Peter-- The "New England Historical and Genealogical Register," Boston, XXXII, pp. 42-44. carries the Journal of Samuel Cutler [Captain's Clerk] of the Massachusetts Privateer Brig 'Dalton,' Eleazer Johnsohn, commanding: "Dec. 24 [1776]. In latitude 44 No., long. 14 West. Light Breeze. At 2 P. M. saw a sail. Beat to quarters. At 10 P. M. she gave us a gun, Then another. Ordered us to surrender, which we thought best, as she proves to be the [HMS] 'Raisonable,' of 64 guns, Thomas Fitzherbert. They boarded us sword in hand, and sent us all on board the ship without suffering us to take our cloths. All except the Captain, 2 lieutenants, master, surgeon, capt. marines, 1 prize master, myself and 2 boys were indiscriminately turned down the cable tier to sleep on the bare cables, as Capt. Fitzhertbert would not suffer them to bring their clothes, but let his own people rob us of what they thought proper." Ed St Germain previously posted: http://www.americanrevolution.org/relic.html which includes the journal of Charles Herbert of Newburyport who also was on board the 'Dalton.' His journal begins: "THE brig DOLTON sailed from Newburyport, November 15th, 1776, and from Portsmouth, on the 26th of the same month, and on the 24th of December following, about nine o'clock in the evening, we were taken by the Reasonable, man-of-war, of sixty-four guns. As her cruise was over, she was bound to Plymouth, England.... The appendix includes a list of the men interred in Old Mill Prison in June 1777. The 8th name on the list is "Thomas Cluston +" with the "+" indicating he escaped from there. > You've also, between you, answered another question - > how did he manage to get back to the US from England. > If he was taken prisoner from the Dalton and escaped in > June 1777, he then managed to get to France in time to > join the Raleigh (Dec 77) and return to the US. If my memory is working this morning, the above scenario has a minor problem. As I recall, the 'Raleigh' was captured before she returned from France. My den is being remodelled so I don't have access to all my books so perhaps another lister can clarify this fact. If is true that the 'Ralegh' was captured before completing her first cruize, then it is possible that Thomas Clouston was twice taken POW. It is also possible that he was sent as a prize crew on one of the prizes captured by the 'Raleigh' after her departure from France. > I still need to find the 'Antelope'. HMS 'Antelope' of 50 guns was Vice Admiral Clark Gayton's flagship at Jamaica in 1774-1777 (and later?). There was the transport ship (brig?) 'Antelope' of 207 tons, John Rankin, Master, at New York in 1776 used to haul part of the 52nd Regiment of Foot to Rhode Island. In your earlier posting, you suggested that perhaps Thomas Clouston commanded the 'Antelope.' If so, and if this occurred after the begining of the federal customhouses in 1789, then there should be a record of the vessel therein. Many of the early customhouse records were extracted as part of a WPA project in the 1930s. I know the early Boston records were transcribed. They are not readily found but many major maritme museums/libraries have at least partial sets. I recommend that you query the NMM in Greenwich as to their holdings. > The Mowatt connection was strong, Henry was the > nephew of Thomas's paternal grandmother Marion Mowat, > the son of her brother Captain Patrick Mower RN. Given that Henry Mowatt spend 20 years of his naval career basically in the waters between Cape Cod and Halifax, one would expect that they encountered. Also alleged to be "cousins" of Henry Mowat were Captain James Ryder Mowat of the King's Rangers, a provincial regiment, who was at Penobscot during its occupation. Also there was David Mowat, a Penobscot Loyalist. > Henry died on board HMS Assistance when returning to the UK in 1798. Again, if my memory serves me, I recall that he was buried on the coast of Virginia. > He was to be promoted Rear Admiral. Given that he was "posted" into HMS 'La Sophia" in 1783, promotion to Admiral was automatic, if one lived long enough. > Had he survived a few more years he would possibly > have been at Trafalgar with Nelson and Collingwood. Most anything is possible; however, this is not probable because Henry Mowat lacked the "interest" or political influence necessary to receive a fleet posting. Nelson was the nephew of Maurice Suckling, the Treasurer of the Admiralty. I don't know the source of Collingwood's interest but it was quite powerful as he was promoted at Boston by VAdm Graves. Collingwood ranked Lieutenant from 16 June 1775 and spent the first day of his command, commanding the ships boats crossing from Boston to Charlestown with soldiers going into what commonly is called the "Battle of Bunker Hill" and was fought on Breed's Hill. James Scott, the 1st Lieutenat of HMS 'Preston' had gotten drunk and flogged the Captain's servant which resulted in his court martial and being cashiered from service. This created the opening for Collingwood's promotion. Collingwood was at least 15 years younger, and Nelson was something like 22-23 years younger, than Henry Mowat. Oh, back to the 'Dalton': Before being converted to a privateer, it appears that she was owned in Newburyport (Stephen Hooper, managing owner) and was engaged in the Suriname molasses trade. Her agents in Philadelphia in 1775-76 were Coates & Reynell. Eleazer Johnson commanded the 'Dalton' at that time. The pre-Revolutionary customhouse records are at Kew in the PRO. They are oversize books which are sent upstairs to the PRO Map Room for viewing. Sorry, I can't provide the exact citation. I think I found them in the CUSTOMS-series. Bob Brooks