The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America

Far too often, our country's most significant historical moments are misinterpreted, misrepresented, or both. In other cases, the basic facts are just simply not very well known. Such is the case with the first permanent English settlement in America, Jamestown, Virginia. Most people associate the founding of Jamestown with Pocahontas, John Smith, and conflicts with Native Americans. All of those are part of the story, but it doesn't paint a clear picture of the actual founding of the colony and why it is so important to American History. The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown attempts to do just that. The book centers on the Sea Venture, an English vessel sent by the Virginia Company to stock the fledgling colony with food, supplies, and new settlers. On its way across the Atlantic, it encounters a massive hurricane and winds up shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda. The book is worth it simply for that part of the story (which is far more interesting and extensive than I mention here), but the real value of this book is the succinct, easy to read history of Jamestown that the authors present as a lead up to this event. The book vividly describes the struggles that Great Britain faced in trying to establish a permanent settlement in the New World. Numerous failures and setbacks beleaguered London as it aimed to ease Spain's stronghold on North America. We get a colorful portrait of the real John Smith, which is far different from the caricature that we get from most history textbooks. We also learn of the hardships that the early colonists faced, both on the voyages across the Atlantic and once they arrived in Jamestown. Most of this information is nothing new to scholars and history buffs, but it does help to de-romanticize the events for the average reader. This book is great if you want to brush up your knowledge on the subject. Most readers should find that it flows very well and utilizes a good mix of facts and anecdotes to make it an easy and enjoyable read.

Most of us remember the story of Jamestown from high school history and maybe even from a visit to the Jamestown site. But I never knew more than that the English settlers had a hard winter! The authors have documented and put together a clearly written . . . and disturbing . . . story about how really difficult it was to gain a foothold in the New World. As usual those in charge were driven by greed and poor planning so that hundreds died unnecessarily. But then again, without the funds and big egos of the "leaders", we might all now be citizens of Spain. Reading about the horrors the colonists endured, especially the cannibalism, caused me to have nightmares! But the saving of the souls on the Venture, which eventually saved the whole colony, was thrilling. This is stuff movies are made of. I'd give the book five stars except that there is some redundancy, especially the final chapter that seemed to just reminding me what they had already said. Don't read it if real life makes you nervous. Do read it if you want the whole story of our country's feeble beginning.

Most of what we heard in school about the Jamestown colony stems from the writings of Capt. John Smith. Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith listened to another voice in writing their fluid, intelligent narrative about Jamestown -- William Strachey. The little known poet "struggled to make his voice heard but lost out to Smith's larger name and greater ambition." They retell the story of the Virginia Company's colony against a backdrop of royal endeavors such as King James sending privateers to raid Spanish ships, seeking the Northwest Passage, conquering Ireland, and the trafficking of African slaves. This is not the first time these colonist's stories have been told, but there's nothing stale about this book. As every student knows the Jamestown colony did not fair well. Among many woes, a fire nearly destroyed the fort, John Smith recalled, "Some people faced January's bitter colds and such severe frosts with little than the clothes on their backs." As Ms. Glover's book makes clear, the colonists had wasted much time prospecting for gold instead of farming. Those with a working memory from elementary school history may recall, most of the colonist's health was in grave danger. Many were sick and dying from drinking bad water and living in a marshy area. The Virginia Company, in response to John Smith's rude letter, dispatched a third re-supply effort in 1609. The flagship of the nine-ship fleet was the state-of-the-art Sea Venture -- England's first dedicated emigrant ship. On board the fleet are Christopher Newport: Vice Admiral of the fleet, Sir George Somers: Admiral of the company, Sir Thomas Gates: next Governor of Virgina, and most important to the authors, William Strachey: A down-on-his-luck poet, seeking a fresh start in Virginia. The tense description of a hurricane buffeting the fleet generates the first real excitement. "As the ship tossed wildly in the ocean, cries and shrieks issued from the passengers who looked one upon the other with troubled hearts and panting bosoms." The Sea Venture was wrecked on a reef surrounding an uninhabited island. Bermuda was known to sailors as "an enchanted den of Furies and Devils, the most dangerous, unfortunate, and forlorn place in the world." Their all-but-new vessel was ruined, but its passengers and crew had survived. Far from being "the isle of Devils," the castaways found tame wild hogs, sea turtles, birds, and fish that they could easily kill by the dozens. Bermuda was an island paradise, "fertile, fruitful, plentiful, and a safe, secure temperate, rich, sweet, and healthful habitation for man." Virginia's next governor, Gates, had no intentions of settling in Bermuda and organized the construction of a rescue boat. At the end of August, a crew of eight volunteers were sent in Sea Venture's jury-rigged longboat, to notify Jamestown, but disappeared forever. As the weeks and months passed, six more Bermuda castaways died, several children were born and a marriage p

Looking back at history, it often seems as if there was some sort of destiny at play, as if things could not have turned out otherwise. That this view is deceptive is one of the lessons in _The Shipwreck That Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America_ (John Macrae Books / Henry Holt) by Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith. Tiny contingencies can make huge differences, is another lesson. And yet another is that a horrendous disaster like a shipwreck may not be such a disaster after all. The authors, both professors of history, have thrown light on an important part of colonial history that other books pass by. It might be that other writers who cover the period are uncomfortable with the way this episode shows how closely the British came to failure in their efforts to make it in the New World, and how vastly different the American adventure could have come out if it were not for a few ill winds. The authors start with a review to show that England before 1609 had nothing but disasters as they set up their outposts across the Atlantic. The effort to start a colony in Jamestown was a decidedly commercial one, but it was yet another disaster. The Virginia Company had to supply food to the settlers, as they could not supply themselves. It did whatever it could to squelch all the bad news coming from Jamestown, and tried to recruit fresh settlers by emphasizing their religious and patriotic duties. Seven ships sent out faced a hurricane, and the main vessel, the _Sea Venture_, was wrecked upon Bermuda. Those that made it to Jamestown faced "a starving time" during the winter of 1609 - 1610, when extreme deprivation led to horrors including cannibalism. Starvation, disease, and Indians killed off over 80% of the settlers. Those shipwrecked on the _Sea Venture_, however, got off easy. Bermuda, reputed to be an island cursed to sailors because of devils therein, proved to be far closer to Eden than Jamestown ever would, a real paradise with mangroves, palmettos, turtles, fish, and birds that stood around waiting to be caught. Indeed, the great challenge for the leader of this crew, Thomas Gates, was to put down mutinies from the many who having lit upon a better place than Jamestown did not want to continue the voyage. Gates was able eventually to scavenge his wrecked vessel, supervise construction of two smaller ones, and proceed to Jamestown, where they found a fraction of the expected settlers, all eager to get away from their nightmarish colony. Without the arrival of the _Sea Venture_ and the supplies it carried from Bermuda, the colony would have perished, but the settlers convinced Gates it was time to give up on the colony and return to England. It was impossible for him to disagree, but as they sailed out the James River, they by chance met another relief fleet coming in from England. Back to Jamestown they went, saving it and saving England's destiny in the New World. The Virginia Company, however, d

This is an interesting history of the settling of Jamestown that gives equal time to the ships that successfully reached Virginia in 1609, and the one ship that did not (the Sea Venture) which was shipwrecked off the coast of Bermuda. Those aboard the former ships found themselves in dire straights after arriving in Virginia. Those who sailed on the Sea Venture found themselves in a land of milk and honey. The contrast could not have been greater. Eventually the two groups were reunited, but any joy was short lived. The book begins with the chartering of the Virginia Company in London, whose mission it was to find funding for the expeditions. When the Company had difficulty raising money or finding Londoners willing to settle in Virginia, they had to get creative. Colonizing Virginia became "God's calling". Most of the time, though, it must have seemed to the settlers that God had forsaken them. I thought that the writing was a little repetitive in the early chapters, but once I got deeper in the story, I couldn't put it down. This is not your sugar-coated, school book version of events at Jamestown. I was stunned over and over again at the brutality and the suffering that took place. Definitely recommended.