The Story
Passed Midshipman Gavin MacKenzie and the USS Pawnee head for Charleston Harbor in a desperate attempt to resupply Fort Sumter in April 1861. Too late, the country plunges into civil war. Events follow quickly for the Pawnee: the destruction of the Norfolk Navy Yard, the Battle of Aquia Creek, the capture of Hatteras Inlet in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
By February of ’62, MacKenzie, on the USS Delaware, is in the thick of the battle to capture North Carolina’s Roanoke Island and to destroy the defending Confederate mosquito fleet.
Ironically, naval officer MacKenzie sees much of his action ashore, in command of howitzer detachments. But battle still calls for the heart-pounding boarding of a Rebel vessel with pistol and cutlass.
The Civil War generates painful dilemmas, and MacKenzie is deeply conflicted by his close friendship with the Franklins of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Jeremy was his best friend at the Naval Academy but “goes South” when his state secedes. And his sister, Rebecca, is an alluring and headstrong young woman who challenges MacKenzie’s intention to marry—eventually—the beautiful Christina back home in Wisconsin.
Join Gavin MacKenzie and the Navy as the horrendous defining event in the country’s history unfolds.
The Beginning of the Civil War
Most people focus on the armies and the land battles, but my book – and series – will emphasize the role of the Navy. Ironically, much of the naval action in the terrible Civil War occurred on the coast, in the sounds, and on the country’s rivers. There were seldom pitched naval battles between the Union and the Confederacy – the Confederacy had no navy at all at the beginning and concentrated on harbor defense and breaking the blockade. Indeed, my Gavin MacKenzie sees much his action ashore.
The American Civil War as a terrible war, pitting families and friends and states against each other. It was a time in which people often owed more allegiance to their state than to the country as a whole. I illustrate this awful predicament with MacKenzie’s deep friendship with the Franklins, a slaveholding Southern family.
I did voluminous research for this Civil War tale. All the ships mentioned were real. Records of battles fought are extensive, contemporary manuals for howitzer operations were readily available, personal memoirs are fascinating to read.
The American Civil War fascinates me. It was the defining event in the history of the United States, and its legacy still resonates in the country today.
What is a Passed Midshipman?
I’ve been asked what a “passed midshipman” was. It was a naval rank like any other, equivalent to an Army second lieutenant. At the beginning of the Civil War, students at the Naval Academy were called cadets. They were commissioned as midshipmen, equivalent to an Army third lieutenant, but the U.S. Army had none. (The Confederate Army apparently did.) After some time in grade and passing an appropriate exam, they were promoted to passed midshipmen. They then progressed through the rank of master (Army first lieutenant) to the rank of lieutenant (Army captain). It was much later that cadets were called midshipmen and commissioned as ensigns. Then promoted through lieutenant, junior grade, to lieutenant.
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Amazon review: “A very good read! For those of us interested in the naval side of the Civil War, and of the interactions of the people from both the North and South sides of the conflict, I highly recommend this book. I look forward to reading book 2 of this series.“
The adventures of Passed Midshipman Gavin MacKenzie continue in Book Two, Duel at Hampton Roads, which chronicles the revolutionary destruction of the wooden USS Cumberland by the ironclad CSS Virginia (former USS Merrimack) and her famous duel the next day with the USS Monitor.
