Review:
The Penobscot Expedition is a wonderful book about an important event, told with gusto and a fine attention to detail...A superior piece of naval history.--James Tertius de Kay, author of The Battle of Stonington
An original and major reinterpretation of the controversial Penobscot calamity that no student of Revolutionary War naval operations can ignore. First-rate scholarship.--Clark G. Reynolds, College of Charleston, author of Navies in History
From the Back Cover:
The ill-fated Penobscot expedition of 1779 remains one of the least studied and most controversial aspects of the American Revolution, despite being a seminal event in U.S. naval history. As part of the largest fleet ever assembled by the fledgling American navy, the vessels comprising the expedition were expected to swiftly defeat the British in the Penobscot Bay. Instead, the armada lost some forty ships during the battle, suffering a catastrophic defeat that would not be matched until Pearl Harbor. Commo. Dudley Saltonstall was blamed for the debacle, accused of cowardice and court-martialed. In this groundbreaking book the most detailed chronicle to date of the expedition George E. Buker provides a compelling defense of Saltonstall. Bypassing historical speculation, he analyzes concrete factors that might well have caused the American defeat, namely the limitations of square-rigged ships in restricted waters, the geographic setting, and the British defensive alignment. Buker presents stunning evidence that the Massachusetts Committee of Inquiry and the General Court conspired against Saltonstall and interfered with the commodore's court-martial proceedings to ensure a result that would allow the state to assess Congress for part of the expenses. Buker's conclusions, which solve a mystery that has puzzled generations of historians, are certain to foster a reassessment of Saltonstall and his actions."
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