Ahoy, mateys! Bootstrap Ginny at the helm, and my crew and I have been feelin’ the pull of a new tide — a rebel tide. With the 250th anniversary of these United States upon us, it’s high time we honor the salty dogs who took to the seas not for kings, nor crowns, nor gilded thrones… but for freedom, and for the rights of ordinary folk to chart their own course.

Aye, these weren’t your typical pyrates — though they had the same fire in their bellies and the same salt in their blood. These were privateers, men who sailed under a newborn flag, striking blows against an empire and helping forge a nation from the deck of a ship.

So between now and July 4th, every Friday’s Plunder will be devoted to:

THE REBEL TIDE

Privateers of the American Revolution

So grab your grog, pack your pipe, and settle in close to the lantern.

LAMBERT WICKES

Before John Paul Jones ever carried the fight to Britain’s doorstep… before American colors ever snapped in the wind off the English coast… there was a man whose name should be carved into every mast and memory of the Revolution.

His name was Lambert Wickes — and he was the first American naval officer to take the war across the Atlantic.

Not the most famous. Not the most celebrated. But the first.

And history, as it often does, has been far too quiet about him.

Wickes was a Maryland mariner with salt in his blood and a stubborn streak that matched the tide. When the Revolution ignited, he didn’t hesitate. He took command of the Reprisal, a swift, sharp‑keeled vessel that would become the spearpoint of America’s naval defiance.

His orders were simple: Break the British blockade. Protect American commerce. Strike where the enemy least expects it.

But Wickes had a broader vision — one bold enough to make even seasoned sailors swallow hard.

He would take the fight to Britain’s own waters.

In 1777, Wickes sailed the Reprisal across the Atlantic, slipping through storms and patrols to reach the coast of Ireland. There, in the very cradle of British naval power, he unleashed a campaign so daring, so disruptive, that London newspapers sputtered with outrage.

He captured merchant ships right under the nose of the Royal Navy. He sent prizes into French ports, forcing European diplomats to scramble. He proved that the American rebellion was not a distant brushfire — it was a rising storm.

And he did it all with a crew who believed in him fiercely, because Wickes was that rare kind of captain: steady in danger, sharp in judgment, and utterly unafraid of impossible odds.

But the sea, as always, demands its due.

On his return voyage from France, the Reprisal was caught in a violent Atlantic storm. She went down with nearly all hands — including Wickes himself. The man who first carried the American flag into British waters vanished beneath the waves he had mastered.

No grave. No monument. Only the memory of a daring that helped shape a nation.

And yet… his legacy lives in every American ship that has ever crossed an ocean with purpose. In every sailor who has ever stood a midnight watch for freedom. In every citizen who remembers that courage often begins with a single, defiant choice.

Lambert Wickes was the spark before the flame. The whisper before the roar. The first shadow on the horizon that made an empire uneasy.

And so we honor him here, in the Rebel Tide — where forgotten heroes rise again.

And so the tide rises.

And next Friday, when the lantern’s lit again, we’ll follow the Rebel Tide to another forgotten deck… where a different kind of patriot carved his name into the salt and smoke. Keep your compass handy — the next legend waits just beyond the horizon.

Historical insights for this Plunder were inspired by Eric Jay Dolin’s excellent book Rebels at Sea. Highly recommended for fellow lovers of maritime history.

Til next time, Fair Winds!

To the ghosts that guide us, the storms that test us, and the gold that waits for those who dare — may our ink never run dry and our courage never fade. Raise your tankards, mates… for the sea still remembers our names.