Chapter XXXV: Appendix: A

A BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE CONTINENTAL NAVY

MANUSCRIPT SOURCES

Adams, John. Letters for 1775 and 1776, deposited for the present
by Charles Francis Adams with the Massachusetts Historical Society,
Boston.

A few letters are valuable for the early history of the
Continental Navy.

Continental Congress. Manuscript Journals.

Supplements and corrects the printed journals.

Continental Congress. Records and Papers, formerly found in the
Bureau of Rolls and Library, Department of State, Washington;
but now in most part in the Library of Congress, Division of
Manuscripts. There are many volumes of these documents. Most of the
material relating to the navy is found in the following volumes:

No. 28, 1 vol., Reports of committees of Congress on naval
affairs, 1776-1786.

No. 37, 1 vol., Reports of Marine Committee and Board of
Admiralty, 1776-1780.

No. 50, 1 vol., Letters of Oliver Pollock, Commercial Agent
at New Orleans, to President and to committees of Congress,
1776-1782.

No. 58, 1 vol., Letters and Papers of John Hancock.

No. 78, 24 vols., Letters to President of Congress.

No. 90, 1 vol., Letters of the commercial agents at Martinique to
President of Congress.

No. 137, 3 vols., Letters and Reports of Robert Morris, Agent of
Marine.

No. 138, 3 vols., Reports of the Board of Treasury, 1784-1789.

Nos. 82-96, 132, 168, and 193.

The Records and Papers of the Continental Congress are
especially valuable for the years from 1780 to 1783. They
contain many important letters of John Paul Jones. The letters
of Pollock give a full account of his services at New Orleans.

Deane, Silas. Papers in the library of the Connecticut Historical
Society, Hartford.

A few of these papers relate to the navy.

Force Transcripts. These are copies of many of the Records and
Papers of the Continental Congress, made by Peter Force, and
now in the possession of the Library of Congress, Division of
Manuscripts.

The copying is accurately done. The pagination often differs
from that of the originals.

Hopkins, Esek. Letters and papers, in the library of the Rhode
Island Historical Society, Providence.

Quite valuable for 1775, 1776, and 1777. The best of them have
been printed in Edward Field’s Esek Hopkins.

Jones, John Paul. Manuscripts, in the Division of Manuscripts,
Library of Congress. Have been excellently catalogued by C. H.
Lincoln in Calendar of John Paul Jones Manuscripts.

An important original source for the naval history of the
Revolution. A number of the most important manuscripts,
however, have been published, notably in Sands’s Life and
Correspondence of John Paul Jones.

Marine Committee Letter Book. Letters of the Marine Committee and
the Board of Admiralty, in the Division of Manuscripts, Library
of Congress.

Quite the most important manuscript source for the history of
the Continental navy from 1776 to 1780. Contains 217 pages,
folio, and 505 letters. They are copies of the originals. Of
these letters, 371 were written by the Marine Committee between
August 22, 1776, and November 20, 1779; and 134 by the Board of
Admiralty between December 10, 1779, and September 19, 1780.
Eighty-six letters are addressed to the Navy Board at Boston.
Hitherto the Marine Committee Letter Book has been little used.

Tucker, Samuel. Papers, in the Harvard Library, Cambridge.
Valuable for the career of Samuel Tucker, a captain in the
Continental navy. The best of the papers have been published by
J. H. Sheppard in his Life of Samuel Tucker, 1868. (See entry
under Sheppard.)

Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Division of Manuscripts, Library of
Congress

Of noteworthy importance is a list of commissioned officers in
the Continental navy, far more complete than any yet published.

PRINTED SOURCES

Adams, John. Works, 10 vols. Boston, 1856.

Almost the only source for the debates in Congress on naval
affairs in the fall of 1775. His Notes on Debates are more
reliable than his Autobiography.

Appleton. Cyclopedia of American Biography. 7 vols. New York,
1898-1900.

Contains a little information of interest to students of
naval history.

Annual Register for 1775-1783. London.

Of slight value for naval history.

Bancroft, George. History of the United States. 6 vols. New
York, 1884-85.

A few references to naval history.

Barney, Mary. Memoirs of Commodore Joshua Barney. Boston, 1832.

Not satisfactory.

Beatson, Robert. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain,
1727-1783. London, 1804.

Contains accounts of some of the important naval engagements
of the Revolution.

Bigelow, John. Works of Benjamin Franklin. 10 vols. New York,
1887-88.

Contains valuable original material for Franklin’s naval
services in Paris.

Bolton, C. K. Private Soldier under Washington, New York, 1902.

A few references to the navy.

Boston Gazette for 1775-1783. Boston.

Of great value for a history of the movements of the
Continental vessels. In its advertisements of libeled
prizes, one of the very best sources for the work of the
Massachusetts privateers.

British Marine Encyclopedia, in Hogg’s Naval Magazine for 1801.
London.

Excellent for definitions of naval terms used in the British
navy.

Buell, A. C. Paul Jones, Founder of the American Navy. 2 vols.
New York, 1900.

Very interesting; attractive style. Contains many
inaccuracies. Chapter II, Volume I, entitled, Founding of the
American Navy, is in no small part fiction.

Canadian Archives, report on, for 1895. Ottawa.

Under the subject Prince Edward Island, will be found
references to Broughton and Selman’s expedition in 1775.

Carson, H. L. Supreme Court of the United States. Philadelphia,
1902.

Contains a brief account of the prize courts of the
Revolution.

Caulkins, Frances M. History of New London, Connecticut. New
London, 1852.

A few valuable references to the Continental navy.

Clark, Thomas. Naval History of the United States.
Philadelphia, 1814.

The earliest history of the United States navy. Has
considerable merit. Gives sources of his information. His
interviews with naval officers constitute original material.

Clowes, W. L. Royal Navy. 7 vols. Boston and London, 1897-1903.