Abigail	(1) Commander Ackley Riley
Armed Sloop	[August] 1777-
Connecticut Privateer Sloop	(2) Commander Jacob Riley [November] 1778-

Commissioned/First Date:	[August] 1777-
Out of Service/Cause:

Owners:

[Ackley Riley of Wethersfield, Connecticut]

Tonnage:

[80]

Battery:

Date Reported: Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside Total: Broadside: Swivels:

Crew:

Description:

Officers:

Cruises:

Prizes:

(1) Sloop [unknown] (Brown), 29 August 1777 (2) Sloop General Burgoyne (John Smith), 3 September 1777 (3) Sloop [unknown], 24 November 1778

Actions:

Comments:

Connecticut Privateer Sloop Abigail was commanded by Ackley Riley of Wethersfield, Connecticut, who may also have been her owner. On 29 August 1777¹ Abigail captured a British 22-ton sloop (Brown)² with a cargo of “British” goods.³ This sloop was libeled on 10 September 1777 and tried and condemned on 6 October 1778.⁴ Abigail also captured, on 3 September 1777,⁵ the 90-ton sloop General Burgoyne (John Smith).⁶ She was bound to Lloyd’s Neck, Long Island, New York to collect fuel for the British army in the city.⁷ She was also libeled on 10 September 1777, and tried and condemned on 6 October 1777.⁸

A new commander, Jacob Riley⁹ [Rily]¹⁰ of Wethersfield, the brother of Ackley, apparently commanded the sloop in late 1778. On 24 November 1778 he captured a British 40-ton sloop. Libel and condemnation records exist for this capture.¹¹ Jacob Riley was later captured by the British, for he was exchanged and arrived at Stonington, Connecticut on 3 August 1782.¹²

It is possible that this is the same vessel as the Massachusetts Privateer Sloop Abigail.

¹ Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 47-48

² Connecticut Courant, Monday, September 15, 1777

³ Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 47-48

⁴ Connecticut Courant, Monday, September 15, 1777

⁵ Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 47-48

⁶ Connecticut Courant, Monday, September 15, 1777

⁷ Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 47-48

⁸ Connecticut Courant, Monday, September 15, 1777

⁹ Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 47-48

¹⁰ NDAR, “Nathaniel Shaw, Jr.’s Account Against the Connecticut Privateer Ship General Putnam,” X, 222-223

¹¹ Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 47-48

¹² Middlebrook, Maritime Connecticut During the Revolution, II, 121

Revised 4 May 2012

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