Name of Vessel:

Countess of Eglington

Master of Vessel:

Robert Reid

Rig of Vessel:

Brig

Date of Capture:

25 November 1776

Place of Capture:

Captor:

Rhode Island Privateer Sloops America and Retaliation

Home Port:

From What Port:

Greenock [Glasgow], Scotland

To What Port:

Antigua, British West Indies

Cargo:

Dry goods, butter, bread, bottles, candles, sugar, wine and other articles

Tonnage:

160

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Noble Wood (America)

Prize crew:

14 [total]

Ordered Into:

Bedford in Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Into What Port:

Bedford in Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Date Arrived:

26 December 1776

Date Tried:

17 January 1777

Date Sold:

21 January 1777

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

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

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. The two privateers patrolled to the windward of the West Indies.

A day or two later, on 25 November 1776, at 1000, the 160-ton British Army Transport Brigantine Countess of Eglinton (Robert Reid) was sighted and chased. Countess of Eglinton was an unusually fast sailing vessel, bound from Glasgow (or Greenock), Scotland to Antigua, British West Indies, (or New York, New York) with a cargo of dry goods, butter, bread, bottles, candles, sugar, wine and other articles; and valued at £4582.17.6 by invoice. 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. Countess of Eglington fired three swivel guns, before America raised her colors. When she did Reid struck, “vexed at the Sight.” Retaliation was still lagging behind, about three miles back.

Dennis appointed as prize master one Noble Wood, and sent off the prize to Bedford, Massachusetts. Jones sent over as prize mate one Blevin. Retaliation sent nine men, America five men to make up the prize crew. Dennis and Jones sent off a letter with Noble outlining their agreement for a joint cruise. 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. The Countess of Eglington arrived in New Bedford on 26 December 1776. 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.

The prize was libeled on 13 January 1777 for William Dennis (of the America), and was sold on 21 January 1777 for £2240 at her sale. 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.

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. Semple, the fighting passenger, was exchanged from Providence on 1 February 1777.

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.

[NDAR, VII, 639 and note, 844-845, 868, 888-891 and 891 note, 907-908, 943, 1079-1080, 1135-1136; VIII, 217-219, 378, 1002-1003 and 1003 notes]

Posted 10 August 2011

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