Black Snake

Commander William Lecraw [Lucran]

Schooner [Armed Brig]	[June] 1777-16 August 1777
Massachusetts Privateer Schooner [Brig]

Commissioned/First Date:	[June] 1777
Out of Service/Cause:	16 August 1777/captured by tenders from HMS Portland

Owners:

Tonnage:

65

Battery:

Date Reported: 24 August 1777 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 8/ Total: 8 cannon/ Broadside: 4 cannon/ Swivels:

Crew:

24 August 1777: 40 [total]

Description:

Officers:

(1) Lieutenant Jonathan Wheeler, -24 August 1777; (2) Lieutenant John Buckley, -24 August 1777

Cruises:

Prizes:

Actions:

Comments:

Massachusetts Privateer Schooner (or Brig) Black Snake was at sea in early 1777 under Commander William Lecraw¹ [Lucran]² of Marblehead, Massachusetts.³ There were two lieutenants aboard, Jonathan Wheeler and John Buckley. Black Snake sailed down to Martinique, French West Indies, and operated from there.⁴

Black Snake was sailing out of Martinique when she encountered two sloop tenders fitted out by the British from HMS Portland and commanded by petty officers on 24 August 1777.⁵ One of the tenders was the Resolution,⁶ and the other was the Tartar.⁷ After an eight hour chase one of the sloops got alongside the Black Snake and she promptly surrendered, offering no resistance. The British reported she had a battery of eight guns and a crew of forty men; twenty-four of which were French. The prize was taken into Barbados.⁸ She arrived at English Harbor, Antigua on 16 October 1777, escorted by the tenders.⁹

Admiral Young, in a report to the Admiralty on 20 July 1778, lists Black Snake as a “Congress vessel of war” and notes her as a tender to the Rattlesnake. She is listed as a 65-ton schooner, armed with eight guns and having a crew of forty men. Young lists her date of capture as 16 August 1777.¹⁰ Later, Young credited her capture to HMS Portland and referred to her as a “Congress Vessel of War.” In this list the commander’s name is given as Le Graw.¹¹

Lecraw was sent to Mill Prison, near Plymouth, England, being committed on 12 March 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on 11 December 1779, but escaped in 1780.¹² LeCraw’s two lieutenants, Jonathan Wheeler and John Buckley were also committed to Mill Prison, on 13 March.¹³

¹ Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 84

² Kaminkow, 221

³ Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 84

⁴ NDAR, XI, “Journal of Dr. Jonathan Haskins,” 1082

⁵ NDAR, “Vice Admiral James Young to Philip Stephens,” IX, 800-802. Kaminkow, 221, notes the actual  date of Lecraw’s capture as August 1777.

⁶ NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Portland, Captain Thomas Dumaresq,” X, 189

⁷ NDAR, XI, “Journal of Dr. Jonathan Haskins,” 1082

⁸ NDAR, “Vice Admiral James Young to Philip Stephens,” IX, 800-802

⁹ NDAR, “Journal of H.M.S. Portland, Captain Thomas Dumaresq,” X, 189

¹⁰ Jamieson, Alan G., “American Privateers in the Leeward Islands, 1776-1778,” in The American Neptune, [volume unknown], reprinting a list of Admiral Young’s in ADM 1/310. Black Snake’s capture was reported in the The Pennsylvania Ledger: or the Philadelphia Market-Day Advertiser on 11 April 1778, datelined December 30, 1777.

¹¹“Admiralty Office, September 15, 1778,” in The London Gazette, Saturday, September 12, to Tuesday, September 15, 1778

¹² Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 183

¹³ NDAR, XI, “Journal of Dr. Jonathan Haskins,” 1082

Posted 5 February 2009

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