I was reading 1776, in which several mentions are made of the success of American privateers, and how some of the strategically questionable decisions made by the British may have been caused by a lack of supplies because of this. How accurate is this view? Were most privateers just American ships outfitted for raiding?
The Continental Congress issued Letters of Marque to at least 1,697 privately owned and armed ships during the Revolution.
A "Letter of Marque" was a document issued by a government authorizing the ship in possession of the document to make war upon ships of a country with which the issuing government was at war. Possession of a valid Letter of Marque was what differentiated a privateer from a pirate. If captured, pirates would be treated as criminals, whereas privateersmen would be treated as prisoners of war. Prizes captured by privateers had to be reviewed by a "Prize Court" to ensure that they were legitimate prizes of war, before the ships and cargoes could be sold, and the proceeds divided up between the privateer owners and crew.
Of course, many of the American ships which received Letters of Marque were not really operating as private warships. They were merchant ships carrying cargo, which wanted the ability to capture British prizes if they chanced upon an opportunity.
The Americans, however, outfitted a large number of Privateers who's main purpose was to cruise against British Merchant shipping and make money by taking prizes.
About 800 American ships seem to have sailed as true privateers during the Revolution.
http://www.nps.gov/revwar/about_the_revolution/privateers.html
American privateers seem to have captured between 600 and 2,283 British ships. (Vast discrepancy among sources as to how many British Prizes were captured by American privateers. Don't know why? Difference in counting prizes adjudicated in American courts vs. those counted in French prize courts perhaps??) Prizes which were brought to sale realized about $18m. 16,000 British sailors were captured.
Vessels of all sizes and types were used by the Americans as privateers. At the larger end were ships such as the Caesar, of Boston, 600 tons, 26 guns. At the smaller end was the 8 ton boat Defense of Falmouth. Two masted schooners and brigantines were perhaps the most used vessels, as they were the most available to American shipowners.
Privateers had an impact on the Revolution in several ways. Early in the war, when the American forces were critically short of gunpowder, privateers capturing British supply ships were a key part of relieving the gunpowder shortage.
Later in the war, the impact of privateers on British commerce, and the cost of privateering to British merchants were one of the reasons Britain became eager to end the war.
"A careful review of British newspapers, periodicals, speeches in Parliament, and public addresses for the periods covered by these two wars will show that our land forces, in the estimation of the British, played a very insignificant part, while our sea forces were constantly in their minds when "the American war" was under discussion."
http://archive.org/stream/historyofamerica017401mbp/historyofamerica017401mbp_djvu.txt