The shining sea: David Porter and the epic voyage of the U.S.S. Essex during the War of 1812

Description

Table of Contents; Introduction: The War of 1812; Maps; Prologue: First Victory; 1. President Madison's War Plan; 2. The Making of a Sea Warrior; 3. Disaster in Tripoli; 4. Primed for Battle; 5. The Essex: Past and Present; 6. First Rendezvous: Porto Praia; 7. In the South Atlantic, Dreaming of the Pacific; 8. Doubling Cape Horn; 9. Navigating Chile's Political Waters; 10. A Packed Week at Valparaiso; 11. Peru and the Elusive Nimrod; 12. Fortune Smiles in the Galapalagos Islands; 13. Unparalleled Success; 14. The Hunt for the Essex; 15. The Marquesas Islands: ""In Vales of Eden"";Shortly after the outbreak of the War of 1812, Captain David Porter set out at the helm of the USS Essex, intent on rounding Cape Horn and hunting British whaling and merchant ships in the Pacific Ocean. Porter's odyssey took him to exotic isles and brought glory to the fledgling American navy, and in The Shining Sea, celebrated historian George C. Daughan tells the full story of this historic voyage for the first time. Porter's cruise is now regarded as the greatest maritime adventure of the period, but his monomaniacal quest to capture a British man-of-war ultimately cost. Table of Contents Introduction: The War of 1812 Maps Prologue: First Victory 1. President Madison's War Plan 2. The Making of a Sea Warrior 3. Disaster in Tripoli 4. Primed for Battle 5. The Essex: Past and Present 6. First Rendezvous: Porto Praia 7. In the South Atlantic, Dreaming of the Pacific 8. Doubling Cape Horn 9. Navigating Chile's Political Waters 10. A Packed Week at Valparaiso 11. Peru and the Elusive Nimrod 12. Fortune Smiles in the Galapalagos Islands 13. Unparalleled Success 14. The Hunt for the Essex 15. The Marquesas Islands: ""In Vales of Eden"" 16. Nuku Hiva17. Annexation and War 18. Mutiny 19. Showdown in Valparaiso 20. The Butcher's Bill 21. The Heroes Come Home 22. Lieutenant Gamble at Nuku Hiva Epilogue: Four Lives After the War Acknowledgments Glossary Notes Select Bibliography Index.