Hannings, Bud. "Captain John Trevett, USMC", (usmilitaryhistory.com/seniram, posted: July 10, 2011.)
JT, Brenna. "Find a Grave Memorial: Capt John Trevett (1747-1823)", (www.findagrave.com, record added - October 13, 2009.)
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Lincoln, Charles Henry. Naval Records of the American Revolution, 1775-1788, (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1906.)
Smith, Charles M. Marines in the Revolution: Continental Marines in the American Revolution, 1775-1783, (Washington, D.C.: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1975.)
The "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines" contains information that supplements that information already known concerning life and events on board the frigate South Carolina. As more and more of this information is uncovered and added to that previously located, the picture of those lives and events comes into more vivid focus, even after the passage of over two hundred and twenty-five years. This clearer picture adds life back to those chronologically distant lives of officers, NCOs, and enlisted men who walked the decks of the patriot frigate.
Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342, contains a brief story that involves the person of John Trevett, quietly and secretly, in actual defiance of the orders of Commodore Alexander Gillon. This unique situation seems to only be found in the "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", as far as the writer of this blog is aware. This incident is detailed to some degree and is as follows:
NB. one small Cercumstance [circumstance] happened While we ware [were] A fixing our ship Commadore [Commodore] Gillon sett [set] Very Much by Mr. Samuel foot [Foot] of Salem and Mr. Wm. Coal of Marvelhead [Marblehead] Each of them ware [were] Masters Mates on board, and tha [they] belonged to the same Mess that I did; and While I was on board A Prize, the Commadore [Commodore] fearfull [fearful] tha [they] would Leve [leave] our ship, and Go to Salem, he had them both put on Board A Spanish Gardship [guard ship], until we Gott [got] our ship Redey [ready] for see [sea], I found Meins [means] to send them A Line or Tew [two], and sune [soon] Gott [got] An Anser [answer], I Provided some Mederson [medicine] for the Gards [guards] When tha [they] went to pray, as tha [they] Did nit [night] and Morning, I Accordingly Hired A Bum Boat, and Tew [two] spanish Negros [negroes] And I went with them and took them out and putt [put] them on board A Brigg [brig] belonging to Mr. Grarfton of Salem, the Next Morning the Brigg [brig] sailed and tha [they] Arrived safe att [at] Salem -- the spanish Capt. of the Gard [Guard] ship Came on board our ship and informd [informed] Our officers that he was fearfull [fearful] that tha [they] had Atemted [attempted] to swim on shore and the Sherkers [sharks] had Destrold [destroyed] them -- and Commadore [Commodore] and All our officers sett [set] a Gratdel [?] by them, and Wore Very Long faces, & I never Lett [let] None of them into the Affair untill [until] I Arrived att [at] Philadulphia [Philadelphia] -- then I Gave them a Gradel [?] of satesfaction [satisfaction] to think tha [they] ware [were] still Alive --".
(Note: the introductory comment of "NB." is a Latin phrase which written out in full is nota bene, roughly translated, means "note well'. It was the intention of Captain of Marines John Trevett for the readers of his diary to pay special attention to the information that follows this literary abbreviation.)
The two individuals in question here - "...Mr. Samuel foot [Foot] of Salem and Mr. Wm. Coal of Marvelhead [Marblehead]..." are recorded in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina" as follows with pagination of these two citations indicated:
Name: Position: Town of Origin: page number:
William Coal Master's mate Marblehead, MA 142
Samuel Foot Master's mate Salem, MA 147
(Note: According to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 205, note 13, both Samuel Foot and William Coal were from Salem, Massachusetts. The full text of this same note lists all the members of the frigate South Carolina that were from both Salem, MA and Marblehead, MA. But, in this note, both men are cited as being from the same hometown of Salem, MA instead of this information as it is cited in Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342.)
The story of this incident is identical with the frigate South Carolina putting into any port on either side of the Atlantic Ocean - Commodore Alexander Gillon's fear of losing too many crew members and marines from the roster of the patriot frigate and thus not being able to put to sea again when he desired to do so. It was the same in Corunna, Spain; St. Croix, Tenerife; and here in The Havana, Cuba. According to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, pages 62-63, the explanation for these "extraordinary steps" are as follows:
"The Commodore appreciated the financial breaks received from the captain-general [Juan de Cagigal], but he needed other types of assistance almost as badly. As a cosmopolitan center, Havana offered a myriad of opportunities to for crew, marines and officers to jump ship. Too many - disturbingly for the Americans - did. There were French, American, Dutch, German, Danish, and Spanish ships in the harbor desperate for hands and willing to pay high wages to acquire them. Moreover, there were French, Dutch, and Irish military regiments stationed in the city as part of the Spanish army, all offering handsome recruiting bonuses. Anyone frustrated with service on the South Carolina had any number of alternative employment opportunities. At one point, the Commodore sent Cagigal a list of fifty-two marines and twenty-five sailors who had recently deserted from the South Carolina. This constituted one-fourth to one-fifth of all the ship's marines and probably more than a tenth of the sailors. The list did not include a large number of volunteers, passengers, and petty officers who had left also, taking advantage of the frequent American shipping to continental ports. A fighting ship without a crew would be a poor escort."
At this point in the narrative, Lewis gets more to the exact application of this passage to these two American Master's mates, both from Massachusetts. The very next paragraph of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 63 continues:
"The Commodore took extraordinary steps to keep and increase his personnel. Gillon refused to settle wages with anyone wishing to leave the South Carolina in Havana. If they expected back pay, the crew would have to stay aboard until the frigate docked in an American port. The Commodore also prevailed upon Spanish authorities to confine several key petty officers in guard boats in the harbor and to house other crewmen in the infamous Morro prison.".
Quite possibly, of all the ports that the South Carolina state's frigate South Carolina put into during her service in the patriot Cause during the American Revolution, The Havana, Cuba was the most international and cosmopolitan of all, with the possible exception of the capital city of the American colonies - Philadelphia, PA. She only put into this last port-of-call in late May 1782, only a mere seven months prior to her capture on December 21, 1782. As indicated in both the passages from Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342, and Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, pages 62-63, The Havana, Cuba's port offered seemingly innumerable opportunities for "jumping ship". These different ways presented themselves in the forms of earning higher wages for skilled seamen and marines on board seagoing vessels of other nations or a faster manner of reaching home by deserting the service of the frigate South Carolina and seeking out employment on other American vessels in the same harbor at that time. Commodore Alexander Gillon had already given permission for several passengers, officers, and some skilled personnel to depart the ship at The Havana, Cuba and these departures had not gone unobserved by the remainder of the crew and marines on board the patriot frigate. The paragraph from Lewis's work cited immediately above gives indication of the efforts of Commodore Alexander Gillon to stem the loss of crew members and marines through desertion.
The entry in the "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines" clearly states what was the disposition of Samuel Foot and William Coal while the frigate South Carolina was docked in The Havana, Cuba's harbor. Both of these men were petty officers (NCOs) by rating and by the reference to them as being "Master's mates". According to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 63, Commodore Alexander Gillon had reason to believe that both of these men were seeking to desert the service of the patriot frigate and seek their own way back to Salem, MA. Thus, he had both of them consigned to a Spanish guard boat moored in the harbor of The Havana, Cuba. This evidently took place while Captain of Marines John Trevett was on board one of the prize ships the frigate South Carolina had brought into the harbor of The Havana, Cuba. "The Diary of John Trevett" clearly states that both of these men "...belonged to the same Mess that I did...". Several other sources and personal accounts note the close association or relationship that existed between mess mates on board ships. Thus, when John Trevett finally found out about the predicament Samuel Foot and William Coal were in, he designed a method of freeing them from their imposed imprisonment, the full detailed account of which can be found above as related in Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342. John Trevett does not elaborate on what exactly constituted the "....Mederson..." he provided to the Spanish guards. But, from Trevett's statement that the Spanish guards frequently went to prayers, it is evident that he, through the assistance of a hired bum boat and two Spanish negroes, removed both Samuel Foot and William Coal from the guard boat while the guards themselves were away at prayers. When the Spanish turnkeys found out that their American prisoners were gone from the guard boat, the "...spanish Capt. of the Gard [guard] ship..." must have felt mortified that the consigned prisoners had escaped while under his care. Evidently, he fabricated a likely story of both men having escaped by slipping overboard unnoticed and swimming for it which tragically ended in a shark attack on the two fleeing American NCOs. But, in any event, Commodore Gillon was not to have the services of these two skilled sailors as he guided the frigate South Carolina on her final leg of the cruise homeward.
It is a bit more problematic to exactly identify to which ship moored in The Havana, Cuba's harbor the two newly-freed American Master's mates/NCOs were taken for their voyage home to Salem, MA. According to Smith's work, Marines in the Revolution, "Appendix C: Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", page 342, John Trevett "...putt [put] them on board A Brigg [brig] belonging to Mr. Grarfton of Salem, the Next Morning the Brigg [brig] sailed and tha [they] Arrived safe att [at] Salem --...". The key phrase here is "...A Brigg [brig] belonging to Mr. Grarfton of Salem...". John Trevett, or someone else writing under the name of "John Trevett", had the peculiar habit of writing in which he places an extra, and thus extraneous, "r" just prior to an "f" in certain words. So, he writes "arfter" rather than "after". Thus, the name of "Grarfton" may well be written correctly as "Grafton". Also, John Trevett identifies this "Mr. Grarfton" as being from Salem, MA and the ship on which he placed his two fellow messmates as being a "brigg". According to Lincoln's work, Naval Records of the American Revolution, page 447, the following information appears:
Romulus
Massachusetts brigantine
Date of Commission: January 10, 1781
Guns: 14
Crew: 25
Master: Joshua Grafton
Bond: $20,000
Bonders: Joshua Grafton, Salem; Stephen Higginson, Boston; Samuel Parkman, Boston.
Owners: Joshua Grafton and others, Salem.
Witness: Josiah Roberts
The Romulus is cited as being a "Massachusetts brigantine" which would include it in the overall category of 18th century "ships" known as a "brig". The date of commission could possibly place the Romulus in The Havana, Cuba's harbor at the proper time for the events described above to have taken place as they indeed did take place. Not only is the Master of the Romulus Joshua Grafton but, he is also one of the bonders of the Romulus as well as one of the owners of the ship. Thus, it is completely plausible that the Massachusetts brigantine Romulus was the patriot privateer/letter-of-marque ship in question in this series of incidents in The Havana, Cuba's harbor in the early spring of 1782.
But, the phrase "...A Brigg [brig] belonging to Mr. Grarfton of Salem...", could also indicate actual ownership of the ship, vessel or brig/brigantine that Samuel Foot and William Coal escaped on to Salem, Massachusetts. This point is debatable because the use of the phrase by Captain of Marines John Trevett may well indicate "commanding officer" or, for lack of a more applicable term, "captain" on board the ship-of-war in question. Yet, this term could also indicate ownership of the vessel in question and nothing more than that. There is, in fact, a privateer "ship" that fits the definition of ownership by Joshua Grafton of Salem, MA and has a date of commission that could easily place it in The Havana, Cuba's harbor at the proper time for the events indicated to have transpired as they indeed did. According to Lincoln's work, Naval Records of the American Revolution, page 374, the following information appears:
Lion
Massachusetts brig
Date of Commission: July 3, 1781
Guns: 10
Crew: 45
Master: Jonathan Mason
Bond: $20,000
Bonders: Jonathan Mason, Salem; Joseph & Joshua Grafton, Salem; B[ ] Watkins, Salem (?).
Owners: Joseph & Joshua Grafton, Salem.
Witnesses: Thomas Appleton, Barent Bleeker
Even though, this Massachusetts brig was mastered by Jonathan Mason, the Lion actually "...belonged to..." Joshua Grafton. He was actually both the bonder and owner of the Massachusetts letter-of-marque. Joshua Grafton must have been a very wealthy man indeed in the Revolutionary society of Salem, MA. Not only was he the master and owner of the Massachusetts brigantine Romulus in 1781 but, he and his brother, Joseph, were both the bonders and/or owners of several Massachusetts privateer ships-of-war during the American Revolution.
If it could be proven that the Massachusetts brigantine Romulus or the Massachusetts brig Lion was in The Havana, Cuba's harbor just prior to the Spanish expedition against New Providence, Bahamas in early 1782, then the patriot ship-of-war in question that provided the manner of getting home for Samuel Foot and William Coal could be identified with absolute certainty. Yet, even with that stated, it seems with great certainty that the Massachusetts "ship" in question here was most probably the Massachusetts brigantine Romulus with Joshua Grafton as her master. The writer of this blog has made this possibly incorrect assumption based upon the tone of Captain of Marines John Trevett manner of speech in speaking of "...A Brigg [brig] belonging to Mr. Grarfton of Salem...". But, to speak of the master of a ship as the one that the "ship" in question "...belongs to..." rather than the possible, actual owner of the vessel seems to be more the case here than otherwise. But, there is still room for correction in this specific case of identity of the real Massachusetts ship-of-war that carried the two freshly escaped American NCOs home to Salem, MA.
This strange case of the freeing of Samuel Foot and William Coal, possibly both of Salem, MA, seems "so out of character" for Captain of Marines John Trevett of Newport, RI. All through his "Diary of John Trevett, Captain of Marines", he appears to be the exemplary combat officer who not only follows orders to the letter but, also a daring officer who sees decisive opportunities and takes them at crucial moments, thus ensuring the success of the operation under consideration. So, for him to go against the plans of the Commodore Alexander Gillon just prior to the embarkation on the only invasion of a foreign colony in which American sea captains participated during the American Revolution and to free from incarceration two vital Master's mates who Gillon did not want to lose, seems totally out-of-character with the previous stellar service of Captain of Marines John Trevett. But, even this act on the part of Captain of Marines John Trevett might shed light on a facet of his character not revealed previously. It is this possible "character flaw" in the psyche or personality of Captain of Marines John Trevett that constitutes the core of the next post in this overall blog. Ha ha... Read on!