What
was privateering in Colonial America?
The 13 Colonies, having declared their Independence, had
only 31 ships comprising the Continental Navy. To add to this, they issued Letters of Marque to privately owned,
armed merchant ships and commissions for privateers, which were outfitted as
warships to prey on enemy merchant ships. Merchant seamen who manned these
ships contributed to the very birth and founding of the young Republic. Girard had come to America just before the start
of the War for Independence, and during that war engaged in a few privateering
ventures which ended disastrously.1
In this new venture Girard was not alone. With him were
associated "M. De Neuville and Captain Marc who is to be in command,"
and " M. Baldesqui, captain in the corps of General Pulaski," a
gentleman with some ready money with whom Girard had just formed a
partnership.His reasons for taking this venture, he wrote Baldesqui, were that
"Sales are very slow, money has gone up twenty per cent, and I am afraid
that many will fail altogether. I have, therefore, taken one-third interest on
account of our partnership in a schooner now lying off Egg Harbor and belonging
to M. Le Chevalier de la Nau." Their one-third interest cost fifteen
hundred livres. He was quite aware of the risk of the sea. If, therefore,
Baldesqui had any fears for the safety of the vessel, or did not wish to embark
in such a speculation, his interest could be sold and the funds invested in merchandise.
The schooner was not destined to make the voyage to Le Cap. Captain Marc went
to Virginia fell sick, and wrote Girard to sell his interest and get another captain.
Girard accordingly bought the share of Marc for "fifteen hundred livres,
Continental money," and late in October, 1779, the Minerva, commanded by
Arthur Helme and carrying twelve cannon and a crew of seventy men, sailed from
Philadelphia as a privateer.
To what extent did
Girard involve himself with his friend Baldesqui?
In reviewing the reasons for taking Baldesqui as a partner
and his value as such, Girard said that in January 1780, Baldesqui promised, if
the partnership were formed, he would sail at once for Cap Francais, would send
merchandise valued at 60,000 livres, the sum of which should be added to the
capital of the firm, and that he could procure for Stephen Girard & Co.
"the most of the consignments that might be made from there to
Philadelphia."2
With
financial difficulties and disagreements, did the partnership succeed?
No. "Mr. Baldesqui might
clearly see that Stephen Girard took him in his company
in the hope that Mr. Baldesqui would
keep the promise he had made to Stephen Girard," which he never did.
How
does biographer McMaster relate an episode of privateering involving Stephen
Girard?
“If your privateer is fortunate, as
I wish it should may be, the cost of a trial will not amount to much." The
trial was held in June and Captain Chadwick reported results. He was at
Onancock in Virginia on the eastern shore of the bay with a little fleet of
four boats, the barge Recovery manned
by twenty men, a second manned by twelve, a third by eight, and a fourth by
six. His prizes were a sloop carrying four hundred bushels of corn and oats.
How
was Captain Chadwick to be pursued legally for this event?
A record was established of all his
doings which was put into motion of the proceedings by the Admiralty Court at
Baltimore for the condemnation of the prizes. What there happened is told by
his correspondent. 3
How
did Girard react to this chain of events?
That same August day Girard wrote to
Captain Chadwick and to his correspondent in Baltimore, George P. Keeports,
instructing them to sell the Recovery.
Mr. Keeports replied: "Agreeable to your desire I have enclosed for you an
inventory of the materials of the barge Recovery.
I have offered her by private sale, but cannot find any person inclined to
purchase. I shall try her by public sale on Monday next; but am fearful she
will not sell for near her value.”4
How
did Girard learn that Negro slaves were taken which made the court case
difficult to win?
“I am sorry to inform you,” Mr.
Chase, Chadwick’s attorney told Girard, “that it is my apprehension [that]
Captain Chadwick will hold the weakest side for those Negroes he captured on
the land, as he has no person to appear as an evidence but himself, and I am fearful
of success.”
How
was this court case resolved in the case of the slaves?
On September 10th, the
Court handed down its decision in the case of the Negroes taken from Lowrey and
Seldon and ordered them returned to their owners. The attorney for Chadwick,
Mr.Chase thereupon took an appeal to the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture
sitting in Philadelphia, and asked that the Negroes be sold and the money left
with the marshal till the entire case was decided. This proposal was opposed by
the attorney for the claimants.
What
other than British and French ships did Girard have to be concerned with in
1794?
Privateering and warships were bad
enough, but Girard had just had five of his ships taken— three by the French
and two by the British. Now a new danger appeared— concern with the Barbary
Coast pirates.5
Which
countries sponsored these pirates?
They came from the coast of Africa
and menaced the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. The Barbary States were
Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
What
level of monetary loss did the United States sustain from these pirates?
Over a period of ten years—from the
beginning of the Washington presidency through the presidency of John Adams,
the United States paid almost two million dollars in ransom to free American
sailors and their ships.6
What
were Girard’s initial motives for becoming a privateer?
Although Girard became a very
patriotic citizen, at this stage in his life he regarded privateering as a form
of legalized piracy. There was money to be made by capturing well-laden British
ships.7
How
did his first privateering venture fare?
It started with his 1/3 ownership of
a two-masted schooner, the Minerva,
on its first cruise after being repaired in Egg Harbor. The vessel, with Arthur
Helme as master, ran into a storm and began to leak at every nail hole.
How
successful was Helme on his first encounter with a foreign vessel?
In the distance he saw a schooner
floundering in the storm with clearly nobody managing its direction. He boarded the vessel and found only dead
bodies on board. It was the Barbary and it was filled with tobacco.
This was Helme’s only prize of the war.8
What
further experience did Girard’s crew have with privateering?
On several occasions, Stephen used
his personal merchant ships against foreign enemies. However, he had little
success. During one occasion, a heavy canon made his vessel go off balance. On
another occasion, Girard suggested to Captain Chadwick that he cruise the
Chesapeake to capture any ship belonging to the Tories.9
Was
Girard a privateer in the negative sense of the word?
Girard had been a victim of
privateering and had lost vessels at sea. He returned this action with action
for the sake of his own protection. In many cases it was to help in the war
effort against great odds and to bring down enemy ships that threatened the new
republic. Among the important services Mr. Wildes, author of Lonely Midas, has performed is that of
laying to rest, forever it is hoped, many of the bits of gossip concerning
Girard and his college that have been repeated for generations. Among the most pernicious of these fabrications
are that Girard established his fortune by privateering; and that he made an
immense sum by assisting refugees fleeing from the slave insurrections. Mr.
Wildes documents that these charges are without foundation.
Chapter 7 Notes
1.Wildes, Lonely Midas,
13.
2. Ibid., 14.
3. McMaster, Life and
Times, vii.
4. Ibid., 36.
5. Ibid., 38.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., 39.
8. Wilson, Stephen
Girard, 137.
9. Ibid., 134.
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