DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997                TAG: 9704230120

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 15   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: OLDE TOWNE JOURNAL 

SOURCE: Alan Flanders 

                                            LENGTH:   91 lines

LEGENDS SURROUNDED LOCAL PILOTS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

No one in the Revolutionary War played a more daring role fighting for American independence than a handful of Elizabeth River pilots and their small fleet of lightly armed schooners.

Commissioned officers in the fledgling Virginia Navy, their principal mission was to sail out past Cape Henry and find the British fleet so Colonial land forces could be warned of a potential raid. They also served as smugglers hauling valuable supplies of gunpowder and ammunition across Hampton Roads to local militias. In their roles as lookouts and smugglers, approximately one third of their number were captured or killed. Those who survived became local legends of courage, bravery and guile. Some were even able to turn misadventures into tales of ``derring-do.''

Take, for instance, the story of Lt. Christopher Morris, who chanced during the war upon an abandoned French ship loaded with silkworms and brandy just off shore. Finding no particular value to the silkworms, he proceeded to off-load the kegs of brandy into his boat. Just how much of the cargo he sampled isn't recorded, but within a few hours, he was hailed by a British patrol boat as he entered Hampton Roads apparently without a care in the world.

As the story goes, the good-natured pilot offered his captors, a British officer and two sailors, some of the brandy, whereupon the British sailors and Morris started on another keg. Fortunately for Morris, the two boats then sailed into a fog bank, where he was able to overcome his captors and cut the line to the British boat without being seen. Within minutes, Morris and his inebriated British prisoners and a keg or two less of brandy drifted away from the British fleet.

Sober to the fact that he barely missed being placed in the hold of a prison ship and shipped off for England, Morris got his bearings and headed for home. Once he sailed out of the fog bank at the Rip Raps, he headed for Craney Island, then the Elizabeth River. Nearing shore, Morris signaled a lookout and turned over his prisoners to local Colonial authorities.

Having had enough action for one day, Morris continued toward Gosport, where he found a crowd ready to greet him and hear more about his adventure. As folklore has it, they lifted their ``hero'' off the boat and carried him and the brandy off to a favorite tavern.

All those who attended the celebration except for Morris remembered it as one of the most glorious evenings of the Revolution. It turns out that as his shipmates lifted him from their shoulders, he dropped off into a deep sleep. Thinking he was just too tired from his ordeal in combat, his friends carried him into the tavern, propped him up in a corner, and as he snored away, they toasted his courage until they reached the dregs of his captured ``spoils of war.''

About the same time, the Norfolk boat Molly, under the command of a Lt. Pasture, was able to narrowly escape capture as it slipped through the British blockade off the Capes. The word had reached Williamsburg that the British had posted a small garrison in the West Indies to guard a large supply of gunpowder. Equipped with only two cannons, the Molly was able to surprise the isolated British and get away with the vital supplies. At night she was off-loaded near Sewells Point by the colonists and returned to her duties at Cape Henry.

Another daring feat of the Virginia Navy was made by the Sally Morton under the command of Lt. John Cox of Gosport. Gov. Patrick Henry ordered pilot Joseph White, along with Cox, to sail her to the French West Indies to pick up a supply of war materials from French allies. She made several voyages past the British blockade to deliver her cargoes safely to Sewells Point. However, on a mission south of St. Croix, the schooner was attacked by the British armed ship Eagle, and, after a bloody struggle, Cox and White were taken prisoner.

Secured for months in prison cells on the British Island of Tortola, they suffered under terrible deprivations. But the two Norfolk sailors refused to give any information on future raids in the area.

Their eventual escape reads like a movie script. During a work detail, the Americans managed to steal some line and a grappling hook. At midnight, they tossed the hook over the wall and climbed up and out. Although sentries opened fire, both managed to jump to safety. After playing ``hide and seek'' with the British search parties, they escaped from the island with the help of native boatmen, whom they held at knifepoint. They finally made their way to St. Eustatia and the American brig Renown. Neither of the men saw the shores of Norfolk again for nearly four years until they returned in 1780.

Lt. John Cox played a major role in another daring mission that year when he led a secret raiding party on Bermuda to capture a large store of gunpowder and munitions. Again, fortune was on his side as he safely delivered it to a landing near Williamsburg just in time for Washington's campaign against Cornwallis at Yorktown in October 1781.

Earlier, a number of pilots already had been captured sailing out to meet what they were told was the French fleet. When the French, under Adm. Comte de Grasse, finally sailed for Virginia to block the British fleet from withdrawing Cornwallis from Yorktown, local pilots were readily available. Thus the French were able to hold off the British during the Battle of the Capes.

Always on the forefront of action, local pilots were officially recognized after the war for their considerable contributions to American independence.

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