{"product_id":"uss-constellation-on-the-dismal-c-herbert-gilliland-9781611172898","title":"USS Constellation on the Dismal Coast: Willie Leonard's Journal, 1859-1861","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA firsthand account of daily life aboard an American warship intercepting slave-trading vessels\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday the twenty-gun sloop USS Constellation is a floating museum in Baltimore Harbor; in 1859 it was an emblem of the global power of the American sailing navy. When young William E. Leonard boarded the \u003ci\u003eConstellation\u003c\/i\u003e as a seaman for what proved to be a twenty-month voyage to the African coast, he began to compose a remarkable journal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSailing from Boston, the \u003ci\u003eConstellation, \u003c\/i\u003e flagship of the U.S. African Squadron, was charged with the interception and capture of slave-trading vessels illegally en route from Africa to the Americas. During the \u003ci\u003eConstellation's\u003c\/i\u003e deployment, the squadron captured a record number of these ships, liberating their human cargo and holding the captains and crews for criminal prosecution. At the same time, tensions at home and in the squadron increased as the American Civil War approached and erupted in April 1861. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeonard recorded not only historic events but also fascinating details about his daily life as one of the nearly 400-member crew. He saw himself as not just a diarist, but a reporter, making special efforts to seek out and record information about individual crewmen, shipboard practices, recreation and daily routine--from deck swabbing and standing watch to courts martial and dramatic performances by the \u003ci\u003eConstellation\u003c\/i\u003e Dramatic Society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis good-humored gaze into the lives and fortunes of so many men stationed aboard a distinguished American warship makes Gilliland's edition of Willie Leonard's journal a significant work of maritime history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e C. Herbert Gilliland\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1611172896\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781611172898\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of South Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/15\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 430\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.30w x 1.40d","brand":"C. Herbert Gilliland","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48065750827263,"sku":"9781611172898","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_fa8499e3-0a28-4aa6-a49b-678633269b37.jpg?v=1768677025","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/uss-constellation-on-the-dismal-c-herbert-gilliland-9781611172898","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}