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A Look at Our
Seafaring Past
By Barry L. Hatt
It is interesting how some
things came to be. During the late 1700s and the early 1800s privateers were
enlisted by the French, the British, and the Americans, especially here in the
Maritimes. Their job was to capture ships of the enemy along with their cargos.
Privateering became a very important industry. The Privateers were usually
converted merchant ships fitted with the necessary armament and manned by
tradesmen, farmers and fishermen. They received no pay unless they managed to
capture ‘prizes’, from which they received shares of the booty.
To give the privateers a semblance of respectability
Letters of marque were issued by respective governments. These letters gave the
Captain and Ship the right to capture enemy vessels, no matter where they were.
Frequent battles were fought in the Bay of Fundy and along the Maine Coast and
raiding parties went ashore wherever there were settlements.
Jason Smith, published a story in the
‘Dispatch’ telling of the first account of soldiers being used as
marines. The ship ‘Newcastle Jane’ sailed out of St. Helen’s, in
convoy, loaded with uniforms and payroll, for Canada and the maritime provinces
along with 27 recruits for the Royal Highland Emigrants. Their Captain was
Murdock MacLaine and he was the only one on board who had been in battle.
The ship became separated from the rest of the ships
and Captain MacLaine felt that he should make plans for defense of the ship if
the occasion arose, because Yankee Privateers were
numerous.
The normal action for sailors was just to
give up the ship and go ashore and await another ship. Captain MacLaine knew
that his recruits would fight so he called a ships meeting with the ships
Captain and crew. The Captain of the ship, Carey, agreed to fight, as did his
men, when Captain MacLaine offered to pay each of the sailors. It probably
helped that he fortified them with Grog.
As feared, on
October 23, 1776, a sail was spotted to windward bearing down on the Jane. It
was indeed a rebel privateer. MacLaine ordered all hands to their stations.
When the ship came alongside about 30 yards away they ordered the Jane to
strike her colours and surrender. When no reply was forthcoming the privateer
fired a broadside of carriage guns as well as swivel guns and small arms fire.
Because the Jane was prepared she returned fire for about a half hour and the
other ship backed off.
It should be noted that the
other ship was about 200 tons with10 carriage guns and 12 swivel guns and
around 80 men. The Newcastle Jane had only six, 3 pound carriage guns and a few
swivel guns, 11 sailors and the 27 recruits on board. It would be a great
understatement to say that she was outclassed, outgunned and
undermanned.
After dark Captain Carey put on all sails
to try to lose the privateer, to no avail. MacLaine spent the night preparing
the ship against being boarded in the morning by making anti boarding nets out
of the men’s hammocks. These he used to barricade the
deck.
Early the next morning the Privateer closed to
try to board, but Captain Carey quickly changed course and raked the deck with
fire from his guns. The rebels were being hurt and backed off for about 30
minutes. When they again closed both ships angled for good shots and pounded
each other until about 1 o’clock in the afternoon at which time the enemy
veered off after losing many men and suffering a great deal of damage to the
vessel.
Captain Carey yelled “All hands ready for
boarding!” At which the rebel ship ran off. The ‘Liverpool Jane’
then heaved-to and made emergency repairs and then set sail on her original
course. It is interesting to note that after the battle that only 2 rounds of
shot were left on board except for the rounds that the enemy had fired at them
which were embedded in the breastwork of bedding that had been used as a
barricade.
The amazing fact was that no one was killed
or wounded and that they had saved 20,000 pounds sterling from falling into
enemy hands.
This was the first victory of a merchant
vessel against the rebel pirates and the Crown decided to use the Royal
Highland Regiment as marines.
As Jason Smith wrote:
“In order to protect the inhabitants of the Maritime from attack, plunder
and rape, Smalls’ infantry companies patrolled the coast and manned
diatant outpost in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. These Highland
soldiers were also used in amphibious attack on rebel controlled territory as
their brother soldiers serving on ships patrolled the bays and
harbors.”
Privateers and pirates were numerous in
the area. American privateers were mostly stationed at Machias on the Maine
Coast from which they attacked Cumberland, Annapolis, Saint John and any
unprotected village that they could find.
There were
many sites where forts and blockades were set up for protection and the Royal
Highland Regiment served a useful role as the first
marines.
The harbours and coves of the Bay of Fundy
were indeed visited by pirates and privateers so don’t be quick to
discount stories that have been handed down by our ancestors. You never know
where you might find pirate gold. Arr, bring your port cannons to bear.
Barry Hatt lives in Fredericton. You may contact him through his e-mail address which is blhatt@rogers.com
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