Articles of Agreement for American privateer <I>Prince de Neufchatel</I>
date: label: date made
content: 1814
label: date made
content: 1814
label: associated date
content: 1813
notes: label: Description
content: After a horrific battle with the British frigate <I>Endymion</I> in early October 1814 that the <I>Prince de Neufchatel</I> barely won, the American privateer returned to Boston for a refit. Around that time the vessel changed hands, and a new set of articles was drafted. Delivered on 30 November 1814, these articles laid out the terms and conditions of employment between the vessel’s owners and crew for a four-month cruise.
label: Description
content: The owners paid for all the initial armaments and provisions; the privateer was expected to replenish its supplies from captured vessels. The owners received half of the proceeds from any vessels taken, known as prizes. The crew divided up the other half by rank. The ship’s commander earned 12 shares. The doctor was paid six shares; the chief cook earned two shares. The drummer and fifer were each paid a single share, and the ship’s boys were at the bottom of the scale with ½ share each.
label: Description
content: The first crewman to spot a ship that became a prize received an extra half share in that vessel’s prize money. The first two crewmen to board an enemy warship each received six extra shares; if the prize was a merchant vessel, two extra shares were earned by the first two crew aboard. Any compensation for losing an arm or leg in the line of duty was at the captain’s discretion.
topic: label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Naval
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content: Military
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.59977-N(2)
label: catalog number
content: 59977-N(2)
label: accession number
content: 1978.2467
objectType: label: Object Name
content: articles
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15 1/2 in x 10 in x in; 39.37 cm x 25.4 cm x .0254 cm