A History Of American Privateers

An 1899 account of the role of privateers in winning the American War of Independence and building the American Navy.

2005 Scholar's Bookshelf reprint edition. A still unreplaced work in American naval history, this 1899 study (dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, ""Pioneer of the Modern School of Naval Writers"") remains the most comprehensive study of the role of the early privateers in the establishment of the American navy and their support of naval operations against Britain. The work traces the history of colonial privateering, its special dangers, and the roles of such figures as Truxtun, Porter, Biddle, Decatur, Perry, as well as such leading privateers as Silas Talbot, Jonathan Haraden, Solon Drowne, Thomas Boyle, and many others in early national privateering and navy building. 519 pages, illustrated. Softcover.

During the American War of Independence (1775–83), Congress issued almost 800 letters of marque, as a way of combating Britain's overwhelming naval and mercantile superiority. At first, it was only fishermen and the skippers of small merchant ships who turned to privateering, with mixed results. Eventually though, American shipyards began to turn out specially-converted ships, while later still, the first purpose-built privateers entered the fray. These American privateers seized more than 600 British merchant ships over the course of the war, capturing thousands of British seamen. Indeed, Jeremiah O'Brien's privateer Unity fought the first sea engagement of the Revolutionary War in the Battle of Machias of 1775, managing to capture a British armed schooner with just 40 men, their guns, axes and pitchforks, and the words 'Surrender to America'. By the end of the war, some of the largest American privateers could venture as far as the British Isles, and were more powerful than most contemporary warships in the fledgling US Navy. A small number of Loyalist privateers also put to sea during the war, and preyed on the shipping of their rebel countrymen. Packed with fascinating insights into the age of privateers, this book traces the development of these remarkable ships, and explains how they made such a significant contribution to the American Revolutionary War.

History of the American privateers and letters-of-marque during our war with England in the years 1812, '13 and ' 14. Interspersed with several naval battles between American and British ships-of-war This book, "History of the American privateers," by George Coggeshall, is a replication of a book originally published before 1856. It has been restored by human beings, page by page, so that you may enjoy it in a form as close to the original as possible.

Privateers of the Americas examines raids on Spanish shipping conducted from the United States during the early 1800s. These activities were sanctioned by, and conducted on behalf of, republics in Spanish America aspiring to independence from Spain. Among the available histories of privateering, there is no comparable work. Because privateering further complicated international dealings during the already tumultuous Age of Revolution, the book also offers a new perspective on the diplomatic and Atlantic history of the early American republic. Seafarers living in the United States secured commissions from Spanish American nations, attacked Spanish vessels, and returned to sell their captured cargoes (which sometimes included slaves) from bases in Baltimore, New Orleans, and Galveston and on AmeliaIsland. Privateers sold millions of dollars of goods to untold numbers of ordinary Americans. Their collective enterprise involved more than a hundred vessels and thousands of people—not only ships’ crews but also investors, merchants, suppliers, and others. They angered foreign diplomats, worried American officials, and muddied U.S. foreign relations. David Head looks at how Spanish American privateering worked and who engaged in it; how the U.S. government responded; how privateers and their supporters evaded or exploited laws and international relations; what motivated men to choose this line of work; and ultimately, what it meant to them to sail for the new republics of Spanish America. His findings broaden our understanding of the experience of being an American in a wider world. DAVID HEAD is an assistantprofessor of history at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. Cover design: Erin Kirk New Cover illustration: Early American Places logo The University of Georgia Press Athens, Georgia 30602 www.ugapress.org ISBN (paper) 978-0-8203-4864-3

Excerpt from A History of American Privateers In his History of the United States Navy the author endeavored to show that our maritime forces were a powerful factor not only in attain ing American independence, but in maintaining it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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