Role in The Quasi-War
Later in his career, Gray was involved in the Franco-American Quasi-War of 1798–1800, an undeclared and purely maritime conflict related to the Napoleonic Wars.
On September 10, 1798, Gray set sail from Salem in command of the bark Alert, on another trading voyage bound for the Northwest Coast, where he was meant to spend a season or two fur-trading, and thence for Canton and home again, as before. This voyage was cut short while yet outbound, though, by the capture of Gray's ship in the South Atlantic, by a French privateer. Alert was taken by La Republicaine on November 17, about 500 miles (800 km) east of Rio de Janeiro, then sailed by a prize crew (though under Gray's command) to the Spanish port of Montevideo, on the River Plate, arriving on December 14. There, Alert and its cargo were sold as prizes of the French ship. Alert left port on January 11, with a Spanish crew under the Spanish flag, bound for the Pacific. Gray returned to the United States and went on with his sailing career.
In 1799, Gray commanded the privateer Lucy in the continuing issue with the French. The Lucy was a 12-gun ship with a crew of twenty-five.
Read more about this topic: Robert Gray (sea Captain)
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