John Peck Rathbone (1746 - 1782)

Born 23 Mar 1746 in Exeter, Rhode Island

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Leigh) Rathbone — married 4 May 1775 (to 1782) in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts

Died 20 Jun 1782 at age 36 in Mills Prison in Plymouth, England

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Biography

Ship's Captain John Rathbone served with Continental Navy during the American Revolution.

John Peck Rathbun is one of the true "forgotten heroes" of the American Revolution. His record as a lieutenant, then captain, in the Continental Navy ranks him at least the equal of John Paul Jones, his one-time commander, in terms of courage, audacity and skill. Unfortunately, he was captured by the British during the war, died in an English prison and literally disappeared from history for nearly two centuries. Rathbun has been called the "mystery man" of the Continental Navy because so little was known of him. Even his name was consistently misspelled in Navy records. Two Navy vessels named in his honor in this century were called Rathburne. In the past two decades, historians have started to take notice of this long forgotten naval hero. Several books have outlined some of his accomplishments. An article by your editor on Rathbun's major feat - the capture of Nassau in 1778 - was published by the Naval Institute in 1970. By Frank H Rathbun

Life of John Peck Rathbun

John Peck RATHBUN served in the Continental Navy from its beginning. As a lieutenant in Providence, he participated in an attack on New Providence in 1776. When John Paul JONES took command, he remained in Providence, then went with JONES to Alfred. Promoted to captain of the sloop Providence in April 1777, he took his ship back to the Bahamas, and on the night of 27 January 1778, sent a small landing party of marines ashore at New Providence. They captured Forts Nassau and Montague without bloodshed. On the 28th, RATHBUN brought Providence into Nassau harbor. Before departing on the morning of the 30th, he and his crew had taken two sloops and a brig, Mary; released American prisoners; dismantled the fortifications; and acquired badly needed small arms, ammunition, and powder.

In 1779 he assumed command of the frigate Queen of France and in July cruised off Newfoundland with Providence and Ranger. On the 16th the ships sighted a convoy bound for Britain. Fog closed in, but when it lifted, Queen of France was next to a merchantman whose crew mistook the American for a British escort vessel. RATHBUN took advantage of the situation, exploited the mistake in identity, and captured the ship. Ranger and Providence followed suit. Ten more ships were cut out of the convoy, their total value approaching $1 million.

In 1780 RATHBUN took Queen of France south in Commodore Whipple's force to bolster the defenses of Charleston, S.C. There, with smaller ships, she was stationed in the Ashley River to prevent British forces under Cornwallis from crossing and attacking the city. As the American position weakened, Queen of France's guns were removed and she was sunk as a block ship. Her crew then went ashore and RATHBUN served as an artilleryman until the city fell in May 1781.

Taken prisoner at the fall of Charleston, RATHBUN and the other American captains were paroled and allowed to return to New England. There he found that the Continental Navy had dwindled and that no commands were available. Thereupon, RATHBUN, a true patriot, secured a commission from Congress on 4 August 1781 to command the Massachusetts privateer brig Wexford. About two weeks later, he set sail from Boston bound for St. Georges Channel and, within another six weeks reached the coast of Ireland. There, less than 100 miles from Cape Clear, he ran afoul of the 32-gun frigate HMS Recovery. Following a 24-hour chase during which HMS Recovery fired at least one broadside, RATHBUN and his ship were captured by the British warship. Incarcerated first at Kinsale Prison near Cork in Ireland, RATHBUN was later transferred to Mills Prison in Plymouth, England, where he died on 20 June 1782.

John Pack Rathbun's personal life was beset by a series of tragedies. His father, Nathaniel, died young, at age 31, when John was only 4 years old leaving his widow, Ann, with four young children. She left Exeter, Rhode Island and moved to Boston where her two brothers lived, but herself died three years latter at age 30. It appears the children were split up as John's three sisters are found living in Rhode Island, marrying and also dying at young ages, in their 20's and 30's. John was probably raised by his uncle, Thomas Peck, a successful merchant. John was probably educated in Boston until his teens and then went to sea on one of his uncle's trading ships. By age 27 he had command of a small coastal schooner. The Peck family was active in the Revolution- the Boston Massacre occurred only a few doors from his uncle's shop and his uncle is also considered one of the planners of the Boston Tea Party, being listed as one of the 300 Sons of Liberty. John was in port at that time and may have participated. During this time he met and fell in love with Mary "Polly" Leigh, the 16 year-old daughter of Benjamin Leigh, a leading Tory. It is likely this match was opposed by her father, not just because of political differences, but their ages, Polly was 16 and John 28. As Boston became more dangerous, and Benjamin Leigh prepared to remove his family back to England, John and Polly were married, possibly by eloping. John's naval career was a string of successes until his ship was captured by the British off the coast of Ireland in the fall of 1781 and he was imprisoned. Back at home, Polly was carrying their child, but she died in childbirth in April of 1782. John became ill and died in England in June of 1782, probably never knowing that Polly and their child had already preceded him in death. (excerpted from Frank H Rathbun's history)

Sources

• *<http://www.michaelrathbun.org/02-1982/02-004.pdf>

• <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rathbun>
• <http://www.rhodeislandsar.org/history.htm>

<https://allthingsliberty.com/2016/09/captain-john-peck-rathbun-audacious-john-paul-jones/>