It’s time to honor Philly naval hero Captain Gustavus Conyngham
He terrorized the British for us and never got paid!
Captain Conyngham may not look like a tough guy. But he was. Captain Conyngham scared “the bejesus” out of the English people and was known by them as “The Pirate of Dunkirk.” Photo: Captain Gustavus Conyngham, Continental Navy. Eighteenth Century print, after a miniature portrait by Louis Marie Sicardi, reproduced in “Letters and Papers relating to the Cruises of Gustavus Conyngham,” edited by Robert Wilden Neeser, 1915, and credited to the collections of James Barnes.
Come learn about one of America’s greatest heroes you’ve never heard of … but really should know!
His name: Gustavus Conyngham.
His occupation: At first, he was a privateer for the Americans, and later was commissioned a Captain in the Continental Navy by Benjamin Franklin.
His reputation: The British were scared to death of this American, who took the fight right to their front door.
His feats: He captured or sank 60 vessels, more than Commodore Barry and Captain John Paul Jones combined. In one lucrative day in the West Indies, he and his crew captured four ships.
His reward from Congress : $0. Zilch. Nada. He got nothing.
Why: The story is complicated. But true.
Personally, I think Capt. Conyngham was a little bit crazy, But he was our crazy. And he took the fight right to England’s English Channel
Conyngham started off the Revolutionary War as a privateer, or a licensed pirate. Why? The U.S. needed many things, especially gunpowder. And the British refused to let the American colonies manufacture much. So if we needed gunpowder, we had to take it from another country.
Benjamin Franklin, then in France, met Conyngham, liked his aggressive nature and commissioned him on March 1, 1777. The paper was signed by John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, with no expiration date.
Almost immediately, Conyngham got in trouble at Dunkirk
Outraged British officials wanted the French to arrest him for capturing two vessels. The French did so and in an effort to appease the British, also took Conyngham’s commission papers. Later, this would become a big problem. Conyngham didn’t seem to realize that because of various treaties, “Dunkirk was run as much by the British as the French” says author Tim McGrath in “Give Me a Fast Ship.” Eventually Conygham would learn.
The British were so fearful of Conyngham that they called him the “Pirate of Dunkirk”
They also started shipping British goods in French ships. British insurance rates jumped 28% and spiked at 40%, higher than rate hikes experienced during the global Seven Years’ War.
Eventually, Conyngham was captured by the British, who threatened to hang him. In response, General George Washington said he would hang six British Officers then in his custody. Before any hangings took place, Conyngham escaped.
When he made his way back to Philadelphia in 1780, the Continental Congress said they had no record of Conyngham’s commission. Even after Ben Franklin certified in a letter that he had commissioned Conyngham a Captain in the Navy, Arthur Lee, an enemy of Franklin, convinced a three-man panel to rule against Conyngham.
Tim McGrath says this about Conyngham, who was shabbily treated by his government. “The man who risked his life at sea for a living, faced cannon fire, a death sentence, abusive treatment in prison, and eating dirt as he tunneled his way to freedom, had finally met an obstacle he could not defeat: the Congress of the United States.”
His sad story didn’t end there
On Nov. 8, 1902, the New York Times reported “the accidental discovery of a time-worn document in a small printseller’s shop in Paris.” The winning $2 bidder on a John Hancock signature discovered that he had actually bought the missing commission papers issued by Ben Franklin to Gustavus Conyngham. The discovery proved Conyngham’s claim, just 125 years too late.
Now … Philadelphians have a chance to honor Captain Conyngham …
A Special Free Event: Payback Time for our Privateer
Date: Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, 3 days after Conyngham’s deathday.
Time: 1 p.m.
Place: St. Peter’s Churchyard, 3rd and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Come salute Captain Conyngham at his gravesite and recognize him for his service, something the Congress of the United States never did.
RSVP: The event is free. Just show up and look for a crowd.
At the end of the program … You’ll receive a brochure with detailed maps of the churchyard and 14 profiles, so you’ll know who else is buried there. The title: “Revolutionary War Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Resting in St. Peter’s Churchyard.” See you there.
Conyngham’s table-tomb grave is at St. Peter’s Churchyard, 313 Pine Street, Philadelphia —the south wall, center — near a stairway to St. Peter’s School.
Some Sources:
“Captain Gustavus Conyngham, Continental Navy (1747–1819).” Naval Historical Center. (2003.)
Clark, R. Wickes and Conyngham in European Waters. http://www.schoonerman.com/navalhistory
Conyngham, Gustavus. “Narrative of Captain Gustavus Conyngham, U. S. N., While in Command of the “Surprise” and “Revenge”, 1777–1779.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 22, no. 4 (1898): 479–88. www.jstor.org/stable/20085820.
Fredriksen, John C. Revolutionary War Almanac. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006.
Harness, James. A Sea Story: James Harness’s Romance of the Adventures of Capt. Gustavus Conyngham. New York Times, Nov. 8, 1902: 21.
Hazard, Samuel, ed. “Gustavus Conyngham.” Hazard’s Register of Pennsylvania, Volume 5, Philadelphia: no. 26, June 26, 1830, 401–403.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/pers-us/uspers-c/g-conyng.htm.
https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/04/captain-gustavus-conyngham-americas-accidental-pirate/
https://blog.amrevpodcast.com/2021/08/arp215-dunkirk-pirate.html
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-06-02-0030
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/11/08/118484907.html?pageNumber=21.
https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/gustavus-conyngham-american-privateer
https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/gustavus-conyngham-american-privateer
McGrath, Tim, Give Me A Fast Ship. New York: The Penguin Group. 2014.
Norton, Louis Arthur. “Captain Gustavus Conyngham: America’s Successful Naval Captain or Accidental Pirate? Journal of the American Revolution. April 15, 2015.