Kylie A. Hulbert - The Untold War at Sea: Americas Revolutionary Privateers

THE UNTOLD WAR AT SEA

THE
UNTOLD
WAR AT SEA

Americas Revolutionary
Privateers

Kylie A. Hulbert

THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA PRESS

ATHENS

2022 by the University of Georgia Press

Athens, Georgia 30602

www.ugapress.org

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hulbert, Kylie A., 1984 author.

Title: The untold war at sea : Americas revolutionary privateers / Kylie A. Hulbert.

Other titles: Americas revolutionary privateers

Description: Athens : The University of Georgia Press, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021028331 | ISBN 9780820360706 (hardback) | ISBN 9780820360713 (paperback) | ISBN 9780820360720 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: United StatesHistoryRevolution, 17751783Naval operations. | PrivateeringUnited StatesHistory18th century.

Classification: LCC E 271 . H 87 2022 | DDC 973.3/5dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021028331

Contents

The life of this historian is often filled with fleeting moments of the past, letters and log books, court records and the journals of the Continental Congress, and a plethora of other eighteenth-century sources. In the midst of these papers and pages, mentors, colleagues, friends, and family have bolstered and motivated me. This book would not be in your hands were it not for their unwavering support.

The seeds of this project were planted during my first year of graduate work at the University of Georgia. I benefited from exceptional scholars who championed this author and this project from the outset. My never-ending gratitude belongs to Peter C. Hoffer, who challenged me to hone my prose and my contribution to Revolutionary scholarship. Woody Holton granted me the opportunity to learn from the best as his graduate research assistant at the University of Richmond and he stayed on for the long haul. I appreciate his insights and support more than he knows. Benjamin Ehlers and Stephen Berry rounded out my dissertation committee as staunch advocates of the project who brought their own unique perspectives to the table. All of these powerhouse historians taught me the importance of the stories historians tell.

The top-rate team at the University of Georgia Press, spearheaded by Mick Gusinde-Duffy and my project editor, Jon Davies, made this a smooth and relatively seamless process, despite my novice status. My thanks to them all, as well as the readers who posed important questions and offered insight ful and constructive criticisms, all of which made this a better and stronger book.

Research is vital for any historian and I was lucky to have support in conducting mine for this book. My thanks to the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, the Graduate School at the University of Georgia for a Graduate Student Research Award, the Department of History at UGA, Greg and Amanda Gregory, and the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M UniversityKingsville. My thanks also to my exceptional fellow panelists and audience members at the Society for Military History and the Omo-hundro Institutes Conferences, who allowed me to share my ongoing research and posited thought-provoking questions and observations.

The work of a historian is often solitary in nature, but that does not mean we are solitary creatures. The coterie of colleagues and friends I have gathered over the years is second to none.