Description
Book SynopsisThe thoroughly updated and enlarged edition of Flotilla is the result of impressive research on a forgotten chapter in the development of the young nation's naval and maritime tradition.
Trade ReviewAs the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 approaches, Donald Shomette's book, updated from a similar work published by him in 1981, is a most appropriate addition to the literature. -- Robert F. Dunn Washington Times 2009 Flotilla is valuable both to those interested in naval history, and to those focusing on small boat and irregular warfare strategies. I highly recommend it. -- Robert Farley Information Dissemination 2009 A rare look at the complex nature of the naval war and its impact on the inhabitants of Tidewater Maryland and the nation's capitol at Washington, D.C... Shomette details all of this with meticulous research in archives on both sides of the Atlantic. Past In Review 2009 Flotilla is a colorful, detailed history of Barney and his Sailors and the amphibiious war waged in the Chesapeake By in the summers of 1813 and 1814... Shomette makes clear, they provided the only light in one of the darkest periods in American military history. -- Frederick C. Leiner Proceedings 2010 Flotilla offers considered treatment of both the British and American sides of the Patuxtent campaign... an invaluable resource: a mine of information for scholars of the war, and more-than-penetrable for the casual reader. -- Samuel Negus Northern Mariner 2010 It is well written, and filled with details and facts that bring the story of this campaign to life. -- James Greathouse Nautical Research Journal 2010 Shomette is a scholar and a gifted writer, and his work is eminently readable as human drama... I heartily recommend Flotilla as essential to students of this war and to general readers of fine military history. -- Richard Barbuto Journal of America's Military Past 2010 The scholarship and breadth of understanding demonstrated in the new edition of Flotilla shine a bright light on this important part of our history, and make this an indispensable resource for students of the era. -- Dennis Knepper Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society 2010 Flotilla is a delight to read, carefully crafted and nicely paced, mixing telling human interventions from key players with analysis of the unfolding drama. The illustrations, contemporary drawings, portraits and modern maps are ideally placed... This will be an essential text for students of war, and of maritime strategy. -- Andrew Lambert International Journal of Naval History 2010
Table of ContentsForeword, by Fred W. Hopkins, Jr.
Preface
1. Depredations of the Usual Character
2. No Other Mode of Defense
3. A Commander of Capacity and Influence
4. Miserable Tools
5. Sails and Oars
6. Pen the Flotilla Within
7. They Opened All the Feather Beds
8. By the Light of the Blaze
9. An Act of Madness
10. Old Barney in Hell
11. Leviathan Awakened
12. Frightened Out of Their Senses
13. Our Polar Star
14. Jonathan Confounded
15. The Buccaneers Spared Nothing
16. The Sweets of Plunder
17. Gathered Like a Snow-ball
18. Blown to Atoms
19. Not a Bridge Was Broken
20. Came Up at a Trot
21. I Told You It Was the Flotillamen
22. A Great Fire
23. The Ounce of British Influence
Epilogue: All Eyes Will Be upon You
Appendix A: Muster of the U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla from Its Inception to Its Dissolution
Appendix B: Cost and Type of Materials and Workmanship for Building and Equipping the Row Galley Black Snake
Appendix C: Fleet Maneuver Exercises for the U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla
Appendix D: African Americans from the Patuxent Valley Enlisted in the Royal Colonial Marine Corps
Notes
Bibliography
Index
