Garitee, Jerome R. The Republic's Private Navy: The American Privateering Business as Practiced Baltimore during the War of 1812. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, Published for Mystic Seaport, Inc., 1977.
Annotations / Notes: The British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812 was motivated by a desire to punish the city for being a nest of republicans and privateers. This book traces in admirable detail the history of privateering - from the ships, outfitting, captains and crews, investors, their successes and failures, through the distribution of the prize money. While the pirates on the Spanish main may have been the dregs of the sea, Baltimore's privateers were underwritten by some of its leading mercantile and political leaders. The book includes useful appendices identifying the privateers, investors and proceeds.