The Revolutionary War prize cases : records of the Court of Appeals in cases of capture, 1776-1787

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"Shortly after the Revolution entered its military phase, armed vessels serving under the individual Colonies began to prey upon British commerce. In addition, the Continental Congress caused ships to be outfitted to intercept vessels bringing provisions to the beseiged British garrison in Boston. There was need for a speedy and regular condemnation of the prizes taken by all these ships. Failure to provide for such action might well lead to conflict among the Colonies. The vice-admiralty courts that had existed under the British had for the most part disappeared and it was necessary to create new courts or broaden the jurisdictions of existing ones"--Introd.

"On January 15, 1780, the Congress, after numerous delays, provided for the establishment of a Court of Appeals consisting of three judges with authority to appoint their own Register. (During the entire existence of the Court five men served as judges: William Paca, Titus Hosmer, Cyrus Griffin, Georege Read, and John Lowell.).

Brief summaries of each case can be found in the National Archives descriptive pamphlet filmed at the beginning of each roll in this record.

This microfilm publication reproduces "the records of prize cases heard on appeal from Colonial and State courts by committees of the Continental Congress (1776-80) and by the Court of Appeals in cases of capture (1780-86)"--Introd.

"The number and type of documents in the cases vary greatly. No papers have survived for a few of the cases listed by Davis and hence listed in the microcopy; for some there is only an attested copy of the proceedings in the lower court along with jottings on the wrapper; while others are documented by a wealth of material. Among the case papers are petitions and memorials to the Congress; copies of resolves of the Congress relating to prize cases; attested copies of proceedings in the lower courts; libels; exhibits; notices of hearings; monitions; depositions; interrogatories; affidavits; briefs; bonds; notices of appeal; petitions for rehearings; statements of court costs and Register's fees; decrees; sentences; opinions; copies of state, Colonial, and Royal statutes and proclamations; and various types of documents found on board prize vessels such as certificates of registry or enrollment, licenses, crew-lists, shipping articles, clearance papers, charter parties, repair bills, bills of lading, invoices, manifests, log books, account books, journals, instruments of agreement, consort agreements, letters of marque and reprisal, correspondence belonging to ship's officers, crews, and passengers, and packets of private mail in transit"--Introd.

"The cases constitute a valuable source of documentary materials for the maritime and commercial history of the Revolutionary War and for the development of admiralty law. They are also useful for a study of prize procedures in particular States or Colonies, or for a comparative study of procedures in different ones. From the copies of the records of proceedings as well as from the numerous papers forwarded on appeal that had been filed with or created by these lower courts it is possible to determine the procedures used by most of them. These records should be of interest to economists, biographers, and naval, social, and legal historians. In them, for example, are evidences of the exploits of some of the early American naval heroes such as John Barry (cases 4 & 78), John Manley (cases 2, 93, and 97), Daniel Bucklin (cases 15 and 20), and Stephen Decatur (case 61); letters or documents signed by John Jay (case 2 Dall. 34 and 2 Dall. 41), Benedict Arnold (case 39), Alexander Hamilton (case 91, 103, and 2 Dall. 41), and other important Revolutionary figures; significant source material on the British occupation and evacuation of Boston (case 2); copies of letters (March 10-31, 1781) from Capt. John Barry, commanding the Alliance, to Benjamin Franklin, John Laurens, and others (case 78); and a packet of private letters.

addressed by residents of British-occupied New York to friends and relatives in Halifax, Nova Scotia (cases 91-92)"--Introd.

An index to cases for this entire microfilm record is included on each roll.

Microfilm of original records in the custody of the Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D.C.

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