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British Prizes May 1775 |
Name of Vessel:
Polly
Master of Vessel:
Samuel Smith
Rig of Vessel:
Sloop
Date of Capture:
[15] May 1775
Place of Capture:
Off the Massachusetts coast
Captor:
[unknown] British tender
Home Port:
Arundel, Massachusetts
From What Port:
Plymouth, Massachusetts
To What Port:
Arundel, Massachusetts
Cargo:
Tonnage:
Battery:
Crew:
Owners:
Prizemaster:
Prize crew:
Ordered Into:
Boston, Massachusetts
Into What Port:
Boston, Massachusetts
Date Arrived:
Date Tried:
Date Sold:
Action:
No
Recaptured:
Yes
Comments: Sloop Polly (Samuel Smith) was on the return part of a coasting trip from Arundel, Massachusetts to Plymouth, Massachusetts and back to Arundel when she was captured by one of Admiral Graves’ “cutters” from Boston, Massachusetts. She was taken into that port. Polly had sailed from Plymouth about 15 May 1775. At Boston her cargo was bought for the garrison. The British persuaded Smith to enter their service. Letters and agents were sent aboard, and she was ordered to sail to Annapolis [Annapolis Royal, probably]. After sailing, Smith proceeded directly to Arundel and turned over the agents to the local Committee of Safety, on 3 June 1775. By 8 June the Massachusetts Provincial Congress had been informed, and by 9 June the prisoners were in Middletown. The next day they were examined and held.
[NDAR, I, 599, 630 and note, 640, 640, 644-645]