British New York Vice-Admiralty Court. Captured ship: Le Cheval Marin (master Jean...

British New York Vice-Admiralty Court.

Captured ship: Le Cheval Marin (master Jean Baptiste Marchand).

Capture history: a French merchant ship (snow, 120 tons, 19 men) bound from Saint Domingue to New England, laden with rum, taffia, molasses, coffee, salt; taken on 27 January 1779 in latitude 35°20'N, longitude 75°15'W by HMS Daphne (St John Chinnery commanding), and brought into New York.

Intended voyage: from the Caribbean Islands to the United States.

Court papers numbered CP 1-2:-

• [CP 1]: affidavit of papers brought in by the prize master John Linton, midshipman, 8 February 1779;
• [CP 2]: libel in Advocate General at the relation of Chinnery v The snow Le Cheval Marin and her cargo, 8 February 1779.

Ship's Papers numbered SP 1-40:-

• SP 1: ship's pass from Port au Prince to the American Sea, 13 Nov 1778;
• SP 2: approved petition from the owners Fabre & St Martin, to trade with Mississippi, 26 Aug 1778;
• SP 3: muster roll, with a separate listing of Spanish crew;
• SP 4: replacement crew;
• SP 5: permit for 4 sailors coming from Portocavello with 44 mules and 1 horse to be sold in Port au Prince, 11 Nov 1778;
• SP 6: owners note;
• SP 7: formal statement of cargo and owners instructions;
• SP 8-SP 10: taffia and provisions;
• SP 11: receipt for pilotage, Baracoa, Cuba, 10 Jan 1779;
• SP 12-SP 13: facture and receipt for taffia to New England;
• SP 14-SP 27: miscellaneous accounts etc;
• SP 28: navigation instructions, starting at Curaçao;
• SP 29: owners letter to Marchand, undated;
• SP 30: letter from LeRoy, Leogane, to Marchand, 1772;
• SP 31: lists of clothing supplied, 1773;
• SP 32: account, 1777;
• SP 33: list of the French naval squadron and captains, Apr 1778;
• SP 34: pass for Baptiste Balthazard, free black, and 2 others to navigate the coast in the armed canoe of Nicolas Lenotre, 26 Sept 1778;
• SP 35-SP 39: blank cardstocks on which are listed names of towns in Europe etc;
• SP 40: an IOU from 1776.

Personal archive of Benjamin Doizé De La Gibraye [the supercargo ?], previously of Nantes, now of Saint Domingue, 1775-1779, including letters, numbered BD 1-BD 49:-

• BD 1: from Brochard, Nantes, Sept 1775, a letter from his lover and the mother of his son: attempts to join him, embarrassment of giving birth;
• BD 2: from Chevalier de Oriux, Sept 1775;
• BD 3: from Garnier Du Puyloup, Nantes, Dec 1775, sent to Quartier-Morin;
• BD 4: from his brother at Port de Paix, 17 Jan 1776, sent to St Marc;
• BD 5: account, St Marc, 4 May 1776;
• BD 6- BD 8: responses from Versailles, Paris and Léogane to his wish for employment, May 1776;
• BD 9: from Chapplain, Port au Prince, 17 June 1776;
• BD10, BD 10A-BD 14: responses from Port au Prince, Cap François, Fontainebleau to his wish for employment, June-Sept 1776, at St Marc;
• BD 14A: letter from Duval, Port au Prince, to Doizé, St Marc, 11 July 1776;
• BD 15: notice of need to sign a certificate, Nov 1776; sent to Arcahaie;
• BD 16: account [slave trading?];
• BD 17: verses on the definition of love, May 1777;
• BD 17A: letter from Lafitte, 16 July 1777;
• BD 18: [copy] letter from Doizé to M Bizoton de la Motte, seeking help with a legal dispute, 6 Sept 1777;
• BD 19-BD 20: two letters from [?], 3 Sept and 22 Oct 1777, at St Marc;
• BD 21: bill for various items, Nov 1777;
• BD 22-BD 25: four letters to Doizé, no envelopes, 31 Aug-2 Nov 1778;
• BD 26: letter from Benjamin Doizé, Môle St Nicola, reporting news from there to Messrs Fabre & St Martin, Port au Prince, 25 Sept 1778 [sealed but with no marks of delivery];
• BD 26A: [copy] letter from Doizé, at Môle St Nicola, 26 Nov 1778, [to Fabre & St Martin?] reporting a voyage through the Bahama Channel, with a difficult crew;
• BD 27: [copy] letter from Doizé, at Baracoa, Cuba, Dec 1778, [to Fabre & St Martin?] reporting pursuit by two English ships, release of Spanish crew on arrival there;
• BD: 28: [copy] letter [to Fabre & St Martin?] about the Spanish crew being unable to speak French, undated;
• BD 29: letter to a cousin;
• BD 30: undated letter from his brother at Port de Paix, to St Marc [1776?];
• BD 31: response from Port au Prince, to his wish for employment, undated;
• BD 32: small notebook;
• BD 33-BD 36: accounts and notes;
• BD 37: a short poem, starting 'Une fillette vu une albaneze';
• BD 38: a book of extracts from a play script [possibly written by Doizé];
• BD 39: a song in 6 parts;
• BD 40: a verse;
• BD 41: questions and answers about the organisation of government and general administration in Saint Domingue;
• BD 42: a recipe;
• BD 43-BD 44: questions and answers about the organisation of government and general administration in Saint Domingue;
• BD 45: promises of Alexandre Menet and Jean Menet about behaviour on the voyage to New England;
• BD 46: a poem;
• BD 47: a receipt;
• BD 48: fragment of a list of commercial debts;
• BD 49: memorandum

Mail in transit, numbered MT1-3:-

• MT 1: business and political letter from Rawleigh Colston [Commercial Agent in Saint Domingue for Virginia], Cap François, to James Pearson junior, at Mr Henry Armstead's house, Fredericksburg, Virginia, 26 Sept-8 Oct 1778;
• MT 2: political letter from Rawleigh Colston, Cap François, to His Excellency Patrick Henry [Governor of Virginia], 14 Oct 1778: on receipt of Henry's letter, has decided to remain in Saint Domingue; encloses a copy of the London Gazette reporting the engagement of the French and English fleets [no longer here];
• MT 3: political letter from Rawleigh Colston, Cap François, to W P esq, [Mississippi], 12-18 Oct 1778: arrival of English squadron, taking several valuable prizes; as to their ship 'I have reduced the vessel to as small an expense as is possible ... I am heartily sick of her being under foreign colours' ... sends this per Hinard's brig to the Mississippi' [this may be a misplaced letter].

[Papers previously wrongly identified as Court papers: 1-2; Ship's papers: 3-82 (large pencil numbers): some papers added from HCA 32/292/17 and HCA 32/348/5, and further papers added from the HCA 30 sort. All sorted and renumbered in 2025.].

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