THE "INVENTION," FRENCH PRIVATEER
PRIVATEERS AND PRIVATEERING
By
COMMANDER E.P. STATHAM, R.N.
AUTHOR OF "THE STORY OF THE 'BRITANNIA,'" AND JOINT
AUTHOR OF "THE HOUSE OF HOWARD"
WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
London: HUTCHINSON & CO.
Paternoster Row 1910
PREFACE
[Pg v]A few words of explanation are necessary as to the pretension and scopeof this volume. It does not pretend to be a history of privateering; thesubject is an immense one, teeming with technicalities, legal andnautical; interesting, indeed, to the student of history, and nevercomprehensively treated hitherto, as far as the present author is aware,in any single work.
The present object is not, however, to provide a work of reference, butrather a collection of true stories of privateering incidents, andheroes of what the French term "la course"; and as such it is hoped thatit will find favour with a large number of readers.
While the author has thus aimed at the simple and graphic narration ofsuch adventures, every effort has been made to ensure that the storiesshall be truly told, without embroidery, and from authentic sources; andit has been found necessary, in some instances, to point outinaccuracies in accounts already published; necessary, in view of thefact that these accounts are accessible to any one, and probablyfamiliar to not a few possible readers of this volume, and it appearsto[Pg vi] be only fair and just that any animadversions upon thesediscrepancies should be here anticipated and dealt with.
It has not been considered necessary, save in rare instances, to givereferences for statements or narratives; the book is designed to amuseand entertain, and copious references in footnotes are not entertaining.
It will be noticed that the vast majority of the lives of privateers andincidents are taken from the eighteenth century; for the simple reasonthat full and interesting accounts during this period are available,while earlier ones are brief and bald, and often of very doubtfulaccuracy.
Some excuse must be craved for incongruities in chronological order,which are unavoidable under the circumstances. They do not affect thestories.
There remains to enumerate the titles and authors of modern works towhich the writer is indebted, and of which a list will be found on theadjoining page.
LIST OF MODERN AUTHORITIES
[Pg vii]"History of the American Privateers and Letters of Marquein the War of 1812," etc. By George Coggleshall. 1856.
"Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence." By Dr. Doran. 1876.
"The Naval War of 1812." By T. Roosevelt. 1882.
"Studies in Naval History." By Sir John K. Laughton. 1887.
"The Corsairs of France." By C.B. Norman. 1887.
"Life Aboard a British Privateer in the Reign of Queen Ann."By R.C. Leslie. 1889.
"Robert Surcouf, un Corsaire Malouin." Par Robert Surcouf,ancien Sous-préfet. 1889.
"The British Fleet." By Commander C.N. Robinson, R.N.1894.
"The Royal Navy." By Sir W. Laird Clowes, etc. 1894.
"Old Naval Ballads," etc. The Navy Records Society. 1894.
"A History of the Administration of the Royal Navy," etc.By M. Oppenheim. 1896.
"History of the Liverpool Privateers," etc. By G. Williams.1897