George Little was born on April 15, 1754 in Marshfield, Massachusetts, United States, the son of Lemuel and Penelope (Eames or Ames) Little. He was descended from Thomas Little who emigrated to Plymouth from Devonshire, England, in 1630, and from Lieut. William Fobes, second in command in King Philip's war.
Career
Nothing is known of Little's first service in the American Revolution beyond the information that he landed at Bristol, Rhode Island, on March 7, 1778, after a period of confinement on board the British prisonship Lord Sandwich at Newport. Later in that year he served in the Massachusetts navy, successively, as second lieutenant of the brigantine Active and master of the brigantine Hazard. On May 3, 1779, he was commissioned first lieutenant, and as first officer on the Hazard participated in the unfortunate Penobscot expedition.
He was first lieutenant on the state ship Protector when on June 9, 1780, that vessel captured the British privateer Admiral Duff, thirty-two guns, in one of the severest naval engagements of the Revolution. In the following year when the Protector surrendered to his Majesty's ships Roebuck and Medea he was taken prisoner and was for a time confined in Mill Prison, England. Bribing a sentry, he, with several other American officers, made his escape, crossed the channel to France, and with the aid of Franklin returned to Massachusetts.
In 1782 he was promoted to a captaincy, given command of the sloop Winthrop, and ordered on a cruise along the Eastern Coast. He had the good fortune to capture nearly the whole of the armed British force at Penobscot, thereby retrieving somewhat the naval honor of his state, lost in the Penobscot expedition of 1779. A voyage that he made in the Winthrop during the winter of 1782-1783 was the last cruise in the war of the Massachusetts navy.
After his discharge on June 23, 1783, Little returned to Marshfield where he owned a farm. From March 4, 1799, he served by appointment of President Adams as captain in the new federal navy, then undergoing expansion on account of the naval war with France. His part in this desultory conflict was, with the exception of Commodore Truxtun exceeded by no other officer. He was appropriately given command of the frigate Boston, a gift of the Bostonians to the federal government. On July 24 he put to sea under orders to proceed to Cape François and to cruise off the northern coast of Santo Domingo for the protection of American trade. In December while in company with the General Greene he captured the Danish brig Flying Fish. Notwithstanding the fact that the taking of this prize was plainly authorized by the orders of the Navy Department, the Supreme Court which finally passed upon the case held Little liable for damages.
In 1800, the last year of the war, Little captured several ships, including the Deux Anges, a letter of marque of twenty guns, and the Berceau, a naval vessel of twenty-four guns, next to the largest prize made by the Americans. It was taken after a severe action, as the Berceau, although inferior to the Boston, made a strong resistance. With the arrival of the two vessels in Boston in November 1800, Little's active part in the war came to an end. Under Jefferson the navy was greatly reduced and Little was discharged from the service on October 20, 1801.
He died suddenly in Weymouth, Massachusetts, at the age of fifty-five.
Achievements
Connections
On June 24, 1779, Little was married to Rachel Rogers of Marshfield. Their son Edward Preble Little, who was named for Commodore Preble and was a midshipman on the Boston, was a member of the United States House of Representatives, 1852-1853.