A quick note: my name is Mike Romero, and I'm a Historic Interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg. The postings I make on this site are my own personal opinions and research, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Colonial Williamsburg. With that said, enjoy the read!
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The first few months of the American Revolution proved rather troublesome for the patriots of Virginia, as the erstwhile Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, gathered the small forces of the Royal Navy at hand to raid rebel plantations and towns. In early December, members of the Virginia Convention voted to establish a naval force of their own. As part of a larger ordnance increasing the colony's defenses was the following: "Be it ordained, That the Committee of Safety shall, and they are hereby empowered and required to provide, from time to time, such and so many Armed Vessels as they may judge necessary for the protection of the several Rivers in this Colony, in the best manner the circumstances of the country will admit." One of the first men commissioned in the nascent Virginia Navy was Captain James Barron of Hampton, who was tasked with outfitting three vessels for the new service.
One of the three vessels was the converted pilot schooner Liberty, commanded through much of the war by James Barron, and noteworthy for being the only Virginia vessel to survive the entirety of the conflict. Liberty was a square-sterned schooner of about 60 tons burthen, mounting ten two-pound swivel guns. The pilot boat Patriot was also most likely outfitted by Barron; she is described as also being schooner rigged and mounted eight two-pound swivels, purportedly arranged so well that she was able to repeatedly capture larger and heavily armed vessels. By March of 1776, Patriot is under the command of James's brother Richard Barron, who would be responsible for several captures early in the war. In June, Patriot is cruising with Liberty near the Virginia Capes when the Barron brothers encounter the transport ship Oxford, recently seized by 217 Highlanders from a Continental Navy prize crew. After giving the Highlanders false information on where to find Lord Dunmore, the crews of the two Virginia schooners storm the Oxford around midnight, and recapture the Highlanders for good. The next month, Patriot captures a sloop bound for Providence loaded with pineapples and limes, along with two carriage guns and fourteen swivels to boot. (Historian Robert Armistead Stewart suggests the sloops guns were all unmounted, otherwise the capture should have proven much more difficult.)
One of Patriot's harder fought engagements would take place in October of 1778 as the schooner sailed with a small squadron consisting of the Virginia vessels Tartar and Dragon. The three ships, under the overall command of Captain Richard Taylor, were cruising in the vicinity of Cape Henry when they encountered the British privateer Lord Howe. Lord Howe, carrying eight four-pound carriage guns and more than enough men to serve them, initially mistook the Virginians for a trio of small merchant vessels. She came upon the Dragon first, whose crew housed their guns and hid from view to draw the enemy in closer. Lord Howe soon discovered she was in the midst of three armed vessels, and immediately fired on Dragon to cover her escape. Captain Taylor boards the Patriot, realizing she is the fastest of his three vessels, and personally leads the chase. At the helm is Cesar Tarrant, an enslaved river pilot owned by one Carter Tarrant of Hampton. Taylor himself would later remark on Cesar's gallantry and steadiness under fire. As the engagement progresses, Tarrant runs Patriot on board of the British privateer, her jib boom smashing through and entangling in one of Lord Howe's gallery windows. The Virginians immediately attempt to board, spurred on by Patriot's Captain Hamilton. This attempt and several others fail to carry Lord Howe and with no support forthcoming from the squadron (Dragon inexplicably does not attempt to join the action, and contrary winds prevent Tartar from approaching though she attempts to open fire from long range), Taylor orders Patriot to sheer off and Lord Howe leaves the area. The action resulted in one Virginian killed and eight wounded, one of whom by the name of William Jennings left a written account of the battle, which the blogger is most eager to track down. Captain Taylor himself takes a musket ball which shatters his femur...difficulty in recovering from this wound will result in his resignation from the service.
Cesar Tarrant continues to serve on vessels of the Virginia Navy throughout the war, and following the death of Carter, his ownership passes to his master's widow. However, on November 14, 1789, Cesar appears in an act of the Virginia General Assembly: "WHEREAS it is represented to this Assembly, that Mary Tarrant of the county of Elizabeth City, hath her life in a negro named Cesar, who entered very early into the service of his country, and continued to pilot the armed vessels of this state during the late war; in consideration of which meritorious services it is judged expedient to purchase the freedom of the said Cesar." Following the granting of his freedom, Cesar purchases a lot in Hampton from which he continues to work as a river pilot, purportedly respected by the white pilots living nearby. Four years later, Cesar is able to purchase the freedom of his wife Lucy and the youngest of their three children, Nancy. Cesar dies in 1798, having been unable to free his other two children. Not giving up on the family, Lucy is finally able to purchase freedom for their daughter Lydia in 1823, though the fate of their son Sampson remains unknown.
Patriot's story would have its own bittersweet ending. In the spring of 1781, the Commonwealth of Virginia was occupied by British forces under Benedict Arnold, who was eventually reinforced by Generals Phillips and Cornwallis. At the time, Patriot was one of few vessels Virginia had afloat (Liberty had been submerged around this time for protection, and most of the rest of the Virginia Navy had been destroyed at Osbourne's Ferry), and was under the command of one James Watkins. Young James Barron (son of Liberty's famed captain of the same name, and who later earned the dubious distinction of becoming "The Man Who Killed Decatur") witnessed Patriot's final action from the shore with his older brother Samuel and an enslaved river pilot known as "Captain Starlins." In the vicinity of Warwick County around 11 o'clock one Sunday morning, Patriot came up with a British sloop of about 90 tons. Unbeknownst to the Virginia crew, the British vessel had a sea anchor over her starboard side to intentionally slow her down. When Patriot came alongside, fifty British Marines previously concealed by the sloop's gunwales appeared and commenced a withering small arms fire. Patriot held out for nearly two hours, even attempted to board the enemy twice, until she received a direct broadside from the sloop and was compelled to strike her colors. The Virginian crew (including a free African-American named Joseph Ranger) were sent to Charleston and imprisoned, where Captain Watkins would die in captivity.
Patriot herself would be incorporated into Cornwallis's fleet and eventually awarded to the French after the British surrender at Yorktown. Towards the end of his article in the Virginia Historical Register, James Barron the Younger states that she ended up serving as a French government packet in the vicinity of Cape Francois. With the end of the American Revolution in 1783, a second Virginia vessel named Patriot would serve alongside the refloated Liberty as a revenue cutter until both vessels were sold upon the ratification of the United States Constitution. While no ship of the Virginia Navy would be nearly as impressive as a British ship-of-the-line, or even a proper frigate, smaller vessels such as the Liberty and Patriot nonetheless played an important and memorable role in the Commonwealth's fight for independence.
Sources:
1. Cross, Charles Brinson. A Navy for Virginia: A Colony's Fleet in the Revolution. (The Virginia Independence Bicentennial Convention, 1981.)
2. Stewart, Robert Armistead. The History of Virginia's Navy of the Revolution. (Richmond, Mitchell, & Hotchkiss, 1934.)
3. Tormey, James. The Virginia Navy in the Revolution: Hampton's Commodore James Barron and His Fleet. (The History Press, 2016.)
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| Sultana, a replica of an 18th century British schooner, of similar size and design to the pilot schooners Liberty and Patriot. Sultana currently operates out of Maryland as an education and research vessel. |
One of the three vessels was the converted pilot schooner Liberty, commanded through much of the war by James Barron, and noteworthy for being the only Virginia vessel to survive the entirety of the conflict. Liberty was a square-sterned schooner of about 60 tons burthen, mounting ten two-pound swivel guns. The pilot boat Patriot was also most likely outfitted by Barron; she is described as also being schooner rigged and mounted eight two-pound swivels, purportedly arranged so well that she was able to repeatedly capture larger and heavily armed vessels. By March of 1776, Patriot is under the command of James's brother Richard Barron, who would be responsible for several captures early in the war. In June, Patriot is cruising with Liberty near the Virginia Capes when the Barron brothers encounter the transport ship Oxford, recently seized by 217 Highlanders from a Continental Navy prize crew. After giving the Highlanders false information on where to find Lord Dunmore, the crews of the two Virginia schooners storm the Oxford around midnight, and recapture the Highlanders for good. The next month, Patriot captures a sloop bound for Providence loaded with pineapples and limes, along with two carriage guns and fourteen swivels to boot. (Historian Robert Armistead Stewart suggests the sloops guns were all unmounted, otherwise the capture should have proven much more difficult.)
One of Patriot's harder fought engagements would take place in October of 1778 as the schooner sailed with a small squadron consisting of the Virginia vessels Tartar and Dragon. The three ships, under the overall command of Captain Richard Taylor, were cruising in the vicinity of Cape Henry when they encountered the British privateer Lord Howe. Lord Howe, carrying eight four-pound carriage guns and more than enough men to serve them, initially mistook the Virginians for a trio of small merchant vessels. She came upon the Dragon first, whose crew housed their guns and hid from view to draw the enemy in closer. Lord Howe soon discovered she was in the midst of three armed vessels, and immediately fired on Dragon to cover her escape. Captain Taylor boards the Patriot, realizing she is the fastest of his three vessels, and personally leads the chase. At the helm is Cesar Tarrant, an enslaved river pilot owned by one Carter Tarrant of Hampton. Taylor himself would later remark on Cesar's gallantry and steadiness under fire. As the engagement progresses, Tarrant runs Patriot on board of the British privateer, her jib boom smashing through and entangling in one of Lord Howe's gallery windows. The Virginians immediately attempt to board, spurred on by Patriot's Captain Hamilton. This attempt and several others fail to carry Lord Howe and with no support forthcoming from the squadron (Dragon inexplicably does not attempt to join the action, and contrary winds prevent Tartar from approaching though she attempts to open fire from long range), Taylor orders Patriot to sheer off and Lord Howe leaves the area. The action resulted in one Virginian killed and eight wounded, one of whom by the name of William Jennings left a written account of the battle, which the blogger is most eager to track down. Captain Taylor himself takes a musket ball which shatters his femur...difficulty in recovering from this wound will result in his resignation from the service.
Cesar Tarrant continues to serve on vessels of the Virginia Navy throughout the war, and following the death of Carter, his ownership passes to his master's widow. However, on November 14, 1789, Cesar appears in an act of the Virginia General Assembly: "WHEREAS it is represented to this Assembly, that Mary Tarrant of the county of Elizabeth City, hath her life in a negro named Cesar, who entered very early into the service of his country, and continued to pilot the armed vessels of this state during the late war; in consideration of which meritorious services it is judged expedient to purchase the freedom of the said Cesar." Following the granting of his freedom, Cesar purchases a lot in Hampton from which he continues to work as a river pilot, purportedly respected by the white pilots living nearby. Four years later, Cesar is able to purchase the freedom of his wife Lucy and the youngest of their three children, Nancy. Cesar dies in 1798, having been unable to free his other two children. Not giving up on the family, Lucy is finally able to purchase freedom for their daughter Lydia in 1823, though the fate of their son Sampson remains unknown.
 |
| Commodore James Barron (the Younger), later of the United States Navy, but as a young man, he witnesses the final action of the schooner Patriot. |
Patriot herself would be incorporated into Cornwallis's fleet and eventually awarded to the French after the British surrender at Yorktown. Towards the end of his article in the Virginia Historical Register, James Barron the Younger states that she ended up serving as a French government packet in the vicinity of Cape Francois. With the end of the American Revolution in 1783, a second Virginia vessel named Patriot would serve alongside the refloated Liberty as a revenue cutter until both vessels were sold upon the ratification of the United States Constitution. While no ship of the Virginia Navy would be nearly as impressive as a British ship-of-the-line, or even a proper frigate, smaller vessels such as the Liberty and Patriot nonetheless played an important and memorable role in the Commonwealth's fight for independence.
Sources:
1. Cross, Charles Brinson. A Navy for Virginia: A Colony's Fleet in the Revolution. (The Virginia Independence Bicentennial Convention, 1981.)
2. Stewart, Robert Armistead. The History of Virginia's Navy of the Revolution. (Richmond, Mitchell, & Hotchkiss, 1934.)
3. Tormey, James. The Virginia Navy in the Revolution: Hampton's Commodore James Barron and His Fleet. (The History Press, 2016.)
