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Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Retaliation |
| Retaliation | Commander Eleazer Giles |
| Armed Brig | 4 September 1776-15 August 1777 |
| Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine |
| Commissioned/First Date: | 4 September 1776 |
| Out of Service/Cause: | 15 August 1777/captured by HM Armed Sloop Penguin |
| Owners: | Josiah Batchelder, Jr. & Co. of Beverly, Massachusetts |
| Tonnage: | 70, 75 |
| Battery: | Date Reported: 4 September 1776 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 10/2-pounder and 4-pounder Total: 10 cannon/ Broadside: 5 cannon/ Swivels: nine Date Reported: 15 August 1777 Number/Caliber Weight Broadside 4/6-pounder 24 pounds 12 pounds 8/2-pounder and 4-pounder Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: eleven |
| Crew: | (1) 4 September 1776: 71 [total]
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| Description: |
| Officers: | (1) First Lieutenant Thomas Stephens, Jr., 4 September 1776-; (2) Second Lieutenant John Proctor, Jr., 4 September 1776- |
| Cruises: | (1) Beverly, Massachusetts to, [September] 1776-[November] 1776
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| Prizes: | (1) Brigantine Hiram (David Thrasher), [20] October 1776, with Massachusetts Privateer Sloop Wolfe
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| Actions: | (1) Action with the St. Lucia, [1 October] 1776
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Comments:
The owners of Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Retaliation petitioned for her commission on 2 September 1776. They listed themselves as Josiah Batchelder, Jr. and Co., all of Beverly, Massachusetts. Retaliation’s commander was given as Eleazer Giles of Beverly, Massachusetts. She was said to be armed with ten guns, 2-pounders and 4-pounders, and nine swivels. Her officers were First Lieutenant Thomas Stephens, Jr. (Beverly) and Second Lieutenant John Proctor, Jr. (Marblehead, Massachusetts). Retaliation measured 75 tons and listed a crew of seventy men. The Massachusetts Council ordered the commission issued on 4 September.1 Her $5000 Continental bond was signed by Giles and by Larkin Thorndike and Josiah Batchelder, Jr., both of Beverly.2 While Retaliation was fitting out, her owners petitioned Massachusetts for permission to buy powder from the state supply.3
She proceeded to sea soon afterward. About 20 September 1776, Retaliation was sailing with the Massachusetts Privateer Sloop Wolfe (Commander Nathaniel Freeman). The two captured the 50-ton brigantine Hiram (David Thrasher).4 She was libeled on 24 October, with her trial set for 19 November 1776.5
Parting from the Wolfe, Retaliation captured the ship St. Lucia (George Child), bound from Jamaica to London6 or Bristol7 with a cargo of sugar and rum.8 St. Lucia was a 3009 or 350-ton10 vessel, armed with six guns, and fought the privateer for two hours before striking. The prize arrived at Falmouth, Massachusetts [now Casco Bay, Maine] on 14 October 1776.11 Within a few days (by 28 October) she had moved to Beverly. On 28 October Child petitioned for release, which was granted on 30 October. St. Lucia was libeled on 31 October and tried on 18 November 1776.12 On 21 November 1776 the sale of St. Lucia and her cargo were advertised, being set for Stephen’s Wharf in Beverly on 26 November. St. Lucia was described as a prime sailer, newly British-built and half frigate-built, measuring 350 tons.13
On 6 October 1776 the 190-ton14 (or 260-ton)15 ship Success (Eleazer Ball16 [Bell])17 was captured, at 42°N, 47°W. She was bound from Jamaica18 to Bristol19 with various merchandise and was sent off to Boston. She arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 27 October. She reported that Retaliation had also taken a brig and a ship, and was seen engaging another ship.20 She was brought to Boston and libeled on 7 November 1776.21 Success was advertised for sale with her cargo of rum, sugar, logwood, mahogany and fustic, on 21 November, with the auction set for 4 December 1776.22
By this time the 170-ton23 prize ship Alfred (Thomas Callender) had also arrived in port.24 By November 1776 Alfred had arrived at Beverly.25 She was also brought around to Boston and libeled on 7 November, along with Success.26 Although Alfred was bound from Jamaica27 there was some difficulty with her capture. Although she was reportedly being fitted out at Beverly as a twenty gun privateer on 27 November,28 and a prisoner from her crew was listed at Salem on 11 December 1776,29 she was apparently not condemned. Nevertheless, she was advertised for sale on 21 November, along with her cargo of sugar, rum, fustick, and mahogany. In the advertisement she is described as a 270-ton ship. The auction was set for 27 November.30 In April 1777, when he was searching for Continental cruisers to purchase, Agent William Bradford considered her, but he had heard she was owned in Philadelphia and was “like to be clear’d,” and her owners were not likely to sell.31
Following this cruise the Retaliation sailed for Charlestown, South Carolina with a cargo of sugar, and returned with a cargo of rice and naval stores.32 Lieutenant Proctor left the vessel before this cruise began.33
Retaliation was not heard from again until August 1777. On 15 August she was on the Newfoundland Banks, at 43°10'N. Here she fell in with HM Armed Sloop Penguin (Lieutenant Howell Lloyd), a vessel armed with ten 3-pounders, ten swivels, and with a crew of forty-five men. Retaliation, at this time, had a crew of sixty-six men and was armed with twelve guns (four of which were 6-pounders), eleven swivels, and two “Organ Guns.” After a “smart engagement” of an hour and a half Retaliation was captured and brought into St. Johns, Newfoundland on 20 August. Penguin had one killed and seven wounded (including the master and a midshipman). Retaliation had two killed, and twelve wounded (including Giles). The hulls sails and rigging of both vessels were “very much shattered.” There was no prison or prison ship at St. Johns so the prisoners were sent to Halifax by HM Sloop Martin.34
In April or May 1778 Giles returned to Massachusetts in the cartel Industry.35
1 NDAR, “Petition for Commission for Eleazer Giles to Command Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Retaliation,” VI, 648-649. In Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 336, she is listed as 70 tons.
2 Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 259
3 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 336
4 The Independent Chronicle [Boston], Thursday, October 24, 1776
5 The Independent Chronicle [Boston], Thursday, October 24, 1776
6 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 22, 1776,” VI, 1358
7 NDAR, “Petition of George Child, Master of the Prize Ship St. Lucia, to the Massachusetts Council,” VI, 1432 and note
8 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 22, 1776,” VI, 1358; “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, November 21, 1776,” VII, 232-233 and 233 note; “Petition of George Child, Master of the Prize Ship St. Lucia, to the Massachusetts Council,” VI, 1432 and note
9 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 22, 1776,” VI, 1358; “Libels Filed Against Prizes in the Massachusetts Admiralty Court for the Middle District,” VI, 1471-1472
10 NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, November 21, 1776,” VII, 232-233 and 233 note
11 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 22, 1776,” VI, 1358
12 NDAR, “Petition of George Child, Master of the Prize Ship St. Lucia, to the Massachusetts Council,” VI, 1432; “Libels Filed Against Prizes in the Massachusetts Admiralty Court for the Middle District,” VI, 1471-1472. The latter indicates the trial date as 19 November.
13 NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, November 21, 1776,” VII, 232-233 and 233 note
14 The Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, November 11, 1776
15 The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, November 28, 1776
16 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 29, 1776,” VI, 1442
17 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Thursday, December 26 to Saturday, December 28, 1776,” VI, 809-810
18 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 29, 1776,” VI, 1442; “Whitehall Evening Post, Thursday, December 26 to Saturday, December 28, 1776,” VI, 809-810
19 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Thursday, December 26 to Saturday, December 28, 1776,” VI, 809-810
20 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 29, 1776,” VI, 1442
21 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 29, 1776,” VI, 1442 and note
22 The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, November 21, 1776
23 The Boston Gazette, and Country Journal, November 11, 1776
24 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 29, 1776,” VI, 1442
25 NDAR, “Observations of the Late Master of the British Ship Spiers,” VII, 299-300
26 NDAR, “The Freeman’s Journal, Tuesday, October 29, 1776,” VI, 1442 and note
27 NDAR, “Whitehall Evening Post, Thursday, December 26 to Saturday, December 28, 1776,” VI, 809-810
28 NDAR, “Observations by the Late Master of the British Ship Spiers,” VII, 299-301
29 NDAR, ”Return of British Naval Prisoners in Salem,” VII, 560-561
30 The Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser [Boston], Thursday, November 21, 1776
31 NDAR, “John Bradford to the Continental Marine Committee,” VIII, 358-359; “John Bradford to the Continental Marine Committee,” VIII, 398-399
32 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 337
33 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 432
34 NDAR, “Vice Admiral John Montagu to Philip Stephens,” IX, 802; Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792, 334
35 Howe, Beverly Privateers in the Revolution, 337
| Posted 13 February 2011 |
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