Prince recalls his life at sea, including service as a privateer during the Revolution.

The first American sailor known to write his own autobiography, Ashley Bowen remains a valuable storyteller who can speak to today's readers about the maritime world in the age of sail. Ashley Bowen began his seafaring career at the age of eleven. After leaving the sea, Bowen spent the rest of his days as a ship-rigger in Marblehead, Massachusetts. A witness to significant historical events, including the British conquest of Canada and the American Revolution, Ashley Bowen confounds today's audience with his eighteenth-century interpretation of events—an interpretation informed by his deeply religious beliefs and his suspicion of Yankee patriotism. The Broadview edition is the first to present the story of Ashley Bowen as a continuous narrative. Vickers' introduction provides the context for Bowen's life in colonial New England, and additional writings by Ashley Bowen and his Marblehead contemporaries are included. The appendices include Bowen's diary accounts of his experiences in the 1759 British expedition against Quebec, smallpox epidemics, and the American Revolution.

An unparalleled look at AmericaÍs Revolutionary War invasion of Canada

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Nathaniel Philbrick is a masterly storyteller. Here he seeks to elevate the naval battles between the French and British to a central place in the history of the American Revolution. He succeeds, marvelously."--The New York Times Book Review The thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War from the New York Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower. In the concluding volume of his acclaimed American Revolution series, Nathaniel Philbrick tells the thrilling story of the year that won the Revolutionary War. In the fall of 1780, after five frustrating years of war, George Washington had come to realize that the only way to defeat the British Empire was with the help of the French navy. But coordinating his army's movements with those of a fleet of warships based thousands of miles away was next to impossible. And then, on September 5, 1781, the impossible happened. Recognized today as one of the most important naval engagements in the history of the world, the Battle of the Chesapeake—fought without a single American ship—made the subsequent victory of the Americans at Yorktown a virtual inevitability. A riveting and wide-ranging story, full of dramatic, unexpected turns, In the Hurricane's Eye reveals that the fate of the American Revolution depended, in the end, on Washington and the sea.

Sea Power is more than naval ships and men and weapons, more than naval strategy, more than the ability to engage and defeat an enemy at sea. Sea Power encompasses every strength con-tributed to a nation's defense, economy, self-image, and position in the world community through its use of the oceans. Sea Power is measured by the health of a na-tion's navy and merchant marine; the vitality of its fishing and shipbuilding enterprises; the adequacy and efficiency of its ports and docks. It is reckoned by the ability to husband and harvest the living and non-living resources of the waters and the ocean floor. It is found in maritime recreational activity that invigorates both people and industry. It benefits from the inspiration that stimulates man's imagination to an ever more creative relationship with the sea. This book assesses these components of sea power from the historical perspective of the Yankee Mari-ner, to provide a view of the total impact United States sea power has had in the past and should have in the future. It further considers how understand-ing and stewardship of the oceans can contribute to solutions for the problems of America and the dilem-mas of mankind. The words are those of specialists in ocean science and engineering...sea transport and the building of ships and ports...ocean politics and law...deep-sea mining and underwater oil production...fishery biology and management, and aqua culture... naval history, naval strategy, and defense policy at sea. Drawing upon a vast store of experience and exper-tise, these fifteen authors find Uncle Sam faltering as a Yankee Mariner. They investigate the extent of hu-man commitment and the nature of scientific and technical support needed for the United States to regain its momentum in use of the sea. What they report is a broad-based guide to America's past and present sea power stance, and to the requirements for her future challenge of ocean space.

Charles Stewart's life of sailing and combat on the high seas rivals that of Patrick O'Brien's fictional hero, Jack Aubrey. Stewart held more sea commands (11) than any other U.S. Navy captain and served longer (63 years) than any officer in American naval history. He commanded every type of warship, from sloop to ship-of-the-line, and served every president from John Adams to Abraham Lincoln. Born in Philadelphia during the American Revolution, Stewart met President Washington and went to sea as a cabin boy on a merchantman before age thirteen. In March 1798, at age nineteen, he received a naval commission one month before the Department of the Navy was established. Stewart went on to an illustrious naval career: Thomas Jefferson recognized his Mediterranean exploits during the Barbary Wars, Stewart advised James Madison at the outset of the War of 1812, and Stewart trained many future senior naval officers--including David Porter, David Dixon Porter, and David G. Farragut--in three wars. He served as a pallbearer at President Lincoln's funeral. Stewart cemented his reputation as commander of the Navy's most powerful frigate, the USS Constitution. No other captain commanded this ship for a longer wartime period or through more naval engagements. Undefeated in battle, including defeating the British warships Cyane and Levant simultaneously, both ship and captain came to be known as "Old Ironsides."