Combat· American Revolutionary War
Boston vs Letter of Marque Martha
On March 11, 1778, the Continental frigate Boston captured the British letter of marque Martha during her passage to France.
Captain Samuel Tucker commanded the frigate, which was carrying John Adams to France as an American Commissioner. Captain Richard Palmes commanded the ship's Marines, with Lieutenant William Jennison as his junior officer. Martha proved to be a 14-gun letter of marque, which opened with three guns and fell silent after Boston's first broadside. Jennison recorded that one shot carried away the frigate's mizzen yard before Martha struck her colors. Martha was bound from London to New York with provisions and stores valued at 84,000 pounds sterling. A letter attributed to Tucker and published in 1826 said that Adams stood among the Marines during the action. Boston anchored below Bordeaux on April 1, and on April 4 Palmes left for Paris with Adams. Tucker's orders to Palmes of January 20, 1778, are the first indication of the exact duties Marines and their officers were to have aboard a Continental ship.
Record no. 134