The Prize Game by Donald A. Petrie
At the NMHS Annual Meeting in June, Donald A. Petrie held NMHS members spellbound with his rapid-fire overview of centuries ofprivateering history and his own decades ofresearch on that subject, recently published by the Naval Institute Press. A summary ofhis presentation follows. t the end of the feudal sys tem, the nations of Europe raised standing armies to guard their borders and combat their enemies. Warfare at sea, however, was more difficult because even the maritime nations lacked regular naval vessels. Instead, they relied on the privately owned ships of their subj ects. T he Norman kings of England, for example, had no navy at all. It wasn 't until the later Tudors, H enry VIII and Elizabeth, that the British began to build a Royal Navy. In the attack of the Spanish Armada ofl 588, a substanrial majoriry of the Spanish and E nglish fleets were privately owned. A private vessel engaged in attacki ng, sinking or capturing enemy vessels in time of war could do so only with a written lice nse of the monarch, called a "Letter of Marque and Reprisal. " A vessel thus licensed was called a privateer. It is impor-
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unsatisfactory and led to endless international disputes. By the last century of fighting sail, roughly from the Seven Years' Warofl 756 ro the Am erican Civil War of 1861 , a far more formal and regular prize sysrem had evolved, which was followed by all the m aritime powers of the world wirh an astonishing degree of uniformi ry. The prize law of nations, as it was called, expected each maritime nation to maintain in its major ports prize courts to which capto rs of that nation might bring their prizes for adjudication immediarely afrer capture. The captor could arresr and remove rhe surrendering crew, but he was forbidden from "breaking bulk," (i. e., he could not enter the ship's storage holds or disrurb the cargo without a court order). If he did so, he risked losing his prize. At the prize co urt, the judge examined all of the ship's pape rs as well as written statements, called "standing interrogatories," dictated and sworn to by crew members of both ships. If, from these papers, the judge found the prize to belong to his own nation , an ally or a neutral, and found h er to be engaged in innocent commerce, she was immediately released to her captain (Continued on page 16)
rant to distinguish between a privateer and a pirate. A pirate is at war with the entire world. His hand is set against eve1y other man and woma n on earth , and every nation o n earth is at war with him . T hus, the law of nations, as internatio nal law was former ly call ed , permitted every nation to seize a pirate and summarily hang him. A privateer, on th e other hand, was legally authorized by his government to attack the vessels of that government's enemies. Traditionally, anything whi ch is seized from the enemy in time of war belongs to the whole nation. However, beginnin g in the 1400s, the monarchs of Europe began to permit their fl eets, both naval and privateers, to share in the finan cial rewards that cam e from capturing enemy vessels . T his they did to provide an incentive that would stimulate the ardor and vigor of their officers and seamen . Ships thus seized were called "prizes" from the French word "prise," m eaning "gras p" or "hold. " At first the prize game was all smash and grab. If a captor was able to keep possession of an enemy ship for twenry-four ho urs, it was sa id to be infra praesidia, meaning within hi s co ntrol and, thus, his properry for ever after. T his system, lacki ng ceremo ny and documents, was crude and
J.11."tIES JIJJJl)IS ON, PresUltnt of the United States
A letter of marque and reprisal issued by President James Madison in 1812for the American privateer brig Rattle Snake. (Public Records Office, London)
of .11.merica,
TO ALL WHO SHA LL SEE THESE PRESENTS, GREETING:
BE IT KNOWN, That in pu1·su:rnce of an Act of Congress, passed on .the '{'jfrf.o,,1!f d ay rj?Ai . . , . _
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eight hun~r_e4l!Jld tw,elyc, 1 have co mmi ssioned, and by these presents do commi ssion, th t: private armed ca:Je<l the ~fo-H:1 :!h1.11M ~fth e bul'lhcn of 11r• J.,,, ;.1,,,1, "";.,;'·l.,~, 411tl tons, or thereabouts, own!d
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1~1ereof_ to. subdue, sc11:c and toke an y armed or un nrm?d Dntish vcs~cl,, putilic or pri\'ate, which sha ll be fo und withi n the jttrisdict1onal lu~uts of the U 1uted Slates or clscwhel'e on the high seas, or w1thm tl1 e wa ters of th e British dominions, and such en pturcd Ycsscl, w 1 ~~ her apparel, guns a~HI appurtenances, an d tl~e goods or cffcc~s ~,· hi ch _ s h~ ll be found on board the sam e. together wilh all the Ilnllsh persons and othc1 s who shall he found actmg on board, to brmg w1th111 some pott of rlie Un ited States· and also to ~ctnke any Yessels, gO?ds and effects of tJ1 e people of the Un ited States, .whk~l may have been capl~ red by any Driti sh ~rmed vessel , concerning such capture Or rceapturc m clu e form of Jaw, and as Lo r ight ancl j ustice shall aprn or~le1· that pro_cee~\}ig~ mayj,r 1 -.is furth er :rnthorlsed to detain , seize and take all YesseJs and effects, to whomsoever pcl't:l.m: The_sa1fl !l!nm~f·'."!.1v(17!1.~"' bclon.g1n g, wl11ch sh~ll .be h abk Li rcto acco~d ing lO th~ Law of Nation s and the J'ight s of th e Un ited Sta tes as a power at war, and to b1_- 111g t_he same w1:hm some port of the United. Stales m order.th at du e proceedings m ay be had thereon. This comm iss ion to continue m force dunng the pleas ure of the President of the Umted States for th e time being.
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GI.VEN node ~ my hand and the seal of tJJC Upitcd States of America, at the City of .W ashmgton, the ' 'l tN 1"'"' day 9f · '.if/6,,,,,fy.J in the year of our turd, one lho~~nd eight hundred and ! fi1U11.n1 and of tb e In clependence of the said stales theJl;11/,.-, .<
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SEA HISTORY 90, AUTUMN 1999