Nonetheless, the American private sector was
eager and able to participate in the naval war on the open seas.
It was an accepted practice of the times for a privately owned
and privately manned ship to be fitted out with cannon and sent
to capture enemy merchant ships. The captured ships and their
cargoes would be sold with the proceeds distributed to owners,
officers and sailors of the privateer. The captured ships were
called "prizes." The privateer had to provide crews
to sail the prizes to friendly harbors and depleted her own crew
for this purpose. Thus, over the course of a successful cruise,
the privateer, with her depleted crew, would become more vulnerable
to enemy attack.
Piracy was illegal, of course, and pirates were
hung. What distinguished American privateers from pirates was
the state of war between the U.S. and England and a Letter of
Marque signed by the President. The Letter of Marque was issued
for a specified captain of a specified ship (see Letter
of Marque).
Privateering proved an attractive lure for American
business. Ordinary trade was now risky due to the war. Privateering
was also risky, but the rewards were much greater. The U.S. had
the ship building skills and sailors to make it work. Hundreds
of privateers sailed and plundered British shipping even in the
British Channel. The victories of the privateers, when added to
the victories of the frigates bolstered, U.S. moral and distressed
the British public.
Prince of Neufchâtel
The most famous of the privateers was the Prince
of Neufchâtel. Philip Freneau, better known as the
poet of the Revolutionary War and as editor of a Democratic-Republican
newspaper, wrote a poem to celebrate the successes of the Prince
of Neufchâtel. Today the poem serves as a reminder
of the importance of her exploits to American moral (see poem).
The Prince of Neufchâtel was not
a converted merchant ship. She was designed and built to be a
privateer: fast and agile enough to escape the British men-of-war
who pursued her, but strong enough to overwhelm a merchant and
tough enough to defend herself against smaller men-of-war. The
Prince was a joint venture of America and France. She
was built in New York City in 1812-1813 and received a Letter
of Marque in October 1813 for her first captain, John Ordronaux,
who had previously captained the French privateer Marengo. She
was about 110 feet long and was considered a combination schooner
and brigantine (see Early
Voyages). By all accounts she was well designed and
well built for her purpose. During the course of her career she
is reported to have outrun seventeen British men-of-war (see Fight
with Endymion: Earlier Version).
She left New York, only lightly armed, for Cherbourg,
France, arriving January 27, 1814. In Cherbourg she was armed,
about 17 cannon, and set out in March of 1814 to raid the British
Channel. She had several highly successful voyages capturing numerous
prizes, sending some to France to be sold and burning others deemed
less valuable.
In August she sailed again from Cherbourg and
arrived in Boston in October 1814 with many prizes (see Early
Voyages). American morale, at a low following the
burning of Washington, received a badly needed boost.
Endymion
Sailing once more, the Prince of Neufchâtel, and
a new prize, the Douglas, ran into a British 40-gun frigate,
Endymion, which was returning to blockade duties off
New York harbor. The Prince, under Captain Ordronaux,
tried to escape, but the two ships were becalmed a quarter mile
from each other as darkness approached.
Under the cover of darkness, the British attacked
with 111 men in five barges. The attack was well planned and all
five boats attacked simultaneously from five directions. The Prince
of Neufchâtel had sailed with 80 men, but now, depleted
by prize crews, had only 33. In the remarkable battle that followed,
the men of the Prince drove off the British. Of the 111
attackers, thirty-three were killed, thirty-seven wounded, and
thirty taken prisoner (see Battle
with Endymion). Of the 33 defenders, six
were killed and twenty-four wounded. Captain Ordronaux found himself
with eight able-bodied men and thirty prisoners. Three of the
five attacking boats had drifted off, one was sunk and one captured.
Ordronaux held the prisoners in the captured boat. In addition
the Neufchâtel already had thirty-seven prisoners
in the hold from previous action.
Much of the credit for the successful defense
of the Prince must go to its captain. He was determined
not to surrender. He is reported to have personally fired eighty
shots at the British which may seem incredible. However, the Prince
had many weapons captured in its voyages and he had them all ready
and loaded. He also made clear to his sailors that he would blow
up the ship (and them) rather than surrender:
"At one period of the fight, when the
British had gained the deck, and were gradually driving the
Americans back, Ordronaux seized a lighted match, ran to the
companion way, directly over the magazine, and called out to
his men that he would blow the ship up if they retreated further.
The threat had the desired effect, the Americans rallied for
a final struggle, overpowered the enemy, and drove the few survivors
into their boats." (See Battle
with Endymion: Earlier Version)
One historian said that the fight with the Endymion
"was the hardest fought naval engagement and the most conspicuous
victory achieved during the war."
The fabled career of the Prince of Neufchâtel
ends with a whimper. Sailing with a new captain, she was captured
by a squadron of three British frigates on the 28th of December,
1814. The war was over, but no one knew it.
