Pirates of Maryland: Plunder and High Adventure in the Chesapeake Bay by Mark P. Donnelly & Daniel Diehl

Author:Mark P. Donnelly & Daniel Diehl [Donnelly, Mark P. & Diehl, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biographies & Memoirs, Naval, Piracy
ISBN: 0811710416
Amazon: B00BOT5ZCO
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2013-02-20T05:00:00+00:00

Privateers of the Baltimore Hero

The Maryland privateering sloop Baltimore Hero was commissioned on September 16, 1776—only two months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence—and placed under the direction of Commander Thomas Waters of Baltimore. There was already no doubt that the struggle for independence would spill over the land and into the deep waters of the Atlantic, so Baltimore Hero was designed to be a prize-taking privateer and the official description of the ship makes her mission seem more than clear. The Baltimore Hero was listed as having a battery of six 3-pounder cannon and six swivel guns, and a crew of twenty men. For a small craft with a limited crew the Hero was very well armed. Serving as first mate was William Jones, John Pine was second mate, and John Sharp was third mate; all three of the men were from their ship’s native city of Baltimore. The ship’s 5,000-pound-sterling bond was executed by Commander Waters, Robert T. Hooe of Alexandria, Virginia, and John Crockett and Thomas Ringgold, both of Baltimore. On the same day the bond was recorded, Commander Waters received permission from the Maryland Council of Safety to sail for Martinique, in the French West Indies, or some other foreign port, apparently of his own choosing. Accordingly, the newly commissioned Baltimore Hero sailed down to the West Indies, calling at the neutral port of St. Eustatius in the Dutch West Indies, where she was refitted and resupplied before running out of the port to seize whatever prizes she could find and, hopefully, harass and infuriate the British.

On November 21, 1776, the Hero captured the English-registered brig (or brigantine) May, captained by William Taylor, about three miles from Sandy Point on the island of St. Christopher’s in the British West Indies. Other accounts say the capture was in Dutch territorial waters and carried out right under the guns of the Dutch fort at St. Eustatius. Since Britain and Holland were allies, if this second account is true it would have been a shocking breach of protocol, but relations between the two European nations were already strained, and during wartime anything is possible. Wherever the Baltimore Hero’s attack on the May took place, the capture was seen from St. Christopher’s and witnessed from St. Eustatius by that island’s governor, Johannes de Graaff. The Baltimore Hero’s first prize was owned by Bendal and Foster McConnell of Dominica in the British West Indies, William Brown of Cork, Ireland, and Benson & Postlewait of Liverpool, England. When it was taken, the May had been en route from Dominica to St. Eustatius. Perhaps sensing the magnitude of the trouble this capture was likely to cause, Captain Waters seems to have identified himself to his English prisoners as Ezekiel John Dorsey, but there was no doubting the ship’s allegiance. The May was brought back into St. Eustatius with the Baltimore Hero flying the American colors.

The Baltimore Hero was resting at St. Eustatius on December 1, 1776, and members of her crew

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