Retaliation	(1) Commander Isaac Jones [James]
Armed Sloop	16 October 1776-
Rhode Island Privateer Sloop	(2) Commander John Tillinghast 3 July 1777- (3) Commander Nathan Westcott 18 August 1779-

Commissioned/First Date:	16 October 1776
Out of Service/Cause:

Owners:

(1) John Brown and Thomas Greene; (2) John Brown; (3) John Garzie

Tonnage:

90

Battery:

Date Reported: November 1776 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 12/ Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 3 July 1777 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 12/3-pounder, 4-pounder, and 6-pounder Total: 12 cannon/ Broadside: 6 cannon/ Swivels: fourteen

Crew:

3 July 1777: 71 [total]

Description:

Officers:

(1) First Lieutenant John Jacobs, 3 July 1777-; (2) Second Lieutenant Tobey, 3 July 1777-; (3) Master Ebenezer Hill, 3 July 1777-

Cruises:

(1) Providence, Rhode Island to [Bedford in Dartmouth], Massachusetts, [October] 1776-[December] 1776

Prizes:

(1) British Army Transport Brigantine Countess of Eglington (Robert Reid), 25 November 1776, to the east of the West Indies, with Rhode Island Privateer Sloop America

Actions:

Comments:

Rhode Island Privateer Sloop Retaliation was commissioned on 16 October 1776 under Commander Isaac Jones [James]. Her owners were John Brown¹ and Thomas Greene.² Retaliation was a sloop of 90 tons, and armed with twelve guns.³

Retaliation sailed about October 1776, for the West Indies, and soon met the Rhode Island Privateer Sloop America (Commander William Dennis). The two captains agreed to sail together and share all prizes equally, whether separate or together, for the duration of the cruise.⁴ The two privateers patrolled to the windward of the West Indies.⁵

A day or two later,⁶ on 25 November 1776, at 1000,⁷ the 160-ton⁸ British Army Transport Brigantine Countess of Eglinton (Robert Reid) was sighted and chased.⁹ Countess of Eglinton was an unusually fast sailing vessel,¹⁰ bound from Glasgow, Scotland to Antigua, British West Indies,¹¹ (or New York, New York)¹² with a cargo of dry goods, butter, bread,¹³ bottles, candles, sugar, wine and other articles;¹⁴ and valued at £4582.17.6 by invoice.¹⁵ Both privateers gave chase and America got in the lead, coming up close by 1700. The British could see she was an armed vessel and hoisted their colors. James Semple, a passenger on the Countess of Eglington personally fired three swivel guns, before America raised her colors. When she did Reid “saw the Stripes very plain   being vexed at the Sight he called to fire no more.” Retaliation was still lagging behind,¹⁶ about three miles back.¹⁷

Dennis appointed as prize master one Noble Wood, and sent off the prize to Bedford, Massachusetts.¹⁸ Jones sent over as prize mate one Blevin.¹⁹ Retaliation sent nine men, America five men to make up the prize crew.²⁰ Dennis and Jones sent off a letter with Noble outlining their agreement for a joint cruise.²¹ The passage was fine until near land, when Wood and Blevin nearly came to blows over the command of the prize. The prize crew consisted of men from both privateers, who naturally took sides.²² The Countess of Eglington arrived in New Bedford on 26 December 1776.²³ The agent for the America (Adam Babcock) took charge of her and libeled her in the Massachusetts admiralty court. On 31 December he wrote to John Brown, sending copies of her invoice and inquiring if the two commanders’ agreement was to Brown’s satisfaction. Babcock suggested unloading the prize as part of her cargo might be wet.²⁴

The prize was libeled on 13 January 1777 for William Dennis (of the America),²⁵ and was sold on 21 January 1777²⁶ for £2240 at her sale.²⁷ The owners of the Retaliation were not pleased with the judgement. The court ruled that the Retaliation deserved only a small portion of the prize, disregarding both the proportionate strength of the two privateers and the two commanders’s agreement. The owners, Brown and Greene, appealed the verdict. On 7 February 1777 they retained Robert Treat Paine to represent them in court.²⁸

Robert Reid was permitted to depart for Ireland with many other prisoners. On 28 March 1777 he signed a testimonial to the good treatment received by British civilian prisoners in Massachusetts.²⁹ Semple, the fighting passenger, was exchanged from Providence on 1 February 1777.³⁰

The appeal for the claimants was held on 20 May 1777 in Plymouth, where the original judgement of the case was upheld. Jones claimed an appeal to Congress, but the court denied the appeal. Jones appealed to Congress anyway, in a memorial received on 2 August 1777. It took until 1783 for Congress to reverse the Massachusetts court.³¹

On 3 July 1777 Brown and Greene petitioned for a new commission for the Retaliation, with John Tillinghast as commander. She was listed as being armed with twelve guns, 6-pounders, 4-pounders, and 3-pounders, along with fourteen swivel guns; and as having a crew of seventy men. John Jacobs was aboard as First Lieutenant, one Tobey as Second Lieutenant, and Ebenezer Hill as Master.³² The petition was granted the same day.³³

Retaliation was again commissioned on 18 August 1779, under Commander Nathan Westcott. Her owner was now listed as John Garzie.³⁴

¹ Sheffield, An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield before the Rhode Island Historical Society, 59

² NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

³ NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

⁴ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

⁵ NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

⁶ NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

⁷ NDAR, “Deposition of James Semple, a Passenger On Board the Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VII, 888-891 and 891 note

⁸ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note; “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 2, 1777,” VII, 844-845

⁹ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

¹⁰ NDAR, “Deposition of Captain John Wanton Regarding Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VIII, 378

¹¹ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note; “Boston Gazette, Monday, January 6, 1777,” VII, 868; “Deposition of James Semple, a Passenger On Board the Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VII, 888-891 and 891 note

¹² NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 2, 1777,” VII, 844-845

¹³ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

¹⁴ NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 2, 1777,” VII, 844-845; “Boston Gazette, Monday, January 6, 1777,” VII, 868

¹⁵ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

¹⁶ NDAR, “Deposition of James Semple, a Passenger On Board the Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VII, 888-891 and 891 note

¹⁷ NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

¹⁸ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

¹⁹ NDAR, “Deposition of James Semple, a Passenger On Board the Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VII, 888-891 and 891 note

²⁰ NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

²¹ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

²² NDAR, “Deposition of James Semple, a Passenger On Board the Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VII, 888-891 and 891 note

²³ NDAR, “Boston Gazette, Monday, January 6, 1777,” VII, 868

²⁴ NDAR, “Adam Babcock to John Brown,” VII, 639 and note

²⁵ NDAR, “Libels Filed Against the Brigs Countess of Eglington and Britannia in the Massachusetts Maritime Court,” VII, 943

²⁶ NDAR, “Independent Chronicle, Thursday, January 9, 1777,” VII, 907-908

²⁷ NDAR, “Deposition of Captain John Wanton Regarding Prize Brigantine Countess of Eglington,” VIII, 378

²⁸ NDAR, “John Brown and Thomas Greene to Robert Treat Paine,” VII, 1135-1136

²⁹ NDAR, “Testimonial of British Prisoners Permitted to Depart for Ireland,” VIII, 217-219

³⁰ NDAR, “British Prisoners Sent to Newport for Exchange,” VII, 1079-1080

³¹ NDAR, “Hearing and Decision in the Appeal from the Trial and Verdict in the Case of the Prize Countess of Eglington,” VIII, 1002-1003 and 1003 notes

³² NDAR, “Thomas Greene to Governor Nicholas Cooke,” IX, 210

³³ Sheffield, An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield before the Rhode Island Historical Society, 60

³⁴ Sheffield, An Address Delivered by William P. Sheffield before the Rhode Island Historical Society, 61

Posted 14 February 2011

web counter