When Americans think of the American Revolution, they typically think of the ground troops led by men such as George Washington, Daniel Morgan, and Nathanael Greene. When it comes to fighting on the high seas, it’s the French Navy that comes to mind. The Continental Navy, aside from possibly John Paul Jones, typically isn’t given much thought. In fact, the Continental Navy was disbanded at the end of the war. It wasn’t until 1794 that the Department of the Navy was created, but still it wasn’t incredibly memorable.
Over the past five years, James L. Haley has been working to help mend that dismissive mentality. In 2016, his first work of the Putnam Series launched with “The Shores of Tripoli: Lieutenant Putnam and the Barbary Pirates,” telling the fascinating story of the war against the Muslim pirates. The series follows its namesake, now-Captain Bliven Putnam, along the African coast, against British vessels in the War of 1812 (“A Darker Sea: Master Commandant Putnam and The War of 1812”), into Hawaii (“The Devil in Paradise: Captain Putnam in Hawaii”), and into Texas with his latest work “Captain Putnam for the Republic of Texas.”
