In Council [Annapolis] 28th. July 1778.
Gent.
We are much inclined to give you any Assistance we can, towards fitting out your Privateer. The Guns on Board the Johnson1 called four Pounders, carry about a five Pound Ball and, we believe, weigh upwards of 12€.2 they, we fear, will not suit you, if they will, or if there are any on Board Stone's Brig,3 & Capt. Coursey4 says he thinks there are, you may use them, returning the same to us again at the End of the Cruise or paying for them if lost. We have no exact Account of our Guns, nor can at present, be informed whether we have any others which may probably suit you, if you know of any others, advise us of them and we shall let you have them if we reasonably can. We are &ca.
LB, MdAA, Governor and Council, Letterbook, S1075-6 (MdHR 4007), p. 181. Addressed at bottom: “James Calhoun & Others." See Owners of a Brigantine Privateer to Governor Thomas Johnson, 27 July, above.
1. Maryland Navy galley Johnson.
2. That is, the symbol for hundredweight, a unit of weight; the British hundredweight equals 112 pounds avoirdupois.
3. “Stone's Brig" was the Friendship formerly owned by Capt. William Stone. It had been the subject of a dispute between the Council and Stone in June 1778. See MdAA, Governor and Council, Letterbook, S1075-6 (MdHR 4007), pp. 128–29.
4. Capt. Thomas Coursey, Maryland Navy, who commanded the galley Chester.
