If you are lucky enough to be able to visit the museum at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, it becomes obvious that, despite the acrimony generated during and before the American War Of Independence, close ties remained between many in the United States and Great Britain. The same kinds of ships, similar training, similar doctrine, traditions and culture applied. The museum is dominated by paintings and models of British ships. Of course, despite many intervening disputes, those ties largely remain strong today.
However, less than two decades after the War of Independence, it is perhaps surprising that numerous American officers and sailors played important roles in the Royal Navy. From around 1790 to 1810 as the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars raged, Americans were in the thick of it, most particularly alongside Horatio Nelson.
They were generally very effective and valued participants as this collection of first-rate essays makes clear. There were hundreds of American, Canadian, and Caribbean members of Nelson's crews in the Battle of Trafalgar, for example.
This record gives appropriate credit to those important but forgotten individuals. It is a very good read.
Editors: Sean M. Heuvel and John A. Rodgaard
Available from Helion & Company, Warwick, UK.
Web: www.helion.co.uk.