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1778 Nathaniel Tracy Signed Original Revolutionary War Letter he Supplied America’s First Privateer Ship as a Patriot

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NATHANIEL TRACY (1751-1796). An important Patriot Financier of the American Revolutionary cause; one of the wealthiest Merchants in Newburyport, MA. at the start of the Revolution; his father built a house for him on State Street currently the Public Library; supplied the First Continental Congress Letter of Marque for the First American Privateer Ship of the Revolutionary War, and sent large sums to equip other Ships as American Privateers and obtain Letters-of-Marque for the Revolution. President George Washington was hosted by the Tracy Family, staying at their house in 1789, with the lighting off of rockets and fireworks in Washington’s honor.

November 7, 1778-Dated Revolutionary War Period, Historic Naval Wartime Content Autograph Letter Signed, “Nat.(haniel) Tracy,” written from Newburyport Massachusetts, mentioning the historic Privateer Brig “Vengeance,” Fine. The exploits of Tracy and the Vengeance serve as a reminder of the important role that Privateers played in the maritime conflicts of the era. This is an original Handwritten Letter by Tracy on laid period paper, addressed to a “Mr. White” of 1 page, uniface, measuring 9.5” x 7.75” with some overall tone, primarily seen along the original letter transmittal folds, and has been tipped at its extreme left edge to a slightly larger wove paper collector sheet. Nathaniel Tracy, being an important historical figure, some prior owner has added below the date at top and above the letter’s text, some biographical research notes written in very light pencil regarding Tracy (which that can be easily erased if desired). This letter is fully penned by Tracy, mentioning important Ship and Captains names and information. It reads, in full:

“Newburyport Nov 7. 1778 -- Dear Mr. White -- When I arrived at Marblehead I found that neither Col. Lee or Bro. Jas were disposed to engage in the Adventure you mentioned. They did not purchase the Ship of Capt. Irweld, finding her upon more strict examination not to be worth the Money ask’d for her - I have since heard they purchased a Ship at Salem, that Capt. Hinckley is to go the the West Indies in her - I hear the Embargo is to be continued, which am much afraid will interrupt the Plans of your Business at the Southward. I’m positive I shall be a Loss - Nothing new in this Quarter, but what the Boston NewsPapers will tell you - No details - either embark men on Prizes, excepting the Harriot Packet, captured by the Vengeance, Capt Newman & many Vessels are filling out here for the Southward, but I suppose they will not now ‘till they can make a certainty of procuring Liberty to load Produce - I am with Sincerity your Friend & Hum(ble) Ser(vant) -- (Signed) Nat Tracy (with his large flourish below).

The Vengeance was a fast and heavily armed ship that operated primarily in the waters off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia. Under Tracy's command, the Vengeance captured numerous British merchant vessels, disrupting British maritime trade and inflicting significant economic damage on the British war effort. The capture of the mentioned Prize Packet by the Vengeance is documented the website: “American War of Independence - At Sea.” That website states:

The 350 to 400-ton, Massachusetts Privateer Brig Vengeance (Commander Wingate Newman) was a twenty-gun brig, manned by one hundred men. Her bond indicates she carried a crew of 120 men and is dated 17, June 1778. Another source indicates she was armed with twenty 6-pounders. Vengeance was owned and operated out of Newburyport, Massachusetts by Nathaniel Tracy, John Tracy, Thomas Thomas, and John Coffin Jones. Newman was an experienced Privateer commander, having been out in the Massachusetts Privateer Brigantine Hancock in September 1776. Aboard the Vengeance as Surgeon was Samuel Nye, who kept a journal of the cruise. On 17 September, at 49 N, 20 W, she fell in with HM Packet Ship Harriot (or Harriet, Captain Samson Sprague [Sparge]). Harriot was bound from Falmouth, England to New York, having sailed about 2 September 14 or 7 September. She was armed with sixteen 3-pounders and had a crew of forty-five men. Surgeon Samuel Nye of the Vengeance, reports the beginning of the encounter, as follows:

“Sept 17 - Lat 49 Discovered a sail at 9 AM bearing ENE 4 leagues distance at 3 PM got within cannon shot of her gave her two or three bow chasers and received as many stern chasers from her soon after which she hauled up her courses and gave a broadside but her guns being light the shot did not reach she then endeavored to get away by making sail again but found it impracticable she again lay to till we got within pistol shot of her and then gave us another broadside which was returned on our part and to such purpose as to oblige her to strike at once after having one man killed and six wounded... After fifteen minutes the Harriot struck, 18 with one killed and five wounded aboard. Vengeance had one man killed. Newman called this a “small resistance.” The crew was removed and the Prize was manned and dispatched to Newburyport.”

Provenance Ex: EAHA Auction August 25, 2012 Lot 108 where it then sold for $2,124; to the current consignor.
Nathaniel Tracy was born in Newbury (later Newburyport), receiving his M.A. from Harvard in 1772. When the Revolution broke out, he owned and outfitted the First American Privateer and received the First offocial Letter of Marque from the Continental Congress. He sent twenty-four cruisers to sea that captured 120 vessels, and also owned 110 merchant ships.

He made a great deal of money in the first two years of the war, but in 1777 he lost all but one of his privateers and 97 of his merchant ships. He also provided many donations to the American forces, and lost money dealing with the French and Spanish. He served in a number of posts in state government, and was a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In 1781 Nathaniel Tracy bought a mansion in Cambridge that had been confiscated from the Loyalist John Vassall and used as the headquarters of General Washington and his aids-de-camp- he sold it in bankruptcy in 1786 to Thomas Russell. (That mansion is now known as Longfellow House 1843). He was ruined by the war, and died in genteel poverty in Newburyport Mass.

"Nathaniel TRACY was the son of Capt. Patrick TRACY, Esq., and Hannah GOOKIN. He graduated at Harvard in 1769, and took a graduate course at Yale. His father built for him the splendid brick mansion in Newburyport now used as the Public Library. He was a great merchant and fitted out the first privateer of the Revolution in August, 1775. During the Revolution he owned 110 merchant vessels valued at $2,733,300 and 24 cruising ships which carried 340 guns and 2,800 men.

They captured 120 Prizes, which sold for $3,950,000, “of which Mr. TRACY devoted $167,219 to the Army and other public demands.” He owned many residences and could travel from newburyport to Philadelphia and sleep under his own roof each night. Among others he owned the Longfellow house in Cambridge where he entertained the Compte de Grasse and his officers with a remarkable “frog dinner.”

Tracy was one of the Charter Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He enjoyed the friendship of President JEFFERSON (who wrote a poem about him and went to Europe with him on his ship Ceres), and of President John Quincy ADAMS, who fully describes him in his diary, 1788.

He married “the greatest beauty of her day,” Mary LEE, dau. of the “illustrious patriot Col. Jeremiah LEE, of Marblehead,” a brother of Col. John LEE."

After the war, Tracy returned to his merchant activities and continued to be involved in maritime trade. He remained active in public life and served as a delegate to the Massachusetts State Convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.

Nathaniel Tracy passed away in 1796, leaving behind a legacy as a patriot, merchant, and privateer captain who played a significant role in securing American independence during the Revolutionary War. The exploits of Tracy and the Vengeance serve as a reminder of the important role that privateers played in the maritime conflicts of the era.

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