The information presented in this post is taken from the following sources:
Crawford, Michael J., editor. Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 11, (Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, 2005).
Fowler, William M., Jr. Rebels Under Sail: The American Navy During the Revolution, (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976).
Jackson, John W. The Pennsylvania Navy, 1775-1781: The Defense of the Delaware, (Rutgers University Press, 1974).
Kaminkow, Marion and Jack. Mariners of the American Revolution, (Magna Carta Book Company, 1967).
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution, (The Kent State University Press, 1999).
Patton, Robert H. Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War of Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution, (Pantheon Books, 2008).
This post follows the post dated "11/05/2015" and is meant to compliment that specific post by finishing the compilation of men who might have served previous imprisonments at the hands of the British prior to serving on board the frigate South Carolina. The men examined here have last names beginning with the letters N-Z. There will almost certainly be fewer men's names cited here in the same way that there were more men cited in the portion of the alphabet from A-M. As in the earlier posts, the first citation is that from Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. This is followed by a citation from Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution.
These men are as follows:
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William Nourse midshipman
William Nourse - he was a midshipman. He served on board the Confederacy. He was committed to Forton Prison on August 9, 1781. He was pardoned for service in the Royal Navy on March 20, 1782.
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Robert Pearce sailmaker
Two men, both named Robert "Pearce, Pierce" are cited here because these could easily be the same man cited twice in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution:
Robert Pearce - he was committed to Old Mill Prison. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
Robert Pierce - he was a native of Marblehead, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 7, 1777. He was exchanged.
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William Picket no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
William Pickett - he was a native of Marblehead, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 7, 1777. He escaped.
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James Pike master's mate
James Pike - he was a native of Boston, MA. He was a master's mate. He served on board the Alexander, a prize to the South Carolina. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on November 21, 1781. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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Samuel Rice sailor, volunteer
Samuel Rice - he was a P.M. (prize master) mate. He served on board the Satisfaction. He was committed to Forton Prison on July 27, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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------- Richet French soldier
Benjamin Richet - he served on board the Sturdy Beggar. He was committed to Forton Prison on January 23, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on May 31, 1779. He was actually exchanged on July 2, 1779.
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William Riley no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
William Riley - he was a native of Ireland. He served on board the Lexington. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on September 19, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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John Roberts no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John C. Roberts - he was a carpenter. He served on board the General Sullivan. He was committed to Forton Prison on April 26, 1779. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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John Smith no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Smith - he was a native of Newburyport, MA. He served on board the Dalton. He was in hospital on April 4, 1777. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in June 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 20, 1778.
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Samuel Smith no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
Samuel Smith - he was a native of Hampton, MA. He served on board the Dalton. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in June 1777. He escaped on July 12, 1777.
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Thomas Smith captain
Thomas Smith - he was a captain. He was committed to Forton Prison on February 18, 1779.
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William Thomas sailor
William Thomas - he was committed to Forton Prison. He was pardoned fro exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Samuel Treadwell marine
Samuel Treadwell - he was a native of Ipswich, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 7, 1777. He escaped on February 1, 1778. He was re-captured on March 14, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 1, 1779.
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Jacob True sailor
Jacob True - he served on board the Dalton. He was captured on December 24, 1776. He was committed to Old Mill Prison.
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Jacob Tucker marine, volunteer
Jacob Tucker - he was a prize master's mate. He was committed to Forton Prison on August 28, 1778. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Reuben Tucker carpenter's mate
Reuben Tucker - he was a native of Newburyport, MA. He served on board the Dalton. He was sent to hospital on February 15, 1777. He was committed to Old Mill Prison in June 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Richard Wall midshipman
Richard Wall - he was a mate. He served on board the Bon Homme Richard. He was committed to Forton Prison in October 14, 1779. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779. According to records, he was still in Forton Prison in April 1782.
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John Wallace no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
John Wallace - he was a mariner. He served on board the Essex. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 31, 1781. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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Thomas Welsh sailor
Thomas Welsh - he served on board the Dalton. He was committed to Old Mill Prison. He escaped.
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Job Wetherall master's mate
Job Wetherall - he was a prize master. He was committed to Forton Prison on February 18, 1779. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Thomas White first lieutenant
Thomas White - he was a lieutenant. He served on the Montgomery, out of Philadelphia, PA. He was committed to Fortn Prison on August 8, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on either May 31, 1779 or December 11, 1779.
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William White landsman, (midshipman), legionnaire?
William White - he was a native of Newburyport, MA. He served on board the Fancy. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on August 7, 1777. He was pardoned for exchange on December 11, 1779.
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Samuel Williams sailor?, volunteer
Samuel Williams - he was a native of England. He served on board the Lexington. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on September 19, 1777. He was pardoned for service in the Royal Navy on October 14, 1778. He either entered service there or escaped.
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Thomas Williams soldier
Thomas Williams - he was a native of Lynn, MA. He was a mariner. He served on board the Ascot and John. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on July 7, 1781. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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James Willson no "position" cited in Lewis's work for this individual
James Willson - he was a seaman. He served on board the Portsmouth. He was committed to Forton Prison on June 27, 1781. According to records, he was still in Forton Prison in April 1782.
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Henrich Yager marine?
Henry Yagger - he was a mariner. He served on board the Franklin. He was committed to Old Mill Prison on December 6, 1781. According to records, he was still in Old Mill Prison in April 1782.
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(Note: Pertaining to this post specifically, and to those dated earlier that make use of Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170, "marines" are frequently referred to as either "mariners", "soldiers", "marines" and even as "landsmen". Often, a cross-reference must exist in order to properly identify them as marines on board the warship where they are serving.)
The original post dated "11/05/2015" concerning the last names beginning with "N-Z" contained the names of thirty-eight men. This post above contains the names of twenty-six men. As with the earlier post concerning the last names beginning with "A-M", the inclusion of these men in this post does not necessarily mean that these men all served on board the frigate South Carolina without a doubt. We know that some of them did indeed serve on board the frigate while others are more "questionable" as to whether or not they served on board the frigate South Carolina.
There is also the issue of the men who have commonly occurring first and last names. These men present a different type of problem - that of identifying whether or not a specific man by that same name served on board the frigate South Carolina. It is indeed quite feasible that a man with the name John Jones or Robert Smith served on board the frigate South Carolina but, the point is to identify which man by that name served on board the frigate. For this reason, some of these men are not cited in this post or in the post below dated "11/10/2015". But, their names do turn up in the capture lists of the three British men-of-war on December 20, 1782 as the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina were sorted through and allotted to each of the British men-of-war for transportation into New York City harbor and imprisonment.
The men with commonly occurring first and last names are cited below are organized according to which British man-of-war they were allotted to for transportation into New York City harbor. This information is taken from Middlebrook's work, The Frigate South Carolina: A Famous Revolutionary War Ship, pages 18-25.
These men and their dispositions on board the British men-of-war are as follows:
On board the HMS Diomede -
James Adams
Samuel Brown
John Clark
John Lewis
James Robinson
John Smith
On board the HMS Quebec -
John Ball
John Davis
John Davis
Samuel Smith
On board the HMS Astrea -
Thomas Brown
John Davis
John Downs
John Morrison
All of these men appear in Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution, with multiple citations for each of these same names. A reference back to the post dated "11/10/2015" gives the number of men cited in Kaminkow's work for that specific first and last name. But, the individual citation for these same men who were carried as prisoners-of-war into New York City harbor on board one of the British men-of-war appear as they are cited above in Middlebrook's work, The Frigate South Carolina: A Famous Revolutionary War Ship. There were only one of each of these men, except "John Davis" for which there are two citations for him on board the British man-of-war, HMS Quebec. Again, these men all have very common first and last names but, it would appear that at least some of them obviously did serve on board the frigate South Carolina as indicated by the presence of their names on the captive lists for each of the British men-of-war. When their release dates from British prisons are examined, they possibly coincide with the presence of the frigate South Carolina in Philadelphia, PA harbor. These men could easily have arrived in Philadelphia, PA as part of a late war prison cartel and immediately joined the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina. The ultimate question is whether or not these specific men served on board the frigate South Carolina or whether someone else by that same name served instead.
The two posts addressing the reduced list of men who could have possibly served on board the frigate South Carolina have been presented here. The section of the list comprising those men whose last names begin with "A-M" is dated "11/10/2015" and contains the names of forty-two men. This list cited above contains the names of those individuals whose last names begin with "N-Z". This section of the list contains the names of twenty-six men. The combined total is sixty-eight men who could have served on board the frigate South Carolina, either during her first or maiden voyage or during her last, brief voyage ending with her capture on December 20, 1782 off the Capes of the Delaware. There is very little way of knowing which voyage these men may have served on. Some of their release dates from a British prison indicate that they could have only been on the second voyage of the frigate South Carolina due to these dates being after the frigate had departed from Holland headed for America in August 1781. Yet, the earlier release dates of many of the men cited here, combined with the proximity of England to Holland do not necessitate these men having served on board the frigate South Carolina during her first voyage. These individuals could easily have reached America by another means and signed on to the frigate after she docked in Philadelphia, PA on May 25, 1782. Unless further information is located, such as detailed pension applications for the men in question, these final details of service on board the frigate South Carolina may remain elusive.
Yet, there does exist details of the services of these men which provides for a clearer picture of their lives, so far removed in time from us. Kaminkow's work, Mariners of the American Revolution, frequently provides us with the names of the ships on board of which these men were captured. Not all of the entries include the name of a ship previously served on but, these sixty-eight men do represent thirty-three vessels-of-war on which they served prior to serving on board of the frigate South Carolina. In some cases, more than one of the men cited above served on board these warships who went on to serve on board the frigate South Carolina. Yet, on the majority of these warships, only a single man served on board them who would also later serve on board the frigate South Carolina. These warships are cited by name first, followed by any pertinent information regarding the ship. This is followed by the number of men who served on board that ship before serving on board the frigate South Carolina.
Fancy - a Massachusetts privateer brigantine - 8 men
Dalton - a Massachusetts privateer brig - 7 men
Lexington - Continental Navy brig - 6 men
Warren - Continental Navy frigate - 3 men
Black Prince (Princess) - a privateer - 2 men
Black Snake - an "American" privateer schooner - 2 men
Confederacy - Continental Navy frigate - 2 men
Monmouth - 2 men
The remainder of the cited warships only had a single man who is cited as having served on board this warship prior to service on board the frigate South Carolina. These warships are cited in an identical manner as the warships are cited above. These warships are as follows:
Alexander - out of Liverpool, England; a British privateer - a prize ship of the frigate South Carolina
Angelica
Ascot & John
Aurora - probably out of Massachusetts, a merchant brig
Bon Homme Richard - Continental Navy frigate
Chatham - out of Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvania Navy row-galley
Essex
Fair American - out of South Carolina, a South Carolina Navy brigantine
Franklin - Continental Navy schooner
General Sullivan - out of New Hampshire, a privateer brigantine
L'Uzerne - out of Pennsylvania, a privateer
Marquis de Morbec
Montgomery - out of Maryland, a privateer ship
Morning Star - out of New Jersey, a merchant sloop
Muscator (Mosquito) - out of Virginia, a Virginia Navy brig
Oliver Cromwell - out of Pennsylvania, a privateer ship
Portsmouth - out of Virginia, a privateer schooner
Revenge - Continental Navy cutter
Rising States - out of Massachusetts, a privateer
Roebuck - out of Massachusetts, a privateer
Saratoga - Continental Navy sloop-of-war
Satisfaction - a privateer
Sturdy Beggar - out of Maryland, a privateer brig
Swallow - out of Rhode Island, a privateer sloop
Yankee - out of Massachusetts, a privateer sloop
(Note: All of the preceding information was taken from the following sources:
Crawford, Michael J., editor. Naval Documents of the American Revolution, Volume 11, (Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy, 2005).
Fowler, William M., Jr. Rebels Under Sail: The American Navy During the Revolution, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976).
Jackson, John W. The Pennsylvania Navy, 1775-1781: The Defense of the Delaware, (Rutgers University Press, 1974).
Kaminkow, Marion and Jack. Mariners of the American Revolution, (Magna Carta Books Company, 1967).
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina During the American Revolution, (The Kent State University Press, 1999).
Patton, Robert H. Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution, (Pantheon Books, 2008).
These individual ships were referenced in one or more of these cited works. But, due to the sheer number of ships cited, it was deemed expedient to not cite individual paginations for each vessel.)
From an observation of the warships for which some information is given here, these were rigged in the same manner in which the frigate South Carolina was rigged. Thus, they were the same kinds of ships as far as sailing and handling them were concerned. There were only the size difference to be taken into account between the various different types cited here and the frigate South Carolina. The men all cited in this post and the post dated "11/10/2015" were men who had experience with handling and sailing ships of this type. Simply put, these men were experienced mariners, whether officers, NCOs or able seamen. Thus, Commodore Alexander Gillon had several members of his crew, on either the first or second voyage, that were experienced, veteran officers or sailors who were quite familiar with the handling of vessels that were square-rigged and carried sizable crews and marines on board them.
A second observation to be made from the roster of men presented here as well as the list of ships and the ports of origin that we know some of them sailed from leaves one with the impression that his crew must have represented many different areas and colonies of the rebelling states. Just because the frigate South Carolina was from the colony of South Carolina does not mean that her crew also hailed form the southern colony. Quite to the contrary, crews of merchant ships or warships frequently had crews that not only represented many differing regions of their area of the world but, also many different cultures and languages of the world. Case in point, the initial crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina as she set out on her maiden voyage for America. Though the first crew was overwhelmingly French, there were numerous Americans also among the crew. Even though the first contingent of marines on board the frigate South Carolina were detached from the French army for duty on board the frigate, there was a small contingent of non-French marines who were commanded by Michael Kalteissen and John Spencer. Even the commanding officer on board the frigate South Carolina, Alexander Gillon, was a Dutch immigrant to Charleston, SC who spoke at least four languages. Seaports seem to attract mariners, frequently from other places of the world, and the port of Amsterdam, Holland was no exception.