The first Revenge was an armed schooner built at Skenesborough, New York, in 1776. She was armed with four 4-pounders and four 2's, and 10 swivels, and carried a crew of 35 men.
Under Captain Seaman, the Revenge formed part of the flotilla which General Arnold fitted out on Lake Champlain to dispute the advance of the British against Crown Point, New York, in the summer of 1776. Early in August, the American boats went down the lake as far as Split Rock, but when it was found that the enemy was in superior numbers they fell back to Valcour Island. There General Arnold decided to make a stand, as there was
a good harbour and where we shall have the advantage of attacking the enemy in the open lake, where the row-galleys, as their motion is quick, will give us a great advantage over the enemy; and if they are too many for us, we can retire.1
Through the failure to reconnoiter, the British did not discover the position of the American flotilla until they had gone beyond Valcour Island. They therefore had to beat back and attack from the leeward, which placed them at a certain disadvantage. The engagement commenced on the morning of October 11, 1776, and soon became general and very warm. Some of the enemy's ships and all their Gondolas beat and row'd up within musket shot of us .... The Enemy landed a large number of Indians on the Island and each shore, who kept an incessant fire on us, but did little damage; the Enemy had to appearance upwards of one thousand men in batteaus prepared for boarding.2
At nightfall the British vessels retired beyond range, their line of battle extending across the southern end of the passage between the island and the mainland, ready to resume the action the next morning. But General Arnold realized that, with his ammunition almost spent and many of his boats badly shattered by shot, he could not risk another day's contest, and under cover of a heavy fog his gondolas and schooners slipped past the enemy's left wing. The astonishment of the British the next morning was great. Orders were issued to pursue immediately, and all through the day the chase was continued. The retreat of the Americans was embarrassed by their injuries and by a head wind against which they made little progress. Several gondolas had to be abandoned and sunk, while the remainder struggled to keep beyond range of the enemy's guns. That night the Revenge, which led the van with the Trumbull and Enterprise, was 28 miles from Crown Point, but moving slowly. On October 13 the British caught up with the rearmost vessels, which offered a gallant resistance for several hours, but in the end they succumbed before superior numbers. Only the Revenge and four other boats succeeded in reaching Ticonderoga, where the enemy dared not follow them.
The little naval detachment on Lake Champlain was wiped out; but never had any force lived to better purpose or died more gloriously. The lake was saved for that year, and the British plan of having
two armies commanded by Generals Howe and Burgoyne co-operate; that they should both be on the Hudson River at the same time; that they should join about Albany, and thereby cut off all 202 1938] Historic Ships of the Navy 203 communication between the northern and southern Colonies,
had to be deferred for another year.3
The second Revenge was a 14-gun cutter purchased at Dunkirk, France, in May, 1777, by William Hodge. She was one of the vessels acquired abroad for the Continental service under the terms of the Act of October 6, 1776. She was formerly known as the Greyhound, and was reputed to be a fast sailer. She mounted 14 carriage guns and 22 swivels, and was manned by a crew of 106 men.
The Revenge sailed from Dunkirk, France, on July 16, 1777, under the command of Captain Gustavus Conyngham, with orders "not to attack, but if attacked, at Liberty to retaliate in every manner in our power-Burn, Sink and destroy the Enemy." Beyond the harbor entrance she was chased by several British cruisers, but she easily outsailed them and steered for the North Sea. On July 21 she took the schooner Happy Return with a valuable cargo, and two days later she brought to a brig. The brig Patty was ransomed for £630 sterling, while another prize was manned. Such successes within sight of the very shores of England caused the greatest excitement in London; the raid was so unexpected and bold. Insurance rose quickly, as much as 10 per cent being demanded for the short passage between Dover and Calais. "In a word," wrote one of the American Commissioners in Paris "Conyngham,” by his first and second bold' expeditions, is become the terror of all the eastern coast of England and Scotland, and is more dreaded than Thurot was in the late war."4
From the North Sea, the Revenge sailed into the region of the Baltic, and then back through the Straits of Dover up to the "Irish Channel and Western Ocean." For two months she kept the sea without seeking a harbor. Once, when off the northwest coast of Ireland, she sprung her bowsprit in a gale, and as the vessel was very short of provisions, Captain Conyngham decided to run into Kinehead for repairs. After this, the cutter cruised in the Bay of Biscay, sending her prizes into Spanish ports. One of the captured vessels was retaken off Barbados, but the others arrived safely at Corunna, Ferrol, and Bilbao, where they were disposed of with the assistance of commercial houses friendly to the American cause.
In December, 1777, the Revenge put into Bilbao for supplies. Much trouble was experienced with the crew, as Captain Conyngham had no funds to draw upon for their pay, but the timely arrival of one of the prizes enabled him to realize enough to settle their demands. Early in 1778 the cutter was again on the high seas. She skirted the coast of Portugal and then headed for the Straits of Gibraltar. Seven prizes were made in less than a month; all were manned for American ports, but only one reached her destination, the others being retaken by British cruisers. In the course of one of her visits to Cadiz, the Revenge exchanged salutes with the Spanish fleet. This so irritated the officers of a British man-o' -war anchored in the harbor that they tried to make a surprise attack and cut her out, but Captain Conyngham received warning of their plans in time so that the attempt was not made.5
Returning northward, the Revenge was driven by stress of weather into Ferrol. After refitting, she made a cruise to the southward as far as the Azores and the Canary Islands, where she intercepted several English merchantmen. And this notwithstanding "those seas covered by British Cruisers of every description and [with] orders from their Government to follow the Revenge into any harbour she might be in and destroy her." But Conyngham could not be caught; even in sight of British men-of-war he continued his depredations, and on one occasion off Cape St. Vincent he went so far as to burn an armed tender under the very guns of an enemy frigate.
The Revenge's career in European waters was now drawing to an end. British influence at the Court of Madrid caused several of the more important ports to be closed to her. Captain Conyngham thereupon decided to transfer the scene of his activities to the West Indies. Two British privateers with valuable cargoes were captured off St. Eustatia in November, 1778, and then 5 merchantmen were taken in rapid succession. A dispatch from St. Pierre even credited Captain Conyngham with having an engagement off Barbados with a King's Cutter of 28 guns, which he pursued near the guns of the fort, and which would not have escaped, had it not been for a high sea which prevented his boarding her.6
After this the Revenge set her course for the Delaware Capes, which she reached without further adventure, and on February 21, 1779, she anchored off the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was shortly after sold out of the service.
The third Revenge was a 12-gun schooner purchased in 1807. The crew numbered 90 men. She was attached to Commodore Rodgers' squadron from 1808 to 1811, and cruised along the coast to prevent interference with American merchantmen. Lieutenant Jacob Jones commanded her during her first cruise, and on January 1, 1809, Lieutenant Oliver H. Perry relieved him. While engaged in surveying Gardiner's Bay and the harbor of Newport, Rhode Island, she was wrecked January 8, 1811, through the carelessness of the pilot. The vessel became a total loss.
The fourth Revenge was a schooner-rigged vessel built for the Navy under the terms of the Act of December 18, 1807. She was armed with a long 18-pounder pivot gun, and carried a crew of 29 men.
This Revenge, which was also known as Gunboat No. 158, was employed chiefly on the southern coast. From 1817 to 1822 she was laid up in ordinary at Charleston, South Carolina. Under Lieutenant George W. Hamersly (1822), she cruised in the West Indies for the suppression of piracy, making one capture.
1General Arnold to General Gates, September 18, 1776.
2General Arnold to General Gates, October 12, 1776.
3Remembrancer, IV, 291.
4Silas Deane to Robert Morris, August 23, 1777.
5"Judge of the situation of our spirited commander when during the time we lay there we had the mortification to see the usual honours paid to two Dutch frigates, and above all to the Revenge, American privateer, commanded by Conyngham, who came swaggering in with his 13 stripes, saluted the Spanish admiral, had it returned, and immediately got product; the Spaniards themselves carrying on board wood, water, fruit and fresh provisions; all of which we were eye-witness of, as he anchored directly under our stern, within two cables length." -Letter from an officer of the Monarch printed in the London Chronicle for 1778, p. 439.
6The Boston Gazette, February 15, 1779.
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JUDGED BY his record, no man ever grasped more clearly than Nelson that the object of naval warfare was to control communications, and if he found that he had not a sufficient number of cruisers to exercise that control and to furnish eyes for his battle fleet as well, it was the battle fleet that was made to suffer, and surely this is at least the logical view. Had the French been ready to risk settling the question of the control in a fleet action, it would have been different. He would then have been right to sacrifice the exercise of control for the time in order to make sure that the action should take place and end decisively in his favour. But he knew they were not ready to take such a risk, and he refused to permit a purely defensive attitt~de on the part. of the enemy to delude him from the special function with which he had been charged.-CORBETT, Maritime Strategy.