The Autobiography of a Yankee Mariner: Christopher Prince and the American Revolution

by Prince, Christopher; Crawford, Michael J.; Crawford, Michael J.

• ISBN13: 9781574884401
• ISBN10: 1574884409
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

-- Adds to our knowledge of the great events, major actors, and social effects of the American Revolution
-- Complements existing scholarship about the hardships of a seafaring life and the origins of the antebellum seamen's religious movement
-- Recounts Prince's narrow escapes from death and capture, his travails as a prisoner, and his financial gains and losses as a result of the war
-- Reveals previously unknown details about a joint Indian and British attack on American positions outside Montreal, Ethan Allen's imprisonment, and the treatment of smallpox

In 1806, when retired sea captain and religious activist Christopher Prince (1751-1832) began to write his life's story, he wanted simply to leave his family a record of his experiences. Today, his autobiography survives as one of the extremely rare partcipants' accounts of seafaring during the American Revolution. As a literary work, it shares characteristics of three genres -- the war story, the captivity narrative, and the spiritual autobiography. Prince tells what it was like to grow up in a

Table of Contents

Maps & Illustrations	ix
Preface	xiii
Editor's Introduction	xvii
A Sailor's Education, 1751-1773	3	(22)
A Yankee in King George's Navy: The Canadian Campaign, 1774-July 1776	25	(62)
New York: Smallpox and Chevaux-de-Frise, July-August 1776	87	(24)
The Connecticut Navy, September 1776-June 1777	111	(28)
Privateering, June 1777-1781	139	(51)
Transitions, 1782-1806	190	(31)
Epilogue	221	(4)
Appendix One Christopher Prince's Obituary	225	(4)
Appendix Two Ethan Allen's Narrative of His Captivity	229	(2)
Appendix Three Combat before Montreal, 30 October 1775	231	(2)
Appendix Four Christopher Prince as Privateersman	233	(4)
Glossary	237	(10)
Index	247	(16)
About the Editor	263