Dudley Saltonstall was an American naval officer during the American Revolutionary War.
Background
He was born on September 8, 1738 at New London, Connecticut, United States, the fifth of fourteen children of Gen. Gurdon Saltonstall and Rebecca (Winthrop) Saltonstall. He was a direct descendant of Richard Saltonstall and the grandson of Gurdon Saltonstall.
Education
There is no information about his education.
Career
Saltonstall took to the sea early in life, was a privateers man in the French and Indian War, and commanded merchant vessels before the Revolution. At an early period of this contest he commanded the fort at New London and in the fall of 1775, when the first Continental fleet was assembled, he was given command of the ship Alfred, flagship of Commodore Esek Hopkins. John Paul Jones was first lieutenant. Early in 1776 this fleet cruised to the Bahamas and captured the island of New Providence.
Upon the return voyage the fleet took two small prizes off Block Island, and later engaged the British frigate Glasgow, but failed to capture her. For allowing her to escape and for other reasons Hopkins was eventually dismissed from the navy, but Saltonstall was exonerated and, on Oct. 10, 1776, was appointed fourth on the list of captains.
In 1777 he was ordered to command the new frigate Trumbull, but she did not get to sea for two years. However, in some manner unexplained, he sailed in another ship of the same name and reported the capture of two British transports.
Saltonstall participated in the disastrous Penobscot expedition of 1779. The British having taken possession of Bagaduce, now Castine, in Penobscot Bay, the State of Massachusetts fitted out an expedition for its recapture. The force comprised a fleet of nineteen naval vessels and privateers carrying more than 200 guns and 2, 000 men, commanded by Saltonstall in the Continental frigate Warren, of 32 guns, with about twenty transports conveying the troops under Gen. Solomon Lovell. The militia contingent which Lovell had been able to recruit within the short time allowed him consisted of less than 1, 000 men. The expedition arrived in Penobscot Bay on July 25. Three British sloops of war, mounting altogether 56 guns, lay in Bagaduce harbor and would readily have surrendered to the American force. Saltonstall, however, did nothing; the urging of his officers could not move him. The army made a successful landing but could not take the fort without the assistance of the navy, which could only be rendered from an anchorage in the harbor. Then, on Aug. 13, a British fleet appeared in the bay.
Two of the ships were taken by the British; all the others were destroyed to prevent capture. Saltonstall was dismissed from the navy. Later in the war he was successful in privateering and afterwards returned to the merchant service. He died of yellow fever at Mole St. Nicolas, Haiti, the exact day and month being unknown.
Achievements
Connections
In 1765 Dudley was married to Frances, the daughter of Dr. Joshua Babcock, of Westerly, R. I, and they had seven children.