Overview

Illuminates the early American period in the upper Caribbean Scourge of the Caribbean explores the mysterious and dramatic life and career of Charles E. Hawkins, a relatively unknown naval figure in early national America. Hawkins's action-packed life at sea in his brief but accomplished career reveals much about an era when the rules of the maritime world, especially in the Caribbean, were in flux. For the US Navy and its commanders, the Caribbean presented an untold number of ambiguities: revolutionary juntas, privateering, piracy, and deadly disease, all within some of the most beautiful landscapes and waterscapes on earth. Hawkins, from a well-connected family, took to the sea as a midshipman in the US Navy. Stalled promotion, economic setbacks, and blunted opportunities stymied the young officer, but ambition, combined with varied experiences and maritime pursuits, presented other prospects. At a time when individual agency mattered most, Hawkins stepped outside traditional boundaries of conduct on numerous occasions. Hawkins followed a mentor into the Mexican navy and became the most successful and feared raider of Spanish ships, earning the sobriquet ""scourge"" because of his raids along Cuba's northern coast. In 1835, Hawkins joined the Texas independence movement against Mexico. Within the historical narrative are lurid accounts of adultery, affairs of honor, a bloody assassination, and complicated maritime legal battles. Based on prodigious research, this lively tale will appeal to those interested in maritime and early American history and the upper Caribbean in the Age of Sail.

Full Product Details

9780817362560

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Reviews

""Denham has produced an interesting `deep dive' bio of a fascinating character and underappreciated period of Gulf history."" --John S. Sledge, author of The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History ""Comprehensively researched and wonderfully readable, this important work transforms our understanding of the maritime world of the Caribbean. Combining first-rate narrative and incisive analysis, through the remarkable Charles Hawkins, Denham introduces a rich tapestry of characters with all their ambition, passion, drama, and honor. In this exploration of an emerging naval history and culture, adventures are sure to await ye."" --Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln ""The lives of some historical figures appear ripped from the pages of a novel; this certainly describes Hawkins. Denham spins a compelling narrative of duels, deceit, piracy, and naval action to chart Hawkins's complex life within the early nineteenth-century maritime world of the southern United States and Texas."" --Kevin D. McCranie, author of Utmost Gallantry: The U.S. and Royal Navies at Sea in the War of 1812 ""The Scourge of the Caribbean brings readers into the world of the sailors, scoundrels, and swashbucklers who defined the Gulf Coast of 19th century America, while at the same time making a valuable contribution to the study of American naval and maritime history."" --Benjamin ""BJ"" Armstrong, author of Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy

""Denham has produced an interesting `deep dive' bio of a fascinating character and underappreciated period of Gulf history."" --John S. Sledge, author of The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History ""Comprehensively researched and wonderfully readable, this important work transforms our understanding of the maritime world of the Caribbean. Combining first-rate narrative and incisive analysis, through the remarkable Charles Hawkins, Denham introduces a rich tapestry of characters with all their ambition, passion, drama, and honor. In this exploration of an emerging naval history and culture, adventures are sure to await ye."" --Orville Vernon Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln ""The lives of some historical figures appear ripped from the pages of a novel; this certainly describes Hawkins. Denham spins a compelling narrative of duels, deceit, piracy, and naval action to chart Hawkins's complex life within the early nineteenth-century maritime world of the southern United States and Texas."" --Kevin D. McCranie, author of Utmost Gallantry: The U.S. and Royal Navies at Sea in the War of 1812 ""The Scourge of the Caribbean brings readers into the world of the sailors, scoundrels, and swashbucklers who defined the Gulf Coast of 19th century America, while at the same time making a valuable contribution to the study of American naval and maritime history."" --Benjamin ""BJ"" Armstrong, author of Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy

""Denham has produced an interesting `deep dive' bio of a fascinating character and underappreciated period of Gulf history."" --John S. Sledge, author of The Gulf of Mexico: A Maritime History ""Comprehensively researched and wonderfully readable, this important work transforms our understanding of the maritime world of the Caribbean. Combining first-rate narrative and incisive analysis, through the remarkable Charles Hawkins, Denham introduces a rich tapestry of characters with all their ambition, passion, drama, and honor. In this exploration of an emerging naval history and culture, adventures are sure to await ye."" --Orville Vernon Burton, author of Justice Deferred: Race and the Supreme Court and The Age of Lincoln ""The lives of some historical figures appear ripped from the pages of a novel; this certainly describes Hawkins. Denham spins a compelling narrative of duels, deceit, piracy, and naval action to chart Hawkins's complex life within the early nineteenth-century maritime world of the southern United States and Texas."" --Kevin D. McCranie, author of Utmost Gallantry: The U.S. and Royal Navies at Sea in the War of 1812 ""The Scourge of the Caribbean brings readers into the world of the sailors, scoundrels, and swashbucklers who defined the Gulf Coast of 19th century America, while at the same time making a valuable contribution to the study of American naval and maritime history."" --Benjamin ""BJ"" Armstrong, author of Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy

Author Information

James M. Denham is professor of history and director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College. Among his authored books are Florida Founder William P. DuVal: Frontier Bon Vivant, Fifty Years of Justice: A History of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, and A Rogue's Paradise: Crime and Punishment in Antebellum Florida, 1821–1861.

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