If you've read my Destiny series, you probably already know how important the city of Baltimore was to the American cause.
Baltimore sent
out more privateers and letters-of-marque than any other city. Her captures
were nearly double those of all the US vessels combined, and, in fact,
nearly one-third of the total captures made.
Out of a total of 1,634 British prizes captured:
254 were
taken by the regular navy, later increased to 20 vessels
1,380 by the 250
American privateers. (Yea, Privateers!)
Baltimore sent
forth 61, or nearly one-fourth of the privateers
and letters-of-marque. These captured 476 prizes, or more than one-third of
those taken by privateers. If to these be added the 41 prizes taken by Baltimore men in command of government vessels, the 19
captured by Commodore Rodgers' squadron, the 18 by the U. S. frigate Essex, Captain
David Porter, and the 4 taken by the Chesapeake, there will be a total
of 517 captures made by Baltimore vessels and men,
which is not far from one-third of the entire number taken.
No wonder the British referred to Baltimore as a "Nest of Pirates"!
So, brilliant sages, do you know what the difference between a privateer and a letter-of-marque is? Leave a comment and see if you're right!
Thurs Apr 12th,
ReplyDelete"Morning, MaryLu.
Well, for starters, I don't even know 'what' a "letter-of-marque" is !!! So, under the circumstances ... I cannot tell you the difference between that and a privateer. Sorry for my ignorance.
Very interesting historical facts about Baltimore !!! Had NO idea !
"Nest of Pirates" ... that is some title !
Thanks for sharing, MaryLu.
(P.S. -- I could not get the video above the blog (with the little arrow) to work. Just so you know.)
Take care, and, God Bless,
In Him, Brenda Hurley
Hi MaryLu! I don't know either, and now I'm curious! :)
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about you this morning, MaryLu, and just wanted to tell you that I appreciate you; I am thankful for the blog posts you share and the insight into things of the writing world and spiritual thoughts.
I look forward to reading your blog every day! :)
Thanks! Blessings to you ...
Hey! I cheated and looked it up, so I won't tell. Others can continue to guess. Anyway, keep these facts coming. They are very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHow's the weather there? It's crazy here.....sun, rain, sun, thunderstorm, cloudy, sun, wind, thunderstorm, rain, cloudy...and now they are talking 2%-5% chance of tornado activity. Boy oh boy...this is mid-April, isn't it? :)
Hmmmm. . . I'm not sure. . . :D
ReplyDeleteHi Ladies!!
ReplyDeleteDebbie, weather here is just like yours. It can't seem to make up it's mind. Although I haven't heard of a tornado. Yikes! Be safe!
Okay, here's the answer.
A privateer is a ship that's been transformed to serve one purpose.. attacking enemy ships and stealing them and their goods as prizes.
A Letter of Marque was normally a merchant ship whose main purpose was transporting goods, but in addition, the captain carried a Letter of Marque from the government that said he could attack enemy merchant vessels should he happen upon them.
Cool, huh?
Oh darn, I'm too late to guess. Haha. Well I guess I was partly right. I was thinking that a letter of marque made it officially from the governor, while a privateer was just hired by a normal citizen.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving these fun fact thursdays!! Even if I don't read them on thursday lol ;)