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New Hampshire Privateer Brig/Ship Hector |
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| Hector | (1) Commander Reuben Shapleigh |
| Armed Brig/Armed Ship | 15 February 1780- |
| New Hampshire Privateer Brig New Hampshire Privateer Ship |
(2) Commander Thomas Manning
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| Commissioned/First Date: | 15 February 1780 |
| Out of Service/Cause: |
| Owners: | [Woodbury Langdon et al of Portsmouth, New Hampshire]; Woodbury Langdon, John Langdon et al of Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| Tonnage: |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 15 February 1780 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 6/ Total: 6 cannon/ Broadside: 3 cannon/ Swivels: |
| Crew: | (1) 15 February 1780: 17 [total]
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| Description: |
| Officers: |
| Cruises: |
| Prizes: |
| Actions: |
Comments:
New Hampshire Privateer Brig Hector was commissioned on 15 February 1780 under Commander Reuben Shapleigh of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was listed as having a battery of six guns and a crew of sixteen men.1
This is probably the same vessel as the “sloop” Hector, commissioned under Commander Thomas Manning on 28 May 1780. She was said to have a crew of ninety men. Manning made a cruise in the Hector, down to the West Indies, immediately after the “sloop” was commissioned.2
In June 1780 Hector was at the recently conquered French island of Grenada (formerly British), in the West Indies. One day Manning was standing on the quay when he witnessed an interesting scene: a guard of French soldiers escorting two men, just removed from a British brig brought in as a prize, to see the governor of the island. Manning was astounded to see that one of the men was John McClintock, whom he had last seen as member of the prize crew of the Union, captured by Manning in the New Hampshire Privateer Ship General Sullivan, a year and a half earlier. McClintock had quite a story to tell.3
Among the members of General Sullivan’s crew was an eighteen year old named John McClintock. He had enlisted as a master’s mate aboard the privateer. About January 1779 the General Sullivan captured the brig Union. Nathaniel Peirce of Portsmouth went aboard as the prize master and McClintock was part of the prize crew. The prize was ordered into Portsmouth. McClintock, in a later petition, said
“after beating four or five Weeks in northern Latitudes, in the months of January and February in vain attempting to gain some American Port, and suffering incredible hardships by the rigor of the seasons and boisterous winds & Seas, by which the Brig was reduced to a mere Wreck, so that with Difficulty we kept her from foundering by the Pumps going continually were obliged by Distress of weather to bear away for the first Port we could fetch, which was Londonderry in the North of Ireland - That after our Arrival the Brigg was taken from us, and after being put under Guard a short time we were set at Liberty - That your Petitioner and some others of the Briggs crew tarried at Londonderry some months, till they had no means of Supporting themselves there, nor any chance pf getting back to their native Country, but only by entering on Board dome one of the enemies ships, when he and some others of the aforesaid Crew shipped on the Brig Ellen, to go to Cork, to join the Convoy for the West Indies - That he sailed from Cork in said Brig the nineteenth day of January 1779 with a Fleet bound to Barbadoes - That he had formed a secret design before he left Cork, to Seize the Brig, agreeable to a Resolution of Congress, and carry her into some port of our french Ally in the West Indies, in case some favorable Opportunity should offer in the Passage for the Execution of the design -”4
“That the third or fourth day after sailing from Cork, the Brig lost the fleet, upon which he began to open his design in private to another American, and some others in the Crew in whom he could confide, who after some Considerable conversation on the Subject, approved of it and promised to stand by him - That sometime after a ship gave them chase which proved to be an English Letter of Marque the Commander of which, at the Captains desire, spared a French prisoner to the Brig, she being weakly manned - That your Petitioner acquainted the frenchman with his design, who readily agreed to join his assistance - That after making the Island of Barbadoes and having previously secured the Arms of the Commander, Captain Caldwell, he took the Command of the Brig himself, and altered her Course, intending for St Vincent, but by the strengths of the Currents falling to the Leeward of that Island, he bore away for Grenada, by the advice of the Mate, Nathaniel Peirce of Portsmouth aforesaid, who then join’d him, and offered to Pilot her in provided he should come in for a Share in the Prize, which was agreed to -”5
“That on the 17th day of March 1780 we arrived at the Island of Grenada, and running close under the Fort, in order to speak with it, with English Colours hoisted, Union down, to signify she was a Prize, were ordered to hoist out our boat & come ashore, which we did, and delivered the Captains papers to Commanding Officer of the Fort - That the French then took possession of the Brig and sent the Crew, excepting your Petitioner & said Passenger, one Lawrence Archy, an Inhabitant of St Kitts, who were carried under a Guard of Soldiers before the french Governor, who, after examination, told your Petitioner, by an Interpreter that he might make himself perfectly easy, that he would have a good Share of the Prize, but that for the Matter of form he must be confined two or three days and should then have his Liberty - That in consequence of the Governor’s order, your Petitioner was sent to Prison under a Guard of Soldiers, where he found the rest of his Shipmates and with them was closely confined seven or eight days and kept on Kings Allowance - That after being examined, during their confinement, before the Judges of the Island, they were then taken out of Prison by a Guard of Soldiers, and forcibly carried on Board a Kings Ship of War that lay in the Harbour and at the same time were told that they should have their Share of the prize, but that they must serve the King of France -”6
“That through the Application of Captain Thomas Manning of Portsmouth, who happened to be there at that time, the Americans obtained their Liberty and were taken on board his Vessel - That after the Trial of the Brig they applied to the Judge to know whether they were to have any share of the prize and were answered in the negative . . .”7
In a deposition dated June 1780, Manning stated
“That he happened to be on the Key when said brig arrived , but was not permitted to speak to the men who brought her in who were immediately sent to Jail . That next day he applied to the judge of admiralty for leave to go & speak with them in prison but was refused till they had been confined four or five days - That he understood afterwards that said Brig was condemned in the Court of Admiralty as a prize to the high Admiral of France - That two of the Americans who had brought in said Brig were put on board a Kings Ship but that upon his application to the judge he obtained their Liberty and took them on board his own Ship and another out o f the Jail - That he applied to the judge in behalf of the people to know whether they were to have any part of the prize or any reward for their service and was answered in the negative and farther saith not.”8
Manning took the Hector home, but left her command in September, when he was commissioned to another privateer. However, on 28 December 1780, Manning was again commissioned to a privateer named Hector, this time described as a ship. It seems therefore, that the Hector may have been reconstructed, as was the General Sullivan, from a brig to a ship. She was listed as having a crew of ninety men. Her $20000 bond was signed by Manning and by Woodbury Langdon and John Langdon, both of Portsmouth.9
1 Claghorn, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, 277
2 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers, 364
3 Winslow, “Wealth and Honour,” 41-43; McManemin, Captains of the Privateers, 363. There is dispute about the date of this event between Winslow [dated to June 1780] and McManemin [dated to June 1779]. General Sullivan was in port in late May 1779, and was captured on 20 June 1779, off the shores of Newfoundland. There does not seem to be enough time for her to sail to the West Indies, observe the incident about to be related, and then get up to Newfoundland to be captured by 20 June.
4 Winslow, “Wealth and Honour”, 41-42, quoting from McClintock
5 Winslow, “Wealth and Honour”, 41-42, quoting from McClintock
6 Winslow, “Wealth and Honour”, 41-42, quoting from McClintock
7 Winslow, “Wealth and Honour”, 41-42, quoting from McClintock
8 McManemin, Captains of the Privateers, 363. McClintock tried for many years to get his money, but never did. Winslow, “Wealth and Honour”, 43-44.
9 NRAR, 332
| Posted 23 June 2011 |
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