Book Review: "Hunting the Essex"

[uss frolick]

"Hunting the Essex: A Journal of the Voyage of HMS Phoebe, 1813-1814, By Midshipman Allen Gardiner", Edited by John S. Reiske and Andrew Lambert.

 

OK, Frigate Essex fans, this was the one we were waiting for: a previously unpublished journal of a British Midshipman on board the Frigate Phoebe. I love contemporary journals. You can learn so much about life at sea. And this one was even advertised on the jacket, in capital letters no less, as:

 

"THE EPIC CHASE THAT INSPIRED THE FILM MASTER AND COMMANDER"!

 

Wow! Could it get any better? I placed my pre-order and patiently waited ....

 

Then it arrived ... in my small mail box with room to spare. The letter carrier could have easily slipped it under the door, really. Four inches by six inches and 152 pages? The introduction takes up the first thirty pages, and the addendum and footnotes consumes the last thirty-three ... Not looking good. Still there could be gold one those 89 pages remaining ...

 

Andrew Lambert writes on page 22:

 

" ... Indeed, the text is dominated by events on land. Only rarely does he discuss the sea."

 

But what about "THE EPIC CHASE THAT ..."

 

Yep. What we have here is a travel-log of far away sea ports - nineteenth century style. Comments on native dwellings mostly, with unfavorable descriptions of the people, etc., interspersed with poetry and religious philosophy. Gardiner mostly confines his journal to such affairs as "A short sketch of Peruvian poverty". He notes on page 72:

 

"Callao, the port city of Lima, is a small, miserable, ill built, town, little calculated to give the stranger any idea of the opulence and supposed grandeur of that city. The houses were low, few of them exceeding the ground floor, and are in general built of mud, which they use instead of plaister. The roofs are flat and covered with mats ..."

 

on page 76:

 

"The palace is a shabby building building without ornament and has more of the appearance of a warehouse than the residence of a Viceroy."

 

OK. I get it, Gardiner. You don't like foreign architecture ... surely even you must admire the fair Spanish ladies! I went to Colombia and Peru two years ago, and the eyes nearly popped from my head . Nope. Page 83.

 

"All the first families of Lima were here collected, and afforded a grand display of Spanish beauty, of which I am sad to say I was much disappointed, there were some pretty, but very few handsome women, and they wanted much of that easy air, and grace, which so characterizes our country women."

 

Let's move on ... the Essex, remember?  "THE EPIC CHASE ..."  Professor Lambert promised us on page 28:

 

"Allen Frances Gardiner's journal provides a useful British perspective on the Pacific campaign of 1813-1814 and the Battle of Valpariaso."

 

Finally ,on page 105, Gardiner tells us about the battle:

 

"We closed them about 20 minutes after 4, and after a severe action of about two hours, in which they certainly did honor to their flag, and fought till it would have been impossible to have retained their ship any longer, they gave up the contest and struck to HM Ship."

 

Yep. That's it. That's all he writes about the fight. Elvis has left the building. Goodnight. "THE EPIC ..." ?

 

To be fair, he does chat a bit about the aftermath. He confirms Porter's claims to have suffered very heavy losses. And he does make the rather startling and doubtful assertion that the Cherub fired only one broadside before retiring. But that's about it.

 

The editors must have thought this would be a great disappointment to the reader, so, in order to spice it up, they included a letter in the addendum, written by another midshipman, one Mr. Samuel Thornton, Jr., also of the Phoebe. It describes at some length, the events of the battle. But Thornton says little that is new. Snippets of this letter were published previously in James Henderson's "The Frigates" as having been written by an "un-named midshipman". A second, shorter letter, describing the battle but written by one of Phoebe's marines, it is best ignored.

 

All in all, it is a good historical book. But anyone looking for detailed descriptions of either ship, or of life at sea for the average tar, is advised to pass. I'm glad I bought it, but the claim that it " ... INSPIRED THE FILM MASTER AND COMMANDER" is a tad over the top. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Qoute:  but the claim that it " ... INSPIRED THE FILM MASTER AND COMMANDER" is a tad over the top

 

You have to love marketing types for that one.

[Matrim]

All books have to sell. Usually it is of the 'Nelsons favorite ship' , 'the real hornblower' or 'Nelsons favorite leg of beef'  or alternately deliberately trying to wind up more knowledgeable readership i.e 'why america lost the war of 1812' or 'why britain lost the war of 1812', 'Waterloo the German victory' etc etc (one of those is real though I vaguely recollect one of the 1812 ones was used recently as well). 

 

You can imagine what accurate book header text would be

 

'south american huts, in detail!',  'shock news that english midshipman prefers portsmouth tarts to savana lovelies!'

[mtaylor]

 

  'shock news that english midshipman prefers portsmouth tarts to savana lovelies!'

 

I think certain newspapers and news networks would grab that one and blare it in 72 point type.