ware River. The fort was overrun when the British floated an armed transport close to the island and fired directl y into the fort. In the fight, Talbot suffered a musket wound to his hip and a shattered wrist. General Washington personally received and commended him for hi s bravery , granting him leave to Providence to recover from his wounds. Hi s return home did not place him far from action. The British held Aquidneck Island , giving them control of Narragansett Bay and its major towns, Provi dence and Newport. When France agreed to help the Americans , Comte d 'Estaing brought a fl eet into Narragansett Bay in late July 1778. General John Sullivan, American commander of the Rhode Island forces , planned a coordinated attack on Newport with the French. He asked Talbot to assemble 86 fl at-bottomed boats on the eastern shore, which was done under the cover of marsh weeds and darkness. Each was loaded with up to I 00 men under orders to cross onto the island and regroup for battle. After ferrying the troops, Major Talbot was assigned to a light infantry corps. When a British fleet appeared in the bay, the French stopped landing troops and set out to engage them. A fierce summer storm interrupted the battle, scattered both fl eets and left the Americans without ground support. When the British reassembled , Sullivan was outgunned and outnumbered, hi s plan doomed. On 29 August 1778 , Talbot was ordered to help cover the tactical withdrawal of the American forces. Once again, Talbot was cited by Congress for his speedy provi sion of troop transport, hi s clever actions as part of the light corps , and the safe and orderly retreat from the island. Britain 's most effective defense at Narragansett Bay was the stout galley Pigotat the mouth of the Sakonnet River. She was armed with 12 eight-pounders and a crew of forty-five and g irded with heavy anti-boarding nets making her a floating battery. Talbot was called upon to break this blockade. The merchant sloop Hawk was refitted for battle , armed with two three-pounders and manned with a boarding party of 60 men. Using the darkness of ni ght and maneuvering with the outgoing tide, the major planned to ram Pigat with a kedge anchor tied to the end of the j ibboom. When the Hawk encountered the Pigat, the kedge anchor tore a wide hole through the formidable netting. The raiding party successfully 38
breached the nets without a cannon being fired on either side, capturing the vessel and crew without loss oflife. This quasi-naval engagement brought Talbot another letter of commendation from Congress and a promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel. It also brou ght him some notoriety from the enemy. In an official Admiralty report of the incident, Si las Tai bot was described as " one of the greatest arch-rebels in nature ." His next army assignment, beg inning 14April 1779, wascommandofthe sloop Argo, which launched hi s remarkable career as a privateer. Under hi s aggressive seamanship, Argo took many pri zes . Records from the Talbot pape rs show that he applied for the cannon bounty for the capture of seven ships during the summer of 1779. On 17 September 1779 the Continental Congress designated Silas Talbot as captain in the Continental Navy . Hi s pay as a lieutenant colonel ceased and he was to be assigned to a man-of- war. Unfortunately, the government did not have a naval vessel available for him to command. Ultimately , he was g iven command of the private ship General Washington to continue as a privateer. He captured one prrze with thi s new vessel and a second which was later recaptured by the British. His luck turned when , in October of 1780, he found himself in the midst of a fleet of British men-of-war. The General Washington ran before a gale but was captured by HMS Culloden. After a brief confinement on the in famous prison hulk Jersey in New York, he was transported to England and incarcerated at Plymouth's Mill Prison for several months. He eventually won hi s release in a prisoner exchange arranged through John Jay and Benjamin Franklin. He made passage to France in November of 1781 where he boarded a Nantucket bri g under the command of a Captain Folger, to return home. Fifteen days out the ship was captured by the British priv ateer Jupiter and Talbot was transferred to a ship bound for ew York City , still under Crown control. Making hi s way out of the city, Talbot reached Providence where he found that Anna had died the previous year. He remained unmarried until 1786, when he wed Rebecca Morri s. The last years of the Revolution found him at odds over pay and allowance with the Secretary of War and Congress. Although a naval captain , he did not re-
ceive captain's pay because he did not have command of a naval ship. He was officially li sted as a privateer commander, but without a ship . In this capacity he was required to provide hi s own crew and and pay them and himself through bounties from captured vessels. On 22 October 1782, Congress authori zed an adjustment and settlement so that he received back pay at hi s old army rank of lieutenant colonel. During the nex t decade as a c ivilian he ventured into commerce, shipping, and land ownership and development in Kentuck y. Talbot returned east to settle in New York where George Metcalf, husband of hi s illeg itim ate daughter, persuaded him to run for office. Hi s opponent was prominent businessman William Cooper, father of author James Fenimore Cooper. In a rauco us and hi ghly parti san race, he won e lection to the New York Assembly ( 1792-1793) and then a term in the House of Representatives ( 1793- 1795). According to Metcalf's account of the e lection , there was " liberal use of spiritou s liquors and other refreshments and free transportation" to help assure the outcome. On 5 June 1794 Congressman Ta lbot was named third on the li st of six ship captains forthe new US Navy, formed to protect US merchantmen from the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean . There were bitter di sputes regarding the ranking of the six captains-Captain Joshua Barney res igned in protest when Talbot was ranked higher than him on the li st. Talbot was to be given command of the frigate President, and he resigned hi s seat in Congress to oversee her construction. However, with the signing of the Treaty of Algiers in 1796, work on the ship was suspended and he was again deactivated without pay. Soon after, Talbot was asked to intervene for President Washington as an agent for American sailors impressed by the Royal Navy in the West Indies. He spent two years strugg ling with civil and naval authorities in the islands before being recalled in 1798. With the beginning of the undeclared war with France, Secretary of the Navy Stoddert needed all available officers. Talbot was offered the frigate Constitution, replacing Captain Samuel Nicholson to become her second captain. However, before Talbot would accept that comnnand, he threatened to resign hi s comrmission if he did not receive the rankimg he deserved among the other
SEA HISTOIRY 8 1, SPRING/SUMMER 1997