Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have read quite a few books on the Naval war portion of the War of 1812. Usually, they will concentrate upon the thrilling single ship-to-ship battles of that war, mostly rousing and surprising-for-that-time American victories. This book does cover many of those battles and does so with style and panache, but it also covers the politics behind the War of 1812, and the human stories behind the battles.
For example the author shows us many explicit examples of American sailors being taken and impressed and their horrible mistreatment and even death by torture imposed upon them. "Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815" also covers tales of British naval arrogance and the fact they simply ignored International Law and treaties is capturing American merchant vessels. This- combined with the fact that America's merchant trade was the major source of income in that period- puts a better perspective on the reason for the war.
Excellent use of period sources and quotes, extensively footnoted and researched, this book is a solid scholarly work.
My one quibble is that it does take a bit long to get to the action- there's more than a hundred pages between "The Shores of Tripoli" and the Constitution vs the Guerriere.
And- there's even almost enough maps!
Even if you (like I) have read other books on the naval portion of the War of 1812, this book belongs in your collection.


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Blue Water Patriots: The American Revolution Afloat Review

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(More customer reviews)"Blue water Patriots', an aggravating book fit only to be used as a fly-swatter, repeatedly insults American patriots' motives, thoughts, and opinions before and during the ARW without any basis in facts in the form of quotes from letters or speeches of specific persons of that time. This is a "take the names and dates" collection, that's more "BNA Tory" in attitude than Whig, (British or American). The author would have been liberally coated in 78 degree F. tar, and feathers, rather than winning a B. A. for scholarship, had he written this mulch in Boston in 1775.
In the same sentence in which he calls groups of British sailors "jack-tars", (customarily armed for 1774 impressment duties in Boston with wooden cudgels the size and weight of Babe Ruth's baseball bats), he calls the unarmed colonial farmers and sailors confronted by them "thugs". He mentions that colonials were upset about the actions of certain British Navy ships patrolling the waters near isolated communities; but never says why. He never mentions that at least one of the captains whose ships were burned to the waterline by angry Americans made it his barely-legal habit to send bands of his ship's "jack-tars" sweeping into isolated farms, where they took part or all of a year's hard-earned winter food stores, paying with paper script which could only be redeemed in cities hundreds of miles away by sea.
The book is derivative, however it appears to have derived only the attitudes of British Tories during their most foolish period of British rule, not the reasoned opinions of the men of time, British or American.
He writes of the Stamp Act and the Intolerable Acts as if they were good things that the colonials just didn't understand. This book is a sly slam on our cash-poor, hard-working, brave, long-dead ancestors, long after the fact. Don't waste your money, time, or emotional peace-of-mind on wanting to rip it up with your bare hands. SKIP IT!

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The Naval War of 1812, Or, the History of the United States Navy During the Last War with Great Britain: To Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle (Classics of Naval Literature) Review

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(More customer reviews)In a time when patriotism is passe, reading this book can redden the stuff in any American's veins. Our Navy's often-victorious battles against a superb and numerically superior foe ranks with the Athenian victory at Marathon in the annals of honor. Roosevelt was a natural storyteller and a first-rate scholar. Like JFK two generations later ("Why England Slept") this work was the product of a young twentysomething Harvard grad (JFK was actually a senior) that commanded serious attention nationally, and presaged a later rise to the summit of public life. Roosevelt's research is exhaustive, but not tedious, thanks to a vigorous prose style that carries the reader through a mass of detail without losing sail. The digression on which nationalities make the best seafarers would no doubt be considered un-PC today, but, as a general characterization of national characteristics, they arguably hold true. The author's final chapter, on the Battle of New Orleans, forshadows future policy, in that his criticism of the unreliability of the militia were embodied in the reforms that fully Federalized the National Guard, as the Dick Act of 1903. (Doubtless, his Spanish-American War experiences contributed to his desire to supplant the 1793 Militia Act, as well.)This book rests on my shelf, next to Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History," and O'Brien's Aubrey-Maturin novels - as is fitting for an historical work written in the spirit of high adventure and studded with minute detail. -Lloyd A. Conway

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Splintering the Wooden Wall: The British Blockade of the United States, 1812-1815 Review

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(More customer reviews)Wade G. Dudley's 'Splintering the Wooden Wall' may be the most perceptive book about the naval War of 1812 I have yet read, and it offers substantial insights about the Royal Navy's role in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars as well. This is not a vivid history of dramatic single-ship actions, nor does it study of great fleet actions. Its subtitle ' 'The British Blockade of the United States, 1812-1815' ' defines its central focus, but as background to this subject Dudley provides a study of the evolution of blockades as practiced by the Royal Navy, from the early, tentative efforts in the English Civil War and the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century through the Seven Years War in the mid-18th Century (during which Admiral Sir Edward Hawke carried out the first genuinely extended blockade, off Brest, for six months in 1759) to the vast complex operations off the French coast from 1793 to 1815. Dudley demonstrates that the Royal Navy's ability to conduct long-term blockades was end product of numerous technical and logistical developments, including the coppering of ships' hulls (allowing vessels to remain at sea for protracted periods), the discovery of how to prevent scurvy (likewise permitting lengthy deployments), and procedures for supply replenishment while remaining on station.
The traditional view, championed by Alfred Hart Mahan, has been that the British blockade of the American coast during the War of 1812, drawing from the Royal Navy's experience against France, proved to be highly effective in shutting down American naval and mercantile activities. Not so, Dudley contends. His detailed research into records on both sides of the Atlantic results in a persuasive case that the blockade of the American coast was badly flawed. From the very beginning, the Admiralty allocated entirely inadequate resources for the task, too few ships and too few men. And, as Dudley convincingly argues, even those inadequate resources were frequently poorly employed to further the aims of an effective blockade. American commercial shipping continued for much of the war at considerable strength, privateers readily slipped out of American ports to range the oceans to prey upon enemy merchantmen, and even US Navy warships were frequently able to evade the blockade to add their own threat against British interests. The wooden wall supposed to hem in American vessels, as Dudley states, did not collapse, but it was severely splintered.
Dudley's approach to his subject is decidedly scholarly, and he relies upon numerous tables of statistical data rather than colorful anecdotes to make his case, but in the end there seems little room to question his conclusions. At times his prose is perhaps a bit overly geared towards an academic audience rather than the general reader: '[American] naval officers knew the local sea-land interface intimately and avoided unfamiliar interfaces when at sea.' Sea-land interface? Oh, the impervious horrors of a leeward sea-land interface! And, unfortunately for such a book, the index and table of contents prove to be inadequate for easy reference. Still, such quibbles do not substantially diminish the genuine value of Dudley's book, not only for understanding the Royal Navy's operations during the War of 1812 but also for comprehending the theory and limitation of blockade strategy as practiced in the Age of Fighting Sail.

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Jack Tar: Life in Nelson's Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)If you read only one book of history this year that commemorates the 250th anniversary of the birth of Nelson, read Jack Tar.
During the Great War (1793-1815), the Royal Navy was the backbone of the defence of the British Isles and took a major part in the final victory.
Just as the great battles from Valmi to Waterloo were won by the troops in the field, the naval battles were in the end won by the crews - and not by the Nelsons, Hoods or Cochranes.
Roy and Lesley Adkins have worked like the archaeologists they are, unearthing hundreds of sources, extracting hundreds of relevant pieces, then carefully glueing them together until the whole image is reconstructed: the portrait of rough, hard-working men (women and children) living a perilous life on board a primitive, claustrophobic machine in a hostile environment.
Apart from the constant danger from man and nature, ships' companies appear more like small rural communities than the "rum, lash and sodomy" society depicted in "miserabilist" books like Masefield's one.
Jack Tar was no saint but the product of the very harsh 18th-century society. His voice is seldom heard in history books.
When you turn the last page, you'll have envisioned the complete life of Jack Tar from his entry as Johnny Newcome to his later life in Greenwich hospital (if he was lucky), told in his own words.
If you have no previous knowledge of the naval history of the period, don't worry, Roy and Lesley have everything at hand for you: maps, diagrams, explanation of all the nautical terms you'll need.

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Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)The writer of this book is an academic historian of some importance and he appears to be in the midst of writing a three volume history of the British navy. This book is a little more specalised and tells what it was like to serve on a British ship in the 18th Century.
The main theme of the book is to rebut academic theories which suggest that the British Navy of the period was run like a concentration camp. The author in some detail goes through the relations on ships and shows how the navy took a lot of care to preserve one of its key assets the sailors who manned the ships. Food was plentiful and of high quality or the time, British sailors worked out the cause of scurvey before medical science did. Care was taken to ensure that ships were clean and that sailors washed. The most interesting discussion is however on discipline. It would seem clear that in trials carried out to deterime the guilt of individual sailors, senior officers were very careful to establish the truth of charges and they were willing to aquit or to accept the sailors point of view. The book establishes that with a number of mutinies the Admirality removed incompetant officers from command and took no action against the men who mutinied, accpeting that the actions of the sailors was justified.
The author goes a long way to establishing that the reality of sea born life was one more or partnership rather than that of an oppresive regime.
The book however does more than this and describes in detail the tremendous organisational feat that was the Royal navy. It looks at all aspects of the navy from recruiting sailors, to feeding them and the reality of training and manning ships.
One finishes the book and relises what an achievment it was for England to be able to run such an effecient arm as the navy and how the way it was run led to the success it had in battle.

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From the award-winning naval scholar N. A. M. Rodger comes the most revealing account yet of the mighty Georgian navy and British naval society of the eighteenth century.
Meticulouslyresearched, Rodger's portrait draws the readerinto this fascinatingly complex world withvivid, entertaining characters and full detailsof life below the decks. The Wooden Worldprovides the most complete history of a navy atany age, and is sure to be an indispensablevolume for all fans of Patrick O'Brian, English history, and naval history.--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Stephen Decatur: A Life Most Bold And Daring (Library of Naval Biography) Review

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(More customer reviews)Although I am tempted to lower my rating to four stars for the author's penchant for repeating himself unnecessarily, his coverage of the scanty documentary record on Decatur is the most scholarly and complete that I have read. Other works are available for the general audience (such as emphasizing his famous saying, "Our country ... may she always be right, but our country, right or wrong." There was much more to Decatur than that, and author Tucker brings it out. His service against the Barbary priates at the beginning of the 19th century caused him to become the youngest captain in American naval history. And his promotion was well-deserved.
This is a story that can make every American proud. The hero was fearless almost beyond belief, but his sense of honor proved his undoing and caused his early death. He was also lucky to be in the right place at the right time to have the chance for fame and glory, but he did not fail to take advantage of those lucky opportunities. At all times he was ready to sacrifice himself for his country and his honor, and the reader will be struck by the comparison of Decatur's code and that used by so many venal and unsavory politicians in the US today. Decatur was never too important to risk his life, yet there are members of Congress today who have used that reasoning to avoid military service. Nor did Decatur lie -- in fact there is no known instance of his even dissembling on any issue or in any situation.
Even his death as a result of dueling with Captain Barron had a salutary effect in that it caused a national outcry against dueling and led to dueling being outlawed.
Although I believe this is the best book on Decatur today, it is by no means a deep discussion of Decatur or thorough presentation of his life. Such a book is probably impossible to write today due to Decatur's leaving behind no personal papers, and his wife did not add significantly to the literature about him following his death. This is a great shame as the American public should be able come to know Decatur as something more than an incredibly brave man of action. Nevertheless, this is the story about a naval hero who almost uniquely in the annals of American naval history has an almost unblemished record of aggressive action and unqualified success.
I highly recommend this book to all readers -- particularly to those with an interest in the American military and naval history.


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The story of one of America's great naval heroes which provides insights into life aboard ship in the war of 1812.

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Our Country, Right or Wrong: The Life of Stephen Decatur, the U.S. Navy's Most Illustrious Commander Review

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(More customer reviews)Mr Guttridge has written a fine addition to the library of naval history. Stephen Decatur's life is a veritable "Who's Who" of early American Naval History: Preble, Bainbridge, Barry, Perry, Porter, Hull etc. He was there in America's first war with Islamic extremists (Barbary Wars) and was an early proponent of steam propulsion with Robert Fulton. He was friends with Presidents. Many cities, as well as ships, have been rightfully named after him. Guttridge makes it clear in the book that Decatur's life was overshadowed by his apparently irreversible journey to a tragic end in a duel. The magnitude of the tragedy reminds one of the epic battle of Achilles and Hector in Homer's Iliad; Why didn't someone stop the madness? The book reads easily and quickly. I couldn't give it five stars for a couple of reasons. First, the editing grows shaky at points. In the very first sentence of the book, Decatur's famous burning of the frigate Philadelphia is placed in 1807 rather than 1804. It is clear that the author knows the correct year from the rest of the book, making this a typo of some magnitude. We are also told repeatedly that Decatur hates to write. Once or twice is enough, thank you. Second, as is too often the case in military histories, the book suffers from want of any geographical maps or diagrams of sea battles. These gripes aside, the book is a good read.

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USS Constellation: Pride of the American Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)USS Constellation: Pride Of The American Navy by Walter Dean Myers is the story of an american warship from the days of tall sails, wooden ships, and an American navy becoming increasingly active on the high seas. This majestic vessel still towers over the Baltimore harbor and flys the flag as a symbol of navy tradition. This was a ship that was used to blockade the illegal African slave trade and fought in the Civil War on the side of the Union forces. Very nicely illustrated with archival drawings and photographs, the USS Constellation: Pride Of The American Navy is as entertaining as it is informative and very highly recommended for both school and community library American History collection.

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Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)Few eras of American history are more misunderstood than the naval history of early America after the Revolutionary War. Former financial analyst and political aide Ian Toll sheds new light on this era in his richly detailed and comprehensive first book, Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. The saga of the original six frigates, the Constitution, Constellation, Congress, President, United States, and the Chesapeake, is one of naval necessity, partisan politics, and the ungainly steps of a young country attempting to defend and assert itself in a dangerous world.
A common misconception in American history is that the original six frigates were begun during the Revolution. As Toll describes in excellent detail, it was in fact under the presidencies of George Washington and John Adams that the decision to form a standing navy was made. With America's merchant fleet under predation from North African pirates, French privateers, and British warships, ships to protect and fly the flag were necessary. An already contentious and partisan Congress argued endlessly over the formation of a American navy to deal with the problem, and finally the Naval Act of 1794 approved funding for the construction of six ships: four 44-gun and two 36-gun frigates. Designed by Joshua Humphreys, the ships were to be the strongest and most effective frigates afloat, a tough job in a world where the Royal Navy dominated. The frigates would play key roles in the quasi-war with France, the Barbary wars, and the War of 1812, and Toll chronicles the personalities, the politics, and the world situation that shaped both the ships and the campaigns in which they took part.
What these ships are best known for, and what is most familiar with the laymen are the battles. Toll describes every major ship-to-ship engagement fought by the original six with a vividness rarely seen in naval histories, rich enough to hear the thunder of the guns and smell the cordite from the gunpowder. The major actions described are: Constellation v. L'Insurgente, Constellation v. La Vengeance, United States v. Macedonian, Constitution v. Guerriere, Constitution v. Java, Shannon v. Chesapeake, and President v. Endymion. Also well addressed are the actions against the Barbary states, including a well-written chapter on the loss of the subscription frigate Philadelphia, and the daring exploits of Stephen Decatur to destroy the captured frigate. The major naval figures of the era like Truxton, Bainbridge, Hull, Decatur, Rodgers, and Barron are all examined by Toll with an observer's eye that fleshes out the caricatures as most histories portray them into real life men.
The end of the War of 1812 saw the launch of the first American ships-of-the-line, but it was the frigate navy that paved the way. Toll's book is an important addition that clears the mythology away from the early US Navy and incorporates all the naval, economic, political, and social elements that contributed to its founding and formation. Toll occasionally strays out of his lane, and the postscript loses a bit of focus delving into the post Civil War navy, but as a whole, this is an excellent book that will satisfy naval buffs and students of history alike. Toll's elegant and rich writing and exhaustive research marks him as an author to watch, and I eagerly await his next work. The original six frigates played a large part in the prestige of early America. Their successes, and their failures, demonstrated that the young United States was a blossoming world power worthy of respect and regard. Highly Recommended. A.G. Corwin
St.Louis, MO

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Oliver Hazard Perry: Honor, Courage, and Patriotism in the Early U.s. Navy (Library of Naval Biography) Review

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(More customer reviews)The first modern biography of the "Hero of Lake Erie" is ably written by Great Lakes historian Skaggs. It is a deeply researched and balanced story of leadership in battle, heroism and contentious egos during our Early National Period.
Perry, a Scotsman descended from Scotland's national hero, William Wallace, was born in Rhode Island in 1785 to naval Captain Christopher and his wife Sarah Wallace Alexander. Oliver was the older brother to Matthew Calbraith Perry, another career naval officer destined to open Japan to Western trade. So a naval career was pretty much a foregone conclusion and the older sibling was appointed a midshipman in April, 1799. assigned to his father's frigate, he saw his first action off the coast of Haiti, which was in a state of rebellion. The first Barbary War found him serving on the USS Adams and later, in command of the USS Nautilus, he was present at the capture of Derna.
At thew start of the War of 1812, Perry requested and was given command of the United States naval forces on Lake Erie. He supervised the construction of a small fleet at Presque Isle Bay in Erie, Pennsylvania, and on September 10, 1813, defeated the attacking British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie, gaining everlasting fame in naval history. His battle report to General William Henry Harrison was brief and to the point: "We have met the enemy and they are ours..." The victory opened up Canada to invasion, while at the same time protected the entire Ohio Valley from British occupation.
The controversy began before the smoke had cleared Detroit. Perry's second in command, Jesse Duncan Elliott, was a conniving, self-serving manipulator who immediately claimed more of the victorious action than he deserved. The feud continued well into the next decade and didn't cease with Perry's premature death in 1819 from yellow fever while on station in Venezuela.
Filled with antagonism, courage and controversy, this book is the standard to be consulted by scholar and general reader alike.


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Hailed for his decisive victory over a Royal Navy squadron on Lake Erie in September 1813 and best known for his after-action report proclamationWe have met the enemy and they are ours,Oliver Hazard Perry was one the early U.S. Navy s most famous heroes. In this modern, scholarly reassessment of the man and his career, Professor David Skaggs emphasizes Perry s place in naval history as an embodiment of the code of honor, an exemplar of combat courage, and a symbol of patriotism to his fellow officers and the American public. It is the first biography of Perry to be published in more than a quarter of a century and the first to offer an even-handed analysis of his career.After completing a thorough examination of primary sources, Skaggs traces Perry s development from a midshipman to commodore where he personified the best in seamanship, calmness in times of stress, and diplomatic skills. But this work is not a hagiographic treatment, for it offers a candid analysis of Perry s character flaws, particularly his short temper and his sometimes ineffective command and control procedures during the battle of Lake Erie. Skaggs also explains how Perry s short but dramatic naval career epitomized the emerging naval professionalism of the young republic, and he demonstrates how the Hero of Lake Erie fits into the most recent scholarship concerning the role of post-revolutionary generation in the development of American national identity. Finally, Skaggs explores in greater detail than anyone before the controversy over the conduct of his Lake Erie second, Jesse Duncan Elliott, that raged on for over a quarter century after Perry s death in 1819.
Co-winner of the North American Society for Oceanic History's 2007 John Lyman Book Award for Biography and Autobiography

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If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy -From the Revolution to the War of 1812 Review

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(More customer reviews)I am not sure what book the other reviewers read but I don't think it was If By Sea. This book is essentially a general history of the U.S. from the Revolution to the end of the War of 1812. Its general focus is on how the events of that period effected the formation of the U.S. Navy. Certainly not for serious naval readers and I did not find it to be tales of glory either.
If you are familiar with the era I think the book will bore you. Not due to the writing style which is straight forward if not very compelling. You get a great deal of set-up for each policy decision which if you know the era will be old hat. And even if you have read a few general histories I don't think you'll find much new here as regards the navy- I did not. (The page on the building frigates boilded down most of a chapter in the book Six Frigates)
Little attention is actually paid to the navy itself. Why were the politicians so split on a navy? We get the same explanations you'll read elsewhere: one side thought it was too expensive, a threat to liberty and would drag the U.S. into wars; the other a necessity to uphold American honor among nations. Nothing new here. In fact, there is little in the way of detailing and analyzing these points of view. They certainly merit both.
Further, there is a good deal of negative criticism heaped on naval tactics without any analysis as to why such tactical decisions where actually made. Example- author states the Bostonians could have overrun the British fleet in port at the outset of hostilities with quick hit and run tactics, boarding parties and small ships hiding numerous inlets. Why were those tactics not employed? No explanation is offered. This is not a miliarty history so even while battles are not described in any detail the tactics are criticized. Odd.
This was a missed opportunity. A scholarly analysis of the pro-navy and anti-navy factions certainly warrants attention. An academic approach to answering why a predominately maritime culture had such a hard time creating a navy would have been welcomed. Throw in the sections relating & contrasting the United Colonies/U.S. navy with various era's privateers, Washington's navy, revenue cutters and merchant marine and you would really have something.
I can't even recommend this book for people just starting out reading about the origins of the navy and/or the early U.S. There are better general histories of the era (The Glorious Cause; Alden's A History of the American Revolution) which will actually cover the navy debates. There are also some good books about the early navy (Fowler's Rebels Under Sail and his follow-up Jack Tars & Commodores, the recent Washington's Secret Navy and Six Frigates).


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Sailing Warships of the U.S. Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)In his preface to "Sailing Warships of the US Navy" author Donald Canney pays tribute to Howard Chapelle's "The History of the American Sailing Navy", but also notes the limitations of that classic work in its failure to meet the standards of modern historical research by inadequately documenting source citations and, sometimes, in poorly evaluating primary sources. Canney explains that he does not seek to replace, but to complement Chapelle's book with its meticulously executed ships' plans. And Canney well succeeds in this goal.
All of the ships built for the American navy before the era of steam are covered, most of them in considerable detail, showing the original lines plans where available (it should be noted that due to the age and physical condition of these plans, some lack clear detail). These are supplemented by paintings and, especially for the vessels built after the early 19th Century, photographs. Special attention is given to design and construction considerations, although the full career and ultimate fate of each vessel are summarized. Furthermore, in the course of discussing the individual ships, Canney develops a more general history of design trends and employment.
While Paul Silverstone's "The Sailing Navy, 1775-1854" is a useful quick reference to the ships of this era, Canney's book provides a much greater in-depth look. "Sailing Warships of the US Navy" does not mean that Chapelle's history is obsolete, but you should make a space on the bookshelf next to it for Canney's volume. This is a book which is truly a "must have" for anyone interested in the US Navy during the Age of Sail.

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Although the U.S. Navy was a relatively small force during the Age of Sail, the radical thinking and innovative design of its warships impressed larger maritime powers. Until now, however, information about these ships has come from the works of Howard Chapelle, a practical naval architect and amateur historian whose drawings were impeccable but whose information was often inadequately documented. This large-format volume by an American ship authority is the first to look critically at Chapelle's findings and compare them with rare original drafts, many published here for the first time, contemporary paintings, prints, and important documents such as the building specifications for the USS Constitution. The main chapters are devoted to the major ship types, from ships of the line to brigs and schooners, as well as vessels of the Great Lakes. More than 125 half-tones, plans, and drawings accompany the text. Appendixes deal with gunboats, galleys, and revenue cutters. This fresh perspective on the American sailing Navy is a must for any Age-of-Sail bookshelf.

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