
Commanding Old Ironsides
The Life of Captain Silas Talbot
William M. Fowler(Author)
The Lyons Press
Published on 7. July 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
254 pages
978-1-4930-7788-5 (ISBN)
Description
Silas Talbot's life illuminates his time-not with greater brightness than the lives of his more famous contemporaries, but with perhaps broader range and greater insight into the experiences and circumstances of a plain citizen of the new republic-a citizen whose bravery and energy helped to create it.
Silas Talbot was a farmer's son who went to sea, learned the building trades, saved and invested his money wisely, married well several times, fought as a Rhode Island soldier in the Revolutionary War, became a lieutenant colonel, served with courage and competence, became a privateer and a prisoner-of-war in the conflict at sea, speculated in western lands, was elected to the New York State Legislature and the U.S. Congress, represented the interests of American sailors forced to serve in Britain's navy, and finally achieved the rank of U.S. Navy captain and became the second commanding officer of the frigate USS Constitution.
In a full and energetic life of sixty-two years he met and served the famous-Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Lafayette-and also raised a family; advanced in the social, political, and business circles of New York and Rhode Island; and was, as the author notes, "among the first of the new citizens of the new republic to seize its gifts."
Silas Talbot was a farmer's son who went to sea, learned the building trades, saved and invested his money wisely, married well several times, fought as a Rhode Island soldier in the Revolutionary War, became a lieutenant colonel, served with courage and competence, became a privateer and a prisoner-of-war in the conflict at sea, speculated in western lands, was elected to the New York State Legislature and the U.S. Congress, represented the interests of American sailors forced to serve in Britain's navy, and finally achieved the rank of U.S. Navy captain and became the second commanding officer of the frigate USS Constitution.
In a full and energetic life of sixty-two years he met and served the famous-Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Lafayette-and also raised a family; advanced in the social, political, and business circles of New York and Rhode Island; and was, as the author notes, "among the first of the new citizens of the new republic to seize its gifts."
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Guilford
United States
Publishing group
Rowman & Littlefield
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
20 BW Photos
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
418 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4930-7788-5 (9781493077885)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
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E-Book
05/2024
The Lyons Press
€17.79
Available for download
Persons
William M. Fowler, Jr. was former director of the Massachusetts Historical Society and consulting editor to The New England Quarterly. He received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and his PhD from the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of many books on American history, including Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle For North America, 1754-1763, Rebels Under Sail: The Navy in the Revolution, The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography of John Hancock, Jack Tars and Commodores: The American Navy 1783-1815, and Under Two Flags: The American Navy in the Civil War. He is also co-author of America and The Sea: A Maritime History of America. He was Professor of History at Northeastern University from 1971 to 1998 and taught a variety of courses in American history. He also taught at Mystic Seaport Museum and lectured at the Smithsonian Institution, the United States Naval War College, and the Sea Education Association. He is a member of the Massachusetts State Archives Advisory Commission, The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the American Antiquarian Society, and an Honorary Member of the Boston Marine Society and the Society of the Cincinnati. He received an Honorary degree from Northeastern University in 2000. He lives in Massachusetts.
Anne Grimes Rand is President and CEO of the USS Constitution Museum, which received the 2023 NMHS Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education.
Anne Grimes Rand is President and CEO of the USS Constitution Museum, which received the 2023 NMHS Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Maritime Education.