Wexford	Commander John Fletcher
Sloop-of-War [Brig/Sloop]	2 January 1778-28/29 May 1778
Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine

Commissioned/First Date:	2 January 1778
Out of Service/Cause:	28/29 May 1778/captured by HMS Experiment

Owners:

Nathaniel Tracy et al of Newburyport, Massachusetts

Tonnage:

180

Battery:

Date Reported: 2 January 1778 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels: Date Reported: 28/29 May 1778 Number/Caliber  Weight        Broadside 16/ Total: 16 cannon/ Broadside: 8 cannon/ Swivels:

Crew:

(1) 2 January 1778: 101 [total] (2) 28/29 May 1778: 105 [total]

Description:

Officers:

Cruises:

(1) Newburyport, Massachusetts to sea, -28/29 May 1778

Prizes:

Actions:

Comments:

The 180-ton¹ Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Wexford was commissioned on 2 January 1778 under Commander John Fletcher of Newburyport, Massachusetts. She was listed as being armed with sixteen guns and as having a crew of 100 men. Her $10000 Continental and £500 Massachusetts bonds were signed by Fletcher and by Nathaniel Tracy and John Coffin Jones, both of Newburyport.²

Wexford (Commander John Fletcher) was at sea, “on a cruise to Newberry,” with provisions in May 1778. On 28³ or 29 May 1778 she was at 43°10'N, 65°00'W, where she was captured by HMS Experiment (Captain James Wallace). Wexford was sent into New York, New York. Her captors said that she measured 180 tons, had sixteen guns and a crew of 105 men aboard.⁴ Wexford was tried and condemned in the New York Vice Admiralty court. She was described as an American privateer with a letter-of-marque in the court records.⁵ She was sold and re-named the Loyal Subject. Her new owners referred to her as a new vessel of 180 tons.⁶

¹ “List of Captures and Recaptures made by the American Squadron, of which Accounts have been received by Rear-Admiral Gambier, between the 23d of May 1778, and the 20^th of December following,” in The London Gazette, Tuesday, February 2, to Saturday, February 6, 1779

² Allen, Massachusetts Privateers of the Revolution, 325

³ “List of Vessels seized, destroyed or retaken by the American Squadron between the 25^th of October 1777, and the 28^th of September 1778, according to the Returns received by the Vice Admiral the Viscount Howe, exclusive of those seized or destroyed by His Majesty’s Ships in Chesapeake Bay, and on the Parts of the Coast of North America to the Southward thereof, of which a Return was made on the 23^rd of April 1778,” in The London Gazette, Saturday, November 21, to Tuesday, November 24, 1778

⁴ “List of Captures and Recaptures made by the American Squadron, of which Accounts have been received by Rear-Admiral Gambier, between the 23d of May 1778, and the 20^th of December following,” in The London Gazette, Tuesday, February 2, to Saturday, February 6, 1779

⁵ HCA 32/489/2/1-7

⁶ The New-York Gazette; and The Weekly Mercury, Monday, September 7, 1778

Posted 11 April 2011

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