The Sea Warriors: Fighting Captains and Frigate Warfare in the Age of Nelson

This book will thrill those who enjoy Patrick O'Brians works as Woodman tells the story of the Historic cruiser battles of the Napoleonic Wars. He is decidedly on sided in his telling, focusing on the Royal Navy history with only small pieces of French and a minor portion of American history. When the American involvement was discussed Woodman did not know who was President as it switch frequently between Jefferson and Madison. This brings some doubt as to the accuracy of other third party individuals in the book. I hope the next printing corrects these issues.

This is a good historical account of naval warfare between January 1793, when the French fired on the British sloop Childers, to June 30, 1815, when the United States sloop Peacock fired on and captured the Honourable East India Company's Nautilus, after the war had ended (there were a number of actions after the war ended because of the slow communications). It mainly covers the actions of British ships (including fleet actions, flying squadrons, individual ships, convoy duties, and some land actions), but also covers the French (including privateers), the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Turks, the Russians, the Dutch, the Danes, the new United States Navy, and an odd assortment of others (just about everyone who had a ship afloat). It should be noted that the account is not limited to actions involving British ships. It covers, for instance, the problems between the United States and Tripoli. It does not go into detail about the political situation between the United States and England in 1812 (an agreement had been reached in London, but the hawks in the United States Congress declared war before the papers could reach the United States - not much different than the present day, there was a major split in Congress, with some New England merchants continuing to trade with the English in Canada). The history mentions, in passing, some of the land campaigns, and the naval support to the armies. There is also some commentary on the politics in England and France, and the clashes with foreign governments including an insult to the Shogun in Japan. Some naval officers were not suited for diplomatic work. It also covers the personalities of various officers ranging from floggers like the infamous Captain Pigot (only 27 of the mutineers who threw him overboard were eventually captured and one court acquited three of them), to the stubborn bullheadedness of Lord Cochrane. Various information presented gives some interesting sidelights. A French raid on the African coast in 1795 captured 200 British, Spanish and Portuguese ships, most of them slavers - an indication of the extent of the slave trade. It is noted that 3,466 British merchant ships were lost between 1793 and 1801, an indication of the extent of the merchant marine. The book contains an index, a chronology of events, and a select bibliography.

This is a great book, but one wonders if the French were as a bad as they are portrayed! Woodman is careful to debunk the fact that it is "gutter press" to say that one British sailor is worth ten French frogs, but he selects narrative accounts where the British predominate. Is this accurate, or biased? Frankly, I don't know. But I am quibbling. This is an excellent book that taught me far more than I previously knew. 'Nuff said. Five stars.

Richard Woodman, best known for his "Nathaniel Drinkwater" series of Royal Navy fiction and several other nonfiction works about the Royal Navy in the 20th Century, tells a riveting saga about the hitherto largely unknown tale of the Royal Navy's bold frigate captains during the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He devotes ample space not only to famous frigate captains like Edward Pellew and Thomas Cochrane - the real-life role model for Horatio Hornblower and Jack Aubrey - but countless other frigate captains whose exploits were as memorable as those of Pellew and Cochrane. To his credit, Woodman mentions the successful cruises of some French and American frigate commanders, most notably American frigate captain David Porter and the successful cruise of the USS Essex in the Pacific during the War of 1812. If I have one legitimate criticism, it is Woodman's confusion of President Madison with President Thomas Jefferson during the War of 1812 (It is an apt criticism since many critics of the war in the United States - especially those from the New England states - referred to it as "Mr. Madison's War".) . Otherwise, this is a splendid account of the Royal Navy's frigate cruises during this pivotal moment in early modern world history.

The book is more or less a recounting of the successes of British naval captains of the late 1700s and early 1800s. A period when Britain and France polarized Europe in war. While the ultimate outcome of the conflict bears out the fact that Britain's naval forces were superior, it is hard to believe that there were as few French naval successes as Woodman relates.But that's a small complaint when taken in context with the overall quality of the content in the book. Woodman's descriptive talent focuses on the telling of the smaller battles. There are ample books relating the events of Trefalgar, this is not one of them, Woodman's narratives are of the frigate battles and smaller ship of the line battles, the cutting outs and ship to ship running fights. The tales of Captains Pellew, Cochrane, Willoughby and such. Stories no less entertaining than those of Forester's Horatio Hornblower. His terminology is accurate, and his research is excellent.

I purchased this book with the appetite of a shark after a seal. It is a very good book, but it has a couple of things that could have improved it beyound measure. 1. There are so many remarkable men in all navies and battles that the reader needs something to distinquish them after the years of war. 2. I wanted more details on the battles, perhaps some diagrams. 3. I would have liked to have known more about what happened to these men after the wars. Cochrane, as an example, died the year the american civil war started. But not to quibble, this is a good book that puts it all together. You just stay hungry.