Name of Vessel:

Anna Susannah [Anne Susannah, Anna and Susannah]

Master of Vessel:

John Taylor [Johnson]

Rig of Vessel:

Ship

Date of Capture:

30 September 1777

Place of Capture:

49°13'N, 10°56'W (the mouth of the English Channel)

Captor:

Continental Navy Ship Alfred

Home Port:

London, England

From What Port:

[Jamaica, British West Indies]

To What Port:

London, England

Cargo:

[Rum, sugar, cotton, coffee]

Tonnage:

500

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Île de Groix, France

Into What Port:

Île de Groix, France

Date Arrived:

6 October 1777

Date Tried:

Date Sold:

[9] October 1777

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Continental Navy Ships Raleigh (Captain Thomas Thompson) and Alfred (Captain Elisha Hinman) were on a passage to France in late September 1777. On 30 September, Alfred and Raleigh were at 49°13'N, 10°56'W, the mouth of the English Channel. Two stragglers from the Jamaica convoy were encountered. Raleigh captured the 800-ton ship Jamaica (or Jamaican) (David Watt [Watts]), bound from Jamaica to London, and owned in London. Jamaica was out two months from Jamaica. Jamaica was a big three-decker, and mounted fourteen (or sixteen) guns to protect her cargo of rum, sugar, cotton and coffee, but made no resistance. She had parted from the convoy only a few days before. Alfred took the 500-ton ship Anna Susannah (or Anna and Susannah) (Johnson [John Taylor]) with a similar cargo, also owned in London and bound there, which had also left the convoy a few days before. Both prizes were manned and kept in company with the American ships.

Hinman and Thompson, with the prize ships, resumed course for France. On the night of 4 October the prizes parted company. In the morning, Sunday, 5 October 1777, the lookouts sighted Belle-Île, France. By afternoon the Île de Groix was in sight. A calm came up and night came down, so the American ships stood off and on until morning. Morning of the 6th revealed a pleasant sight: both prizes were nearby. Pilots came out and Alfred and Raleigh were soon riding at anchor in Port Louis. The prizes anchored under the Île de Groix.

Thompson went ashore immediately and contacted Gourlade, Bérard frères, & Montplaisir, the Continental agents at L’Orient. A letter was written to the American Commissioners in France, announcing their arrival, with the news that Thompson had no dispatches and had just missed the post: he would write tomorrow. Gourlade, Bérard frères, & Montplaisir noted that the frigates had several “wants of Cables Ankers Sails Ballastg. Of Iron, Guns, and several other things which we will provide having declared them in such a manner as to avoid trouble . . .” The Frenchman meant he had entered the ships as distressed, to avoid any inconveniences caused by British protests. The vessels needed to be cleaned, and the French agents suggested that the American Commissioners get the “approbation of the Minister that difficulties may not be Started.” As to the prizes, “we will do our best . . . and dispose of them as soon as possible as they stand before the answer of the court, or any aplication can be made from ye Court of England or the owners . . .”

Thompson reported from L’Orient on 10 October. He acknowledged that he was following orders four months old when he sailed, and that the American Commissioners would be surprised to find two frigates had arrived with no dispatches. Thompson had come to complete the Raleigh and refurbish the Alfred. They had obtained permission to refit “after various pretences, not consistant with the Honour of the United States, nor the Respect due to a Man of War belonging to a free and Independant Empire—But small Folks must sing small, & for the sake of Convenience must abate their Dignity . . .” Thompson and Hinman had met with every “personal Respect” at L’Orient and were well received by the population. Thompson requested orders from the American Commissioners, and suggestions as to a “Line for my Conduct during my stay here. . . .” Thompson sent a copy of his battle report, and his journal, noting that he had come into Port Louis “in Distress.” The prizes were left under the Île de Groix until he saw what kind of reception he obtained. They were still there, but had already been sold, for about half their value; but there seems a necessity for secresy & Dispatch . . .” The Alfred and Raleigh were preparing to heave down, and the work would be forwarded as fast as possible. Thompson passed along the news he had, which wasn’t much.

The French line of conduct was laid down by the Minister of Marine, Gabriel de Sartine, on 11 October. The Commissary of the Port, Jean-Francois-Timoleon Viger, was to verify the repairs to the Alfred and Raleigh, and furnish necessaries, for payment. No warlike supplies or munitions were to be embarked. They were only to remain until they were ready for sea, and Viger was to expedite their departure. The prizes, which had been reported as American merchant vessels being escorted by the warships, were allowed to trade freely.

On 13 October the American Commissioners wrote to Gourlade, Bérard frères, & Montplaisir, asking them to assist the two ships, and to deliver a letter to Thompson. The letter to Thompson requested him to forward any letters by way of Gourlade and company, which was much safer than other routes. To help smooth the way for the two American captains, Jonathan Williams, the Continental Agent at Nantes, sent Captain Samuel Nicholson to L’Orient. Nicholson had long been in France and was well familiar with the tricks necessary to avoid delay and detection by the English.

By 13 October de Sartine had been informed that the two merchant vessels were prizes, and had been sold. Viger had ordered them out of port at once, but Sartine had learned from another source that the “entirety of the two cargoes was sold to foreigners. I could hardly believe it after the positive orders I gave to you and the king’s wish which is well known to you.“ De Sartine demanded a special report by courier of this transaction. Two days later Sartine was answering an inquiry by Lord Stormont, through the Comte de Vergennes, about the two ships and the prizes. Sartine noted that they had been allowed to repair only after an inspection; and that the prizes had not been allowed to enter port. He did not state that he knew that the prizes had already been sold.

On 15 October, in a report to his British spy masters, George Lupton (James Van Zandt) mentioned that the prizes had been sold for £9600. The same day Lord Stormont protested to Comte de Vergennes concerning the two ships. He requested they be ordered out to sea, and that the prize vessels not be sold. Vergennes seemed surprised, said Stormont later, however Maurepas, the French Prime Minister know of the arrival. Maurepas claimed they were admitted in distress and were leaky. Maurepas thought the prizes had left. Stormont countered that “Vessels would always appear Leaky to those who had a Mind to think them so, and that in a Word the whole was a mere jest, and was considered as such by the Americans themselves . . .”

Jonathan Williams had learned the details of the sale of the prizes by 18 October and was stunned. The property had been sold for £9700, which Williams thought was about one third of its value; and about one half of what it should have sold for in “their circumstances.” Williams disapproved, and had written to L’Orient offering £2000 more, on the American Commissioner’s account, if the deal was not yet completed. If he got the goods they would be sent to Holland as French property and sold there. Williams had a good opinion of Gourlade, but thought that advantage had been taken by others in the haste of disposal of the property. Answering the letters of the American Commissioners in France on 20 October, Thompson also regretted the prizes had sold so low. He thought the two would be worth £21000 in England. A British spy in the American headquarters reported that there was much to-do about this sale. Chaumont begged the purchasers to make up the price to £13000 for the “Honor & Interest of France . . .”

These prizes attracted the attention of troublemaker Thomas Morris, who was, in theory, the Continental Agent for France. Morris deputized a “Mr. Pinet” and recommended him to the two American captains. Penet picked out a third person who went to L’Orient express to attend to the prizes. All these men urged “Secrecy & Dispatch,” and asked for permission to sell the prizes, even though Morris and Penet were no closer than Nantes. Thompson informed the American Commissioners of this unusual request on 20 October, saying he had told Morris that others, recommended by the American Commissioners, had handled the matter.

Meanwhile the British prisoners aboard Raleigh and Alfred had to be disposed of in some way. Seventy odd prisoners were put in a French brig and sent over to England, sailing on 11 October. As the brig got under way so did the two prize ships. Although there was some talk of attempting to recapture the ships, cooler heads prevailed. They arrived at Christchurch on 20 October. Among the prisoners thus released were Watt (Jamaica), Hooper (Nanny), Marshall (Sally) and Athens (the schooner from New York). These landed at Portsmouth, and, in passing through customs, revealed that the two prizes were unloading, their cargoes having been sold. The two American frigates were discharging their guns, preparing to clean, and that a third frigate, built in France at L’Orient, was about to be launched. The three together, when ready, were to escort a convoy of twenty sail to America. The customs officials passed this information to London.

On 7 November 1777 Sartine wrote to Charles Pierre Gonet, Commissary at L’Orient, concerning the Alfred and Raleigh. He was to impress on the captains the urgency of their completion of the refit of the ships, and of their departure. As to the prizes, Bérard “surely would merit being punished” if it were proven he was behind the movement of the ships and their sale. He had already paid a fine for breaking other regulations. Sartine emphasized the point: “Enjoin him to be more circumspect in the future . . .” As to the French sailors who had moved the prizes: “ . . . come to an understanding with the Admiralty officers of Vannes . . .” to remove the sailors and get the prizes away from French shores.

Against all odds, it would seem, Lord Stormont had now located one of the Raleigh and Alfred’s prizes, the Anne Susannah. She was at Pelerin, nine miles from Nantes, on 26 November 1777. There she was being altered, her name erased, and her appearance changed. She had been renamed La Mignonne. Stormont demanded, in a memorandum dated 2 December, the return of this vessel and her cargo. Sartine investigated and reported, on 28 December, that the ship in question was not the Ann Susannah, although it was the La Mignone. There was no known evidence to connect the two, said Sartine.

On 19 December 1777 one observer noted that the French agents had “abused the confidence” of the Americans: they had gained 60,000 livres on one prize alone, made advance charges on all goods furnished for refit and cargo, “besides the impudent advantages they have taken in becoming purchasers of prize-goods at an under-value.”

[NDAR, X, 875, 877, 895-897, 900 and note, 905, 906, 910-911 and 911 note, 912-913 and 913 note, 913-914 and 914 note, 914-915 and 915 note, 922, 925, 930 and note, 931-933 and 933 note, 933-934 and 934 note, 939 and note, 940-942, 946-947 and 947 notes, 960-963, 976-977 and 977 notes, 1014-1015, 1051-1054, 1060-1061, 1062-1063 and 1063 note, 1115, 1155-1156 and 1156 note; XI, 133 and note; Morgan, Captains to the Northward, 101]

Revised 9/21/08