If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy--from the Revolution to the War of 1812Basic Books, 2008 M05 13 - 568 pages The American Revolution-and thus the history of the United States-began not on land but on the sea. Paul Revere began his famous midnight ride not by jumping on a horse, but by scrambling into a skiff with two other brave patriots to cross Boston Harbor to Charlestown. Revere and his companions rowed with muffled oars to avoid capture by the British warships closely guarding the harbor. As they paddled silently, Revere's neighbor was flashing two lanterns from the belfry of Old North Church, signaling patriots in Charlestown that the redcoats were crossing the Charles River in longboats. In every major Revolutionary battle thereafter the sea would play a vital, if historically neglected, role. When the American colonies took up arms against Great Britain, they were confronting the greatest sea-power of the age. And it was during the War of Independence that the American Navy was born. But following the British naval model proved crushingly expensive, and the Founding Fathers fought viciously for decades over whether or not the fledgling republic truly needed a deep-water fleet. The debate ended only when the Federal Navy proved indispensable during the War of 1812. Drawing on decades of prodigious research, historian George C. Daughan chronicles the embattled origins of the U.S. Navy. From the bloody and gunpowder-drenched battles fought by American sailors on lakes and high seas to the fierce rhetorical combat waged by the Founders in Congress, If By Sea charts the course by which the Navy became a vital and celebrated American institution. |
Contents
BATTLES IN CHARLESTON NEW YORK AND | |
SARATOGA AND PHILADELPHIA | |
THE FRENCH ALLIANCE | |
DENOUEMENT | |
A NEW REPUBLIC | |
THE QUASIWAR WITH FRANCE | |
THE NAVY UNDER JEFFERSON | |
PEACEFUL COERCION | |
WAR CLOUDS | |
THE NAVY SURPRISES | |
THE NAVY ESTABLISHED | |
Acknowledgments | |
Other editions - View all
If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy--from the Revolution to the War ... George C. Daughan No preview available - 2011 |
If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy--from the Revolution to the War ... George C Daughan No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
aboard Admiral Graves Admiralty American Revolution army Arnold arrived attack August Bainbridge Barry battle blockade boats Boston brig Britain British British warships Burgoyne Canada Captain captured Charleston Chesapeake Chesapeake Bay Clinton coast Colonel command Commodore Congress Continental Navy Cornwallis crew d’Estaing Decatur December defeat defense Delaware Edward Preble England Federalist fight fire fleet force France French frigates gunboats guns Hamilton harbor Hopkins Howe’s Hudson Hull hundred Island James Jefferson John Adams John Barry John Paul Jones Jones July June king’s Lake Lake Champlain later Lieutenant Lord Louisiana Madison March Massachusetts men-of-war merchantmen miles militiamen Morris Napoleon naval navy’s NDAR Newport North o’clock October ordered patriots peace Philadelphia port Preble president privateers Quasi-War River Rodgers row-galleys Royal Navy sail schooner Secretary September ships sloop sloop-of-war South Carolina squadron Stoddert Thomas thousand treaty Tripoli troops Truxtun United vessels victory Virginia wanted West William wrote York