Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser and Mercantile Chronicle, Friday, July 17, 1778

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Sir Geo. Collier, Captain of his Majesty’s ship the Rainbow, writes, in a letter of the 11th of May,¹ that on the 11th, being a few miles from land near Casco Bay, he fell in with and retook the Martha, with a valuable cargo, which had been taken by the Rebels on her voyage from London to New York;² that he had also retaken the Elizabeth³ and Polly,⁴ the former having been bound from Bourdeaux to New York, laden with wines and brandy, the latter from St. Augustine to London, with tobacco and tar; and that he had taken the Mary, a schooner from Faro for Boston, laden salt.

. . . A letter from Halifax, dated June 8, mentions, that the Mary, Capt. Smith, from St. Augustine to London, has been taken twice by rebels, and as often retaken by his Majesty’s ships. She is now brought in there by the Ambuscade man of war;⁵ her cargo consists of 187 barrels of tar, 32 hhds of tobacco, 1500 oak staves, &c.

1. The first paragraph of this letter seems to have been drawn directly from Collier’s letter to Philip Stephens of 16 May 1778. See Captain George Collier to Secretary of the Admiralty Philip Stephens, 16 May 1778, in NDAR 12: 365.

2. Ship Martha, Peter McIntosh, master, had been captured by the Continental frigate Boston, Capt. Samuel Tucker, commander, on 10 Mar. Lt. Hezekiah Welch of Boston had been sent to Boston, Massachusetts, with the prize. See Samuel Tucker to the Continental Navy Board of the Eastern Department, 11 Mar., in NDAR 11: 1079–80, and Diary of John Adams, 14 Mar. 1778, in NDAR 11: 1085–86. An “Extract of a letter from Dover, July 3,” printed in Williamson’s Liverpool Advertiser on 10 July reported that the cargo of Martha was valued at £70,000 and “would have been most acceptable to the rebels if they could but have carried her in safe.” Martha carried “bale goods”; Howe’s Prize List, 30 Oct. 1778, UkLPR, Adm. 1/488, fol. 484. For an account of the recapture of Martha, see Journal of H.M. frigate Rainbow, 11 May 1778, in NDAR 12: 326–27.

3. Brigantine Elizabeth, Thomas Howe, master, captured on 2 May off Cape Ann. It carried a cargo of wine and brandy. The master contended the brigantine was a recapture but his claim was denied. Records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 26. Other records give the date of capture as 1 May; Howe’s Prize List, 30 Oct. 1778, UkLPR, Adm. 1/488, fol. 484. The British record of the recapture notes that Elizabeth had been captured by the Massachusetts Navy brigantine Hazard, commanded by Capt. Simeon Samson, an account that was corroborated in a Boston newspaper. Journal of H.M. frigate Rainbow, 1 May 1778, in NDAR 12: 237; and The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal, 18 May 1778, in NDAR 12: 380.

4. Both Collier, in his letter to Stephens of 16 May 1778, and the newspaper reversed the names of Mary and Polly. According to the Howe’s Prize List, Rainbow’s journal, and the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia, it was schooner Polly, Ignatius Webber, master, that was captured while on a voyage from Faro, Portugal, for Boston with a cargo of salt. It was taken on 9 May between George’s Bank and Cape Ann. Collier to Stephens, 16 May 1778, in NDAR 12: 365; Journal of H.M. frigate Rainbow, 9 May 1778, in NDAR 12: 302; Howe’s Prize List, 30 Oct. 1778, UkLPR, Adm. 1/488, fols. 483–84; and Records of the Vice-Admiralty Court at Halifax, Nova Scotia, p. 61.

5. Mary was recaptured by H.M. frigate Rainbow on 8 May and by H.M. frigate Ambuscade, Capt. John Macartney, commander, on 18 May 1778. Howe’s Prize List, 30 Oct. 1778, UkLPR, Adm. 1/488, fols. 483–84 and 487–88. For the accounts of the recaptures of Mary, see NDAR 12: 297, 365, and 389.

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Date

1778 July 17

Volume

Volume 13

Series

European Theater, June 1 to August 15, 1778

Naval Documents of the American Revolution

Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser and Mercantile Chronicle, Friday, July 17, 1778

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