Book Review: The Revolutionary War Privateers of Patriot Pirates

The tiny Continental Navy faced the greatest navy on Earth and did what it could, but it wasn't much. Whatever they might do, England could absorb any blows struck like a T-rex dealing with fleas. Bothersome but inconsequential. But that doesn't mean the Royal Navy had free reign.

They faced hundreds and hundreds of privateers. The legal pirates operating on behalf of the Continental Congress may or may not have had great practical effect...a difficult issue to judge...but they had devastating psychological impact.

More than 2,000 privately-owned warships were authorized during the Revolutionary War to sail against the British.

Patton, grandson of General George S. Patton, points out that the privateers were driven by the profit motive, often mixing genuine patriotism and self-interest, as the book's title suggests. They were generally successful at it, fueling an industry that thrived even amidst the wartime inflation that crippled the country. Many of today's prominent New England Old Money families owe their fortunes to the legalized piracy of the American Revolution.

Privateers targeted the merchant fleet of England and hit the enemy where it was most vulnerable...a lesson the Japanese Imperial Navy would learn from the sea raiders of the American submarine service during World War Two. Privateers took countless valuable prizes, robbed the British of secure sea lanes, and, for some, made huge fortunes.

For the three American diplomats in France, privateering was another diplomatic tool, especiallyin European waters. Benjamin Franklin concentrated on the many facets of the diplomatic effort, among which was the pressure privateers selling their prizes in French ports exerted on relations between England and France, helping drive the French into an alliance with the colonies. The luxury-loving Silas Deane, whose close friend was a British spy, generally took charge of coordinating the privateer war. Deane served well but eventually lost his fortune and reputation partly through the connivance of the third member of the American diplomatic team, Arthur Lee of Virginia about whom little good is rarely noted anywhere, and whose chief contribution seems to have been that of making jealousy-driven accusations against the unassailable Franklin and the vulnerable Deane.

Washington also benefitted from the privateers effort in his war of attrition against Britain which undependably funneled supplies to his army.

The Japanese never really responded to their vulnerability to the American submarine fleet, probably couldn't due to their own limitations. But the British eventually recognized their position and, despite concerns over the possible Pandora's box they were opening, too late began authorizing their own privateers. Perhaps as much as anything, that indicates the impact of the privateer war carried on by the Colonies.

Patton talks about the individuals who excelled at privateering. But it wasn't just the captains and the investors who stood to make fortunes. Privateers were manned by crews willing to chance all for the opportunity to make more in one voyage than they might make in a year.

The result was an aggressiveness unmatched by the Continental army, fueled by the possibility for profit.

Excellent book. With a photo insert and index.

Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution, Robert H. Patton, 2008, Pantheon, hardcover, 291pp, index.