History of American Privateers (PDF)

by Edgar Stanton Maclay
Republished from the 1899 edition -

In the two US wars again Britain, says Maclay, many American captains assumed command of privateers--craft armed by private enterprise--and rendered important services of national importance while clearing a handsome profit. Not only did captains leave the Navy for the lucrative private pirating, but many who started careers commanding privateers later became famous Naval captains. He covers the War of Independence and the War of 1812 in turn, and concludes that the practice was not pursued during the war against France or the US Civil War.