Captain William Cooke seizes contraband gold from the French Privateer Francois Henri Hervieux near Brunswick, North Carolina in 1793. Early in our nation's history, privateering by French and Spanish crews presented a serious problem along the Atlantic coast. The revenue cutter Diligence, one of the first ten cutters built for the service, was sent to Wilmington, North Carolina to enforce revenue laws and to deter illegal acts. The Revenue Cutter Service at this time had no ensign and the men had no special uniform; Captain William Cooke, commander of the Diligence, enforced the laws without any visible symbol of authority. This early austerity forced the officers to wear their Revolutionary War uniforms and to carry unused or unissued weapons from other services. (Permission to reprint this work must be obtained from the artist. For information, contact Mary Ann Bader at Mary.A.Bader@uscg.mil.)
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