New book 'Rebels at Sea' tells rip-roaring tales of when piracy was legal (sort of)

In 2018, Eric Jay Dolin wrote a rip-roaring popular history of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean titled "Black Flags, Blue Waters." Now, he follows it up with "Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution," a true story of legalized pirates fighting for America in our war of independence.

As long ago as the Middle Ages, countries would issue licenses called "letters of marque" to captains and ship owners. During time of war, these documents allowed them to seize enemy vessels, then sell the ships and cargoes for a profit.

In the 1500s, Queen Elizabeth I issued letters of marque to Francis Drake and her other "sea dogs" to use against Spain.

For a country starting out with no navy, like the fledgling United States, this was a good deal. It gave them a force to damage British ocean commerce (and occasionally grab cargoes of arms and munitions) at no cost to the government, since the ships' owners took all the risks.

Records are a little sparse, but the U.S. Continental Congress seems to have issued more than 1,000 letters of marque. The vast majority of these privateers came from New England (Rhode Island was surprisingly active), although a few came from North Carolina.

Prominent Americans, including George Washington and Nathanael Greene, invested money into privateer ships. Some of them, like Greene, lost money since privateer voyages could end disastrously.

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Actually, Dolin takes a little offense at calling privateers "legalized pirates." Unlike Blackbeard or Jack Sparrow, these men were not outlaws. They didn't slaughter prisoners and generally abided by the rules of war as they were understood in the 1770s. They dressed more like merchants than like picture-book pirates.

The British, who issued some letters of marque against American ships, understood the distinction. When they captured American privateers, the British didn't hang them but locked them up on prison ships in New York harbor and elsewhere. (Given the damp, squalid and germ-ridden conditions on those ships, hanging might sometimes have been more merciful.)

Dolin argues that privateers contributed more to the eventual American victory than most scholarly histories concede.

The narrative of "Rebels at Sea" features enough vividly retold sea battles to satisfy most fans of C. S. Forester or Patrick O'Brian. At the least, Dolin rescues a number of early American heroes, from Jonathan Haraden, Offin Boardman, James Forten and Jonathan Carnes from the dumpster of history.

BOOK REVIEW

'REBELS AT SEA: Privateering in the American Revolution'

By Eric Jay Dolin

Liveright, $32.50

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Book 'Rebels at Sea' by Eric Jay Dolin a true tale of legalized piracy