from her in Order they may be given in Exchange for your Petitioners, otherwise they must return to Halifax agreeable to their Paroles and suffer on board the prison Ship.1

In October, 1781, John Moriarty, of Salem, petitioned Governor Hancock for permission to send a vessel at his own expense, with thirty British prisoners, to St. John's, Newfoundland, in order to procure the exchange of his son, Thomas Moriarty, and others of the crew of one of his privateers, probably the brigantine Flying Fish. The Council advised that this petition be granted.2

Of the many interesting miscellaneous papers in the Massachusetts Archives, the two following, in addition to the preceding, are here printed. The sloop Swift, whose character in the State service is clearly set forth in these instructions, was bonded as a privateer. The careers of the General Mercer and Fanny in European waters gave rise to international correspondence.

CAPT. JOHN Wigglesworth

IN COUNCIL June 6th 1776.

Sir, You being appointed Master of the Sloop Swift fitted out by this Colony for the gaining Intelligence Respecting the British Fleets and Armys, You are therefore, as soon as your Vessell is Ready, to Sail for some part of the Coast of Nova Scotia, or you may Cruise on the Seas between Cape Ann and Nova Scotia, and Use your utmost Endeavours for the gaining Intelligence as Aforesaid, and when you shall gain Certain Accounts of the Embarkations of the Troops at Hallifax, or the movement of any Considerable fleet of the Enemy, and the Course they have for some time Steared, you are then with all possible dispatch, to give Information to the Council of this Colony and the Committee of Safety, etc., of the Town where you may Arrive, that Such measures may be taken, as the defence and Security of this Colony may Require; and you are to use all necessary Precaution to prevent your Vessell from falling into the Hands of the Enemy, whereby 1. Mass. Archives, 172, 216.

2. Ibid., 172, 23, 24; the next year other citizens of Salem wished to bring about the redemption of prisoners at New York in a similar manner, also at their own expense (188, 130).

the good design of fixing out your Vessell may be Frustrated. As you have received a Commission, by Force of Arms to Attack, Subdue and take all Ships and Other Vessells belonging to the Inhabitants of Great Britain on the High Seas under Certain Restrictions, you must Punctually follow the Instructions herewith delivered you for your Conduct respecting this Matter.

MOSES GILL

CALEB CUSHING

D. HOPKINS

J. BOWDOIN

J. WINTHROP

RICH'D DERBY JUNR.

and nine other councillors."

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY SS.

COUNCIL CHAMBER October 17th 1778.

Be it remembered that Joseph Foster, Esqr., of Gloucester within this State, merchant, upon Petition to Us for that purpose having laid before Us the Necessary proofs, appears to be the Agent for Owners, Officers, Marines and Mariners of the Private Brigantine Gen'l Mercer, Jas. Babson Commander, called the Hancock while in France the last Year; Also Messrs. Jno. Grenell and Adam Babcock, both Boston Merchants, upon the same Petition appear to be Owners and Agents for the other Owners, Officers, marines and mariners of the Privateer Brigantine Fanny, Jno. Kendrick Commander, called the Boston while in France the last Year; which said Privateers having captured two Brittish Ships and carried them into the Port of Nantz in France the 13th August, 1777, Laden with Sugar, which they entered as Dutch Ships coming from St. Eustatia, the consequence of which occasioned the Confiscation of those two Ships by the Court of Admiralty, yet notwithstanding, His Most Christian Majesty the King of France having in his great Goodness been pleased to Order the Sum of Four Hundred Thousand Livres, French Money, to be paid to the Owners and others concurred [concerned?] in the said Two American Privateers, which order first Signified by Monsr. Le Ray de Chaumont, honorary intendant of the Royal Hotel of Invalids, and by him to Jno. Holker Esqr. Agent General of the Royal Marine and Consul of France, and by Him to the said Agents and owners of the said Privateers

We therefore declare that the proofs exibited appear to Us satisfactory and sufficient to authorise the said Jno. Holker Esqr. to pay the said Jos'h Foster, Esqr., and Messrs. Adam Babcock and Jno. Grenell the said Sum of Four Hundred Thousand Livres 1. Mass. Archives, 164, 377.

French Money, according to the Order of his Most Christian Majesty the King of France.

In the Name and by Order of Council,

Boston, 17th October, 1778.1

JER: POWELL President.

A perusal of bonds, petitions, and other documents will show that many of the cruises of Massachusetts privateers were short, a few weeks only, and when they returned to port they were usually recommissioned. Some of them often changed owners and captains, perhaps particularly after unsuccessful cruises. It is noticeable that not only seafaring men but some merchants were rather apt to change their places of residence. While many of the vessels remained in home waters, others, a large number in the aggregate, were rovers in a real sense; they made long voyages and cruised in European or West Indian seas.

It has been possible to collect 1554 items, or separate commissions, for this work; a few of them, probably of doubtful authenticity. In addition to regularly bonded and commissioned privateers and letters of marque, it seems appropriate, in order to make a comprehensive list, to include certain classes of public vessels, state and national; and likewise the irregular private armed vessels, which sailed without commissions, in the few cases where their names are known. The public vessels included are: Washington's fleet of eight, manned by the army, which cruised in Massachusetts Bay in 1775 and 1776; the sixteen cruisers of the State Navy, many of which were bonded, and certain other vessels belonging to the State; a few vessels belonging to the United States, which also gave bonds.2

1. Mass. Archives, 169, 231. 2. See above, pp. 43, 44.

Besides the main body of papers in the Massachusetts Archives, contained in 324 volumes, many other papers relating especially to the Revolution comprise a separate series, in 76 volumes, called the Revolutionary Rolls Collection. In referring to these papers in the present work, the numbers of the volumes in the main series are indicated by Arabic numerals in heavy type; the numbers of the volumes in the Revolutionary Rolls are indicated in Roman numerals; in both cases with the prefix M. A. (Massachusetts Archives). Most of the bonds are in volumes v, vi, and vii, a few in volume VIII, and others in volume 139. Reports of the trials of prizes, nearly all in 1777 and 1779, are in volume 159. Most of the petitions will be found in volumes 164 to 172; some in later volumes. Miscellaneous papers of interest relating to privateers are scattered through many other volumes. The manuscript records of the Council and of the General Court are important. To the State Archivist, Mr. John H. Edmonds, and his assistants, especially Miss Farnham, acknowledgments are due for valuable help and advice.

The privateer bonds among the Papers of the Continental Congress, in the Library of Congress and listed in Naval Records of the American Revolution, are designated by the letters C. C. in the present list. Inasmuch as this publication (Naval Records) is accessible in many libraries, the names on the bonds are here omitted, except those of the commanders. When necessary to indicate the home port, the owners also are given.

The "Maritime Court Records," "Early Court Files," and other papers in the Suffolk County Court House, give reports of a considerable number of prize cases, mostly for the later years of the war, and a few were found in a photostatic reproduction of the "Minutes of

the Superior Court sitting as an Admiralty Court." Additional prize cases occur in "Notes of Evidence taken by Hon. Increase Sumner, Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, 1782-1797,” in the manuscript collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

The Boston Marine Society was visited; also the Essex Institute and the Peabody Museum at Salem, and the manuscript collections of the Essex Institute were examined with some care. Mr. Benjamin J. Lindsey, of the Marblehead Historical Society, very kindly furnished a list of Marblehead vessels. The collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society have yielded data of great value. The compiler is greatly indebted to the custodians and other officials of all these societies and institutions; also to many other persons, especially Mr. O. L. Stone and Mr. H. C. Grafton.

Of printed material the most important is found in contemporary newspapers. The papers of Boston and Salem and the London Chronicle have furnished much information and have supplied many names of privateers not found elsewhere. The Historical Collections of the Essex Institute are very useful, especially the "Records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, edited by Mr. George Francis Dow, and "Auction Sales in Salem, of Shipping and Merchandise," published respectively in the Collections for 1909 and for April, 1913. In some cases it has been difficult to decide to which state certain vessels should be credited and doubtless a few names have been admitted to this Massachusetts list which do not belong there; but it has seemed better to err on the safe side. In excluding such names great assistance has been given by Sheffield's Rhode Island Privateers, Middlebrook's Maritime Connecticut during the American Revolution, and the Pennsylvania Archives.