Shipwrecked: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade

(Hardback)

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From the New York Times: "The astonishing stories in Shipwrecked ... [offer] a fresh perspective on the mess of pitched emotions and politics in a nation at war over slavery."
Historian Jonathan W. White tells the riveting story of Appleton Oaksmith, a swashbuckling sea captain whose life intersected with some of the most important moments, movements, and individuals of the mid-19th century, from the California Gold Rush, filibustering schemes in Nicaragua, Cuban liberation, and the Civil War and Reconstruction. Most importantly, the book depicts the extraordinary lengths the Lincoln Administration went to destroy the illegal trans-Atlantic slave trade. Using Oaksmiths case as a lens, White takes readers into the murky underworld of New York City, where federal marshals plied the docks in lower Manhattan in search of evidence of slave trading. Once they suspected Oaksmith, federal authorities had him arrested and convicted, but in 1862 he escaped from jail and became a Confederate blockade-runner in Havana. The Lincoln Administration tried to have him kidnapped in violation of international law, but the attempt was foiled. Always claiming innocence, Oaksmith spent the next decade in exile until he received a presidential pardon from U.S. Grant, at which point he moved to North Carolina and became an anti-Klan politician. Through a remarkable, fast-paced story, this book will give readers a new perspective on slavery and shifting political alliances during the turbulent Civil War Era.

Reviews

To his credit, White compiles ample evidence about American involvement in the ghastly international slave trade. He provides lurid details about the victims [He] more than delivers on his subtitle: He offers an action-packed account of the swashbuckling age of sail at the moment it was about to be supplanted by mechanized ships. * Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association *
Jonathan W. White, a prizewinning Civil War historian, finds in Oaksmiths spectacularly misguided life both a gripping yarn set far from the battlefields and a way to dramatize Lincolns determination to eliminate the African slave trade.... The astonishing stories in Shipwrecked ... [offer] a fresh perspective on the mess of pitched emotions and politics in a nation at war over slavery. * The New York Times *
Historian Whites biography of nineteenth-century mariner Appleton Oaksmith vividly chronicles a life of adventure. Oaksmith sailed to China at 16, witnessed the California Gold Rush, foiled a mutiny on his ship, escaped attack by three thousand African warriors, and was active in uprisings in Nicaragua and Cuba. During the Civil War, Oaksmith was convicted and imprisoned for modifying a whaling vessel for the transatlantic slave trade. He escaped and captained a Confederate blockade runner and fled to Cuba and then England. Returning to the U.S., he was pardoned by President Grant. As context for Oaksmiths life, White immerses readers in his world, elucidating how New York and New England were hubs for slave trading; efforts to end the slave trade by Lincoln, Secretary of State Seward, and other officials; and post-Civil War politics and society. Oaksmiths parents, Seba and Elizabeth, were abolitionists and progressives, with Elizabeth energetically advocating for womens rights. Despite extensive research, White could not determine why Oaksmith rejected his family's values to participate in the slave trade. A distinctive, exciting, and provocative perspective on the Civil War era. * Booklist *
White (A House Built by Slaves), a professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University, provides a finely grained biography of sea captain Appleton Oaksmith (18281887). A seafarer, poet, jailbird, convict, escapee, exile, and expat, Oaksmith's life touched some of the most important moments in nineteenth-century American history, writes White, such as first-wave feminism, the Atlantic slave trade, and Southern schemes to seize Cuba and Nicaragua. His parents, Seba Smith and Elizabeth Oakes Smith, were notable literary figures in New York City, and Elizabeth, who is as much the subject of the book as her son, was a leader in the womens rights movement. A life at sea brought Oaksmith little financial success; accused of fitting out his ship as a slaver, in 1861 he was imprisoned in Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor. Oaksmithwho maintained his innocenceescaped and sailed to Cuba. He eventually returned to the U.S. and was elected to the North Carolina general assembly. Evocative and well researched, White's narrative draws ample evidence from archival sources, including the journals Oaksmith kept at sea. Its an immersive account of a man who was not always likable but whose turbulent life sheds light on the nooks and crannies of the Civil War era. * Publishers Weekly *
White here profiles a virtually unknown, 19th-century adventurer seaman named Appleton Oaksmith (18281887). During the Antebellum years, that Southerner witnessed or participated in the China trade, the California Gold Rush, Latin American filibustering expeditions, and the African slave trade, including vessel provision. Following Lincolns 1861 inauguration and the subsequent US crackdown on Northern involvement in such economic aspects of the trades previously unenforced prohibition, Oaksmith was jailed as a participant, escaped, became a Confederate blockade-runner, and lived in exile until pardoned by President Grant. Returning home to North Carolina, he become a legislator and anti-KKK advocate prior to his death at age 59. Recommended. General readers through faculty. * Choice Reviews *
Shipwrecked provides an excellent lens through which we are able to see the complexities of life during the Civil War era. Whites book shows how the Lincoln administrations policies regarding the slave trade impacted individuals, and how even those who remained far from any battlefield could still have their lives substantially changed due to the circumstances created by Americas internal conflict. Shipwrecked is a great story about a flawed and controversial man that will engage anyone with an interest in Civil War history. But readers who are particularly fascinated with President Lincolns political policies, the conflicts impact on social issues, maritime connections to the war, efforts to end the international slave trade, and the postwar relocation of Confederates in exile abroad will find this study especially insightful. There is virtually something for everyone in Shipwrecked. * Emerging Civil War *
Oaksmith needed a biography and its first rate. Rarely does a book cover so many themes central to 1800s U.S. history with such style. -- John Harris, author, The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage
Jonathan White's account of Appleton Oaksmith is a page-turner. Told with the verbal panache of a skilled novelist, it is in fact a serious examination of some of the central issues of nineteenth-century US history. White is a very good writer, but he's also a very good historian. Go out and get yourself a copy of Shipwrecked, and then enjoy. -- James Oakes, Distinguished Professor of History, City University of New York
Acclaimed scholar Jonathan W. White has a way of throwing light on dark corners of American history. In his fascinating new book, Shipwrecked, White tells the wild story of an adventurer and sea captain who falls under the scrutiny of President Lincolns administration. This compelling tale takes us into a topsy-turvy realm of civil liberties in a nation torn by war and rapidly shifting politics. -- Edward Achorn, author of The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention that Changed History
Whites book provides an enlightening peek behind the most dramatic headlines of the mid-nineteenth century. It is a must-read for enthusiasts and students of the Civil War, maritime and geopolitical history, the slave trade, and anybody who just enjoys a good yarn. * Civil War Navy *
Jonathan W. White offers an enthralling and deeply researched account of the astonishing career of Appleton Oaksmith, a Civil War era sea captain, slaver, and politician. * Civil War Monitor *
From obscurity, White has rescued Oaksmith, who led an adventurous life and figures as representative of several themes of the Civil War era. This is a fast-paced, deeply researched book centering on a charismatic rogue who, despite his Northern background, became a slave trader and blockade runner. * Sea History *
Appleton Oaksmith had a colorful life, which is amply told in these pages. The author tells his story artfully and in a manner thatno doubtundergraduate and graduate students alike will find intriguing. * Civil War Book Review *
A gifted storyteller and careful scholar, White uses Oaksmiths action-packed life as a lens to explore some of the major events of the period, including the California gold rush, filibustering in Latin America, southern secession, Confederate blockade-running, Reconstruction, and Abraham Lincolns concerted (and sometimes extralegal) efforts to destroy the transatlantic slave trade. Indeed, Oaksmith was like a Civil Warera Forrest Gump in the way his life intersected with so many of the periods key themes and episodes... Oaksmiths remarkable story, which White narrates with a dramatists flair, is yet more evidence that the past is typically more complicated than it seems. Like the best biographers, White effectively situates that story in its larger setting, making Shipwrecked an ideal tool for teaching students (and the public) about key aspects of the Civil War era. * The Journal of Southern History *

Author Bio

Historian Jonathan W. White is 2023 joint winner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize and the author of many books including, most recently, A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House (R&L, 2022). His numerous articles, essays, and reviews on Lincoln and the Civil War Era have appeared in Smithsonian, Time, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. He teaches American studies at Christopher Newport University and resides in Newport News, VA.