Name of Vessel:

Betsey

Master of Vessel:

John Philipson

Rig of Vessel:

Sloop

Date of Capture:

10 July 1777

Place of Capture:

Off the Virginia Capes

Captor:

HM Frigate Emerald

Home Port:

From What Port:

Virginia

To What Port:

Cap François, Saint-Domingue, French West Indies

Cargo:

Tobacco, flour

Tonnage:

Battery:

Crew:

Owners:

M. François

Prize master:

Prize crew:

Ordered Into:

Into What Port:

Date Arrived:

Date Tried:

[scuttled]

Date Sold:

Action:

No

Recaptured:

No

Comments: Sloop Betsey (John Philipson; owned by M. François) was bound from Virginia to Cap Français, Saint-Domingue, French West Indies on 10 July 1777 with a cargo of tobacco and flour. She was part of a group of seven vessels that ran past the British blockaders in the night of 9/10 July. At 0500 the seven were still in sight from the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. At 0500 HM Sloop Senegal (Captain Anthony Molloy) made sail and chased to the southeast, joined by HM Brig Raleigh and HM Frigate Emerald (Captain Benjamin Caldwell). The wind fell off and became very light at 0800, so Caldwell dispatched his boats. At 1100 the boats were seen to board three of the group: sloop Friendship, sloop Resolution, and sloop Betsey. The next day, at 1600, Betsey’s cargo was removed and the sloop scuttled.

[NDAR, IX, 257, 258-259, 267, 295-296 and 296 note; “The following is a List of Vessels seized as Prizes, and of Recaptures made, by the American Squadron, between the 27^th of May and 24^th of October, 1777, according to the Returns received by Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Howe,” in The London Chronicle, Tuesday, December 2, to Saturday, December 6, 1777]