Huntington, Samuel

Printed broadside, "In Congress, Wednesday, April 3, 1776. Instructions to the Commanders of Private Vessels of War ..."  one page ((13 x 8 3/8 in.; 330  x 213 mm), signed ("Sam. Huntington"), ca. 1779—1780; a fresh copy, nearly entirely unspotted with just very minor browning to faint fold line, with a bold, prominent signature.

Evans 15137

License to attack and pillage. Congress had Dunlap prepare two documents dated 3 April 1776 for privateers, one being the actual commission (cf.  Letters of Delegates to Congress 3:482) and the present lot comprising the detailed instructions of the extent of the actions privateers could wage against British vessels. Both were signed by the President of the Congress. According to Evans the present form was reprinted and continued in use as late as 1780.  Samuel Huntington represented Connecticut in Congress from 1775 until 1784. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was chosen in September 1779 to succeed John Jay as President of that body, an office he held until July 1781 when ill health forced him to resign. Thus his signature on the present document can be dated from about September 1779 through 1780.

Congress appointed a committee headed by John Adams to create a Continental Navy on 30 October 1775. Eight vessels were purchased, assembled at Philadelphia by the end of the year, and put to sea on 17 February 1776.

Government use of privateers was a colonial tradition that started with King William's War (1689–1697) and would supplement the actions of the fledgling Continental Navy.  Privateers were armed vessels belonging to private owners commissioned by a government under a letter of marque to carry out operations of war. Between 1775 and 1783 American privateers took about 600 British vessels including 16 men of war and prize money mounting to an estimated $18,000,000. Privateers peaked in 1781 with approximately 450 vessels at sea armed with some 6,735 guns. The Continental Navy, by contrast, had only three ships in commission in 1781 (Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, pp. pp. 768–770; 896–897). A rare and remarkably preserved example of American maritime practices during the War of Independence. Only one other copy of this document signed by Huntington has appeared at auction in over 70 years.