7Yearswar Essay, Research Paper

Seven Years WarThe word “privateer” conjures a romantic image in the minds of most Americans. Tales of battle andbounty pervade the folklore of privateering, which has become a cherished, if often overlooked part ofour shared heritage. Legends were forged during the battle for American independence, and these men wereunderstandably glorified as part of the formation of our national identity. The fact of the matter isthat the vast majority of these men were common opportunists, if noteworthy naval warriors. The profitmotive was the driving force behind almost all of their expeditions, and a successful privateer couldeasily become quite wealthy. In times of peace, these men would be common pirates, pariahs of themaritime community. Commissioned in times of war, they were respected entrepreneurs, serving theirpurses and their country, if only incidentally the latter. However vulgar their motivation, the systemof privateering arose because it provided a valuable service to the! country, and indeed the American Revolution might not have been won without their involvement. Manyscholars agree that all war begins for economic reasons, and the privateers of the war for independencecontributed by attacking the commercial livelihood of Great Britain’s merchants. It is ironic that the entire notion of privateering began in Great Britain. In 1649 a frigate namedConstant-Warwick was constructed in England for a privateer in the employ of the Earl of Warwick. Seeing how profitable this investment was, a great many of the English peerage commissioned their ownprivateers. The Seven-Years War saw the proliferation of privateering on both the English and Frenchcoasts as each attempted to disrupt their opponent’s colonial trade. American investors quickly enteredthis battle, commissioning ships to prey upon cargo vessels coming to and from French colonial holdingsin the Americas. Here began the American privateer heritage, and when the American Revolution began manyof these same men viewed the opportunity to profit, and resumed their ventures. The American privateervessel was a ship “armed and fitted out at private expense for the purpose of preying on the enemy’scommerce to the profit of her owners”. Not just anyone coul!d be a privateer, however. What distinguished a privateer from a common pirate was a commission, or aletter of marque. These were granted by the government, and were quite easily obtained. Thegovernment’s benefit was twofold. First, the revolutionary government took a share of the profits fromthe sale of any cargo captured by a commissioned privateer. The percentage ranged from ten to as much asforty percent, depending on the nature of the cargo. This provided the then cash-starved governmentwith considerable revenue, with little to no overhead. It cost the government virtually nothing to issuea commission, and the financial rewards were great. Second, these privateers disrupted the enemy’s tradeand sometimes even captured British military transports and supply ships. This system helped thegovernment financially and strategically, while affording the privateer great economic benefits. Thesefabulous profits created an environment laden with potential for up!ward mobility for motivated and talented seamen. To fully appreciate the available opportunities, one must first be aware of how the individualprivateer operated, and a cursory knowledge of ship design is helpful. Virtually every ship in that era,commercial or military, carried at least some cannon. However, these ships could not be outfitted withas many cannons as their owners desired. The term “pierced” refers to the rectangles that were cut in aship’s sides through which cannons were fired. Cannons were usually located on either the top deck, orthe level just below it. This lower level was preferable because cannon operation required a good dealof space due to recoil, and lurching cannons were dangerous obstacles to crews working the sails on themain deck. However, these lower piercings were difficult to make after the ship was constructed andaffected the structural integrity of the ship itself. It was much easier to piercing the sides of theship on the main deck, because all it required was a simple! U-cut. In fact, many captains who needed to rearrange the placement of their cannons during battleordered hasty V-cuts on the main deck. As mentioned before however, these were less than preferablebecause of the danger they posed to seamen trimming the sails. Thus the number and placement ofpiercings affected the ship’s desirability as a privateer. In the early stages of the AmericanRevolution, investors purchased ships of all types, paid for their modification, crew, and provisions,and hired experienced seamen to command them. The entire crew was paid a salary, plus a small percentageof he spoils. These ships would sail out of port laden with ammunition, sidearms, and men, and short onprovisions. Space was limited, and it was wiser to carry more men and weapons than food and water. Thelogic behind this outfitting was that the privateer would hopefully capture ships. Upon capture, theprivateer crew would board the enemy ship, disarm the crew and assume com!mand. The privateer captain would then place a small contingent of his men on board the captured vesselto command it back to the nearest American port. The captain and officers of the captured vessel wouldbe placed under cabin arrest on their own vessel, while the privateer commanders quickly sailed for theclosest friendly port. On these trips, the English crew continued to sail the ship, under the command ofthe privateer contingent. These privateers would load all available sidearms, and keep them in a lockedroom on the poop deck. In the case of an attempted mutiny, the privateers could take the high ground ofthe poop deck and fire repeatedly on the mutinous crew. The privateer vessel would commandeer themajority of the English ship’s provisions, with the logic that the captured vessel was headed for thenearest port and would not need them. By this method the privateers found sustenance. Many a privateervoyage was cut short because provisions were running lo!w and either no capture had been made, or a capture had insufficient food and water. It was not uncommonfor a privateer to capture multiple British ships on one voyage, (the record being twenty-eight!), and sothe surplus of men was necessary to man captured vessels. The mutiny of prisoners was a very real and common danger. Many privateers who took too manyprisoners or under-staffed a capture were the victims of viscous mutinies. The case of the sloop Eaglesailing out of Connecticut illustrates this. A six gun ship, the Eagle had captured seven Britishvessels on one trip. Her complement was reduced to fifteen, and she had taken many prisoners aboard. When an opportunity presented itself the British seamen turned on their captors, overpowered them, andkilled all but two boys. A rule of thumb in the privateering profession was to never capture moreships than the number of cannons you had on your own ship. If a privateer had six guns, then he should

capture no more than six ships on a single voyage. In fact, that accomplishment was considered thepinnacle of success for a privateer voyage. These captured vessels were the primary reason upward mobility was so possible. A captain mightreturn to port with a total of three captured ships on one voyage. He began his adventures as anemployee of the investors who furnished him with his original ship and crew. When divvying the spoils,it was not uncommon for a privateer captain to request one of the captured ships for the bulk of hiscompensation. He could take this ship, hire the best men from his previous crew, and go into businessfor himself. This resulted in a vacancy on his original ship, and experienced mates often moved up tothe position of captain. Additionally, talented officers on a privateer owned ship faced great prospectsfor their own advancement. It was quite common for a successful first mate to receive a ship of his ownto command from a privateer owner/captain. In this way the privateer could increase his holdings andprofits by owning multiple ships, and ambitious officers could fur!ther their own careers. At the end of the revolution, there were privateers who had as many as ten shipsin their service. These men would retire from commanding ships, and oversee the business of “corporate”privateering. This system quickly blossomed after the beginning of the war and was an economic boom forthe maritime sector. This boom was due to the fact that American privateers were “damn good” at what they did. Theircapture rate is astounding. In 1781 four hundred and forty-nine vessels had been commissioned asprivateers, the highest number of any year of the revolution. These ships captured a little overthirteen hundred vessels, and sank almost two hundred more. The British were shocked by the prowessexhibited by American seamen. For years Great Britain had reigned supreme on the seas, and a band ofprofiteering rebels was not only destroying their trade, but humiliating their Royal Navy. In the earlystages of the war privateers would often come across HMS vessels, and attempt to engage them. Althoughthey were not laden with commercial goods suitable for sale they were often troop transports, or evenbetter, supply ships bringing necessities to British troops in America. The Continental Congress had putbounties not on HMS vessels but rather twenty-five dollars a head on En!glish servicemen delivered as prisoners. The ship and any goods were for the privateer to keep. Thismade troop transports a suitable prize for privateers who could often outmaneuver the larger militaryships. A common tactic was to load their cannons with grape shot and aim high for the British sails. Ifa privateer could disable the man-o-war’s maneuvering capability, he would gain a great advantage. Positioning himself perpendicular to the British stern, the British would be forced to surrender, beingunable to return fire or quickly reposition to do so. Britain’s loss of maritime and naval supremacy had a tremendous impact on the war. In the beginningof the revolution, most Britons believed that the war would have little or no effect on them personally. Granted, it would be expensive to ship redcoats and Hessians across the Atlantic Ocean, but this costwould be more than covered by the profits British merchants were making from colonial trade. Theprovisions of the Navigation Acts ensured profits for British merchants as long as the system was inplace, and putting down a rebellion made good economic sense. Furthermore, British merchants believedthat the war would be fought entirely across the ocean, perhaps destroying some infrastructure in thecolonies, but having no effect on British trade. The American privateers were quick to prove them wrong. The assaults of the privateers on British merchant ships cost English business eighteen milliondollars throughout the course of the war. The estimated value of the ships that were captured totaledalmost twenty four million dollars. Combined, this makes approximately forty two million dollars lostto the privateers, a fortune in the late eighteenth century. Added to this were the sixteen thousandprisoners taken by the privateers, the vast majority of whom where seamen. The sheer audacity of theAmerican privateers is evident in the bold raids against British ships carried on just off the coast ofEngland. Bold captains would sail for the English coast, capture ships, and escort them to French portsfor the sale of their goods. These daring exploits had a tremendous effect on British trade and morale. Britain’s power rested on her naval strength, and her colonial empire was fed by her well-developedmerchant marine fleet. The privateers deprived Britain of he!r source of strength. Aside from the monetary loss from captures, privateering had ramificationsthroughout the British economy. Privateers operating off the American coast effectively disrupted tradewith the Americas. However, America was only a portion of Great Britain’s colonial possessions. Takingthe war to her coasts impacted all of her trade routes with all of her colonies. Insurance rates oncargoes being transported on ships of British flag skyrocketed. Ships sailing for the Americas were evenmore expensive to insure. To insure cargo bound anywhere from Great Britain cost up to eight percent ofthe cargoes estimated value by 1789. It was impossible to get insurance for a ship sailing for Americaunless she moved in a guarded convoy, and even then insurance could reach thirty percent. The lossinflicted by American privateers led to the formation of these armed convoys, often consisting of up tofifty ships. Even the linen trade with nearby Ireland was ra!vaged. Accounts of a convoy of linen ships sailing from Ireland to England with sixty ships, five ofthem being warships, indicated that less than twenty five arrived safely in England. Two warships weresunk, and the rest carried off by American privateers. Eventually, British commerce was crippled. Theloss of ships and capture of experienced seamen drove up the price of transport. Insurance rates were atprohibitory levels. No ship flying an English flag was safe. British merchants began to ship theirgoods on French transports, which was also quite expensive, but still cheaper and safer than a Britishship. The British merchants were taking losses everywhere. The main reason for their prosperity, andthat of England’s was the colonial trade, and the American privateer had effectively denied them of this. The merchants began to put pressure on Parliament to end the war. In fact, almost every motion put before Parliament to end the war with the colonies was supported byeconomic motives. Powerful merchants used their influence to cause dissent in the ranks of Parliament,and soon a strong movement advocated peace negotiations. The logic was that first, an end of hostilitieswould enable Britain to resume normal commercial relations with the rest of her colonial possessions. Second, American manufacturing capabilities would take years to develop, and England could profit to someextent from trade with the former colonies. The system of privateering had wreaked havoc upon theBritish economic system and helped the American rebels win the war for their independence.