July is
American Patriotic Romances month on my blog so it seemed fitting to begin with
the story of the daring privateers who helped America win its independence.
There is
something about the idea of privateers that stirs my blood. It has all the
excitement and danger of piracy on the high seas, but with a significant
difference: the privateers, armed merchant ships, operated with government
sanction, “Letters of Marque” that allowed the private vessel to act under
color of law.
Privateers were
a large part of the total military force at sea during the 17th and 18th
centuries. During the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), privateers acting for
their respective governments—American, British and French, among others—seized
thousands of ships, sometimes the same ship more than once!
Pictured below is the American privateer brig, the General
Montgomery, engaged in action with the British merchant vessel, the Millern, which it captured off Ireland
in July 1777. The prize was sent to America but later re-captured by the
British.
 |
| American privateer General Montgomery battling Millern, an English ship |
At the time
the Colonies declared their independence, the Continental Navy had only 31
ships (that number later increased to 64). But the sea fighting ability of the
young country vastly increased as Congress issued Letters of Marque to nearly
1,700 American privateers.
The first
privateer in the war might have been the American brig Reprisal, which on November 29, 1776, sailed into the port of
Lorient in Brittany with Benjamin Franklin on board and two British prize ships
in tow. The British protested, of course, and the owners of the seized vessels
sought compensation. Lord Stormont, the British ambassador in Paris called
Benjamin Franklin “a dangerous Engine” and voiced his suspicions the American
statesman was on some “secret Commission from Congress.” He was.
The French
response in allowing the American captain to sell his prizes in France was a
tacit recognition of the young country’s independence. Franklin must have been
delighted for he was there to solicit French aid.
Responding
to the sale of the two prize ships, the Public
Advertiser, a London newspaper said,
Is not this acknowledging the
American Privateer’s Commission? And is not
that an Acknowledgement of the
Independency of America?
Indeed it
was, and it would not be the last such acknowledgement. The privateers were
crucial to gaining recognition of the legitimacy of America’s war against
Britain.
In my novel,
To Tame the Wind, the hero, Captain
Simon Powell, a British privateer, captures the daughter of a French pirate
turned privateer for the Americans. Simon thinks to hold Claire for ransom to regain his seized ship and his crew. It never occurred to him he might not want to give her back.
Ben
Franklin is a character and the one who issued the French captain his Letter of
Marque. During the war, Franklin issued Letters of Marque to three ships: the Black Prince, the Black Princess, and the Fear
Not. During a 15-month period in 1779-1780, these three ships captured 114
prizes. One of the reasons Ben Franklin sought these prizes was to use the
captured British crews to ransom American seamen languishing in British
prisons.
American
privateers captured over 10,000 British seamen, keeping them out of the British
Navy. In 1777, George Washington's armies totaled about 11,000 men. At the same
time there were 11,000 privateers at sea intercepting British shipping in the
Atlantic, Caribbean, and even between Ireland and England. Together, the
Continental Navy and privateers captured 16,000 British prisoners, a substantial contribution in comparison
with the 15,000 prisoners taken by the entire Continental Army before the
surrender at Yorktown.
If you want
to be swept away into this era and experience life on a privateer with a
handsome British captain, then you just might enjoy To Tame the Wind!
From the
5-star review by Pirates and Privateers Magazine:
“Daring sea battles, roguish lurkers, ill-treated
prisoners of war and deceitful dandies add dashes of spice to this historical
romance, making it one readers will savor long after they turn the last
page."
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