Bold Privateers: Terror, Plunder and Profit on Canada's Atlantic Coast (review)

Privateering has long interested readers of the popular history of Atlantic Canada. Marsters, an interpreter with the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, provides an overview of French and Nova Scotian privateering in the region from the 1680s until the end of the War of 1812. The focus is on well-known vessels and captains such as the Liverpool Packet and Joseph Barss Jr. Typical of popular history books, the format is based on narrative and colourful anecdotes, interspersed with more than 150 illustrations (two of which appear twice). Aimed at the general reader and accompanied by no notes and only a minimal bibliography, the study does provide some background and context on the international conflicts that gave rise to privateering.

Privateering was a form of commercial warfare recognized by the law of nations in the age of mercantilism. The state authorized capitalists to share in both the risk and the profits of attacking enemy commerce. Some owners, such as merchants Enos Collins and Samuel Cunard, amassed considerable fortunes; hence the topic is also part of business history. Privateers were privately owned commercial raiders that also preyed on enemy coastal communities. In Nova Scotia and others British colonies they operated under letters of marque, subject to interpretation by vice admiralty law, which governed the treatment of enemy crews and the proper disposition of prize vessels and cargo. The French variation was the armateur, the privateering captain who commanded a royal warship. Naval captains and crews also were entitled to prize money.

Privateers, whether on short cruises or those lasting several months, generally were not 'bold,' but cautious. They tended not to attack naval vessels or even other privateers, but concentrated on enemy merchant or fishing vessels with valuable prize cargoes. Even the famous schooner Liverpool Packet, which captured between sixty and one hundred vessels during the War of 1812, never willingly engaged a vessel with superior armaments. But as Marsters's narrative indicates, privateers such as Pierre LeMoyne d' Iberville and Pierre Maisonnat who sailed on behalf of France, and New Englanders John Rous and Sylvannus Cobb who served Great Britain in Nova Scotia waters, played a variety of roles in colonial naval and military operations. These ranged from mounting full-scale attacks on fortifications and naval forces, to carrying supplies, conveying messages, and gathering military intelligence. Privateers moved back and forth between the worlds of private and public warfare. They also were active at most of the 'hot spots' in Atlantic Canada from the 1680s until the end of the Seven Years War, including the nasty Winter War in Newfoundland in the 1790s, Anglo-American operations against Port Royal and Louisbourg, and the deportation of the Acadians starting in 1755. During the American Revolutionary War, the long war with France that broke out in the 1790s, and the conflict with the United States from 1812 to 1815, Nova Scotia privateers such as the Liverpool brig Rover and the full-rigged ship Charles Mary Wentworth operated in the Caribbean and off New England.

While it seems uncharitable to judge Bold Privateers, a non-referred work aimed at the popular market, by the standards of academic history, the biographical approach does seem to harken back to an earlier era. As is evident in the song 'Barrett's Privateers' by Ontarian Stan Rogers, privateers, whether successful or not, had an impact on their communities. The social history of privateering, including the composition and experience of the crews, is neglected, as are the important legal history aspects. There is also the question of the significance of this form of warfare. The overall strategic value of privateers after 1763 could bear some discussion. The Americans during the American Revolutionary war and the War of 1812 deployed hundreds of privateers, but ended up losing the war at sea. Finally, the discussion of attacks by American privateers on Nova Scotia outports during the Revolutionary War, although somewhat related to the topic of the sea militia...