52nd Annual Delaware Show

Neal T. Hurst, a 2015 graduate of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, is assistant curator at the Museum of the American Revolution. This article is generously sponsored by Pam and Bruce Perkins. 1. Invoice, The Old Print Shop, December 21, 1948; H. F. du Pont to The Old Print Shop, December 30, 1948, Antique Dealer Files, Box AD46, Winterthur Archives. 2. Owner of Ship Revolution for Disbursements to January 1780 for Building, Box 202, William Henry Russell Collection of Morris family papers (Acc. 0721), Hagley Museum & Library. For the St. Eustatius journey, see John McNachtane logbook, August 12, 1770, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. McNachtane logbook, “St. Michael’s Day.” For the letter of marque, see Charles Henry Lincoln, ed., Naval Records of the American Revolution, 1775–1788 (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1906), 442. 3. McNachtane logbook, December 17, 1779; December 18, 1779; January 1, 1780; January 6, 1780; February 17, 1780. 4. Ibid., March 21–26, 1780; April 1, 1780; April 8, 1780. 5. Ibid., June 19, 1780; October 29, 1780. 6. Ibid., August 9, 1781. On the August 10 battle, see deposition of George Clark, taken August 20, 1781, and deposition of Alexander Henderson, taken September 21, 1781, The National Archives, HCA 32/441/17. For the captain’s final entry, see McNachtane logbook, August 9/10, 1781. With accounts settled, on June 5 the ship departed for Philadelphia. It was an uneventful voyage until the crew encountered an enemy frigate near Cape Henlopen on June 19. Attempting to outrun their foe, the ship ran aground near Cedar Island, south of Chincoteague. Although fired upon several times, the Revolution was spared when the captain of the attacking ship unexpectedly sailed out to sea. Realizing that the trip to Philadelphia with the cargo of sugar was too risky, Captain McNachtane ordered the inbound goods off the vessel and into the hands of John Taylor, an agent working in Virginia. Later that year, the Revolution did return safely to Philadelphia, ending the contract stipulated on the broadside at Winterthur. McNachtane, his crew, and the Revolution remained in service for just one more year, with the morning of August 10, 1781, signaling their demise as they sat at the mouth of Delaware Bay. McNachtane’s crew spotted an enemy ship that closed on them quickly. Enduring a battle of nearly thirty minutes and aware that they were outmaneuvered, McNachtane struck the colors of the Revolution to Captain Jacob Stout, commander of the eighteen-gun British ship Triumph. McNachtane’s last entry in his logbook reads, “So ends the fate of the Revolution, getting carried to New York with several more of the fleet.” Who would have guessed that this unassuming broadside at Winterthur carried with it such a compelling story? Thanks to dedicated research and the discovery of important archival sources, the printed document has conveyed to us an illuminating account of privateering during the American War for Independence. — 154 —