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According to
the biography of Thomas Boyle, by Professor Hopkins: Thomas Boyle was born in
Marblehead, Massachusetts, on June 29, 1775. Boyle first went to sea at
the age of ten as a ship's boy under the command of his father. On
October 15, 1792 Thomas Boyle's name was listed in the Registry of Ships of
the Baltimore Custom House as the captain of the Hester, a schooner owned by
John Carrere. Boyle was 17 years old. John Carrere was born in
France in 1759, and had immigrated to Baltimore before the Revolution.
John Carrere's business was importing sugar and coffee from the West Indies
and South America, and he became one of Baltimore's leading coffee
merchants. It was likely John Carrere who provided Thomas Boyle with
his French connections in Bordeaux and Nantes, France, as Boyle would later
frequent French ports when need be, for ship repairs, buying and selling
goods, etc. On October 4, 1794, Thomas Boyle married Mary
"Polly" Gross, the daughter of widow Elizabeth Gross. By time
Thomas Boyle took command of the Comet, he had commanded or owned a total of
12 ships. On April 4, 1808, Thomas Boyle was appointed to the rank of
captain and company commander in Baltimore's 51st Regiment. Captain
Thomas Boyle resigned his commission in the 51st Regiment in order to take
command of the Comet in late June or early July 1812. By the time the
War of 1812 began, Thomas and Polly Boyle had 5 daughters, and various
business and real estate investments in the city of Baltimore, besides his
shipping interests. His life was about to change forever as President
James Madison declared war on Great Britain.
The schooner
Comet had been built in 1810 at the Fells Point (Baltimore) shipyard of
Thomas Kemp. She was registered at the Baltimore Customs House as 90 feet 6
inches long, 23 feet 3 inches wide, with 10 feet of draft and of 187 tons
burthen. The Comet's cost was roughly $4,114. The Comet was
purchased jointly by Francis Foreman, Jeremiah Sullivan, Thomas Shepherd,
Levi Hollingsworth, Christian Keller, Peter Karthaus, Andrew Clopper, Levi
Clagett, Elie Clagett, and Thorndike Chase. Thomas Boyle was assigned
as the captain, and Thomas Ring as lieutenant of the Comet. Boyle hired
a crew of 110 seamen and marines. The Comet was armed with 2 nine-pound
long guns and 10 twelve-pound carronades.
At 12:30
P.M. on July 26, 1812, Boyle and the Comet sighted a sail,
and as the Comet closed, the other ship hoisted English colors. Boyle
prepared the Comet for battle. After a 12-minute fight, Boyle recorded
in his log: "down came the boasted pride of Old England to a Yankee
Comet." The Comet had only been slightly damaged by grapeshot in
her rigging. Boyle discovered that his prize was the ship Henry under
the command of James Dryden, bound to London from St. Croix, Virgin
Islands. Boyle took 15 of the Henry's crew as prisoners aboard the
Comet and put a prize crew of 11 men onboard the Henry. In August, when
the Henry arrived in Baltimore, the Niles Register recorded that the owners'
and crew shares would amount to $100,000.00 and that the government would get
nearly $50,000.00 in duties and charges. The Henry's cargo was sugar,
wine, and fustic.
On August
16th, while the Comet was near Bermuda, Boyle sighted a large ship about 1
mile windward. Boyle brought the Comet within 9 feet of his quarry by
12:20 P.M. At this point the ship hoisted an English flag and opened
fire. A fierce broadsides battle lasted about 15 minutes, when
the Comet's topsail braces were shot away. Boyle tried to board the
ship several times, but the maneuvering of the English ship prevented Boyle
from boarding it. The battle lasted for nearly an hour. Tom Boyle
brought up his marine detachment, commanded by Captain Robert Cascadden, and
had them clear the enemy deck with musket fire. At 1:40 P.M. the badly
damaged ship struck her colors. The Comet had two casualties; Thomas
Cadle, a marine was hit in the eye by a musket ball, and William Cathell was
badly wounded in the arm and leg when the powder horn exploded when he was
priming his gun. The Comet itself had taken no real serious damage.
Boyle boarded
the prize, the Hopewell of London, from Surinam for London, with a cargo of
sugar, molasses, cotton, coffee, and cocoa. The Hopewell had a crew of
25 men including officers. She carried 6 eighteen-pounders and 8
six-pound carronades. William Anderson, the Hopewell's captain and 7 crewmen
were wounded and the ship's carpenter had been killed. Captain Boyle
allowed Anderson and 5 crew to stay onboard their ship, which he put under
the command of John Hooper to sail the ship back to the United States.
On September 12, 1812, the Hopewell arrived in Baltimore and was valued at
$150,000.00.
On September
2, 1812 at 6 A.M., Boyle sighted another sail to the north of his position
which he began pursuing despite contrary wind conditions and at 3 P.M. the
brig hoisted English colors. Boyle ran up the American colors and fired
a shot over his opponent's bow. The Comet came within pistol shot of
the brig. Boyle fired a partial broadside and his marines fired a
volley of musket fire. The English brig immediately struck her colors
without firing a shot. She was the brig Industry of London, from
Surinam bound for London, with Peter Holden as captain. The Industry
carried a crew of 13, and was armed with 10 guns and carried a cargo of
sugar, molasses, cotton, coffee, cocoa, and wine. Boyle allowed Captain
Holden and 4 crew to stay onboard the Industry and put her under the command
of Solomon McCombs, as Prize-Master. In October, the Industry sailed
safely into Beaufort, North Carolina.
On September
18th, Boyle spotted a ship southwest of the Comet. The ship ran up
English colors and fired her 2 stern chasers at the Comet. One shot hit
and seriously damaged the Comet's foremast. Boyle approached the ship's
weather quarter and opened fire with his big guns and musket fire. The
English captain hauled down his flag. The ship was the Letter of Marque
John, with David Tyrer as captain. The John had sailed out of Demerara
for Liverpool with a cargo of sugar, rum, cotton, coffee, hardwood, and
copper. Boyle put the John under the command of Purnel Austen.
Boyle headed home after a cruise of 83 days "and had not a man killed
during the cruise, and was never chased during the whole time."
Thomas Boyle's share of the $400,000.00 in prize money earned so far was
enough to become one of the owners of the Comet by the time she set sail on
her second cruise.
A month and
a half was to pass before Tom Boyle would again sail from Baltimore on the
Comet. It was November 12, 1812 when Captain Boyle had the Comet ready
to put to sea again. This trip, he added two 12-pound carronades to the
Comet's compliment of weaponry. His Second-in-Command was to be Clement
Cathell. The Comet cleared Cape Henry, Virginia November 24, 1812 sailing
for Brazil. On January 9, 1813 Boyle was cruising off the coast of
Pernambuco. The events to follow were to be "the start of his
almost legendary fame and which was to end with the Comet and her captain far
better known to the English than they ever were to the United States."
From the
March 27, 1813 Niles Register which published a portion of Captain Thomas
Boyle's logbook:
"January
9, made Pernambuco-spoke to a coaster from Pernambuco who informed us of some
English vessels to sail in a few days from there-11th, spoke Portuguese brig
Wasa from St. Michaels to Penambuco-14th, at 1 P.M., discovered four sail
standing out of Pernambuco, laid by to give them an opportunity of getting
off shore, and then to cut them off; at 3 P.M. they were upon a wind,
standing S.E. and about six leagues from land; bore up and made all sail in
chase; at 5 we were coming up with them very fast; at 6 discovered one to be
a very large man of war brig, called all hands to quarters, loaded the guns
with round and grape, cleared the deck and got ready for action; at 7 P.M.
close to the chase, hoisted our colors and sheered close up to the man of war
brig who hoisted Portuguese colors; he hailed me and said he would send his
boat on board; accordingly I hove to and received his boat; the officer
informed me that the brig was a Portuguese national vessel, mounting twenty
32's and 165 men, that the others were English, for Europe, under his
protection, and that I must not molest them; I informed him that I was an
American cruiser, and insisted on his seeing my authority to capture English
vessels, which he did; I then informed him that I would capture those vessels
if I could, that we were upon the high seas, the common highway of all
nations, that he had no right to protect them, that the high seas, of right,
belonged to America as much as to any other power in the world, and that at
all events (under those considerations) I was determined to exercise the
authority I had, and capture those vessels if I could: he said he should be
sorry if anything disagreeable took place, that they were ordered to protect
them and should do so; I answered him that I should equally feel regret that
anything disagreeable should occur; that if it did, he would be the
aggressor; as I did not intend to fire on him first; that if he did attempt
to oppose me or fire on me when trying to take those English vessels, we must
try our respective strengths as I was well prepared for such an event, and
should not shrink from it; he then informed me those vessels were armed and very
strong; I told him I valued their strength but little; and should very soon
put it to the test; he then left me to go on board the man of war brig to
communicate our conversation, with a promise of again returning, however, he
did not: finding he did not mean to return, I spoke the man of war
immediately, and asked if he intended sending his boat back; he said he would
speak his convoy, and requested me to send my boat on board;—entertaining
some suspicion of his motives for thus asking for my boat, I told him that I
did not make a practice of sending my boat from my vessel after night, and
should not do it now; I then again told him of my determination very
distinctly, so that he would not misunderstand me; the English vessels were
ahead of us, consisting of a ship of 14 guns, and two brigs of 10 guns each,
making in all a force of 54 guns!
I made sail
immediately for them, came up with the ship (the three in fact were close
together) hailed her and ordered them to back the main-top-sail; he gave
little or no answer, having quick way at the time I shot ahead, but told him
I should be alongside again in a few minutes, and if he did not obey the
orders, I would pour a broadside into him; after a few minutes tacked; the
man of war close after me; this was about half past 8 PM.
I then ran
alongside the ship, one of the brigs being close to her, and opened my
broadside upon them both; we were all carrying a crowd of canvas, and I was
from superior sailing frequently obliged to tack, and I should have profited
much by it had the man of war not been so close; who now opened a heavy fire
upon us with round and grape, which we returned; having now the whole force
to contend with, I stuck as close as possible to the English vessels, they
frequently separating to give the man of war a chance, and I as frequently
poured whole broadsides into them, and at times, at the man of war; about 11
PM, the ship surrendered, being all cut to pieces and rendered unmanageable;
directly after the brig Bowes, our present prize, surrendered; she was also
very much disabled; I then proceeded to take possession of her, and as the
boat was passing, the man of war gave us a broadside, and was near sinking
the boat, which was obliged to return; I then began again at the man of war,
who sheered off to some distance; I followed a little and then made the third
surrender, she being also cut to pieces: I was now again proceeding to take
possession of the Bowes, when I again spoke the ship, the captain of which I
ordered to follow me, who informed me his ship was in sinking condition,
having many shot holes between wind and water, not a rope but was cut away;
however, for his own safety, he would, if possible, follow my orders; at half
past 1 AM took possession of the Bowes and manned her out—after this the man
of war fired a broadside into her and passed her; the moon was now down, and
it became quite dark and squally, which caused us to separate, except the man
of war, with whom we were frequently exchanging broadsides; at 2 AM he stood
to the south; it being dark we were out of sight of the other brig and ship,
which were in a south direction; I now thought it prudent to take care of the
prize till day light, the captain of which informed me that the ship and
other brig were loaded with wheat—at day light we wore close to the prize,
the man of war standing for us; I immediately hove about and stood for him,
or rather for the ship and brig; he tacked likewise, and made signals for the
convoy to make the first port—knowing the situation of the ship and brig, I
determined not to take possession of them, but to watch their maneuvers—they
both bore up before the wind for the land, in company with the man of war,
which appeared also much damaged—I followed for sometime, taking particular
notice of them—it appeared to me that great exertions were made to keep the
ship from sinking, which, with the brig, settled in the water; the man of war
appeared at times to render them assistance—the ship was called the George of
Liverpool, Captain Wilson; and the brig the Gambler of Hull, Captain Smith—at
10 AM went in pursuit of the Bowes, and at the meridian spoke her.
I have since
learned from several vessels which I boarded from Pernambuco, that the man of
war brig was damaged very much, besides having her first lieutenant and five
men killed, and a number wounded; amongst the latter was the captain, who had
his thigh shot off, and has since died of his wound; the ship's masts
scarcely lasted to carry her to Pernambuco; her cargo was nearly all damaged;
she was dismantled and obliged to get new topsides put to her—the brig was
nearly in the same situation, the greater part of her cargo being damaged and
it was with difficulty they kept her from sinking before they reached
Pernambuco harbor."
The
Portuguese brig was the Libra under the command of Captain Vascouselos de
Millo. Before Captain de Millo died of his wounds, he sent a report to Lisbon
commenting on the superior qualities of Captain Thomas Boyle. According
to the Portuguese report, the Comet with 100 men and 14 guns had engaged a
force carrying 34 guns (54, including the brig of war) and over 200 men.
Americans, who later saw the Libra in Lisbon, commented that she was a
very large vessel with high bulwarks and appeared large enough "to hoist
the Comet on her decks."
For ten days
after his engagement with the Libra, Boyle cruised the waters between
Pernambuco and San Salvador. Boyle's log states that on January
17,1813, he was chased by an unidentified frigate and schooner which were
outrun after a four-hour chase. On January 26th, Boyle reported that a
British squadron consisting of a 74-gun ship, a sloop of war, a man-of-war
brig, and a schooner, had been sighted but that the Comet had escaped in the
cover of darkness.
On January
29, 1813, at 5 A.M., Captain Boyle sighted a sail to his leeward and tacked
in pursuit. By 8 A.M., the Comet was close enough to determine that the
ship was rather large. All sail was crowded on and by 11 A.M. the ship
hoisted her English colors. Boyle continued the pursuit and waited
until 12:15 P.M. before hoisting his colors and firing off a bow gun.
The Comet's next maneuver was to yaw off and let loose with a full
broadside. Boyle's fire was accurate and the English ship's sails and
halyards were cut away. As the ships closed, both fired broadsides.
At 12:30 Boyle's marines began musket fire. By 12:40 the English
struck their colors. The Comet's crew had one man killed (John Dent),
and two wounded (one seriously with the loss of a leg). Boyle boarded
his prize immediately and discovered she was the Adelphi of Aberdeen, from
London bound to Bahia, Brazil, with a cargo of salt and dry goods. The
Adelphi was commanded by David Raitt and carried eight 18-pounders as
armament. Boyle sent a repair party aboard the Adelphi under the
direction of his first lieutenant, Clement Cathell. After repairs were
made, the prize was given over to the command of prizemaster William Bartlett
and ordered to sail for the United States. This was the last Boyle was
to see of the Adelphi, as she was retaken by the British before she could
reach a friendly port.
The lookout
on the masthead spotted the Comet's third and fourth possible prizes at dawn
on February 6, 1813, two leagues north-northwest of St. John Island.
The quarry proved to be two armed merchant brigs. As Boyle
approached the first brig, she hoisted her colors, fired off a gun, and
lowered the colors. Boyle boarded his prize immediately and discovered
she was the Alexis of Greenock, from Demerara, with a cargo of sugar, rum,
cotton, and coffee. Boyle immediately took off the Alexis' crew and
sent aboard his own prize crew of six men under Mr. Ball. Boyle then
sailed off in pursuit of the second brig. At 8 A.M. the lookout sighted
a man-of-war brig to the southeast of the Comet. The former crew of the
Alexis told Boyle that they had been part of a nine-ship convoy headed for
St. Thomas and that the man-of-war brig was the Swaggerer, which had been
assigned to protect the convoy.
Keeping on
eye on the Swaggerer, Boyle continued to pursue the second merchant brig.
When the Comet was within range, he fired a broadside, which shot away the
brig's rigging. After a short exchange of fire, the Englishman struck
his colors. Mr. Cashell was sent aboard the prize to repair the damage.
As soon as the rigging was repaired, Boyle put his prize crew under Mr.
Gilpin into a longboat taken earlier from the Alexis and ordered them to
relieve Mr. Cashell. Unfortunately the longboat was swamped (without
losing anyone), and Cashell had to remain aboard the prize-ship. Boyle
ordered Cashell to sail as best he could between St. John and St. Thomas
while Boyle and the Comet would try to decoy the man-of-war brig away from
Cashell.
Boyle soon
realized that he could easily out-sail the Swaggerer. The Comet played
"cat & mouse" with her opponent until around noon. By
this point, Boyle figured that Cashell should have made good his escape.
Boyle called off his game with the Swaggerer and sailed north around
St. John in an effort to meet Cashell on the other side. The Swaggerer
gave chase, but by two hours later, the Comet had left the brig four miles
behind. As the Swaggerer slowly dropped behind, Boyle spotted a small
schooner coming before the wind. In an hour, the Comet had closed with
the schooner and needed only a few musket shots to convince the schooner to
surrender. The schooner was the Jane, from Demerara to St. Thomas, with
a load of rum, sugar, and coffee. Mr. Wild and a prize crew of six were
put aboard the Jane and ordered to sail for the United States. Boyle
sailed around St. John but never did meet up with Cashell. The
lieutenant's prize-ship had been the Dominica Packet of Liverpool, from
Demerara to St. Thomas, with a cargo of rum, sugar, cotton, and coffee and with
an armament of ten guns. Both the Jane and the Dominica Packet were
re-captured by the British.
By February
12, 1813, the Comet was running low on her supply of fresh water and wood,
and put in at Fernando de Noronha Island. The sea was rough and the
weather so bad that Boyle raised his anchor on the next day without having
refilled his supplies. On February 28th, the Comet was to the windward
of the Island of St. Barthelemy. The Comet was sighted by the British
frigate Surprise, which chased the Comet for six hours but was unable to
match the schooner's speed. On March 1, 1813, Boyle returned and
entered St. Barthelemy harbor. The island's governor refused to supply
the Comet with either wood or water. Captain Boyle informed the
governor that the foremast of the Comet appeared to be sprung and requested a
few hours in which to conduct an inspection. In the meantime,
arrangements were made with Americans living on the island, so that the Comet
would leave the harbor, then return late at night and the island's American
residents would get him the needed supplies.
The Comet
cruised outside the harbor mouth until dark. Boyle then ran into the
mouth of the harbor after first dispersing two small British privateers with
a well-placed shot. Once inside the harbor, signals were made to the
American residents of St. Barthelemy who ferried out wood and water to the
Comet. The schooner's deck was filled with supplies. At eleven
that night, boats from St. Barthelemy put out and the Americans on the island
refused to haul out any more supplies. Two American brigs, one the
Newton of Baltimore, were also in the harbor's mouth. The Newton agreed
to take the remainder of the Comet's supplies on her deck if the Comet would
protect both brigs during the night. Boyle's main problem was in going
slow enough that he would not out-distance the two American brigs.
Boyle saw a large British privateer schooner, the Luisa of St. Kitts,
on a parallel course with the Comet and her convoy. Boyle fired a
broadside into the enemy to convince him to alter his course. Boyle
left the enemy behind as he continued escorting his small convoy. By
March 2nd, the little convoy had reached the island of Sombrero in the
Anegada Channel.
Before the
extra supplies of wood and water could be transferred from the Newton to the
Comet, a man-of-war brig appeared and attempted to cut out the Newton.
Boyle slowed down the British brig with some shots from his long nine.
The brig managed to overtake the merchantmen. Boyle followed the
brig with its two American prizes until noon and then sailed away. By
March 4, 1813, Boyle was off the northwest tip of St. Croix when the lookout
sighted a well-built Bermuda sloop. Within an hour, Boyle had driven
his quarry close to the breakers. He ordered out the longboat with Lt.
Cathell and eleven armed crew. Boyle hoped to take the sloop either by
gunfire from the Comet or by boarding. Since the sea was rough, the
longboat could not work its way in toward the sloop and she escaped by
running close in to the shore—her draught being less than that of the Comet.
The next morning at sunrise, the Comet sighted another English
merchantman and set off in pursuit. Since the merchantman was running
with the wind and the Comet against the wind, Captain Boyle was unable to
reach his quarry before she made it safely inside the harbor of Basse-Terre.
The Comet
had been at sea for almost four months. Captain Boyle turned the Comet
northward and arrived off the Virginia Capes on March 17, 1813. He was
unaware that since February the English had maintained a tight blockade of
the Chesapeake Bay and that few American ships had made it in or out of the
Bay. Fortunately for Boyle a thick fog had covered the mouth of the
Bay, and the Comet successfully ran the blockade and sailed into Baltimore.
Unfortunately
there was nothing to show for the four months at sea. None of the
prize-ships had ever reached an American port. Boyle and other
privateersmen did cause the British Admiralty to assign more naval ships to
convoy and pursuit duty in order to protect its merchant shipping.
These ships had to be taken from the squadrons blocking the United
States.
During the
spring and summer of 1813, Tom Boyle and the Comet became members of the
regular United States Navy. The British fleet had successfully
blockaded the Virginia Capes and had moved up the Bay using small craft to
attack American shipping and to raid coastal settlements. At this time,
the regular United States Navy did not have craft of appropriate size, speed,
and maneuverability to challenge the British fleet. Prompted by
Baltimore insurance underwriters and by Captain Charles Gordon, U.S.N.,
commanding the naval forces in the Bay, the Navy Department authorized Gordon
to hire four privateers to protect trade in the Bay and to keep the citizens
of Baltimore and the Bay area informed as to the movements of the enemy.
In addition to the Comet, Gordon hired the Wasp, the Revenge, and the
Patapsco. Gordon informed the Secretary of the Navy on April 23,1813,
that the Comet had recruited her crew.
On May 5,
1813, Boyle was given a warrant as Sailing Master in the U.S. Navy, to date
from April 16, 1813. On May 13th, Gordon reported that he was employing
the Comet and the Revenge to move channel buoys. Captain Gordon noted
on July 17th that the Comet and the Revenge were in the lower reaches of the
Chesapeake observing the movements of the British fleet. On August 26,
1813, Gordon received orders from the Navy Department to cancel the contracts
and return the privateers to the owners. The owners of the Comet filed
a claim against the Navy Department for $2,000 for the use of the ship.
Although the Navy Department objected to what it considered an
excessive claim, the amount was finally paid. The final separation of
the officers and crew from the regular Navy came on Sept 4, 1813.
Boyle left
Baltimore on his third cruise aboard the Comet in mid-October of 1813.
On October 20th, he cleared Cape Henry having run past the blockading
British fleet during the night. Once clear of the Capes, Boyle sighted
the Revenge, commanded by Job West. The two Baltimore schooners cruised
together for three days but only sighted two Spanish ships. The Revenge
and the Comet parted company on November 1st and Boyle headed for the Leeward
Islands. On November 3rd, after having boarded a neutral Prussian ship
Dei Biene near St. Barthelemy, Boyle lost a crewman overboard. By
November 6th, the Comet was north of Saba Island and went in chase of a sail.
As he approached his prey, Captain Boyle realized he was chasing a
British frigate. The Comet veered off and easily out-sailed the
frigate.
On the night
of November 9, 1813, Boyle sailed the Comet into the mouth of St. Thomas
harbor and took the English sloop Experiment, and destroyed her. A
man-of-war brig was sent out from St. Thomas to run down the Comet.
Boyle spotted his opponent on November 11th and easily out-sailed her.
On November
13th, off Sail Rock Passage, Boyle sighted the St. Thomas convoy made up of
about 60 large ships. As a result of the activities of the American
privateers during the first year of the war, the convoy was escorted by the
Marlborough, a 74-gun ship of the line, the frigate Venus, and three large
man-of-war brigs. As soon as the Comet was sighted, the frigate and the
brigs left the convoy in an effort to chase off the Comet. The British
ships pursued the Comet for two hours in the direction of Tortola. When
the enemy ships broke off the chase, Boyle put the captain of the sloop
Experiment and part of her crew ashore on Tortola and then went back to
hunting the convoy.
The Comet
continued to track the convoy until December 3rd. The frigate and the
brigs chased the privateer away every day. Boyle commented in his
journal that the chase sometimes covered a distance of 40 miles. Boyle
did not miss the chance to take other prize-ships while dogging the convoy.
On November 21st, Captain Boyle boarded the Swedish schooner
Carlescrona, sailing from St. Barthelemy to Bath. Boyle let the
schooner go, thinking that she was a neutral. He missed finding her
British trading license, which would have made her fair game for seizure. The
Comet took the English schooner Messenger, sailing from St. Vincent to St.
John, with a cargo of rum and molasses on November 27th. A prize crew
was put on board and the Messenger eventually made it into port at
Wilmington, North Carolina. The next day Boyle boarded the neutral
Russian ship Hazard, sailing from Liverpool to Amelia Island. On
December 3rd, Boyle took his third prize of this cruise, the schooner
Industry of New York. When he boarded the prize-ship, Captain Boyle
discovered she was manned by a British prize crew from the man-of-war brig
Recruit. Boyle ordered the Industry to sail back to the United States.
The Comet
next sailed southeastward of Bermuda for some time before turning southwest.
Boyle raised the coast of Surinam December 28th, and chased a brig into
the Surinam River but could not capture her, as she had found protection
under the guns of a shore battery. The small British sloop Little
Cherub became the Comet's next prize on December 29th. Boyle took some
of her cargo of bananas and then put all of his prisoners on board the Little
Cherub and sent them into Surinam. Later on, the same day, Boyle
captured the English brig Hannah, of Bermuda, with a cargo of lumber and
ransomed her. By January 2, 1814, the Comet was sailing off Barbados,
and took the English schooner Jackman, of Barbados, with a cargo of lumber
and a few cases of wine. Boyle took the wine, and ordered the Jackman
to follow the Comet. The next day Boyle was to the leeward of
Martinique. He captured the English sloop Industry, of St. Lucia.
Boyle was now faced with the problem of guarding two ships of little
value, plus dealing with his prisoners. He solved his problem by
ransoming the Jackman and putting the prisoners aboard her on parole.
The sloop Industry was burned.
The English
brig Enterprise became the Comet's next prize on January 4th. The
Enterprise had been bound from Grenada to Guadaloupe with a cargo of bread
and specie. Captain Boyle took the cargo and then ransomed the brig
because she had yellow fever on board. The Comet's journal states,
"I wish to make publicly known that the commander of the English vessel
is an American, named John Howe, a man, I believe, well known to be
unfriendly to his native country, and not long from it—a native of the State
of Connecticut, I understand, and is to all appearances a great
scoundrel."
Two days
later, Boyle boarded the English sloop Mary, of St. Kitts, carrying a cargo
of plantation stores. A prize crew was put aboard, but the Mary
foundered at sea. On January 8, 1814, Boyle captured the British
schooner Vigilant, John Benson captain, and sent her in to the United States.
The Vigilant, which was the tender to British Admiral Laforey,
eventually arrived in Wilmington, N.C. Boyle also paroled the crews of
the Mary and the Vigilant to St. Barthelemy. The next evening Boyle
sighted what he thought to be a heavily laden merchant brig. The Comet
chased her prey all night, firing her guns whenever the brig came within
range. At daylight, as the Comet began to close on her quarry, the brig
rounded to and hauled on the wind. Boyle suddenly realized he had been
decoyed by a British man-of-war brig. After exchanging several shots,
the Comet, owing to her great ability to sail to the windward, easily
outdistanced the brig.
At 3 P.M. on
the afternoon of January 11, 1814, Boyle sighted a large ship running before
the wind and carrying a great spread of canvas. The Comet made all
necessary sail and went in chase. Boyle's journal records the ensuing
engagement as follows:
"At 6
PM coming up with the chase fast, called all hands to quarters, and got all
clear for action. Could discover yellow sides and ports, which I took
to be false ports. At 7 PM the ship began to take in sail. She
took in her sky sails, royals, topgallant and lower studding sails. I
took in sail also and furled the square sail, going so directly before the
wind had not an opportunity of seeing his broadside, distinctly. At
half past 7 luffed up and gave him one of our bow guns, which he immediately
returned with his stern chasers. We then closed and in a few minutes
the action begun and was warmly contested on both sides—at 20 minutes before
10 PM we had all the running rigging, with the boom top-in-lift, shot
away—was compelled to haul off to repair—at this time we had one killed and a
number wounded. The ship had boarding nettings, reaching nearly up to
her tops.
In a very
short time we had repaired the damages and recommenced close action again,
within half pistol shot, when he again shot away the boom top-in-lift.
I was compelled to work the main boom with the peake haulyards.
Made several attempts to board him but was not able to effect it.
We kept up a continual fire on both sides; I shot across his bows and
raked him several times, within 20 yards of him, but his tremendous height
prevented much execution. At half past 12, midnight, fresh breeze; he
now attempted to run us down, and so far succeeded as to run his jib-boom
into our mainsail, a little below the gaft, and come with his bows against
our stern, without doing any damage to our hull, though, he tore our mainsail
all to pieces, broke the main gaft and unshipped the main boom. In this
situation we attempted to board him, but could not succeed, he having quick
way, and her height so great our men could scarcely touch the bobstays from
our taffil rail; though not withstanding we had several of our men almost on
her bobstays. We shot several of his men who were on his bowsprit and
forecastle, and took two of their boarding pikes from them as they reached
down at us. He appeared to have many men on his forecastle, and
splinter nets from his mainmast aft; hauled off again to repair, and bend
another mainsail. At 1 AM had completely repaired and commenced close
action again, which lasted until 3 AM at which time we had our jib stay, main
shrouds, boom top-in-lift and fore gaft haul-yards shot away—his fire
appeared considerably slackened, our braces, topsail haulyards and main
topsail sheets were also shot away, and the schooner was rendered almost
unmanageable, many of the breechings of the guns parted. I thought
proper to haul off till daylight; began repairing but found we were much more
cut than I expected. The ship was about two miles from us at daylight,
could count 14 ports on one side distinctly, guns in most of them. I
determined to refit completely before I would again renew the action.
The Islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Tortola in sight and
at very little distance, I found the ship running before the wind, would
drive me close to the harbour of St. Thomas, before I could refit, and renew
the action, and my not being in a situation to stand a chase, should any men
of war make their appearance, and from information I understood several were
at St. Thomas, I very reluctantly abandoned the idea of again renewing the
action.
We had three
men killed and 16 wounded, myself among the number at the commencement of the
action, (though slightly). Mr. Edward Black, prize-master, Mr. John
Baney, master's mate and Thomas Selma, carpenter, were the three killed.
Six men badly wounded, the master of marines amongst them, and 10
slightly wounded."
Niles'
Register of February 26,1814, reported that the Comet's adversary was the
English letter of marque ship Hibernia, John Lannon master, carrying 22 guns,
a large complement of men, and having a burthen of approximately 800 tons.
Niles states that the battle lasted eight hours and the Hibernia's
great height was the principal factor in preventing her capture by Boyle.
After the battle, the Hibernia, badly damaged, put into St. Thomas for
repairs. Although his ship was heavily damaged, Boyle was still a
privateer and on January 13,1814, he sent an armed longboat into the harbor
of Virgin Gorda to cut out several small vessels riding at anchor.
Although the Comet's longboat received heavy musket fire from the
shoreline, the privateersmen were able to sink one ship at anchor and capture
two others. Since both ships were in ballast, one was burned and the
other was sunk.
On January
15, 1814, Boyle guided the Comet into the neutral harbor of San Juan, Puerto
Rico. The governor extended every kindness to Boyle and his crew and
permitted the Comet to refit and take on water and provisions. After
eight days of much needed rest and recuperation, the Comet returned to the
hunt.
Boyle sailed
from Puerto Rico on January 23, 1814, and took a prize on January 27th.
His prey was the English schooner Venus of St. Thomas, sailing from
Laguira, with a cargo of coffee, cotton, and cocoa. The Venus was
manned with a prize crew and sent back to the United States. On the
same day, Boyle sighted the English sloop General Spooner standing close to
the shore of St. Croix. He sent out the armed longboat and boarded her.
The General Spooner's crew had deserted her when the Comet's longboat
approached. The sloop was manned and sent to the United States.
Like several other of Boyle's prizes on this cruise, the General
Spooner was re-captured by the British. The next day the Comet was
cruising near Virgin Gorda when a 20-gun English man-of-war brig sighted the
Comet and tried to chase her. The Comet out-sailed the brig with ease
and returned at midnight to Virgin Gorda. During the night Boyle cut
out a small sloop lying in the harbor, paroled the crew of the Venus, put
them in the sloop, and sent them to St. Thomas.
On the first
day of February, Boyle spotted two sails in the distance. A heavy gale
began to blow, but the Comet dogged its prey for two more days. On the
morning of February 3rd, Boyle was close enough to the two ships to determine
that one was a packet guarded by a man-of-war brig. Boyle ran up his
colors and fired off a gun. Both the packet and the brig returned fire.
After exchanging several shots, Boyle bore away and headed south.
The brig had been the British Wasp.
The Comet
met with the American privateer Mars of New York, commanded by Captain Josiah
Ingersoll, on February 6th off Saba and the two sailed together for six days.
The two privateers were chased by English men-of-war twice, but always
out-sailed the pursuing enemies. Boyle and Ingersoll did capture one
English sloop, the Endeavour of Anguilla. Since the sloop was in
ballast and of little value, it was destroyed. The two privateers
parted company on February 12th. The next evening Boyle spotted a brig
and gave chase. As the Comet chased after her prey, the foremast sprung
and the chase had to be abandoned until repairs could be made. Four
days later Boyle boarded the English sloop General Wale of Antigua with a
cargo of dry goods and wines. The dry goods were offloaded to the Comet
and a prize crew was sent aboard with orders to head for New Orleans.
Again the British patrols were able to re-capture one of the Comet's
prizes.
With the
foremast still very badly damaged, Boyle sailed for Puerto Rico, arriving in
San Juan on February 19th. While the mast was being repaired, the
British frigate Pique sailed past the mouth of the harbor searching for the
Comet. The Comet refitted in five days and sailed for Curacao. On
February 28, 1814, off Curacao, the Comet took the English schooner St. John
loaded with salt, cocoa, hides, and goatskins. Boyle took the cocoa and
hides and ordered the St. John to accompany the Comet. The following
day Boyle boarded the English schooner Enterprize. Since the Enterprize
was in ballast, Boyle sank her, ransomed the St. John, and paroled the crews
of both vessels.
The Comet
was in the Mona Passage on March 5th, when Boyle's journal records that
he was chased by a large man-of-war brig, which the Comet out-sailed with
ease. The Comet had been at sea for approximately five months and Boyle
decided it was time to head for home. With the Chesapeake Bay under a
heavy blockade by the British, Boyle put into Beaufort, North Carolina, on
March 19, 1814. Boyle's comments in his log say that he was chased 34
times by frigates and man-of-war brigs but always managed to out-sail them.
The Admiral on the Leeward Island station offered a large reward for
the Comet and also ordered his smallest class of gun vessels and schooners to
always run from Boyle, and not stand to fight. The merchants of St.
Thomas, according to the April 1,1814, issue of the Baltimore Patriot, had
raised a large reward for the capture of the Comet.
Thomas Boyle
and the Comet were to soon part ways. Of the 20 vessels taken by the
Comet on her third cruise, only three ever reached the United States. A
fourth put in at Puerto Rico for supplies and was claimed by an English
agent. The governor returned the prize-ship to the agent. The
owners directed Boyle to sail the Comet up to Wilmington, N.C. Here
Boyle turned the Comet over to his lieutenant, Clement Cathell. The
Comet was sold at auction to a New York syndicate. Cathell then sailed
the Comet to New York. During this voyage, Cathell had to outrun a
British ship of the line and four frigates before reaching safety at New
York. Meanwhile, Boyle had returned to Baltimore on a small coastal
vessel. The Comet's builder, Thomas Kemp had built a new ship of a very
different design than any previously built, and Captain Thomas Boyle would
become her new Master. That ship was the Chasseur. The Chasseur's
hull had a sharper profile with an angular bow (whereas the Comet's bow had
been "apple-nosed"), and would become the prototype of what became
known as the Baltimore Clipper type ship. The Boyle legend was just
beginning!
The Comet's
two visits to Puerto Rico had caused diplomatic notes to be exchanged between
London and Madrid. The governor of Puerto Rico was censored and ordered
that he should never again violate Spain's neutrality by permitting American
privateers to re-supply and refit in his harbors.
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