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Massachusetts Privateer Galley Anti Smuggler |
| Anti Smuggler | Commander John Percival |
| Patrol Craft | 7 August 1782- |
| Massachusetts Privateer Galley |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 7 August 1782 |
| Out of Service/Cause: |
| Owners: | Nathaniel Freeman et al of Sandwich, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 7 August 1782 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside [none] Total: Broadside: Swivels: |
| Crew: | 7 August 1782: 19 [total] |
| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: |
| Prizes: | (1) Schooner Sally (John Dalling [Darling, Daring]), [December] 1782
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| Actions: |
Comments:
Massachusetts Privateer Galley Anti Smuggler was commissioned on 7 August 1782 under Commander John Percival of Barnstable, Massachusetts. She was listed as being armed with small arms only and having an eighteen man crew. Her $20000 bond was executed by Percival and Samuel Brown and Russell Sturgis, both of Boston.1
Percival was involved in the “American Martha’s Vineyard Raid” which probably took place in December 1782. On 23 December 1782, in the Maritime Court of the Southern District of Massachusetts, he libeled the 100-ton schooner Sally (John Dalling [Darling]), the 30-ton schooner Dolly, a two-masted boat of 6 tons (Basset), and a two-masted boat of 6 tons (Holden Slocum). These are unlikely to have been captured at sea, given the size of Anti Smuggler’s crew. The owner of the Anti Smuggler, Nathaniel Freeman, also libeled “goods, wares, and merchandize” seized at Edgartown and also the 100-ton brigantine Nancy (Jacob Lock). Why Freeman would libel the Nancy and not Percival is not clear. One Ichabod Norton also libeled a 50-ton schooner Sally (John Daring) in this court. This was the same schooner as the one libeled by Percival. Trial was set for 21 January 1783.2
Presumably, all the prizes were condemned, including the Sally, to Percival. This verdict was appealed by Norton to the United States Court of Appeals for captures. The appeal was delayed until the session of April 1784, but the results are not known.3
Percival libeled certain goods seized at Oyster Island in the Massachusetts Maritime Court of the Southern District on 24 April 1783, with the trial set for 21 May 1783.4
__________1 NRAR, 228. Also listed in Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 75
2 The Boston Gazette and Country Journal, Monday, December 30, 1782; repeated December 30, 1782
3 The Pennsylvania Packet and General Advertiser, Saturday, November 15, 1783
4 The Independent Chronicle, and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], April 24, 1783