of Machias had 
 fitted out for the defence of their town. In response the Gen- 
 eral Court took into the service of the state the sloop Machias 
 Liberty and the schooner Diligent. 2 Jeremiah O'Brian, one of the 
 men who had signed the petition, was commissioned by the Coun- 
 cil commander-in-chief of the two vessels, and he was directed to 
 enlist a number of men, not to exceed thirty, for each vessel. The 
 Machias Liberty and the Diligent were in the service of the state 
 until October, 1776, when they were discharged. About the first 
 of October, 1775, Salem and Newburyport each asked the Gen- 
 eral Court for naval aid similar to that granted to Machias, but 
 did not receive it. 3 
 
 The General Court of Massachusetts next turned its attention 
 to privateering. The acts of the states on this head fall into two 
 general classes ; those which in terms established state privateer- 
 ing, and those which adopted Continental privateering or accom- 
 modated state laws to the same. After the first half of 1776 all 
 the states used Continental commissions and bonds. Massachu- 
 setts, moving in this matter before Congress, necessarily estab- 
 lished state privateering. On September 28, 1775, her House 
 of Representatives, having such establishment in view, appointed 
 a committee of seven to consider the " Expediency of fitting out 
 a Number of Armed Vessels." On October 9, this committee re- 
 ported -in favor of instituting privateering and a prize court to 
 try cases of capture. On October 14 a bill embodying the com- 
 mittee's recommendations was introduced. It now passed slowly 
 through the legislative mill, and on November 1, it became a law. 4 
 
 journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, August 21, 1775. 
 O'Brian's name is found spelled in various ways. 
 
 s Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, September 29, 
 October 2, October 4, 1775; Records of General Court of Massachusetts, 
 October 4, 1775. 
 
 4 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, September 28, 
 October 6, 9, 14, 17, 18, 19, 27, November 1, 1775. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 135 
 
 John Adams once referred to this statute of Massachusetts as one 
 of the most important documents in the history of the Revolution. 
 Its preamble was the work of Elbridge Gerry, and the body of the 
 law was drafted by James Sullivan, many years later Governor 
 of Massachusetts. 5 Gerry stated the sanctions for the law. 
 These he found in the arbitrary and sanguinary acts of Great 
 Britain, in the charter of Massachusetts granted by King Wil- 
 liam and Queen Mary, and lastly in the resolution of the Con- 
 tinental Congress of July 18, 1775, recommending each colony 
 to provide by armed vessels or otherwise for the protection of its 
 harbors and navigation. 
 
 The Massachusetts law provided that all vessels convicted of 
 making unlawful invasions or attacks on the seacoasts or naviga- 
 tion of any part of America should be forfeited. The Council 
 was authorized to grant letters of marque and reprisal to masters 
 and owners of vessels upon their entering into bond to faithfully 
 discharge the duties of their office and to observe the naval laws 
 of the colony. Three admiralty districts embracing the counties 
 on the Massachusetts seacoast were established. The Southern 
 district, with the seat of its court at Plymouth, embraced Ply- 
 mouth county and the counties to the southward ; the Middle dis- 
 trict, with the seat of its court at Ipswich, embraced the counties 
 of Suffolk, Middlesex and Essex and extended from Plymouth 
 county to New Hampshire; and the Eastern district, with the 
 seat of its court at North Yarmouth, embraced the seacoast coun- 
 ties of Maine. The form of procedure in these courts was fixed 
 for both captured and recaptured vessels. In the latter case sal- 
 vage was to be from one-third to one-fourth of the selling price of 
 the vessel. The facts in prize cases were to be tried by twelve 
 good and lawful men. At this time the people of Massachusetts 
 were so enraged at the judges of the former Provincial admiralty 
 court that they would have universally condemned the trying of 
 facts in prize cases by judges. 8 
 
 The Council soon appointed three judges of admiralty, Nathan 
 Cushing for the Southern district, Timothy Pickering for the 
 Middle district, and James Sullivan for the Eastern district. El- 
 bridge Gerry declined the judgeship for the Middle district. 
 
 5 Austin's Gerry, I, 94-95 ; Works of John Adams, X, 37. 
 *Amory's Sullivan, II, 378-79, James Sullivan to Gerry, December 25, 
 1779- 
 
136 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 After trying about one hundred and fifty prize cases Pickering, 
 in June, 1777, resigned and was succeeded by Nathan Cushing, 
 who now served as judge in both the Southern and Middle dis- 
 tricts. 7 Comparatively few cases were tried in the Southern and 
 Eastern districts. Timothy Langdon was for a long time judge 
 of the Eastern district. 
 
 During the fall of 1775 the General Court took no steps towards 
 establishing a state navy. It was at this time assisting Washing- 
 ton in obtaining and arming vessels for the Continental military 
 service around Boston. Early in December the House of Rep- 
 resentatives, acting on a recommendation contained in a letter 
 from John Adams at Philadelphia, resolved to obtain statistics on 
 the number of officers, seamen, and vessels, suitable for naval pur- 
 poses, in the seaports of Massachusetts. On December 29 the 
 Council declared for a navy by passing the following resolu- 
 tion : " Whereas several of the United Colonies have of late 
 thought it expedient and necessary to fit out armed Vessels for the 
 Defence of American Liberty, and it appears to this Court neces- 
 sary that Measures be taken by this Colony for our further Pro- 
 tection by Sea: Therefore, Resolved, that John Adams and 
 Joseph Palmer, Esqurs. with such as the Hon. House shall join be 
 a committee for fitting out one or more Vessels for the Defence of 
 American Liberty." 8 
 
 The House at once appointed its members of the committee, 
 which on January 12, 1776, made a report favorable to the estab- 
 lishment of a navy. 9 Accordingly, on February 7, a resolution 
 passed the General Court to build ten sloops of war, of no or 
 115 tons burden, each, suitable for carrying fourteen to sixteen 
 carriage guns, 6-pounders and 4-pounders. A joint committee 
 of the two houses was appointed to build the vessels, and £10,000 
 was voted for this purpose. 10 On the 16th the committee was 
 
 7 Records of Massachusetts Council, November 14, December 9, Decem- 
 ber 12, 1775; Pickering's Pickering, I, 79-80; Amory's Sullivan, I, 63. 
 
 * Records of General Court of Massachusetts, December 29, 1775. 
 
 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, January 12,- 1776. 
 On January 11 the Council resolved that two ships, one of 36, and the 
 other of 32 guns, should be built. On the same day both House and 
 Council voted to recommit the resolution in order that the committee which 
 prepared it might report on the expense to be incurred in building and 
 fitting the two ships. It does not appear that further action was taken. — 
 Records of Massachusetts Council, January 11, 1776. 
 
 10 Ibid., February 6, 1776; Journals of Council, February 7, 1776. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 137 
 
 authorized to contract for the building of only five vessels, until 
 there was a prospect of procuring materials for ten ; it was author- 
 ized to buy five vessels if it thought it best. 11 By July, 1776, the 
 sloop Tyrannicide built at Salisbury, the brigantine Rising Em- 
 pire built at Dartmouth, and the brigantine Independence built 
 at Kingston were ready for sea; and by September the sloops 
 Republic and Freedom built at Swanzey, and the Massachu- 
 setts built at Salisbury were completed. 
 
 Meanwhile the General Court had prepared and adopted the 
 legislation necessary to establish a navy. It had drafted proper 
 naval forms; and it had appointed a number of naval officers. 
 A partial pay-table was established on February 8. 12 This on 
 April 12 was succeeded by a new one, which generally raised 
 wages, and which provided for a number of new offices. A cap- 
 tain was now to receive a monthly wage of £8 ; a first lieutenant, 
 £5 8s. ; a second lieutenant, £5 ; a master, £4 ; a mate, £3 ; a sur- 
 geon, £7; and an ordinary seaman, £2. Each vessel was to be 
 provided with 115 officers and seamen. No better proof of the 
 rawness of the naval service is needed than the regulation that 
 recruits, whether officers, seamen, or marines should furnish them- 
 selves with " a good effective Fire Arm, Cartouch-Box, Cutlass, 
 and Blanket." The captains were ordered to recommend to the 
 Council a list of inferior officers and to enlist the proposed number 
 of seamen and marines. Captors were given one-third of the pro- 
 ceeds of prizes. 13 
 
 On April 27, 1776, the General Court fixed the respective shares 
 of the proceeds of prizes for officers and seamen : a captain was 
 to receive six shares, and " all the Cabbin Furniture ; " a first 
 lieutenant, five shares ; a drummer, one and one-fourth shares ; 
 a seaman, one share ; and a boy, one-half a share." On April 29, 
 in order to encourage enlistment, an advance of one month's wages 
 was voted to recruits. On the same day it was decided that " the 
 Uniform of Officers be Green and White, and that the Colours 
 be a white Flagg, with a green Pine Tree, and an Inscription, 
 ' Appeal to Heaven.' " " On July 26 the Council appointed a 
 
 11 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, February 16, 1776. 
 13 Ibid., February 7, 1776; Records of Massachusetts Council, February 
 8, 1776. 
 18 Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, April 12, 1776. 
 "Ibid., April 27, 1776. 
 15 Ibid., April 29, 1776; Records of Massachusetts Council, April 29, 1776. 
 
 V- 
 
138 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 prize agent in each of the three admiralty districts, whose duty 
 it was to represent the state in receiving, trying, and selling 
 prizes. 16 At times the prize agents assisted in fitting out vessels. 
 
 During the first half of 1776 the law of November 1, 1775, 
 establishing privateering was three times amended and re-mod- 
 elled. 1 * The law was thereby accommodated to the resolutions 
 of the Continental Congress fixing the kinds of property subject 
 to capture, and the respective shares of captors and recaptors. 
 Doubts which had arisen as to the proper construction of the origi- 
 nal act were now removed. The procedure before admiralty 
 courts was made more specific. In cases of captures made by 
 Continental vessels, appeals were permitted from state admiralty 
 courts to the Continental Congress; in all other cases appeals 
 were allowed to the superior state courts. In each of the three 
 admiralty districts in Massachusetts additional towns were named 
 where court might be held. The towns named for the Middle 
 district were Boston, Salem, Ipswich, and Newburyport. 
 
 During the summer and fall of 1776 the instructions and orders 
 to the captains of the armed vessels were issued to them by the 
 Council, having been previously prepared by a committee. The 
 following instructions which were drafted by Thomas Cushing 
 and Daniel Hopkins were given to Captain John Fisk, and will 
 suffice as a sample of such documents : 
 
 " The Brigantine Tyrannicide under your Command being 
 properly Armed and Man'd and in other respects fitted for a 
 Cruize you are hereby Ordered and directed immediately to pro- 
 ceed to Sea and Use your utmost Endeavours to protect the Sea 
 Coast and Trade of the United States and you are also directed to 
 exert yourself in making Captures of all Ships and other Vessels 
 Goods Wares and Merchandise belonging to the King of Great 
 Britain or any of his subjects wherever residing excepting only 
 the Ships and Goods of the Inhabitants of Bermuda and the Ba- 
 hama Islands — You are directed not to Cruize further Southward 
 than Latitude Twelve North nor farther East than Longitude 
 Nine Degrees West from London nor farther West than the 
 Shoals of Nantucket. At all times using necessary precautions 
 to prevent your Vessel from falling into the hands of the Enemy." 
 
 16 Records of Massachusetts Council, July 26, 1776. 
 
 "Laws of Massachusetts, February 14, April 13. May 8, 1776. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 139 
 
 " And Whereas you have received a Commission authorizing 
 you to make Captures aforesaid and a set of Instructions have 
 been delivered you for regulating your Conduct in that matter; 
 these Instructions you are Hereby directed diligently to attend to, 
 and if you are so fortunate as to make any Captures you are to 
 Order them to make the first safe Harbor within the United 
 States. — and you are furthered Ordered not to expend your Am- 
 munition unnecessarily and only in time of Action or firing Alarm 
 or Signal guns." " 
 
 Until October, 1776, the Massachusetts navy was administered 
 by the General Court, committees of its members, the Council, 
 and naval agents. The General Court for the period of its re- 
 cess in May, 1776, placed the armed vessels in the charge of " the 
 committee for fortifying the harbor of Boston." By the fall of 
 1776 it realized that " secrecy, dispatch, and economy in con- 
 ducting the war " demanded a special executive department. 
 Accordingly, on October 26 it established a Board of War consist- 
 ing of nine members, any five of whom constituted a quorum. 
 The Board of War was " empowered to Order and Direct the 
 Operations of the Forces in the Pay of this State, both by sea 
 and land, by giving the Commanders of the Troops, Garrisons, 
 and Vessels of War, such Orders for their Conduct and Cruizes 
 from time to time as they shall think proper." 19 It organized by 
 electing a president and secretary ; and it rented permanent quar- 
 ters near the State House in Boston. In December, 1776, James 
 Warren, later Commissioner for the Continental Navy Board at 
 Boston, was president of the Board of War. Philip Henry Sav- 
 age was for a long time its president. Savage presided at the 
 meeting in 1773 at Old South Church which decided that the tea 
 should not be landed. 20 The Board of War entered upon its work 
 with vigor in November, 1776. It was yearly renewed, until it 
 was dissolved in February, 1781. 
 
 The principal business of the Board of War was the adminis- 
 tration of the naval, commercial, and military affairs of the state. 
 Its naval and commercial duties were quite engrossing. The 
 
 18 Records of Massachusetts Council, October 29, 1776. The naval docu- 
 ments introduced into the narrative on the Massachusetts navy are typical 
 of similar ones in other states. 
 
 18 Resolves of Massachusetts, October 26, 1776. 
 
 10 Winsor's Memorial History of Boston, II. 543. 
 
140 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 Board kept fairly distinct the activities of its " armed " and " trad- 
 ing " vessels. It is true that the armed vessels were now and then 
 sent on commercial errands, or combined in a single voyage naval 
 and trading duties. The sloop Republic used for a short time 
 as a naval vessel was taken into the commercial service. The 
 Massachusetts Archives contain a list of thirty-two trading ves- 
 sels owned or chartered by the Board of War. 31 These vessels 
 visited Nantes, Bilbao, Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Eustatius, 
 Cape Francois, Baltimore, and the ports of North and South Car- 
 olina. They carried as staple exports, fish, lumber, and New 
 England rum. As a rule the work of the Board of War in look- 
 ing after its trading vessels exceeded its naval work. At times, 
 as in the case of the Penobscot expedition, the naval duties were 
 the important ones. A week's work of the Board in behalf of its 
 armed vessels shows a curious mixture of orders on the commis- 
 sary-general for clothing and provisions, and on the state store 
 keeper for naval stores ; and of directions to the prize agents, the 
 agents for building armed vessels, and the naval captains. The 
 General Court permitted the Board a fairly free hand in its man- 
 agement of the navy. The Board carried on a considerable cor- 
 respondence with the commanders of the armed vessels. The 
 following letter written to the Board by Captain John Clouston 
 of the armed sloop Freedom on May 23, 1777, from Paimboeuf, 
 France, will illustrate this correspondence from the Captain's 
 side. Houston's disregard of orthography and punctuation is 
 exceptional even for a Revolutionary officer. 
 
 21 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XL, no-ill. The influence of 
 the friendly relations existing between the United States and France during 
 the Revolution in the naming of vessels early manifested itself. On Decem- 
 ber 27, 1776, the Massachusetts Board of War changed the names of a 
 number of its trading vessels as follows : Ships Julius Caesar to Bourbon, 
 Venus to Versailles, and Friend to Paris; brigantines Charming Sally to 
 Penet, and Isabella to Count D'Estaing. The brigantine Penet, which was 
 named for a French merchant at Nantes, a member of the firm of Pliarne, 
 Penet & Co., agents for the United States, has been sometimes confused 
 with the brigantine Perch, which was obtained by Massachusetts in the 
 fall of 1777 for the sole purpose of conveying the news of Burgoyne's 
 surrender to the American Commissioners at Paris. The letters and dis- 
 patches were intrusted with Jonathan Loring Austin, secretary to the 
 Board of War, who after a passage of thirty days reached the Commis- 
 sioners at Passy on December 4, 1777. — Board of War Minutes, December 
 27, 1776; Hale's Franklin in France, I, 155. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 141 
 
 " Gentlemen : 
 
 I have the pleasure of Informing your Honours by Capt. Fisk 
 of the Massachusetts That on the first Instant I arrived safe in 
 this Port after taking twelve Sail of Englis Vessels Seven of 
 which I despatched for Boston Burnt three gave one smal Brigg 
 to our Prisners and one Retaken by the Futereange which Chast 
 us fore Glasses and finding she Could not Cume up with us 
 she gave Chase to our Prize and toock her in our sight — I have 
 Cleaned & Rented my Vessel and Taken in forty Tons of War 
 like Stores and have bin waiting for a wind to go this fore days — 
 Capt. Fisk being short of Provisions I have supplied him with 
 foreteen Barels of Pork and Eleven of Beef and have Suffi- 
 santse for my Vessel left." ** 
 
 In January, 1777, a new sea establishment was effected. 
 Wages were generally raised, no doubt chiefly to meet their de- 
 crease caused by the depreciation of the currency. A captain 
 was now to receive a monthly wage of £14 8s. ; a lieutenant or 
 a master, £7 4s. ; a seaman, £2 8s. ; and a boy, £1 4s. The offices 
 established in the Massachusetts navy, while not quite so many, 
 were in general the same as those in the Continental navy. The 
 Massachusetts navy however had the offices of prizemaster, pilot, 
 and boy, which did not occur in the Continental list. Following 
 the regulations of Congress the General Court now gave captors 
 one-half of their captures. The rations for seamen were modelled 
 on the Continental bill of fare. 23 On March 21, 1777, the General 
 Court adopted rules and regulations for its ships of war; and it 
 ordered that they should be read by the commanding officer of a 
 vessel at least once a week. These rules, while briefer than the 
 Continental rules, naturally followed the same general lines. 
 They show either the influence of the Continental rules or of the 
 English rules upon which the Continental rules were based. The 
 following curious rule in part parallels one of the Continental 
 rules. 
 
 " And if any Person belonging to either of such Vessels shall 
 be convicted of Theft, Drunkenness, profane Cursing, or Swear- 
 
 22 Board of War Letters, Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, May 23, 
 I777- 
 
 23 Massachusetts Resolves, January 8, January 24, 1777. On December 6, 
 1776, six naval offices were established, which included a captain's clerk, 
 prizemaster, and sergeant of marines. 
 
142 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 ing, disregarding the Sabbath, or using the Name of God lightly, 
 or profanely, or shall be guilty of quarrelling or fighting, or of 
 any reproachful or provoking Language tending to make Quar- 
 rels, or of any turbulent or mutinous Behavior, or if any Person 
 shall sleep upon his Watch, or forsake his Station, or shall in any 
 wise neglect to perform the Duty enjoined him, he shall be pun- 
 ished for any of the said Offences at the Discretion of the com- 
 missioned Officers of such Vessel, or the Major Part of them, ac- 
 cording to the Nature and Aggravation of the Offence, by sitting 
 in the Stocks, or wearing a wooden Collar about his Neck, not 
 exceeding 4 Hours, nor less than one, or by whipping, not exceed- 
 ing 12 Lashes, or by being put in Irons for so long Time as the 
 said Officers shall judge the Safety and well being of the Ship 
 and Crew requires, or otherwise shall forfeit to the State not 
 more than six, nor less than two Days Pay for each offence." * 
 
 During every year of the Revolution attempts were made to in- 
 crease the Massachusetts navy. In the fall of 1777 the brigan- 
 tine Hazard was added. On August 6, 1777, the General 
 Court resolved that, since the armed vessels at the lowest compu- 
 tation had netted the state £55,000, the Board of War should pur- 
 chase or build two vessels mounting 28 and 32 guns respectively. 
 In January, 1778, it reduced the sizes of these vessels almost one- 
 half; and finally it gave up building them. 28 In the spring of 
 1779 a prize of the Hazard, the brigantine Active, taken in 
 April off the island of St. Thomas in the West Indies, was pur- 
 chased. 28 In April, 1778, the General Court resolved to build a 
 
 24 Massachusetts Resolves, March 21, 1777. 
 
 25 Ibid., August 6, 1777 ; January 17, 1778. 
 
 20 The following is an extract from the enlisting contract of the armed 
 brig Active, which was signed by officers, seamen, and marines: "And. 
 we hereby bind ourselves to Submit to all orders and regulations of the 
 Navy of the United States of North America and this State and faithfully 
 to observe and obey all such orders, and Commands as we shall receive 
 from time to time from our Superior Officers on board or belonging to 
 the said Brig, Active, and on board any Such Boats or Vessel or Vessels 
 as foresaid. 
 
 " And it is on the part of the State that such persons as by Land or sea 
 shall Loose a Limb in any Engagement with the Enemies of these United 
 States of America or be otherwise so disabled as to be rendered incapable 
 of getting a Lively Hood Shall be entitled to the same Provisions as the 
 disabled Persons in the Continental Service." — Massachusetts Revolutionary 
 Archives, XL, 20. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 143 
 
 frigate of 28 guns which would carry two hundred officers and 
 men. 27 This vessel was built at Newburyport and was named the 
 Protector. In the fall of 1779 it was nearing completion. The 
 launching of the Protector, which was the largest ship in the 
 Massachusetts navy, was a matter of more than usual local inter- 
 est. Stephen Cross who was in charge of the construction of the 
 frigate wrote a letter to the Board of War in July, 1779, which 
 throws light upon the minor naval duties of the Board. Cross's 
 language is a bit involved, but his meaning is clear; it is hardly 
 necessary to say that the " souring " refers to lemons. 
 
 " Gentlemen : 
 
 it being customary for the owners of Vessels when they are 
 Launched to give the Workmen something Better than New Eng- 
 land Rum to drink & Likewise something to Eat and also all those 
 Persons who attend the Launching Expect to be asked to Drink 
 and Eat something and Especially Publick Vessells it will be Ex- 
 pected that something be Provided and it is my opinion about 
 sixty Galls of West India Rum & sugars for the same & souring 
 if it be had and one Quarter Cask of Wine and A Hamper of ale 
 or Beer together with a Tierce hams Neet Tongs or Corn Beef 
 will be necessary to comply with the Customs in these Cases." a 
 
 After August, 1779, when the disaster on the Penobscot occur- 
 red the naval duties of the Board of War were slight. For a 
 time the Protector was the only vessel in the navy. With the 
 coming in of a new government under a Constitution on October 
 25, 1780, there was no longer much need for a Board of War. 
 According to the provisions of the new Constitution the Governor 
 was commander-in-chief of the navy; and he was authorized to 
 " train, instruct, exercise, and govern it," and to call it into ser- 
 vice in time of war. On February 8, 1781, the Board of War 
 was discontinued, and Caleb Davis, who was appointed Agent of 
 the Commonwealth, succeeded to its ministerial duties. 29 The 
 Governor and the Agent now shared the naval duties. The Gov- 
 ernor commissioned officers, issued orders to the naval comman- 
 ders, and was responsible to the General Court; the Agent had 
 
 27 Massachusetts Resolves, April 21, 1778. 
 
 28 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XLIV, 279. 
 
 29 Massachusetts Resolves, February 8, 1781. Three members of the 
 Board of War and two clerks were continued for a few months to settle 
 the accounts of the Board. 
 
144 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 direct oversight of the fitting out of vessels, the selling of prizes, 
 and was responsible to the Governor. As the Revolution spent 
 itself the simplification of the administrative machinery of the 
 state continued. On January i, 1783, the Agent was discon- 
 tinued. His naval duties fell to the Commissary-General. 30 
 
 During each year from 1780 to 1783 the General Court made 
 one or more attempts to increase the naval force of the state. It 
 was spurred to action by the ravages of the British cruisers on 
 the Eastern Coast. On March 21, 1780, two armed vessels 
 mounting not less than ten or more than fourteen 4's or 6's were 
 ordered. The expense incurred was to be met by the sale of the 
 " Rising Empire " and of the confiscated estates of Loyalists, 
 and from rents of the property of absentees. On March 6, 1781, 
 the Agent was directed to obtain a small vessel of eight to twelve 
 guns to serve as a tender for the Mars; and on April 23 he was 
 ordered to procure by hire or purchase two small craft to be em- 
 ployed as " guarda coasta." On November 12, 1782, a commit- 
 tee was appointed to purchase a vessel of twelve or sixteen guns 
 to be used in protecting the coast. On March 26, 1783, the Com- 
 missary-General was ordered to obtain a small vessel and a whale- 
 boat to cruise against the enemy in Casco Bay and along the 
 Eastern Shore. 81 As the result of these resolutions four armed 
 vessels were added to the navy; in the spring of 1780 the Mars; 
 in the summer of 1781, the Defence; in the winter of 1781-1782, 
 the Tartar, which was built by the state ; and in the spring of 
 1782, the Winthrop. 
 
 Private naval enterprise throughout the Revolution was ex- 
 ceedingly active in Massachusetts. In 1775, some months before 
 the General Court granted letters of marque, Massachusetts citi- 
 zens unauthorized were capturing the vessels of the enemy. 
 Scarcely a fortnight after the battles of Lexington and Concord 
 men from New Bedford and Dartmouth fitted out a vessel and 
 attacked and cut out from a harbor in Martha's Vineyard a prize 
 of the British sloop-of-war Falcon, 16. This act was called forth 
 by the captures which the Falcon had made from the people of 
 Buzzard's Bay. On June 12, 1775, the inhabitants of Machias, 
 Maine, had captured the King's sloop Margaretta, Lieutenant 
 Moore, after mortally wounding the commander and inflicting a 
 
 30 Ibid., October 4, 1782. 
 
 31 Massachusetts Resolves, March 21, 1780; February 19, March 6, April 
 23, 1781 ; November 12, 1782 ; March 26, 1783. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 145 
 
 loss of fourteen men. Still other British vessels were captured 
 off the coast of Maine during the summer of 1775. 32 
 
 With the act of November 1, 1775, granting the Council the 
 power to issue letters of marque and reprisal, all such private 
 enterprises as the above when done under the authority of a com- 
 mission were legal. It does not appear however that Massachu- 
 setts granted many commissions until the second half of 1776. In 
 1777 she granted 96 commissions. The best year was 1779 when 
 she issued 222 commissions; the year 1781 with 216 commis- 
 sions was not far behind. The total number of commissions 
 issued by Massachusetts for the years 1777 to 1783 was 998. 33 In 
 1779 one hundred and eighty-four prizes captured by privateers 
 were libelled in the Massachusetts prize courts. 34 The privateer- 
 ing industry in this year was very active. The following is an 
 extract from a letter dated May 16, 1779, written from a Massa- 
 chusetts seaport: 
 
 " Privateering was never more in vogue than at present ; two 
 or three privateers sail every week from this port, and men seem 
 as plenty as grasshoppers in the field; no vessel being detained 
 an hour for want of them. We have near 1,000 prisoners on 
 board the guard-ships in Boston, and a great balance due us from 
 the enemy. Cruisers from New York, &c are daily brought in, 
 and often by vessels of inferior force; our privateers-men being 
 as confident of victory, when upon an equal footing with the 
 English, as these were of gaining it of the French in the last 
 war." 3o 
 
 The rivalry between the state service and privateers for seamen 
 was exceedingly active. In 1779 the Council recommended that 
 some effectual measures be taken to prevent the owners of private 
 ships of war and merchantmen from seducing seamen away that 
 were engaged in the public service. It declared that proper en- 
 couragement must be given to state officers and seamen, and that 
 commanders must have the aid of the government in manning 
 their vessels, " or thev will lie by the Walls and so be of little or 
 
 32 Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, VI, 564; Maday, History of 
 American Privateering, 52-60. 
 
 33 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives. The total number of priva- 
 teering commissions always exceeds the total number of vessels, as the 
 same vessels were often commissioned two or more times. 
 
 M Boston Gazette for 1779. 
 
 33 Virginia Gazette, June 19, 1779. 
 10 
 
146 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 no service." 8B In 1778 the General Court found some difficulty 
 in securing commanders. 
 
 The movements of the armed vessels of the Massachusetts navy- 
 were quite similar to the movements of the naval vessels of Con- 
 gress. 87 The smaller fleet like the larger cruised in European 
 waters, in the region of the West Indies, and to the eastward of 
 the Bermudas in the path of the richly-laden West Indiamen. 
 The Massachusetts vessels, however, cruised more frequently 
 nearer home. About the first of June, 1779, the Hazard and 
 Tyrannicide were in the region of Nantucket. After 1779 the 
 vessels were frequently ordered to protect the Eastern Coast. In 
 the spring of 1777 the Tyrannicide, Captain Jonathan Haraden, 
 Massachusetts, Captain John Fisk, and Freedom, Captain John 
 Clouston, cruised eastward as far as the coasts of France and 
 Spain, capturing some twenty-five prizes, many of which however 
 were recaptured by the British. 88 This was a most fortunate ven- 
 
 86 Journals of House of Representatives, January 6, 1779. 
 
 "The vessels in the Massachusets navy with the approximate periods of 
 their service was as follows: Sloop, Machias Liberty, 1775-1776; schooner, 
 Diligent, 1775-1776; brigantine (at first a sloop), Tyrannicide, 1776-1779; 
 brigantine, Rising Empire, 1776-1777; brigantine, Independence, 1776-1777; 
 sloop, Republic, 1776-1777; sloop, Freedom, 1776-1777; brigantine, Massa- 
 chusetts, 1776-1778; brigantine, Hazard, 1777-1779; brigantine, Active, 
 1779; frigate, Protector, 1779-1781; ship, Mars, 1780-1781 ; sloop, Defence, 
 1781; ship, Tartar, 1782-1783; sloop, Winthrop, 1782-1783; and galley, 
 Lincoln, 1779-1781. Most of these vessels mounted from ten to twenty 
 guns, 4's and 6's. The only larger vessel was the Protector, 26. Vessels 
 such as the Tyrannicide, Hazard, and Winthrop carried about 125 officers 
 and men. The following captains were the chief officers in the Massa- 
 chusetts navy: Jeremiah O'Brian, John Lambert, John Fisk, John Foster 
 Williams, John Clouston, Jonathan Haraden, Daniel Souther, Simeon 
 Samson, Richard Welden, Allen Hallet, James Nevens, John Cathcart, 
 and George Little. Massachusetts did not establish the rank of commodore. 
 
 88 These three vessels captured the four prizes mentioned in the follow- 
 ing advertisement which appeared in the Continental Journal and Weekly 
 Advertiser for July 3, 1777, a paper published at Boston. The advertise- 
 ment is introduced here to illustrate the final disposition of prize vessels : 
 
 To be sold by Public Auction at eleven o'clock on Wednesday the 23d 
 of July instant at Mr. Tileston's wharf in Boston, the following prizes with 
 their appurtenances. 
 
 The Ship Lonsdale, about 250 tons. Brig Penelope, about 130 tons. 
 Brig Britannia, about 140 tons. Scow Sally, about 180 tons. 
 
 The above prizes lay at Tileston's wharf. They are all good vessels 
 and well found. Inventories to be seen at the sheriff's office Cornhill, and 
 at the place of sale. W. Greenleaf, Sheriff. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 147 
 
 ture, for all told one can not now count more than seventy prizes 
 captured by the Massachusetts navy. In the summer of 1780 the 
 Board of War turned over the Mars, Captain Simeon Samson, 
 to the Massachusetts Committee for Foreign Affairs which sent 
 her to France and Holland for supplies. 
 
 The state vessels were at times joined in cruises with priva- 
 teers or with Continental vessels ; and enterprises were concerted 
 with all three classes of armed craft. In April, 1777, the state 
 took into its service for a month nine privateers, mounting 130 
 guns, and carrying 1,030 men, to cruise with the Continental fri- 
 gates Hancock and Boston after the British frigate Mil ford which 
 had been especially annoying and destructive to the trade of the 
 state. 89 In February, 1781, the Protector was cruising with the \^/ 
 Continental frigate Deane thirty leagues windward of Antigua. 
 In March, 1781, the Admiral of the French fleet at Newport was 
 requested to send two French ships to cruise with the Mars on 
 the Eastern Shore; and a bounty was offered to privateers who 
 would cruise against the " worthless banditti " in that region."* 
 
 The capture of a prize often amounted to little more than the 
 chasing of a merchantman and the firing of a few shots as a sig- 
 nal for surrender. At times, however, when the merchantman 
 was armed or when the enemy's vessel happened to be a priva- 
 teer the action was more serious. One of the most severe single 
 engagements in which a Massachusetts vessel was concerned was 
 that between the Protector 26, Captain John Foster Williams, 
 and the privateer frigate Admiral Duff 32, Captain Stranger. It 
 took place on June 9, 1780, in latitude 42 N. and longitude 47 
 W. The engagement was heavy for an hour and a half when 
 the Admiral Duff, having caught fire, blew up, all on board being 
 lost except fifty-five men who were picked up by the Protector. 
 The American vessel lost six men." The following brief account 
 of one of these minor engagements told in the simple and direct 
 language of the Massachusetts captain who took part in it is taken 
 from a letter of Captain Allen Hallet to the Board of War, which 
 is dated at sea on board the Tyrannicide, latitude 28 N., longi- 
 tude 68° W., March 31, 1779. This graphic account shows with 
 
 39 Massachusetts Resolves, April 26, 1777 ; Massachusetts Revolutionary 
 Archives, XL, 29, 55. 
 *° Massachusets Resolves,' March 2, 1781. 
 " Massachusetts Gazette, July 24, 1780. 
 
148 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 clearness the character of the minor engagements of the Revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 " I have the pleasure of sending this to you by Mr. John Blanch 
 who goes prizemaster of my Prize, the Privateer Brig Revenge, 
 lately commanded by Capt. Robert Fendall belonging to Grenada, 
 but last from Jamaica, mounting 14 Carriage Guns, 6 & 4 pound- 
 ers, 4 swivels & 2 Cohorns, & sixty ablebodied Men, which I took 
 after a very smart & Bloody Engagement, in which they had 8 
 men killed & fourteen wounded, the Vessell cut very much to. 
 pieces by my Shott, so that they had no command of her at all — 
 amongst the killed was the 1st Lieut. & one Quarter Mr. — 
 amongst the wounded is the Capt. 2nd. Lieut. & Gunner — I cap- 
 tured her as follows: on the 29 Inst, at 4 PM. I made her 
 about 4 leagues to windward coming down upon us, upon which 
 I cleared the Ship and got all hands to Quarter, ready for an 
 Engagement, I stood close upon the Wind waiting for her, about 
 half past six PM. she came up with me, and hailed me, ask'd 
 me where I was from, I told them I was from Boston & asked 
 where they were from, they said from Jamaica & that they were 
 a British Cruizer, I immedately told them I was an American 
 Cruizer, upon which they ordered me to Strike, & seeing I did not 
 intend to gratify their desires, they rang'd up under my Lee & 
 gave me a Broadside, I immediately return'd the Compliment & 
 dropping a Stern, I got under their Lee and then pour'd our 
 Broadsides into her from below and out of the Tops, so fast & so 
 well directed that in one hour & a Quarter we dismantled two of 
 her Guns & drove them from their Quarter & compell'd them to 
 Strike their Colors, during the whole Engagement we were not 
 at any one time more than half Pistol Shott distant & some part 
 of the Time our Yards were lock'd with theirs — I had Eight men 
 wounded only two of which are Bad — amongst the wounded are 
 my first Lieut. & Master, I intended to man her and keep her as 
 a Consort during the Cruize, but having twenty wounded Men 
 on board, of my own men & prisoners I thought it Best to send 
 her home, with all the wounded men on board under the Care of 
 the Surgeons Mate." M 
 
 By far the largest naval undertaking of the Revolution made 
 by the Americans was the Penobscot Expedition. Until 1779 
 
 42 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XLIV, 408. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 149 
 
 the general policy of those who managed the fleet of Massa- 
 chusetts was to send its vessels cruising against the British trans- 
 ports, merchantmen, and small privateers, leaving the coast to be 
 defended by the seacoast establishment and by local forces. In 
 August, 1777, the Council agreed with this policy for it then spoke 
 of the Continental vessels, the state vessels, and the privateers 
 as " imporper " to be employed in clearing the coasts of these 
 "vermin."' 3 In April, 1779, it disapproved this policy. It now 
 in a message to the House submitted whether, instead of sending 
 the armed vessels of the state on long cruises after prizes, it 
 would not have been vastly more to the advantage and profit of 
 the state to have employed them cruising on the coast of Massa- 
 chusetts for the protection of trade and the defence of harbors 
 and seacoasts, " which have been left in such an unguarded and 
 defenceless Situation that where we have taken one Vessel of the 
 Enemy their small privateers out of New York have taken ten 
 from us." 44 It would seem that the Board of War was right in 
 employing its fleet in prize-getting rather than in defensive war- 
 fare. The capturing of small privateers and merchantmen were 
 the only enterprises for which the Revolutionary fleets were 
 adapted. Those vessels that cruised continually near the Ameri- 
 can coast sooner or later fell foul of the stouter and better armed 
 ships of the enemy. The Board of War, had it not responded 
 to the commercial spirit of the times, would have been com- 
 pelled to adopt the methods of the privateers, did it wish to suc- 
 ceed in its competition with them for seamen. 
 
 During the first half of 1779 the British vessels were very de- 
 structive to the trade and shipping of Massachusetts and New 
 Hampshire. On June 9, 1779, eight hundred of the enemy, en- 
 couraged by certain Tories in Maine, effected a lodgement on the 
 Maine coast at a place called Bagaduce, now Castine, near the 
 mouth of the Penobscot river. 45 This made a fine vantage-point 
 
 43 Ibid., 268. 
 
 "Journals of Massachusetts House of Representatives, April 7, 1779. 
 
 44 Amory's Sullivan, II, 376-78, James Sullivan to John Sullivan, August 
 30, 1779. James Sullivan says that the occupation of Bagaduce by the 
 British greatly alarmed Boston and neighboring seaports at the prospect 
 of a scarcity of wood ; and that men who had made their fortunes by war, 
 for once and for a moment, felt a public spirit, and freely offered their 
 ships to the government. They were careful to have their ships appraised 
 and insured by the state, which of course suffered the loss on the failure 
 of the expedition. 
 
150 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 as a base for naval operations. The appeal for naval protection 
 which the inhabitants of Massachusetts now made upon her was 
 a strong one. Towards the close of June the Massachusetts 
 government began concerting with the Continental Navy Board 
 at Boston and with the government of New Hampshire an expedi- 
 tion to capture and destroy this British station. Samuel Adams, 
 who had recently retired from the chairmanship of the Marine 
 Committee of Congress and had returned to Boston furthered 
 the enterprise. To the fleet which was now formed, New Hamp- 
 shire contributed the Hampden, 22 ; the Navy Board at Boston, 
 the Continental vessels, Warren, 32, Providence, 12, and Dili- 
 gent, 12; and Massachusetts, the three state brigantines, Tyran- 
 nicide, 16, Hazard, 14, and Active, 14, together with thirteen pri- 
 vateers, which were temporarily taken into the state service. 
 These twenty armed vessels mounted in all 324 guns, and were 
 manned by more than 2,000 men. Besides the armed fleet there 
 were twenty transports which carried upwards of 1,000 state 
 militia. The naval forces were under the command of Captain 
 Dudley Saltonstall of the Continental navy ; and the troops were 
 commanded by Brigadier-General Solomon Lovell of the state 
 military forces of Massachusetts. Paul Revere was Chief of 
 Artillery with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 
 
 The assembling, manning, provisioning, and fitting of so many 
 vessels greatly taxed the resources of Massachusetts. The fleet 
 left Boston on July 19, and during the last days of the month it 
 appeared off the Penobscot and attacked Bagaduce with only 
 partial success, failing to take the main fort. Before a second 
 attempt was made a British fleet from New York under the com- 
 mand of Sir George Collier, who had received news of the expe- 
 dition, appeared in the Penobscot. The British fleet consisted 
 of the Raisonndble, 64; Blonde and Virginia, 32's; Greyhound, 
 Camilla, and Gallatea, 20's ; and Otter, 14 ; together with three 
 small vessels at the garrison, the Nautilus, 16, Albany, 14, and 
 North, 14. It mounted 248 guns and carried more than 
 1600 men. In number of guns and men the advantage lay 
 with the Americans, but in weight of metal and tonnage it was 
 probably with the British. On the morning of August 14 the 
 British fleet came in sight of the American. The two fleets were 
 barely in range of each others guns when the Americans were 
 seized with a panic, and fled with their vessels helter skelter up 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 151 
 
 the river, pursued by the British. The Americans offered almost 
 no resistance whatever, but ran their ships ashore, set fire to them, 
 and escaped afoot, when not too closely pursued. With the ex- 
 ception of two or three vessels which were captured, the Ameri- 
 can fleet was annihilated. The British lost 13; the American 
 loss has been placed at 474. The larger part of the American 
 sailors .and soldiers returned by woods to New Hampshire and 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 The total cost of this expedition to Massachusetts as calculated 
 by the Board of War was £1,739,175. The larger part of this 
 sum £1,390,200 was charged to the account of the navy. It suf- 
 fered the loss of three state armed vessels and a victualer, nine 
 privateers, and twenty transports. Among the twenty trans- 
 ports, with possibly one exception, was the whole trading fleet 
 of the state. Soon after the disaster a joint committee of the 
 Massachusetts House of Representatives and Council with Arte- 
 mas Ward as president, held an inquiry and made a report on 
 the causes of the failure of the expedition. In answer to the ques- 
 tion, " what appears the principal reason of the failure," the com- 
 mittee decided unanimously, " want of proper Spirit and Energy 
 on the part of the Commodore." A court-martial which was 
 held on the frigate Deane in Boston harbor about the first of 
 October found against Captain Saltonstall, and dismissed him 
 from the navy. Rarely has a more ignominious military opera- 
 tion been made by Americans than the Penobscot Expedition. A 
 New Englander with some justice has likened it to Hull's sur- 
 render at Detroit. Had it been successful, it would not have 
 been worth the effort it cost. Its object had no national signi- 
 ficance ; it was an eccentric operation. " Bad in conception, bad 
 in preparation, bad in execution, it naturally ended in disaster 
 and disgrace." ** 
 
 Besides the Tyrannicide, Hazard, and Active the Massachu- 
 setts navy lost to the enemy at least three other vessels. Towards 
 the close of 1777 the British captured the Freedom and Inde- 
 
 49 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, CXLV, 199-203, 35°; Wey- 
 mouth Historical Journal, chapters VII-X, gives the best account of the 
 Penobscot expedition, also contains the Original Journal of General Solo- 
 mon Lovell kept on the expedition; Massachusetts Historical Society Col- 
 lections 7th, II, 430; Proceedings of Massachusetts Historical Society 2d, 
 XII, 201-202; Clowes' Royal Navy, IV, 28-29. 
 
152 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 pcndcnce. On May 5, 1781, His Majesty's ships Roebuck, 44, 
 and Medea, 28, captured the Protector, 26, with more than one 
 hundred and thirty men on board. 47 She was added to the Royal 
 Navy as the Hussar. In the latter half of 1782 Captain George 
 Little in the Winthrop cruised on the Eastern Coast and captured 
 and sent into Boston " nearly the whole of the arm'd force they 
 possessed at Penobscot," thus in part retrieving the naval honor 
 of his state. 48 Acting under orders of Governor Hancock, Little 
 in the Winthrop made the last cruise of the Massachusetts navy 
 when in the winter of 1782- 1783 he visited Martinique. On his 
 return, he was fitting for a cruise on the Eastern Coast when 
 about April 1, news of permanent peace arrived. On June 4, 
 1783, the Commissary-General was directed to sell the Winthrop, 
 the last vessel in the navy. The Tartar had been sold during the 
 past winter. 49 Captain Little's accounts were being settled in 
 March, 1785. 
 
 In July, 1775, Virginia began to raise and officer an army of 
 more than one thousand men. By the fall of that year Lord Dun- 
 more, the Provincial Governor of Virginia, who in June had re- 
 treated to His Majesty's ship Fozuey at Yorktown, had collected a 
 small flotilla, and had begun a series of desultory attacks upon the 
 river banks of Virginia. On October 25 he was repulsed at 
 Hampton ; on December 9 he was beaten by the Virginia patriots 
 at Great Bridge ; and on January 1 he burned Norfolk. His move- 
 ments excited so much alarm that the leading patriot families on 
 the James, York, Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers retreated in- 
 land for safety. In order to prevent the depredations of Lord 
 Dunmore, and to provide effectually for the general defence of the 
 state, the Virginia Provincial Convention in December authorized 
 the Committee of Safety of the state to " provide from time to 
 time such and so many armed vessels as they may judge necessary 
 for the protection of the several rivers in this colony, in the best 
 manner the circumstances of the country will admit." The 
 Committee of Safety was further directed to raise a sufficient 
 
 47 Massachusetts Revolutionary Archives, XXXIX, 45. 
 
 48 Ibid., CLVIII, 274, Message of Governor Hancock to House of Repre- 
 sentatives, February 6, 1783. 
 
 48 Massachusetts Resolves, June 4, 1783. Those naval vessels which were 
 not captured, destroyed, or sold, were either returned to their owners, 
 when rented, or thrown out of commission and employed in other services. 
 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 153 
 
 number of officers, sailors, and marines ; and settle their pay, pro- 
 vided certain specified rates were not exceeded. The maximum 
 wage of " the chief commander of the whole as commodore " was 
 fixed at fifteen shillings a day. 50 
 
 Between December, 1775, and July, 1776, the Committee of 
 Safety procured and established a small navy. On April 1 it 
 fixed the naval pay, generally at the maximum rates permitted. 
 Captains in the navy were to receive a daily wage of 8s. ; captains 
 of marines, 6s.; midshipmen, 3s.; marines, is. 6d. The Com- 
 mittee resolved that two years ought to be a maximum period of 
 service. It appointed a number of the most prominent officers 
 in the Virginia navy, among whom were Captains James Barron, 
 Richard Barron, Richard Taylor, Thomas Lilly, and Edward 
 Travis. It fixed the relative rank between army and navy 
 officers. It purchased the boats Liberty and Patriot, the brigs 
 Liberty and Adventure, and the schooner Adventure. It con- 
 tracted for the construction of a number of galleys on the dif- 
 ferent rivers of the state. 51 
 
 George Mason and John Dalton were appointed a committee 
 to build two row-galleys, and buy three cutters for the defence of 
 the Potomac. In April, 1776, Mason wrote that the galleys were 
 well under way, and that three small vessels had been purchased, 
 of which the largest was a fine stout craft of about no tons 
 burden, mounting fourteen 8's and 4's, carrying ninety-six men, 
 and named the American Congress. A company of marines 
 for this vessel, he said, were being exercised in the use of the 
 great guns. 52 The Committee of Safety chose a " Lieutenant of 
 Marines in the Potomac river Department." 
 
 The Provincial Convention of Virginia, which met at Williams- 
 burg on May 6, 1776, being convinced that the naval prepara- 
 tions would be conducted more expeditiously and successfully if 
 proper persons were appointed to superintend and direct the same, 
 chose a Board of Naval Commissioners consisting of five per- 
 
 50 Hening. Statutes of Virginia, IX, 83. 
 
 61 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, VIII, 75-240, Journal of Com- 
 mittee of Safety of Virginia, February 7 to July 5, 1776. Virginia had a 
 class of vessels which she referred to as armed boats. They were smart 
 craft, and appear to have been schooner-rigged. 
 
 52 Miss Rowland's George Mason, I, 214, 218. 
 
154 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 sons. 53 The Board was authorized to appoint a clerk and 
 assistants, and to elect from its membership a First Commissioner 
 of the Navy, the title of a well-known officer in the English 
 naval service. No member of the Board could sit in the legis- 
 lature or hold a military office. Each Commissioner was to 
 receive twenty shillings a day, when employed. On the depre- 
 ciation of the currency this was doubled." A majority of the 
 Board constituted a quorum. Thomas Whiting served as First 
 Commissioner of the Board throughout its existence. 
 
 In general the business of the Navy Board was to " superintend 
 and direct all matters and things to the navy relating." It had 
 charge of the building, purchase, fitting, arming, provisioning, 
 and repairing of all armed vessels and transports. It had charge 
 of the shipyards and the public rope-walk. In case of vacancies in 
 the navy or the marines it recommended officers to the Governor 
 and Council. It could suspend an officer for neglect of duty or 
 for misbehavior. It was to keep itself informed on the state of 
 the navy through reports from the naval officers. It was author- 
 ized to draw warrants on the treasury for money expended in the 
 naval department, and to audit the naval accounts. 
 
 The Navy Board had charge of naval affairs in Virginia for 
 three years, from the summer of 1776 until the summer of 1779. 
 During 1776 and 1777 vessels were built on the Eastern Shore 
 of Virginia, on the Potomac, Rappahannock, Mattapony, Chicka- 
 hominy, and James rivers, and at Portsmouth, Gosport, and 
 South Quay. After 1777 vessels were chiefly built at the Chicka- 
 hominy and Gosport shipyards. No other state owned so much 
 land, property, and manufactories, devoted to naval purposes as 
 Virginia. In April, 1777, the Navy Board purchased 115 acres 
 of land, for £595, on the Chickahominy twelve miles from its 
 confluence with the James. 65 Virginia's ships .found here a safer 
 retreat than at Gosport, which lay convenient for the enemy's 
 
 63 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 149-51. The Provincial Convention 
 which met May 6, 1776, adopted a Constitution which provided for a 
 Legislature of two houses, and an Executive consisting of a Governor and 
 a Privy Council of eight members. 
 
 54 Ibid., 521-22, October session of General Assembly in 1778. 
 
 55 Southern Literary Messenger, 1857, 14. The references to this maga- 
 zine refer to a series of valuable articles entitled the "Virginia Navy of 
 the Revolution." 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 155 
 
 ships. It is said that before the Revolution the British had es- 
 tablished a marine-yard at Gosport, and named it for Gosport, 
 England, where they had an important dockyard. In some way 
 Virginia came into possession of the shipyard at this place. 06 Two 
 ships were built for the defence of Ocracoke Inlet, the chief en- 
 trance to Albemarle Sound, at South Quay on the Blackwater 
 a few miles north of the North Carolina line. 
 
 At Warwick on the James a few miles below Richmond the 
 state built and operated a rope-walk. The state owned a man- 
 ufactory of sail-duck and a foundry. In July, 1776, four naval 
 magazines were established, one each for the James, York, Rap- 
 pahannock, and Potomac rivers. For each magazine one or two 
 agents were appointed to collect and issue provisions, ship-sup- 
 plies, and naval stores." For the location of the magazine on 
 the Potomac the General Assembly authorized the Navy Board to 
 purchase an acre of land at the head of " Potomack Creek." 5 ' 
 In January, 1777, the Navy Board appointed James Maxwell, 
 Naval Agent, to superintend the shipyards, and the building, 
 rigging, equipping, and repairing of the naval vessels. He was 
 to follow the instructions of the Board and keep it informed on 
 the state of the navy. 69 Maxwell's annual salary was £300, pay- 
 able quarterly. He lived at the Chickahominy shipyard. 
 
 Virginia had a naval staff consisting of pay masters, muster 
 masters, surgeons, and chaplains. The captains and recruiting 
 officers enlisted seamen. Their task was rendered difficult not 
 so much on account of the superior attractions of privateering, 
 as in New England, as because of the small number of seamen 
 resident in the state. The first commodore of the Virginia navy 
 was John Henry Boucher. He was serving as lieutenant in the 
 Maryland navy when in March, 1776, Virginia called him to 
 the command of her Potomac fleet, and soon promoted him to the 
 head of her navy. 80 He served as commodore for only a few 
 months, resigning in November, 1776. Walter Brooke was com- 
 modore from April, 1777, until September, 1778. Brooke's 
 
 56 E. P. Lull, History of U. S. Navy Yard at Gosport, Virginia, 8-1 1. 
 
 57 Journals of Virginia Navy Board, Virginia State Archives, June 25, 
 June 26, 1776. 
 
 58 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 235-36. 
 "Journals of Virginia Navy Board, January 7, 1777. 
 80 Maryland Archives, XI, 293-94. 
 
156 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 successor, James Barron, was not appointed until July, 1780; he 
 served until the end of the war. The commodore of the navy 
 made his headquarters regularly at or about Hampton, and super- 
 intended the armed vessels in that part of the state. 61 
 
 In Virginia, as in other states and in the Continental Congress, 
 naval enthusiasm and interest was at its height in 1776. In the 
 fall of that year the Navy Board contracted for the building of 
 twenty-four small transports. 62 The General Assembly in its Oc- 
 tober session authorized the Navy Board to construct two frig- 
 ates of thirty-two guns each, and four large galleys adapted " for 
 river or sea service." For manning these galleys and those 
 already building the Navy Board was empowered to raise thirteen 
 hundred men, exclusive of officers, to serve three years from 
 March 3, 1777. It was to recommend proper officers to the Gov- 
 ernor and Council. Having been commissioned by the Governor, 
 the officers were to enlist the crews of their respective galleys. As 
 it would be impossible to secure a sufficient number of experienced 
 seamen, it was provided that each crew should consist of three 
 classes of men : able seamen, at a daily wage of 3s. ; ordinary sea- 
 men, at 2s. ; and common landsmen, at is. 6d. As the men in the 
 second and third classes became proficient, they were to be pro- 
 moted. Every recruit was given a bounty of $20. 63 
 
 The Provincial Convention in its December session in 1775 
 erected a Court of Admiralty consisting of three judges to en- 
 force the Continental Association against trading with England. 
 In its May session in 1776 it gave this court jurisdiction over all 
 captures of the enemy's vessels. The General Assembly at its 
 October session in 1776 superseded all previous admiralty legis- 
 lation by an " Act for Establishing a Court of Admiralty." Such 
 court was to consist of three judges elected by joint ballot of the 
 two houses of the General Assembly. They were to hold their 
 offices " for so long a time as they shall demean themselves well 
 therein." The court, which was to be held at some place to be 
 fixed by the General Assembly, was to have cognizance of " all 
 
 61 Journals of Virginia Navy; State Navy Papers, I; Southern Literary 
 Messenger, 1857, 3. 
 
 "Journal of Virginia Navy Board, September-October, 1776. 
 
 63 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 196-97- In August, 1776, the Navy 
 Board drew up a list of naval rules which were endorsed by the Governor 
 and Council. Journals of Virginia Navy Board, August 2, 1776. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 157 
 
 causes heretofore of admiralty jurisdiction in this country." Its 
 proceedings and decisions were to be governed by the regulations 
 of the Continental Congress, the acts of the General Assembly of 
 Virginia, the English Statutes prior to the fourth year of the 
 reign of James ; and by the laws of Oleron and the Rhodian and 
 Imperial laws, so far as they have been heretofore observed in the 
 English courts of admiralty. In cases relating to captures from 
 a public enemy with whom the United States should be at war, 
 and in which a conflict should arise between the regulations of 
 Congress and the acts of the General Assembly, the regulations 
 of Congress should take precedence ; in all other cases of conflict 
 the acts of Virginia were to prevail. This provision is of partic- 
 ular interest. It is one of the first instances in which a state 
 recognized the superiority of federal law when in conflict with 
 state law. Virginia was liberal in granting appeals to Congress, 
 as she permitted them in all cases of capture of the enemy's 
 vessels." 
 
 The Admiralty Court of Virginia had few prize cases. Gov- 
 ernor Thomas Jefferson in writing to the President of Congress 
 in June, 1779, no doubt understates the truth when he says that 
 " a British prize would be a more rare phenomenon here than a 
 comet, because one has been seen, but the other never was." His 
 state, he said, had long suffered from a lack of blank letters of 
 marque, and he wished fifty to be sent to him. 85 Virginia did not 
 establish state privateering, but followed the regulations of Con- 
 gress on this subject. Because of the lack of seamen and the 
 continual presence of the enemy's vessels at the mouths of the 
 Virginia rivers, the privateering interest was not important in this 
 state. 
 
 The Navy Board superintended both the trading and armed 
 vessels of the state until April, 1777, when the trading vessels 
 were placed in charge of William Aylett. 68 Writers on the Vir- 
 ginia navy have not as a rule distinguished one class of vessels 
 from the other, nor is it always easy to do so. During 1776 
 seven vessels were employed chiefly in commerce." In the fall 
 
 64 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, IX, 103, 131-32, 202-08. 
 
 65 Ford, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, II, 241-43. 
 
 66 Journals of Virginia Navy Board, April 8, 1777. 
 
 67 These vessels were the brig Adventure, the schooners Hornet, Peace 
 and Plenty, Revenge, and Speedwell, sloop Agatha, and armed boat 
 Molly. The lists of vessels here given were compiled from the Virginia 
 naval archives. 
 
158 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 most of them were ordered to the West Indies with cargoes of 
 flour and tobacco ; one, the brig Adventure, was directed to 
 proceed to Dunkirk, France. The armed fleet for 1776 consisted 
 of sixteen small craft adapted chiefly for service in the rivers of 
 Virginia and in Chesapeake Bay. 68 In 1777 the galleys Accomac 
 and Diligence were built and stationed on the Eastern Shore; 
 and the ships Caswell and Washington were built at South Quay 
 on the Blackwater for the defence of Ocracoke Inlet, which Vir- 
 ginia was undertaking jointly with North Carolina. Besides 
 these four vessels, two brigs, one armed boat, and the ships 
 Gloucester, Protector, Dragon, and Tartar were this year added 
 to the navy. In 1778 an armed boat and the ships Tempest and 
 Thetis were built; and in 1779 two armed boats, the brig 
 Jefferson, and the ship Virginia were added. 89 
 
 This fleet is formidable only in its enumeration. It was poorly 
 armed, imcompletely manned, and in almost every respect illfitted 
 for service. But few of its vessels went beyond Chesapeake Bay. 
 It showed most activity during 1776 and the spring of 1777. 
 From 1775 until 1779 fifteen small prizes were captured. In 
 May, 1776, Captain Taylor seized four small merchantmen ; in 
 June one of the Barrons brought up to Jamestown the transport 
 Oxford with 220 Highlanders on board ; in the spring of 1777 the 
 Mosquito, Captain Harris, carried into St. Pierre the ship Noble 
 valued at 75,000 livres ; and a few months earlier the brig Liberty 
 captured the ship Jane whose cargo of West India goods were 
 valued at £6,000. These were the most fortunate captures made 
 by the Virginia navy. 70 
 
 ^ These vessels were the galleys Henry, Hero, Lewis, Manly, Norfolk 
 Revenge, Page, and Safeguard; the brigs Liberty, Mosquito, Northampton, 
 and Raleigh; the schooners Liberty and Adventure; the sloop Scorpion, 
 and the armed boats Liberty and Patriot. The schooner Liberty was taken 
 into the trading fleet as the Hornet. It is believed that this list does not 
 contain the vessels in Mason's Potomac fleet. 
 
 60 The names of the vessels not mentioned in the text which were added 
 during 1777, 1778, and 1779 were the brigs Greyhound and Hampton, and 
 the armed boats Nicholson, Experiment, Dolphin, and Fly. The names of 
 several other vessels, which were probably used in trade, occur during this 
 period. Some of the ships are at times referred to as galleys. 
 
 70 Files of Virginia Gazette ; Journals of Virginia Convention, May 8, 
 1776; Virginia Historical Register, I, 77; Calendar of Virginia State 
 Papers, III, 365. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 159 
 
 Virginia's naval craft met with the usual misfortunes. During 
 the first half of 1777 His Majesty's ship Ariadne captured the 
 Mosquito. About the same time the frigate Phoenix took the 
 Raleigh. The British made two raids into Virginia which were 
 destructive to both the shipping of the state and private indi- 
 viduals. The first was ordered by Clinton in the spring of 1779, 
 the troops being under the command of Matthews and Collier. 
 At the Gosport shipyard they destroyed five uncompleted vessels, 
 three of which were frigates, besides a large quantity of masts, 
 yards, timber, plank, iron, and other ship's stores. The ship- 
 yards on the Nansemond were looted; and twenty-two vessels 
 with a considerable quantity of powder were taken or destroyed 
 on the " South Branch of the Navy." Suffolk was burned and 
 upwards of two thousand barrels of Continental Pork and fifteen 
 hundred barrels of flour were destroyed. In all one hundred and 
 thirty vessels were burned. 71 The raid of Arnold and Phillips 
 will be considered later. 
 
 The General Assembly at its May session, 1779, discontinued 
 the Navy Board and vested its strictly naval duties with a newly 
 created Board of War consisting of five members. The Board 
 of War was empowered to appoint a Naval Commissioner. A 
 Board of Trade was now given charge of the trading vessels 
 of the state and of the state manufactories of military supplies." 
 
 The General Assembly in its May session, 1780, " for the pur- 
 pose of introducing economy into all the various departments of 
 government, and for conducting the publick business with the 
 greatest expedition " abolished the Boards of War and Trade, 
 and authorized the Governor to appoint a Commissioner of the 
 War, a Commercial Agent, and coordinate with these two a Com- 
 missioner of the Navy. This act is properly regarded as the out- 
 growth of the same movement for economy and efficiency in 
 administration, which resulted in the establishment in January 
 and February, 1781, of single-headed departments of the Con- 
 tinental Congress. The salary of the Commissioner of the Navy 
 was fixed at thirty thousand pounds of tobacco a year, and that 
 of his clerk at ten thousand pounds. 73 The Commissioner was 
 
 11 Almon's Remembrancer, 1779, 289-95, account given by British officers ; 
 Records of State of North Carolina, XIV, 85-86, 94-95. Some of the 
 vessels destroyed at Gosport probably belonged to Congress. 
 
 ,2 Hening, Statutes of Virginia, X, 15-18, 123. 
 
 73 Ibid., 278, 291-92. 
 
160 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 to be under the " controul and direction of the governour and 
 council." Governor Jefferson appointed James Maxwell, the 
 naval agent under the Navy Board, Commissioner of the Navy. 
 
 At the October session of this year, moved by its need for 
 money and the impossibility of fitting out the whole fleet, the 
 General Assembly, ordered the governor to sell nine of the armed 
 vessels and to equip and man the remaining six with all diligence. 
 For some reason the governor did not carry out the order. 
 There was probably little market for the vessels. 
 
 The General Assembly in the May session of 1779,. as an in- 
 ducement to enlistment, granted seamen and marines additional 
 bounties and pensions. Recruits entering for the rest of the war 
 were now to receive $750 and one hundred acres of land. They 
 were to be furnished upon enlistment, and once a year thereafter- 
 wards, with a complete suit of clothes. Naval officers were enti- 
 tled to a " grant of the like quantity of lands as is allowed officers 
 of the same rank in the Virginia regiments on continental estab- 
 lishment." Disabled sailors and the widows of the slain were 
 entitled to immediate relief and an annual pension. 74 
 
 The years 1780 and 1781 were marked by a renewed naval ac- 
 tivity in Virginia. It is recalled that the theater of war had 
 now shifted to the Southern states. Savannah was in the hands 
 of the enemy. Charleston surrendered in May, 1780. By the 
 fall of 1780 the lowlands of the states to the south of Virginia 
 were generally in the possession of the British. Apparently 
 Virginia would be the next to feel the rough hand of the con- 
 quering enemy. British privateers and naval craft lay off the 
 mouths of the Virginia rivers and captured all the vessels that 
 ventured towards the Bay or the sea. Early in 1780 it was ap- 
 prehended that the enemy meditated an invasion of the coasts 
 of the state. 
 
 When the General Assembly met in May, 1780, it at once 
 took measures for the protection of the coasts. It passed 
 " an act for putting the eastern frontier of this commonwealth 
 into a posture of defence." This act after providing for call- 
 ing out the militia in the seaport counties, ordered the Gov- 
 ernor and Council to direct the Commissioner of the Navy 
 to immediately make ready for service in the Bay and on the 
 seacoast the ships Thetis, Tempest, and Dragon, the brig Jeffer- 
 
 74 Hening, IX, 537; X, 23-24, 217. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 161 
 
 son, and the galleys Henry, Accomac, and Diligence. Three 
 hundred marines to be commanded by five captains and 
 fifteen lieutenants were to be recruited. Marines and sailors who 
 enlisted for three years were to receive a bounty of $1,000. 
 Naval officers were put on the same footing in regard to pay, 
 rations, and privileges as officers of the same rank in the land 
 service. 75 
 
 When the Legislature came together in October, 1780, the situ- 
 ation being still more critical, it was moved to pass an additional 
 act for the defence of the seacoast. This act shows that the navy 
 was in sore need for seamen and money and it provided drastic 
 measures to secure both. Naval officers were now authorized, 
 under certain restrictions and limitations, to impress seamen. 
 The eastern counties of the state were directed to bind to the sea 
 " under the most prudent captains that can be procured to take 
 them " one-half of all orphans of certain descriptions living be- 
 low the falls of the Virginia rivers. A hospital for seamen was 
 established at Hampton to be maintained by a tax of nine pence 
 a month on the salaries of all mariners and seamen in either the 
 navy or the merchant service of the state. Officers and seamen 
 were given the whole of their captures ; and still other induce- 
 ments to enlistment, by way of pay and clothing, were held out. 
 
 Two new galleys of the same construction as those built by 
 Congress in 1776 carrying two 32's at the bow and at the stern, 
 and 6's at the sides, were ordered for the defence of the Ches- 
 apeake. Five vessels of the state fleet were to be immediately 
 made ready for service; and all the other naval vessels were to 
 be sold and the proceeds devoted to naval purposes. For the use 
 of the navy import duties were laid upon rum, gin, brandy, and 
 other spirits ; on wine, molasses and sugar ; and on all imported 
 dry goods, except salt, munitions of war, and iron from Mary- 
 land. Tonnage was laid upon merchant vessels. Despite these 
 efforts few seamen and little money were raised, and the fleet dur- 
 ing 1780, accomplished almost nothing. 77 " 
 
 The salient event in the history of the Virginia navy in 1781 
 was the invasion of Arnold and Phillips during the first half of 
 the year. Arnold was first reported on the coast of Virginia on 
 December 29, 1780, when his fleet consisting of twenty-seven sail 
 
 75 Hening, X, 296-99. 76 Hening, X, 379-86. 
 
 11 
 
 7^ 
 
 / 
 
162 Administration of the Massachusetts and 
 
 was seen at Willoughby Point. 77 Governor Jefferson began at 
 once to make strenuous efforts to get the Virginia fleet in condi- 
 tion to oppose Arnold. The role of Admiral was an odd one for 
 Jefferson. In February, he sent Benjamin Harrison, Speaker of 
 the Virginia House of Delegates to Philadelphia to obtain from 
 the French minister the aid of the French fleet. 78 A half dozen 
 or more privateers were taken into the service of the state. 
 Twelve vessels of the state fleet of 1776- 1779 still remained. 
 Most if not all of these vessels were either at the Chickahominy 
 shipyard and nearby on the James, or else at the mouth of the 
 James. Few of these vessels were sufficiently manned to render 
 much service. On April 26, Maxwell reported 78 men on board 
 seven vessels, whose complement was 520. Other vessels had 
 neither arms nor men. 79 
 
 In April, 1781, Arnold and Phillips made their raid up the 
 James, penetrating as far as Richmond. On April 21 and 22 a 
 detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie destroyed the 
 shipyard on the Chickahominy, including a number of naval craft 
 and the warehouses. On April 27 at Osbornes, on the James a 
 few miles below Richmond the Virginia fleet supported by two or 
 three hundred militia upon the shore opposite the British army, 
 drew up to oppose the enemy. It consisted of six ships, eight 
 brigs, five sloops, two schooners, and a number of smaller craft. 
 Its chief vessels were the Tempest, 16; Renown, 16; and Jeffer- 
 son, 14. The British sent a flag of truce to the Commodore of 
 the Virginia fleet proposing to treat with him for its surren- 
 der. He sent back the spirited reply that " he was deter- 
 mined to defend it to the last extremity." A few cannon 
 planted on the shore soon gave the enemy a command of the situ- 
 ation. After a short engagement the Virginians scuttled or set 
 fire to a number of their vessels and fled to the opposite shore. 
 None of the fleet escaped. The British captured twelve vessels, 
 which the Virginians had been unable to destroy. The British 
 burnt the state rope-walk at Warwick. After the raid of Phillips, 
 but one vessel remained in the Virginia navy, the armed boat 
 Liberty." 
 
 77 Ford, Writings of Jefferson, II, 392. 
 18 Ibid., 443-44- 
 
 "Virginia Calendar of State Papers, I, 588; II, 74. 
 
 88 Almon's Remembrancer, 1781, II, 62-63. Arnold to Clinton, Peters- 
 burg, May 12, 1781. 
 
Virginia Navies of the American Revolution. 163 
 
 The officers and seamen of the Virginia navy, thrown out of 
 employment by the loss of their fleet, aided the allied forces at 
 the siege of Yorktown in collecting supplies and transporting 
 troops. The boat Liberty was used as a transport ; and also the 
 ships Cormorant, Loyalist, and Oliver Cromwell, which three 
 vessels is it believed Virginia purchased for this purpose. Soon 
 after the surrender of Cornwallis, the Virginia General Assembly, 
 recognizing that " during the continuance of the present expen- 
 sive war it is necessary to husband the resources of the state 
 with the utmost economy," dismissed almost all of the officers 
 and seamen, the Commissioner of the Navy, the chaplains, sur- 
 geons, paymasters, and all others on the naval staff. 81 
 
 A number of times during the Revolution and now for the last 
 time in 1782, Virginia and Maryland undertook to concert a 
 naval defence of their trade in the Chesapeake. The General 
 Assembly of Virginia, which met in May, 1782, appointed three 
 commissioners to superintend the work of protecting the Bay. 
 The Cormorant and Liberty were to be immediately prepared for 
 this service. Two galleys and two barges or whaleboats were to 
 be built. For this work the state appropriated the proceeds ans- 
 wer from the sale of the Loyalist, £1000, and certain tonnage and 
 auties. The Commissioners were to fix the pay and sub- 
 xe of the seamen ; the fleet was not to be sent outside of the 
 Capes. 82 *i 
 
 The Commissioners managed a small naval force during 1782" 
 and 1783 until the war came to an end. Commodore Barron, sta- 
 tioned at Hampton, was chiefly occupied with the exchanging of 
 prisoners. Beyond the building of a few naval craft, it does not 
 appear that this final naval enterprise of Virginia was attended 
 with fruitful results. When peace was declared in the spring of 
 1783 the Commissioners had in different stages of construction, 
 the schooners, Harrison, Fly, and Patriot and the barges York 
 and Richmond. Virginia now disposed of all of her fleet except 
 the Liberty and Patriot, which she retained as revenue cutters. 83 
 In order to keep these two armed vessels in time of peace Vir- 
 
 81 Herring, Statutes of Virginia, X, 450 ; Virginia Navy Papers, I and II. 
 
 ^Hening, Statutes of Virginia, XI, 42-44. In March, 1783, the three 
 Commissioners were Paul Loyall, Thomas Brown, and Thomas Newton, 
 Jr. — Virginia Calendar of State Papers, III, 456. 
 
 "Virginia Navy Papers, II. 
 
164 Massachusetts and Virginia Navies. 
 
 ginia in accordance with a provision in the Articles of Confeder- 
 ation, obtained permission from Congress. 84 These two boats 
 were still in the employ of the state in 1787. The Liberty saw 
 more service than any other state or Continental vessel of the 
 Revolution. She was in the employ of Virginia from 1775 until 
 1787. 
 
 "Journals of Continental Congress, October 3, 1783. 
 
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