Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "rhode-island"

Evening Gray Morning Red by Rick Spilman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Being the only man aboard who knows how to navigate, Thomas Larkin is voted by the crew to take them to Massachusetts after the captain dies at sea. It is a lonesome and frightening experience, but also a challenging one for a sixteen year old who began the journey as an able seaman. With the help of John Stevens, the bosun and a former privateer nearly twice his age, Thom gets them safely home. They are greeted by an undercurrent of dissatisfaction mixed with anger, for the Crown expects the colonies to pay for debts England accrued during the war. The presence of the British warship anchored in the harbor merely aggravates the tense situation in 1768.

While Thom and Johnny celebrate their homecoming, as well as new jobs on a forthcoming cruise, a press gang invades the tavern. Johnny escapes, but Thom is swept up and taken aboard HMS Romney. Feeling honor bound to save his young friend and knowing he can’t do so ashore, Johnny volunteers to join the Royal Navy. After taking the king’s shilling, he realizes escaping the ship is nigh impossible. To complicate the situation, Thom seethes with anger at being denied his freedom and Lieutenant William Dudingston is an arrogant man who hates colonials.

Patience and observation provide an opportunity to escape, but the arrival of a fleet of British warships intervenes and instead of getting away, the Romney weighs anchor and heads south for the Caribbean. Five arduous months fraught with challenges and dangers, both on deck and at sea, finally present a new chance to desert during a brewing tempest. Yet freedom fails to lift the haunting weight Thom has carried with him during the voyage. Sooner or later he will once again encounter his nemesis, Dudingston, of this he has no doubt.

Gripping nautical and historical fiction at its best, Evening Gray Morning Red is really two different books that span four years. The first half focuses on the pressing and escape, while the second presents a tantalizing depiction of the historical confrontation between the packet boat Hannah and the Royal Navy Schooner Gaspee off Namquid Point, Rhode Island – an event that united the colonies and was a precursor to the American Revolution. Spilman deftly brings the period, people, and situation to life in a way that a history can never achieve. While there are occasional misspellings, missing words, or too many words, none of these diminish the excitement, anger, or fomenting rebellion that marked the actual event. From first page to last, he whisks readers back in time to stand beside Thom and Johnny and experience all the emotions and intrigue they do. When the back cover closes, it’s like leaving good friends. You miss being with them, but the voyage was more exciting and fulfilling than you ever imagined. Highly recommended.




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The Palatine Wreck: The Legend of the New England Ghost Ship by Jill Farinelli

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


History knows her as the Palatine, initially a sailing ship, then a wreck, and later a fiery ghost. Her name and those of most passengers have been lost until now. For the first time, we finally learn a bit about fifteen emigrants who set sail in April 1738 aboard the Princess Augusta. The total number who left Rotterdam in the Netherlands is uncertain, this cargo ship carried around 300 men, women, and children. At least 240 of these died during the crossing of the Atlantic. Of her crew of sixteen, half succumbed, including one of the principal owners, Captain George Long, who, at twenty, was making his first Palatine run.

The Princess Augusta was bound for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the journey to their new homes should have taken three months for the German. Instead, those who survived reached the mouth of the Delaware River in December, only to discover the waterway was frozen shut. Unable to wait any longer to reach land, the ship headed north to Rhode Island, where she grounded and sank off Block Island. A year later, the first sighting of a full-rigged ship on fire occurred, but when rescuers reached the site, nothing was there except water – no survivors, no dead bodies, no wreckage. From time to time in the intervening years the ghost ship has reappeared.

The majority of emigrants came from the Palantinate, a region in Germany that bordered both sides of the Rhine River. One town in this area was Schwaigern, where the residents’ lives were controlled by the market, the palace, and the church. Inheritance laws, financial burdens, and the possibility of another war convinced many in the region to immigrate to the New World and many went to William Penn’s colony because he offered cheap acreage without heavy taxation or government interference. One man who decided to leave Schwaigern was Sebastian Dieter, who took with him his wife and three children. The first section of the book, “The Old World,” recounts what it took to leave their homeland and the trials they endured during the journey to the Netherlands and the wait to board a ship bound for America.

“The Voyage” recounts the crossing of the Atlantic. Farinelli skillfully weaves a horrific tale where greed, overcrowding, illness, poor provisions, delays, and storms impacted everyone aboard. Where details specifically about the Princess Augusta are available, she includes them. She fills in missing information with details of what other Palatine ships experienced. At the same time, she shares the questions that remain unanswered about this particular cruise – many of which are mysteries that will never be solved.

The third portion of the book, “The New Land,” focuses on what emigrants experienced once the ship arrived on the east coast of America, as well as what happened to the survivors of the Princess Augusta after she sank. “The Legend,” the fourth part, discusses some of the best-known sightings, John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “The Palatine,” the stories of two female survivors who opted to remain on Block Island, and how the publicity of the ghost ship forever changed the island and the islanders’ way of life. The endnotes contain fascinating historical tidbits beyond identifying the source. The bibliography includes famous poems and stories inspired by the Palatine Legend, as well as primary and secondary source materials. There is also an index.

The Palatine Wreck is an invaluable addition to any collection dealing with maritime history and the immigrant experience. Part of the Seafaring America series, it delves deeper into the true story of the fateful journey, while clearly separating fact from fiction. For example, one persistent legend is that wreckers lured the Princess Augusta to her death and murdered the passengers, yet Farinelli’s research clearly shows this is not what happened. Her spellbinding account reads like a novel, but is totally non-fiction. The manner in which she recounts what occurred concisely demonstrates that the horror of the shipwreck was merely the final episode in a series of tragic events – some manmade, some no one could control. She immerses readers in the time period, ship life, and the emigrant experience, making this engrossing presentation difficult to put down.




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Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade by Christian M. McBurney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When Thomas Jefferson penned an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, one passage condemned slavery. Those words were omitted from the final document, in part because many considered the practice of enslaving people acceptable in the 18th century. Another practice during the American Revolution was the issuance of letters of marque that allowed individuals to profit from seizing enemy shipping regardless of whether they did so because of patriotic fervor or for personal gain. Some of these privateers captured British slave ships, although the majority of these were homeward bound after delivering their African cargo in the Caribbean. One man, however, devised a plan to strike at the heart of the British slave trade.

John Brown was a prominent merchant in Providence, Rhode Island. He was also a fervent patriot who supported American independence. The information he gleaned from slave ship captains and privateers, as well as his knowledge of trade, permitted Brown to think beyond the normal parameters of privateering. He wanted to make a statement, and he did so with his plan to attack the British slave trade where no one else had: the west coast of Africa. First, to up his chances of success, he needed a new vessel.

Marlborough was a brig of 250 tons, with two gun decks housing twenty guns. She was sleek and fast, essential qualities for a privateer. Her full crew complement was set at 125 officers and sailors, although when she set sail from Martha’s Vineyard in January 1788, she carried only 96 men. Brown selected a virtual unknown for her captain, although he was already acquainted with the man who had served aboard two of Brown’s other privateers.

George Waite Babock was already an experienced ship’s officer when he took command of Marlborough in late 1787, even though he was only in twenty-seven at the time. He wasn’t one to discipline those who served under him with the whip. When decisions needed to be made, he often sought the counsel of his officers before making a decision. He demonstrated boldness and courage. Among the crew that he handpicked were John Linscom Boss, who kept the ship’s log – one of many documents the author consulted in writing this book – and his younger brother, Samuel Babcock.

Their journey began with running a Royal Navy blockade. After making the dangerous 3,800-mile trek across the Atlantic, the men aboard the Marlborough struck, attacking and seizing not only British slave ships but also a British factory (trading post). The damage done exceeded any wrought by other American privateers during the revolution, with an unexpected consequence; they disrupted the enemy’s slave trade, albeit only temporarily. While they captured both ships (twenty to twenty-eight) and their cargoes, as well as merchandise stored at the British factory, they also solicited assistance from native peoples and captured captains, such as William Moore, the shipmaster of Sally who possessed local knowledge that Babcock lacked.

Dark Voyage relates the stories of the men and the vessel, from John Brown’s original idea through its fruition. Specific episodes examine life at sea (including an attempted revolt, illness, accidents, legal obstacles, and encounters with Royal Navy warships). In between, McBurney weaves details about privateering in general, dangers privateers faced, and the slave trade in Britain as well as Rhode Island. He also shares what is known or can be assumed about the Marlborough and her prizes on their return voyages and what became of the men who crewed them. In some regards, the author views the 18th century through a 21st-century lens, rather than strictly relating the history from a contemporary perspective. This is not a flaw, but rather an aspect that readers should keep in mind as they read. He provides a wealth of information often overlooked in other accounts of privateering during the Revolutionary War, which he supplements with maps, pictures, end notes, a bibliography, an index, and appendices. The last include lists of those who served aboard the Marlborough and other people who appear in the ship’s log; a comprehensive record of British slave ships captured by revolutionary privateers; the numbers of enslaved Africans carried on British and American ships between 1752 and 1792; and Liverpool merchants involved in the slave trade who declared bankruptcy as a result of seizures by American privateers.

Dark Voyage is a provocative account of a little-known facet of American privateering during our fight for independence. The writing is both expressive and enlightening. The book is a must-read for anyone seeking information on the American Revolution, privateering, or the slave trade.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/adultpirat...)



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Christopher Hawkins and His Daring Escapes: A Revolutionary War Novel by Jeanne Brownlee Becijos

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Forethought and enterprising best describe young Christopher Hawkins. He has a dream and wants to be ready when the day comes to make that dream a reality, which is why he practices stowing away on a boat docked in Providence, Rhode Island. On the day the colony declares it no longer owes its loyalty to King George, he asks to join his best friend as a cabin boy aboard Commodore Whipple’s ship in the Continental Navy. Despite his father’s support for independence, his answer is a resounding “No!”

Mr. Hawkins has other plans for Christopher, and they have nothing to do with sailing. Instead, when Christopher turns twelve in 1776, he begins his seven-year apprenticeship at a tannery where the air reeks and danger abounds. Plus, one worker likes to torture Christopher and the other young apprentice. Too young to do anything about his father’s promise or the situation, Christopher accepts his fate and bides his time. One day, he will go to sea and fight for America.

On the one-year anniversary of his apprenticeship, he reads an advertisement for work aboard a privateer. Even though he knows there will be severe consequences for breaking his contract at the tannery, he reckons the owner will have to catch him first. That will be difficult if he’s at sea, so Christopher runs away and signs aboard the Eagle as a cabin boy. The tannery owner isn’t the only one looking for him. So are the British. Sooner than he expects, Christopher finds himself a prisoner aboard one of His Majesty’s ships. He does as he’s told, but he also plans. One day, he will be free!

This novel is based on the real-life exploits of Christopher Hawkins, a young New England lad determined to fight for his country. His actual memoir – written at age seventy, in 1834 – is currently housed in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the author, one of his descendants, felt others needed to know his story, she wanted to fill in the blanks not discussed in the memoir. This fictional version of his early life abounds with determination and ingenuity, for Christopher escaped several times during the war, including from the notorious prison hulk Jersey, which was a death trap for anyone imprisoned there.

Christopher Hawkins and His Daring Escapes is more than just a tale of war. It’s also a coming-of-age tale that shows how Christopher learns and matures as he faces new and difficult situations, including the tearing apart of his family and the death of friends. No matter how dire the situation, he never gives up and one of the most important lessons he comes to understand is the meaning of freedom.

Although written for pirate apprentices, adults will enjoy this adventure too. The narrative is fast-paced and easy to read. Several pictures are also included, as is a map of Christopher’s escape route. Anyone wishing to view the American Revolution, colonial life, and privateering from a child’s perspective will find this a gripping tale intertwined with historical details that enrich the setting.


(This review originally appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Becijos.html)



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