Patriot pirates : the privateer war for freedom and fortune in the American Revolution by Robert H Patton

"Patton is careful to distinguish the mixed motives of these patriot pirates, for often there was less patriotism than simple greed. Nevertheless, their work fulfilled George Washington's strategic aim to win the war by exhausting Britain into giving up the struggle. In what Patton terms a massive seaborne insurgency that dwarfed the efforts of the colonists' small navy, thousands of privateers nettled British shipping, sometimes gaining vast fortunes." - Editorial Reviews