The Capture of the Brigantine, Britannia

As noted in prior articles, starting in 1779, New York-bound British/Loyalist ships with valuable cargo were vulnerable to capture from New England privateers because of the weakened British naval presence at Sandy Hook. Further, local militia officers opportunistically took vulnerable British/Loyalist vessels that grounded off the Monmouth shore. So, perhaps it was only a matter of time before local militia officers would have the opportunity to take a valuable vessel near the British base at Sandy Hook.

The Capture of the Britannia

The Britannia was a Loyalist privateer captained by Jonathan Stout and recently arrived from a Caribbean port with a cargo of that included coffee and sugar, high value products in short supply in New Jersey. The brigantine carried 16 cannon and 4 swivel guns. According to a number of secondary accounts, the Britannia was anchored inside of Sandy Hook when, on December 28, 1779, it broke loose from its moorings. The ship grounded in shallow water near present-day Keansburg. Ice around the guard ship at Sandy Hook prevented the British from helping the distressed ship; Britannia was quickly frozen in place and soon made helpless.

On December 29, the Britannia was spotted by a company of state troops (militia on long term assignment) and Middletown Militia, both reporting to Colonel Asher Holmes. They captured the ship without a fight. The cargo and munitions of the ship were rowed to shore. The ice soon thawed enough for Holmes to the Britannia taken 20 miles east to Cheesequake Creek, where the prize would be less susceptible to British recapture.

The capture of the Britannia was important enough for Colonel Lewis Nicola, at Egg Harbor, to notify the Continental Congress on January 12, 1780. He reported:

A dismasted twenty gun brig called the Britannia on shore at the west bank [of Sandy Hook]. The Jersey people have got the guns and stores out of the former; it is not possible for any vessel or boat to go from New York Harbor to the relief of the vessels on shore.

The Britannia was taken by a company of State Troops drawn mostly from Middletown Township. The company was officered by Captain Samuel Carhart, Lieutenant John Schenck, Ensign Peter Vanderhoff, Sergeant Jacob Allen, Corporal Burrowes Norris, Drummer Samuel Smith, and 27 privates. Additional Middletown militia under Lieutenant Barnes Smock were present (nephew of the captain of the same name). Some accounts credit Colonel Holmes with leading the capture, but, based on primary sources, it is unlikely that Holmes was there at the moment of capture.

A half-dozen Monmouth militiamen mention the capture of the Britannia in their post-war veterans’ pension applications. Three participated in the capture: Cornelius Smock recalled that the Britannia “went ashore in a snowstorm at Conkaskunk, and her commander surrendered her to his brother, Lt. Barnes J. Smock, who then commanded said company." Adam Striker recalled that he "was present at the capture of the Britannia, a British brig which was driven ashore near Point Comfort... the ship capitulated." Cornelius Vanderhoff recalled being stationed "at Conkaskunk Cove" when the ship was taken.

After the Capture

Three other militiamen (or their widows) recalled activities after the capture. Sergeant James Wall recalled that he “was appointed one of an escort to conduct a party of British marines, taken from the British brig Britannia, that was enclosed in the ice near the Monmouth shore, to Elizabethtown, but that on my way there, my horse slipt [sic] on the ice & fell, fracturing my leg in his fall.” Derrick Sutphin's widow, Altche Sutphin, recalled that "part of her rigging & contents were kept at his house for safekeeping." Philip Freneau, who would become known as the “Poet of the American Revolution,” recalled receiving “$800 in Continental money as his share of the British Brig Britannia – of which $120 was shortly after paid for a pair of shoes."

On January 13, 1780, the New Jersey Gazette advertised the capture of the Britannia with a cargo and supplies at the home of Garret Schenk of Middletown. The cargo of beef, pork, coffee, sugar, powder, lead, muskets, and swords, and the hull of the Britannia would be offered for sale. The following week the Gazette advertised that the sale would occur on January 27 at Garret Schenck’s house in Middletown. It said: “to be sold the cargo and also the hull of the brig Britannia, now laying near Cheesequake Creek."

Interestingly, the Britannia's 16 cannon and 4 swivels would be sold at Burlington on January 31. This suggests that it was too dangerous to keep and sell these war materials on the Monmouth shore, where they could be retaken by Loyalist raiders. Indeed, Loyalists in New York were re-organizing into new groups like the Associated Loyalists and the Black Brigade precisely so that they could be nimble in raising parties for raiding opportunities.

Subsequent advertisements in the New Jersey Gazette suggest that the Admiralty Court might not have condemned the Britannia before these advertised sales. A January 24 advertisement wrote of a coming Admiralty Court at Gilbert Barton’s tavern in Allentown, under Judge John Imlay, to consider claims on the vessel from Colonel Holmes and Samuel Dennis, a Shrewsbury militia captain. It is possible that Dennis was contesting rights to the prize.

On March 15, the New Jersey Gazette advertised a sale on March 27 at the house of Cornelius Van Dorn in Middletown for “the sails, rigging, and small arms of the Brig Britannia… lately captured by Col. [Asher] Holmes and others." Samuel Dennis advertised the sale—suggesting that the admiralty court awarded the prize to Holmes, but that Holmes then deputized (and paid) Dennis to dispose of the vessel’s remaining items.

While the vessel was condemned to Holmes, he divided the prize money with his men. On March 5, 1780, the proceeds were divided.  Colonel Holmes received 11 ¼ shares of the prize.  Other officers received between 3-9 shares based on rank. The enlisted men received 2/3 of one share. It appears that a share was valued at roughly £300, a huge amount of money for a small farmer (a good horse cost roughly £20, a daily wage to a laborer was about £1). It is unknown how the proceeds of the final March 27 sale were divided among the men. The New Jersey Legislature later paid Sergeant Wall an additional £10 S2 for "going to Elizabethtown with the prisoners taken on board the brig, Britannia and so forth."

The Britannia was one of perhaps a dozen prizes taken by local militia and state troops. It was clearly among the more valuable and better documented of those captures. The capture shows how state troops drawn from Monmouth County and local militia operated seamlessly, in contrast to the clear delineation between Continental troops and militia. The complicated post-capture documentation includes several sales and admiralty court notices; this demonstrates that cash windfalls generated interests and intrigues that tested New Jersey’s nascent institutions. While the division of the Britannia was apparently amicable, other prizes were the subject of prolonged litigation and contested for years.

Related Historic Site: Sandy Hook Lighthouse

Sources: Maureen Foster, The Capture of the British Privateer Britannia by the Middletown Militia, (https://monmouthtimeline.org/timeline/capture-of-britannia/); Return of State Troops, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, New Jersey, folder 58, #125; Information on the capture of the brig Britannia in Robert Van Benthuysen, "Philip Freneau: The War Years", Monmouth County Historical Association Newsletter, Spring 1978, n. 3, p1; Capture of the Brig Britannia in National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Adam Stricker; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 136-7; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, James Wall of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 20365301; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Vanderhoff; National Archives, Philip Freneau, W.23069, State of New Jersey, Monmouth County; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Smock; Receipt, National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 187, item 169, #191; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I63, Letters from General & Other Officers, p 188; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 136-7.; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, p 147; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930.