USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Salem > Sketches about Salem people > Part 22
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The sloop (Squirrel), newly built, commanded by Captain Andrew Haraden sailed out of Annisquam Har- bor on the morning of April 14, 1724, bound eastward on a fishing voyage. As the sloop made outward into
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the bay, two or three sails were in sight, among them a sloop, off to the eastward, following a course similar to the Squirrel but a point or two more to the north ; so that early in the afternoon when the vessels were both off the Isles of Shoals the stranger was only a gunshot distant.
Haraden was looking her over when suddenly a puff of smoke broke out of a swivel on her rail and the ball struck the water less than one hundred feet in front of the Squirrel's bow. The sloop ran up a black flag and presently the Annisquam fisherman was headed into the wind and Haraden was getting into a boat in answer to a command that came across the water from the pirate. When he reached her deck, Haraden found that the pirate was commanded by Captain John Phillips, who was well known in consequence of the captures he had made among the fishing fleets the year before.
When Phillips found that he had taken a newly-built vessel with lines that suggested speed he decided to take her over and the next day the guns, ammunition, and stores were transferred to the Squirrel and the fishermen were ordered aboard the other sloop and left to shift for themselves, but Haraden was forcibly detained. He soon found that about one-half of the men with Phillips had been forced like himself and were only waiting for a chance to escape. It developed that various plans had already been cautiously discussed by several of the cap- tured men, and now that another bold man was aboard, and as there was an extra broadaxe and adze about the deck, the time seemed ripe to rise and capture the vessel. John Filmore, a fisherman who had been captured by Phillips while off the Newfoundland coast the previous fall, was active in the proposed mutiny. Filmore came from the Town of Wenham and in November, 1724, after an acquittal of piracy by the Admiralty Court in Boston, married Mary Spiller of Ipswich, and his son Nathaniel became grandfather of Millard Filmore, Presi- dent of the United States.
Some of the men on the Squirrel were in favor of sur- prising the pirates at night, but after some debate it
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was finally agreed to make the attack by daylight as less likely to end in confusion or mistake. The plan agreed upon called for a united assault at noon on April 17 while the carpenter's tools, etc. lay about the deck. When the time arrived, one of the men, Cheeseman, brought out his brandy bottle and took a dram with the rest, drinking to the boatswain and the sailing master and "to their next merry meeting." He then took a turn about the deck with Nutt, the pirate sailing master, asking him what he thought of the weather and the like. Mean- while, Filmore took up a broadaxe and twirling it around on its point as though at play, winked at Cheeseman to let him know if all was ready. He at once seized Nutt by the collar and putting his other hand between his legs and holding him hard, tossed him over the side of the vessel. By this time the boatswain was dead, for as soon as Filmore saw the sailing master going over the rail, he raised his broadaxe and gave the boatswain a slash that divided his head clear to his neck. Nutt's cry and the noise of the scuffle brought the Captain on deck to be met by a blow from a mallet in the hands of Cheeseman which broke his jawbone. Haraden then made for the Captain with a carpenter's adze, smashing him over the head and thus ending his piratical career for all time. The remaining pirates surrendered when they found out what had happened and were secured firmly with ropes below.
Again Haraden took command of the Squirrel and altered her course from Newfoundland to Annisquam which was reached on April 24. As they came into the harbor, tradition has it that the head of Phillips was hanging at the sloop's masthead when she arrived at Annisquam.
The day after the return of the Squirrel, Captain Haraden went over to Gloucester and made proper oath to the particulars of the capture and recapture of the sloop and on May 3 the entire company arrived in Bos- ton and the accused pirates were placed in jail to await a speedy trial. For this service Captain Haraden was given a suitable bounty by the General Court.
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Such was the background of Jonathan Haraden. Very little is known of his early life but as a boy he was em- ployed by Joseph Cabot of Salem and he lived in Salem thereafter until his death. He followed the sea from early youth and had risen to a command in the merchant service when the Revolution began.
So far as a regular navy was concerned the colonies were wholly unprepared for the conflict, but the Ameri- cans of the eighteenth century were notably a maritime people, and no better sailors were to be found. A con- siderable proportion of the colonists, therefore, were at home upon the sea, and more than this, they were to some extent practiced in maritime warfare. England, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was at war with various foreign nations a great part of the time and almost from the beginning of the colonial period American privateers and letters of marque scoured the ocean in search of French or Spanish prizes. Even in times of peace the prevalence of piracy necessitated vigi- lance, and nearly every merchantman was armed and prepared for resistance.
As early as November 1, 1775 the Massachusetts legis- lature passed an act empowering the Council to commis- sion with letters of marque and reprisal any person or persons within the colony, to fit out and equip at their own expense, for the defence of America, any vessel, and general authority to take all vessels of the enemy. The first private-armed vessels commissioned under the author- ity of the State were privateers as distinguished from letters of marque. That is, they were empowered and used to cruise against the enemies of America and not merely merchant vessels armed to resist aggression and to take prizes. A privateer was in most respects, except ownership, a close imitation of our state and national vessels, and its officers received the same titles as in the regular service. A letter of marque was a merchant ves- sel cleared for some port with a cargo, though she might sail in ballast, but armed to resist aggression and author- ized to take any of the enemy's vessels that came in her way. The officers received the same titles as were used
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in the merchant service. With the letter of marque the capture of prizes was incidental; with the privateer, it was the business of the cruise. The letter of marque was usually lighter armed and carried a much smaller crew than a privateer of the same tonnage.
In February, 1776 the General Court authorized the construction of ten state naval vessels, the number being shortly afterwards reduced to five. April 20, it was resolved that the sloop building at Salisbury be called the Tyrannicide. This vessel was changed into a brigan- tine a few months later. The Tyrannicide, Captain John Fisk, carrying fourteen guns and seventy-five men was the first of the new State vessels to put to sea. It was on this vessel that Jonathan Haraden saw his first sea service in the Revolution, serving as Lieutenant. She sailed July 8, 1776 and four days later captured a prize, the armed schooner Despatch from Halifax, bound to New York. The prize struck her colors after an engage- ment of one and one-half hours. Captain Fisk reported that he found on board eight carriage guns and twelve swivel guns, twenty small arms, sixteen pistols, twenty cutlasses, some cartridges, boxes and belts for bayonets, nine half-barrels powder, all the accoutrement for said cannon. The Commander and one man were killed, and seven others wounded. The crew consisted of thirty men and one boy. Fisk lost one man killed, ten wounded and his vessel was pretty well shattered. He sailed again and during the month of August took four prizes, one of which was recaptured by a British frigate which chased and nearly caught the Tyrannicide. It was after this misadventure that the rig of the vessel was changed on Captain Fisk's advice.
In 1777 Haraden was given command of the brigan- tine Tyrannicide. On March 24 of that year under orders issued by the Massachusetts Board of War the Tyrannicide and the Massachusetts, Captain John Fisk sailed together in a cruise to the coast of Ireland, Eng- land, and France. On April 2 these two vessels took the ship Chaulkly and April 8, the Tyrannicide alone took the bark Lonsdale after a three-hour engagement.
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Two weeks later they fell in with a fleet of nine sail, one of sixty and one of fourteen guns, British Ships of War, with seven transports from Plymouth for New York. Fisk says, "Being a fresh gale we could not bear down on them; however, finding one brig to lay astern, we took the liberty to take her under convoy. She had on board sixty-three troops, Hessian Chausseurs, with their accoutrements complete." On May 21, the Massa- chusetts arrived at Nantes and Fisk reported that the Tyrannicide was not with him. Both his and Haraden's vessel had encountered a superior English force and both bore away before the wind. Fisk lost sight of the Tyran- nicide but saw the flashes of guns and feared that Haraden had been taken because he had not heard nor seen any- thing of him since. Later Fisk learned from a schooner that Haraden had arrived safely at Bilboa, having been obliged to throw overboard guns and stores to escape the British ship. The Tyrannicide returned safely to Bos- ton, arriving there August 30. In the fall of the same year Haraden, with the same command, cruised appar- ently in the waters about Nova Scotia and Newfound- land, committing great depredations among the fisher- men. An English admiral reported that the privateers cruising in that region were so greatly superior in num- ber and size to the squadron at his command that the bank fishery was at a standstill. Late in the year 1777, Haraden still with the Tyrannicide, and accompanied by the brig Hazard, sailed on a cruise in the West Indies. Early in the voyage three prizes were taken but after arriving on their cruising ground, they had little success.
Just what Haraden was doing the following year is not wholly clear. If, as seems likely, he was the same Jonathan Haraden whose name appears in Col. Timothy Pickering's handwriting on a "List of Volunteers from Salem, for the Rhode Island Expedition Aug. 1778," then he certainly took part in that affair. That was an attempt to recover possession of the Island which was in the occupation of a body of British troops under com- mand of Major General Sir Robert Pigott. An American army under Major General Sullivan was supposed to co-
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operate with a French fleet for this purpose. Although the Americans greatly outnumbered the British, disasters to the French ships caused by gales and dissensions among themselves, made it necessary for the Americans to retreat from the position they had taken near Newport. Nearly one hundred prominent Salem men volunteered for this enterprise, marching from Salem to Newport. The Amer- ican forces succeeded in retreating to the mainland with- out the loss of men or stores.
In 1779 Haraden had succeeded to the command of the sixteen-gun privateer General Pickering and cruised successfully the entire year, many of his prizes being armed vessels. In a letter to Timothy Pickering, dated Cape Henlopen, October 1, 1779 Haraden writes, "I left the Capes at Sundown on Tuesday last and at Sunrising on Wednesday Morning I discovered Two sail to the windward. The Winds being light I hove out two Draggs to keep my Ship from going ahead and made all the Sail I could, as though I was running from them. They both gave Chace and at 5 P. M. they got nigh enough to discover that I was a Cruising Vessel. They both hove about and haul'd their wind, I immediately hove about after them, they crowded all the Sail they could and Rowed at the same time. At sundown the Wind breezed up a little and as Night came on, I kept Sight of them with my Night Glass; at 8 P. M. they parted, one stood to the Northward & the other to the Southward. I kept in chace of the largest and at 9 P. M. She hove about, being to the windward; as she past me I hail'd her, but had no answer. Then I gave her a Broadside, but without any effect that I could perceive; then I tackt ship and 'gave her another Broadside and hail'd her. She answered from N. York. I Order'd her to haul down the Colours, which they Obey'd instantly; very peaceable people like the Hope, though they Had 14, 6 & 4 pounders and 38 Men. She proves to be the Royal George, Cutter, a Letter of Marque out of New York last Tuesday Morning bound to the West Indies and was in Company with a Sloop of 8 Carriage Guns from the
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same place, she being Clean & a Fast Sailor got off clear, while I was in Chace of the Cutter."
In October, off Sandy Hook, the Pickering engaged three letters of marque at once - a fourteen-gun ship, a ten-gun brig, and an eight-gun sloop. After an action of an hour and a half she captured all three and took them into port.
In the spring of 1780 Haraden again sailed from Salem still in command of the General Pickering with a cargo of sugar for Bilboa. At that time this port was a famous rendezvous for privateers, not only of the United States but for those of England and France. It was customary for our ships to sail for this place with a cargo of sugar, and capture a prize or two on the passage over if pos- sible. After disposing of the sugar the privateers went on a general cruise after the enemy's merchantmen, fill- ing their empty holds with such goods as they could readily remove from a prize and returning to the United States, where the cargoes were sold to the best advantage.
On this passage over Haraden had an unusually excit- ing time, even for him. On May 29 he was attacked by a British cutter, but although his antagonist carried six more guns than he did, Haraden, after a desperate fight of two hours, succeeded in beating the enemy off. As the General Pickering entered the Bay of Biscay, she fell in with the English privateer schooner Golden Eagle, carrying twenty-two guns and sixty men, the Americans mounting only sixteen cannon. Having come upon the Englishman at night and unobserved, and having formed a fairly accurate idea of her force, Haraden boldly ran alongside and called on the stranger to surrender, declar- ing at the same time that his craft was an American frigate of the largest class and that he would blow the British privateer out of the water if she did not surrender.
This was no ill-considered threat on the part of the General Pickering's commander, for less than a year before Captain John Paul Jones, in the Bonhomme Richard had sunk the Serapis, one of the finest frigates in the British navy, within pistol shot of the English coast, and such was the effect of that astounding achieve-
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ment on the mind of the British public that the most extravagant stories as to the number and force of Yankee warships, and as to their whereabouts and daring, found ready credence. So when Haraden announced himself as having an "American frigate of the largest class" he well knew, from what he had learned of the consterna- tion produced in Great Britain by the unparalleled vic- tories of the American navy, that his confused enemy would be more than likely to believe it. Such proved to be the case, for the Englishmen were taken so com- pletely by surprise that they were unable to make any defence, and promptly struck their flag. When the British skipper came aboard the General Pickering he expressed great humiliation at having given in to such an inferior force. But it was too late to repent for Second Officer John Carnes had been sent aboard the Golden Eagle with a prize crew, and soon had the Stars and Stripes waving at her gaft.
It was only a few days after this that the General Pickering gave battle to the Achilles. Early in the morn- ing of June 3, when the American privateer was approach- ing Bilboa, a large sail was observed working out of that port. Inquiring of his prisoner, the master of the cap- tured schooner, Haraden was told that the stranger was the Achilles, a privateer of London mounting forty-two guns and carrying one hundred and forty men. Think- ing that this might be merely a trick on the part of the commander of the Golden Eagle to induce the American to run away from the sail, or to surrender if he once found himself under the Achilles' guns, Haraden coolly replied, "I shan't run from her," and boldly held on his course. The light wind prevented the vessels from com- ing together that day, but the Americans saw enough of the stranger to realize that they were in the presence of a powerful foe. Before sunset the Achilles - for such she proved to be - had recaptured the General Picker- ing's prize, and placing a crew aboard slowly beat to a favorable position for attacking the American. Night coming on, the British deferred their attack until day- light so as to make sure of the Yankee so nearly within
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their grasp. The presence of the powerful Achilles did not in the least disturb Haraden, for it is recorded that he took a "sound night's sleep and recruited a boatswain and eight sailors from his prisoners in the morning, when they went to work on shore."
By this time the news had spread that an American and British warship, in full view of the land, were about to fight, and thousands of people flocked down to the water's edge and occupied all vantage points, eager to witness a naval battle. They were disappointed that day, but when day broke June 4th it found the ships ready for action, and the same multitude of Spaniards again assembled and impatiently waited to see the contest.
The British lost no time in beginning the attack and shortly after daylight they bore down on the Yankee with confident hurrahs. But Haraden had made his preparation for defence with his usual skill. Availing himself of the conformation of the land and some shoals which he knew to be in the vicinity, he placed his ship in such a position that the Englishman, in approaching, would be exposed to a raking fire from the General Picker- ing's entire broadside. It so happened that the wind gradually died out, just as the British were getting into effective range, so that they were exposed to a murderous raking fire from the American much longer than they had counted upon. Still the English commander had a vastly superior force, and as it would never do for a British warship to run away from an American of inferior strength, especially when thousands of Spaniards were watching every move, he bravely held on his course.
After enduring the destructive fire from the General Pickering for about two hours, without being able to gain his desired position, the British commander brought the head of his ship about and opened with his broadside guns. Several efforts were made to bring the ships into. closer quarters, but conscious of the advantage his posi- tion gave him, and knowing that he had a brave foe with superior force to contend with, Haraden tenaciously maintained his tactics, and finally, after a battle of three hours, he compelled the Achilles to make sail to escape.
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It is said that toward the close of the action Haraden, finding himself running short of ammunition, ordered his gunner to load with crowbars, which had been taken out of a prize. This "flight of crowbars" produced the utmost consternation in the English craft, and is believed to have precipitated his retreat. The General Pickering vainly endeavored to come up with her. Haraden offered a large reward to the gunner who carried away one of the Englishman's spars, but for once the man behind the gun was not equal to the emergency and the Achilles escaped. The Americans did succeed, however, in retak- ing their prize, which was carried safely into Bilboa. Aboard the Golden Eagle were found a British prize crew and the second officer of the Achilles.
So interested had the people on shore become in the battle that they took to boats and drew nearer and nearer to the contestants, until finally, toward the close of the action, the General Pickering found herself literally sur- rounded by a wildly enthusiastic crowd. This impromptu escort of boats accompanied the privateer and her prize to their anchorage in the harbor, and soon after they dropped anchor, it is stated that it was possible to have walked ashore over the craft of all kinds that swarmed about. Captain Haraden had occasion to go ashore shortly afterwards, and so great was the enthusiasm and admira- tion of the Spaniards over his heroic defence that they raised him bodily on their shoulders and bore him in triumph through the city.
The venerable Robert Cowan, who witnessed this battle, said, shortly before he died, "The General Pickering, in comparison with her antagonist, looked like a longboat by the side of a ship." Speaking of Haraden's conduct in the battle Cowan said, "He fought with a determina- tion that seemed superhuman, and that, although in the most exposed positions, where the shot flew around him, he was all the while as calm and steady as amid a shower of snow flakes."
For this exploit, the owners of the General Pickering presented Haraden a silver tankard and pair of cans which are still preserved and treasured by his descendants.
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In one of the last voyages in the Pickering, Haraden attacked a heavily armed "king's mail packet" bound to England from the West Indies. She was a foe to test Cap- tain Haraden's mettle and he found her a tough antagonist. They fought "four glasses," as the log records it, after which Haraden found that he must haul out of the action and repair damages to rigging and hull. He discovered also, that he had used all the powder on board except one charge. It would have been a creditable conclusion of the matter if he had called it a drawn battle and gone on his way. It was in his mind, however, to try an immensely audacious plan which could succeed only by means of the most cold-blooded courage on his part. Ram- ming home his last charge of powder and double-shotting the gun, he again ranged alongside his plucky enemy who was terribly cut up, but still unconquered, and hailed her : "I will give you five minutes to haul down your colors. If they are not down at the end of that time, I will fire into and sink you, so help me God."
It was a test of mind, not of armament. The British commander was a brave man who had fought his ship like a hero. But the sight of this infernally indomitable figure on the quarterdeck of the shot-rent Pickering, the thought of being exposed to another broadside at pistol range, the aspect of the blood-stained, half-naked pri- vateersmen grouped at their guns with matches lighted, was too much for him. Captain Haraden stood, watch in hand, calling off the minutes so that his voice could be heard aboard the packet. He had not said, "Four" when the British colors fluttered down from the yard and the packet was his.
When a boat from the Pickering went alongside the prize, the crew "found the blood running from her scup- pers, while the deck appeared more like the floor of a slaughter house than the deck of a ship. On the quarter- deck, in an armchair, sat an old gentleman, the Governor of the island from which the packet came. During the whole action he had loaded and fired a heavy blunder- buss, and in the course of the battle had received a ball in his cheek, which, in consequence of the loss of teeth,
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had passed out through the other cheek without giving mortal wound."
Toward the close of the war, he carried several prizes. into St. Eustatia, and with his ship and prizes, shared the fate of the island, when it was taken in 1781 by the- fleet of Admiral Rodney. One of the prizes thus taken was a Boston vessel, which had been captured by a British ship and recaptured by the Pickering. The owners of the vessel sued Captain Haraden for damages, for hav -- ing carried the ship into St. Eustatia instead of sending her home or to some other port. He was compelled to. pay a large amount; and as his owners, after the loss of their ship and prizes, were not ready to indemnify" him, he commenced a suit for indemnity.
Such was the sympathy for Captain Haraden, that when the case came in, the courthouse was filled with spectators, and the streets of Salem were thronged. The verdict was in his favor, and when it was known, the- people in the streets rent the air with their acclamations.
After the loss of the General Pickering Haraden took command of the letter of marque Julius Caesar mount- ing fourteen guns. It was on this vessel that he saw his last sea service during the Revolution. On June 5, 1782, while in command of this ship he fell in with an armed ship and brig. Of course there was a fight right off and for two hours neither side could gain a decisive advan -- tage, when, as Captain Haraden quaintly remarked, "both parties separated, sufficiently amused." During the Rev -. olution, it is said that Haraden took over one thousand cannon from the English.
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