The print shown here recalls one of the most daring captures of the American Revolution and one of our first naval heroes. It was issued in 1854 in connection with a Petition to the 33rd Congress on behalf of the heirs of Captain James Mug- ford and the officers and crew of the Continental Cruiser Franklin.
During the siege of Boston, 26-year-old James Mugford was impressed into the British service and confined aboard a gunboat then lying in Marblehead Harbor. While aboard, he heard his captors boast that a “Powder Ship” was to sail soon from England with ammunition and stores for the besieged army. After his release, Mugford, who had previously sailed as the master of a merchant vessel, passed his information along to proper authorities and requested permission to try to capture the powder ship.
The British evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776, but left part of their fleet in Boston’s lower harbor to patrol Massachusetts Bay and to warn their own vessels bringing troops and stores to Boston that the town was no longer theirs. Early in May, 1776, Mugford applied to General Artemas Ward for permission to equip the schooner Franklin, then lying in ordinary, and to ship eighteen or twenty men. He also asked for authority to cruise against enemy ships.
On May 17, 1776, the British transport Hope, 300 tons, hove into sight. She had left Cork on April 4, her captain unaware that Howe’s army had left Boston. Although many British vessels lay at anchor only a few miles away and within sight, Mugford immediately bore down on the Hope and boarded her. To prevent the sailing of the Hope and allow the British squadron to come up, her captain ordered the topsail halyard ties cut. Mugford threatened the captain and all aboard with instant death if they carried out the order. The terrified crew refused to obey their officers and surrendered. To avoid the British guns, the prize was brought in through a narrow channel known as Pulling Point Gut. Here she ran aground. The Continental Agent at Boston, Colonel Jonathan Glover, immediately rushed to the scene with a guard of 150 soldiers and “hired the best pilot in Boston” to get her off. By placing lanterns on the channel buoys they got the Hope into port and at anchor before daylight.
Two days later, Mugford put out to sea again. In sailing through the same channel where the Hope had grounded, the Franklin hit bottom. Seeing Mugford’s plight, the British sent out fourteen boats, manned by 200 fully armed sailors, to capture the distressed schooner. Letting the boats come within range, Mugford fired his guns, sinking two of them at once. The remaining boats surrounded the schooner. As the British tried to board her, the Franklin's crew fought furiously with pikes, cutlasses, and spears. Mugford was everywhere, fighting wherever he was most needed. Shot through the breast, he called to Lieutenant Russell, “I am a dead man; don’t give up the vessel; you will be able to beat them off,” and died a few minutes later. His death only spurred his crew on. After about a half-hour, the Britishers gave up, having lost seventy men. The only man killed on the Franklin was her intrepid captain.
Writing to a friend in 1808, Colonel Joseph Ward, an aide to General Artemas Ward at the time of the capture, stated, “This [capture] was of immense worth to our country as our armies were almost destitute and it was then impossible to import powder or obtain it by any other means than taking it from the enemy. Such was the extreme want of powder at that time to defend the country that I believe if the prize ship had been full loaded with gold and diamonds, it would not have caused equal joy nor been of equal value to the United States. The name of Captain Mugford ought to be immortalized in America.”
In 1854, Glover Broughton of Marblehead, agent for the heirs of Captain Mugford and the other officers and crew of the Franklin, presented a Petition to the 33rd Congress. This document, comprising fifteen oversize pages in Broughton’s fine handwriting, is in the collection of Mugford papers owned by the Marblehead Historical Society. Broughton argues that Mugford and his men were never “honorably remunerated.” Mugford’s widow repeatedly affirmed that she never received a single dollar. The figure quoted in the print is the value of the prize—as per Colonel Glover’s account rendered July 22, 1777—$240,096.81, plus 77 years’ simple interest at 6%.
Broughton computed interest to 1854 only to emphasize the difference between his bill without interest, and the value of the prize with interest. He sums up his case in these words: “One hundred thousand dollars is not too much ... a mere memento, compared to the wonderful relief to the mind of Gen’l Washington for, the remark has been made ‘that Gen’l Washington was never seen to laugh but once and that was when Mugford took the Powder Ship.’ ”
As far as can be determined from existing records, the claim was never paid.