1770) was a ship captain and privateer during the American Revolutionary War from Fairfield, Connecticut.
[1] At age 15, Smedley was the captain of the Defence as a lieutenant of the marines.
[2] He was best known for capturing the British ship Cyrus.
[3] He also started the "ships' papers collection" currently located at Fairfield Historical Society's library that contains letters by Smedley dating back to the early 19th century.
[4] In his career, he captured or aided in capturing more than a dozen prizes, survived shipwreck,[5] battled Loyalists off the shore of Fairfield, twice captained privateers, and was twice captured by the British, yet was able to escape from the infamous Mill Prison in England.