[Williamsburg] Thursday July 30 1778
The Trade of this Commonwealth & of it Sister States having suffered considerably from the Depredations committed by certain Armed Vessels commanded by John Goodrich & his Sons,1 and several persons having expressed a Desire to fit out vessels & cruize in quest of the said Goodriches—The Board do advise the Governor to give such Persons and Assistance in their Power & also to equip & send out one or more of the Armed Vessels of this State to Act in concert with such laudable Adventurers2— And the same was accordingly done by the Governor.3
Captain Herbert having produced an Account of Wages paid by him to the Crew of the Brig Liberty while under his command and desiring to be reimbursed the same The Governor is advised to request Mr Miles King of Hampton, many of the Crew being there, to examine the said account & the Vouchers for the Money so paid, & repay Captain Herbert what shall appear to have been paid by him; also to pay any arrears of Wages which may be due to any Individuals of the said Crew to such of them as may apply to him and demand the same; Which Money shall be reimbursed M' King upon his order & Application to this Board.4
Journals of the Council of the State of Virginia 2: 172–73.
1. John Goodrich, a former plantation owner in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, had four sons: John Jr., William, Bartlett, and Bridger. Formerly patriots, the Goodriches had been converted to loyalism by Lord Dunmore, Imprisoned by Virginia authorities in 1775, they escaped individually, made their way to New York, and then led a small fleet of loyalist privateers that preyed along the coast from New Jersey to the Carolinas for the remainder of the war, Selby, The Revolution in Virginia, p. 69.
2. In September, First Commissioner of the Virginia Navy Board Thomas Whiting announced that the Virginia Navy galleys Tartar and Dragon and the brigantine Northampton would immediately put to sea "cruising backwards and forwards within fifty Leagues of the Land and using their utmost diligence to capture the enemy's cruisers particularly those commanded by the Goodriches." Stewart, History of Virginia's Navy, p. 54. On 16 Nov. 1778, the Continental Marine Committee wrote to the Continental Navy Board of the Eastern Department that they considered it "an Object of importance to destroy the infamous Goodrich" and instructed the board to order a “Sufficient force to range” the American coast "to remove the nusence." DNA, PCC, Marine Committee Letter Book, p. 202 (M332, roll6). Furthermore, on 15 Jan, 1779, the Continental Congress resolved to protect the trade of Chesapeake Bay, adding that they "flatter themselves a speedy end will be put to the depredations of Godridge." JCC 13: 69. Despite all of this effort to stop them, the Goodriches continued their successful privateering ventures until the end of the war when they retired to England and Bermuda. According to historian John Selby, they were "perhaps the only loyalists to have made a fortune out of the Revolution.” Selby, The Revolution in Virginia, p. 69.
3. That is Gov. Patrick Henry.
4. Capt. Thomas Herbert commanded the Virginia Navy brigantine Liberty from 8 Apr. 1777 until running it aground to escape capture in early 1778. Stewart, History of Virginia's Navy, pp. 46 and 48.
