Privateering developed when the need arose in a sovereign state for a naval force to supplement a small national navy. Governments licensed privately owned vessels (called privateers) crewed by private citizens to prey upon the enemy's merchant fleet. Without the official license, called letters of marque and reprisal, the privately owned vessel was considered to be a pirate. The first letters of marque and reprisal were issued by Mediterranean nations as early as the twelfth century. In English history, Sir Francis Drake is probably the most famous privateer.
Privateering Technique
The objective of the commander (also called a privateer) was his enemy's merchant fleet. Because the only way for ship owners to gain a profit or for masters and crews to be paid was through the capture and sale of enemy ships and their cargo, there was no point in a privateer confronting any enemy cruiser (such as ships of war). The tactic of the privateer captain was to overtake a merchantman, fire off a broadside, and then attempt to board the enemy vessel, thus capturing both the ship and its cargo. If this maneuver was successful, the enemy crew (except for perhaps the captain and several crew members) was transferred aboard the privateer itself. The privateer commander would then place a prize master and skeleton crew aboard the prize so that the prize might be sailed to a friendly port. This was the financial risk in privateering: If the prize (cargo) did not reach port for one reason or another, it could not be sold and no profit could be realized. Compounding this problem, during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, was the fact that the British had blockaded the major American ports. A prize master had to run this blockade in order to bring his prize safely to port.
Privateering: For Country and Profit
Upon arrival at a port in the privateer's country, the prize vessel and its cargo were immediately turned over to a representative of the local Admiralty Court. Next, a representative of the owners, the prize agent, would file a libel against the prize vessel and its cargo. The court would then examine the captured ship's papers and crew to determine if the ship and its cargo were enemy property. If the court found in favor of the privateer, the court would condemn the prize vessel and its cargo. The court would then sell the vessel and its cargo at public auction. After the deduction of governmental fees and taxes, the net profits from the sale were split, half going to the owners of the privateer and half to the privateer's officers and crew on a shares basis, which had been determined before the vessel’s cruise had begun.
Privateering during the Revolutionary War
Between the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, Baltimore, and especially the Fells Point portion of the city, was the fastest growing port in the United States. The merchants, ship owners, and captains developed a thriving trade with the Caribbean islands. The knowledge of this area made British merchant vessels easy prey for Baltimore privateers. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the government of Maryland issued letters of marque and reprisal. This function was quickly taken over by the Continental Congress. Although records are limited, it appears that about 225 privateer licenses were issued to vessels registered in Maryland. One of the earliest and most successful of Baltimore's Revolutionary privateers was the schooner Harlequin captained by William Woolsey.
Baltimore's most famous privateer during the Revolutionary War was Commodore Joshua Barney of Bear Creek in Baltimore County. Barney served on both privateers and Continental Navy vessels during the Revolution. In April 1782, when in command of the privateer sloop Hyder Ally, Barney engaged and defeated sloop of war HMS General Monk at the mouth of the Delaware Bay.
War of 1812
With the outbreak of the War of 1812 in the summer of that year, Baltimore and Fells Point merchants again sought letters of marque and reprisal in order to attack British merchant shipping for both national pride and personal gain. Estimates suggest that over 500 privateers were commissioned during the War of 1812, of which least 122 were commissioned in Baltimore. Fifty-five Baltimore vessels were lost to the Royal Navy or to the sea. The 250 private armed vessels of the United States captured between 1,300 and 2,500 British ships. Of this total, Baltimore privateers captured 556 British ships, of which 169 finally made it to port for adjudication.
Just how did the business of privateering affect the citizens of Baltimore? In 1812, Baltimore's population was 55,000. Between 4,250 and 7,500 individuals were directly connected with privateering. These individuals ran the gamut from the great merchants who purchased the shares to build and outfit the schooners to the newspapers who printed the advertisements of the sale of captured goods. With the Chesapeake Bay blockaded from early 1813, it was the money brought into Baltimore from the sale of captured vessels and cargoes that kept the merchant houses from financial ruin and thereby kept the city from ruin.
Famous Privateer Captains
The first privateer to sail from Baltimore in 1812 was the Rossie, commanded by Joshua Barney, who would make two successful cruises before joining the U. S. Navy to command the Chesapeake Flotilla. The most famous of all the War of 1812 privateers was Captain Thomas Boyle of Fells Point. Boyle would make three successful cruises in the schooner Comet and then enter into his most famous privateering escapades aboard the schooner Chasseur. While in command of Chasseur, Boyle would sail to the shores of Great Britain and announce a one-ship blockade of the British coasts. Boyle was so successful, that the proud citizens of Baltimore began calling Chasseur "The Pride of Baltimore." Privateers like Boyle and Barney all preferred to sail a vessel called the Baltimore clipper schooner. Barney's Rossie and Boyle's Comet and Chasseur were all built in Fells Point by shipwright Thomas Kemp.
With the end of the War of 1812, the Baltimore privateer captains found returning to regular merchant service rather unrewarding. Their services soon found a demand with the Spanish colonies in Mexico, Central America, and South America that were seeking independence from Spain. About three dozen Baltimore captains eventually sailed for the colonies through 1821. The most famous of these was Captain John Daniel Danels, well known for commanding a few Baltimore ships and a hero of the Columbian navy in 1818.
Privateering eventually died out as nations increased the sizes of their regular navies. In 1856, the maritime nations of the world signed the Declaration of Paris that outlawed privateering. Three nations--Mexico, Spain, and the United States--did not sign.
—Fred Hopkins
Linthicum Heights, Md.
Further Reading
Cranwell, John P. and William B. Crane. Men of Marque. New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1940.
Eller, Ernest M., ed. Chesapeake Bay in the American Revolution. Centreville, Md.: Tidewater Publishers, 1981.
Garitee, Jerome R. The Republic's Private Navy: The American Privateering Business as practiced by Baltimore during the War of 1812. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1977.
Griffin, Charles C. "Privateering from Baltimore during the Spanish American Wars of Independence." Maryland Historical Magazine, XXXV (March, 1940): 1-25.
Hopkins, Fred W., Jr. Tom Boyle, Master Privateer. Cambridge, Md.: Tidewater Publishers, 1976.
Kert, Faye M. Prize and Prejudice: Privateering and Naval Prize in Atlantic Canada in the War of 1812. St. John’s, Newfoundland: International Maritime Economic History Association, 1997.
