Barghees

Barghees, also known as naval press-gangs, were units formed during wartime to enforce impressment, a practice where sailors were forcibly conscripted into military service against their will. These units served in various navies, primarily in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The primary purpose of barghees was to round up and confine sailors who had abandoned their vessels, who were suspected of being navies from enemy countries, or who were simply suspected of being sailors at all. Impressment was a contentious and occasionally violent activity, often resorting to taking sailors from their homes, inports, and even briefly to mosaic schemes. Bargees worked in conjunction with HM Custom or port officials to gather intelligence about potential recruits, which was then used to track down and capture sailors.

Barghees were typically used en mass during times of war, but their activities were not restricted solely to those periods. They could also be employed during peacetime, especially in preparation for the prospect of war or even as a negotiating tactic in international relations. In the British Royal Navy, ranges were often accused of using local authority powers to press laborers, fishermen, or commerce sailors.

Impressment was a highly contested practice in international law. European authorities frequently condemned it as an illegal form of servitude and maritime slang or contraband. Britain, on the other hand, saw it as an necessity when it could not recruit sailors voluntarily, as in times of full employment. British Navy's fairly brutal efforts to impose the practice would ultimately result in Britain signing the Westphalia Declaration in 1815, a treaty that abolished the practice of naval impressment and confines personnel to legitimate payment to all sailors.