The dunes above, near Cape May, are very similar to what Turtle Gut Inlet looked like two hundred and fifty years ago.

Lexington, accompanied by Wasp, set out to aid the Nancy. They anchored close to Cape May to wait out the night. In the early light of dawn, realizing the necessity for quick action, Captain Barry ordered the boats from the Lexington and Wasp, taking personal command of the rescue. The Nancy was hard aground in Turtle Gut Inlet and under heavy fire from the British warships. Barry and his men boarded the Nancy. They manned Nancy’s guns to ward off the attack of the warships. At the same time unloading the valuable cargo of munitions and storing it safely ashore.
Nancy was taking a terrific bombardment from British cannons. Somehow she returned enough fire to discourage a boarding party of enemy sailors from the large frigate, Kingfisher. After only about two-thirds of the gunpowder had been unloaded, Captain Barry ordered the men to abandon the ship. He also planned other surprises you can read about in USS Lexington and the Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet.
The last man to leave the ship was reportedly a seaman who stayed behind to retrieve the ship’s flag. The boats made the few hundred yards to shore safely, stopping only to pull the seaman and his precious flag into the boat. This same story is also told from the viewpoint of a young teenage boy in Edward and the Canvas Python.

Check out all of my novels and short stories on my Author Page at Amazon.

The post The Story of Turtle Gut Inlet appeared first on David Perry's Books.

Most of the novels I have written are set in the days of the American Revolution and tell true stories about the naval heroes of the period. To help my readers understand, I always include a dictionary of nautical terms in the book. It is called Salty Talk.

Here is the dictionary section containing “C” words (get it “sea” words = “C” words? Never mind).

I bet you thought you knew what a “Cable” was. Not so fast. Sailors can convolute the meaning of any word. Just watch. . .

CABLE is a unit of measure, but it is based on the actual length of a cable, which was the very thick hemp line (the landlubber word for “line” is rope) that ran between the sailing ship and the anchor. This line was 1/10th of a nautical mile long. Hence the unit of length termed “cable” is 1/10th of a nautical mile, or 200 yards

Let me give you a “Clew” about what the next word is. You guessed it!

As a noun, CLEWS are the lower corners of a square sail or the aft corner of a triangular sail. As a verb, such as ‘CLEW UP’, it means to draw the clews up to the yard arm. This makes the sails ineffective for sailing but gets them out of the way quickly if the ship is going into battle. That is very important with all the burning powder and flying, flaming, felt wads in the air.

Lets see how “Close” you can come to defining the last word.

Sailing CLOSE to the wind means to sail into the wind. The more directly a ship sails into the wind, the closer it is to the wind.

Those are the “C” words in my nautical dictionary. Drop me a line if you have a question about a particular sailor word (keep it clean.).

The post Salty Talk – By the letter “C” appeared first on David Perry's Books.

Before going to Amazon,

. . . take a minute to read this book excerpt form No One Left Behind. I have taken it straight from the first few pages of the story.

“You are in my zone, Amigo. And I think you have not paid the toll, no?”

Fear forced bile up from his churning stomach, and it burned Luis’s throat. Still, he could form no reply. He started to back away but felt hands on his shoulders. It surprised him that they were gentle, not rough. He could not find the courage to resist as one of the shadows gripped his left wrist and twisted his arm up behind his back. He barely felt the movement as his wallet was slipped from his pocket. The man facing him took the wallet from his compatriot and opened it. Thumbing through it, he pulled out his driver’s license and state ID—then some cash.

“Thirty-seven dollars, Amigo?” the gang leader sounded incredulous. “All you have in here is thirty-seven dollars? Hermano, I think you need this more than we do.” The two shadows behind Luis snickered. The gang leader handed the wallet back to Luis but kept the two plastic cards. Luis accepted it with his free hand, still too dazed to return it to his pocket.

“Tal vez . . . Tal vez . . . . Maybe I have another idea. You work for the government,” the gang leader said to Luis while he shuffled the two plastic cards over and over. “You may be more valuable than your present treasure would suggest.” Luis was still silent. His composure was returning, but he didn’t answer because he was not sure this was a question.

“Perhaps we could do business,” the gang leader smiled. “You can get into the Capitol at any time you want, Amigo. No?”

Luis still could not form an answer. He shook his head slightly.

“But I see you might need some convincing. Si?” The leader pocketed the two ID cards and slipped a knife from his belt. Luis winced when he felt his arm pushed up toward the bottom of his neck.

The knifepoint extended toward Luis’s nostril. “Maybe just a small nick to emphasize the partnership we are about to enter, Hermano. Blood brothers, so to say.”

A flash! A low growl. Fur and fangs exploded from the darkness.

Do you want to keep reading?

See full description and more preview reading by clicking HERE.

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Local Liberty Lake author David Perry has just released his fourth novel, No One Left Behind. This is David’s first book in the Post Apocalypse genre. His first three books, Not Self but Country, Crucible of Tradition, and First to Fight, are Historical Fiction novels set in the Continental Navy during the American Revolution. All of Perry’s books are painstakingly researched, even the newest which is futuristic.

No One Left Behind is set in the near future and most of the action takes place in Washington and California. As the story opens, the three West Coast states are not happy with the new conservative federal government and presidential administration. The citizens of those states have voted to give their governors authority to secede from the union at their discretion. The story follows the main character from Boise who must lead a group of untrained followers on a critical rescue mission in unfriendly territory.

David and his wife, Bonnie, have lived in Liberty Lake since 2012, when they returned to the Lower 48 after living in Anchorage, Alaska for seventeen years. While in Alaska they raised a son and daughter. They are now proud to have three grandchildren and five step grandchildren. David and Bonnie are active at Valley Real Life Church on Barker Road in Greenacres.

David grew up only three hours to the east of Liberty Lake in Libby, Montana. After graduating from Libby Senior High School, Perry attended the U.S. Naval Academy. Commissioned an Ensign in the Navy, he served five years of sea duty in the Pacific and several years later retired from the Naval Reserve in 1999. He has been writing for just over four years.

All of David Perry’s books are available on Amazon. You can find all four novels and five short stories at www.amazon.com/David-Perry/e/B00G04V4T6. His website, which contains interesting historical vignettes, is www.daveperrybooks.com.

The post No One Left Behind Is Here appeared first on David Perry's Books.

Continental Navy’s First Battle

April 5, 1776 – The Delaware Capes

There was no moon, but the stars were twinkling brightly over the brigantine Lexington as she slipped along through the warm summer water of the Delaware Bay. Soot from the galley funnel had been rubbed onto the double-reefed main and fore topsails. One of the warships recently commissioned by the fledgling continental congress, she had to first slip past the British blockade of the coastline before she could strike any blow for American freedom. The master’s mate standing by the binnacle was born and raised a fisherman on Cape May and knew these waters blindfolded. This was good because he was essentially conning her through the capes blind. Staying as close to Cape May as possible, with only half of the sails showing, and covered with soot, Captain John Barry prayed that she would be invisible to the two British frigates known to be blockading the mouth of the bay.

“Captain,” the starboard lookout was posted on deck at night, just forward of the shrouds that supported the tall main mast. “I can hear somethin’ t’ starboard. Don’t sound like open ocean . . . more like wind blowin’ through the riggin’ . . . . ‘pears to be comin’ from well forward of the beam,” he spoke in what he believed passed for a loud whisper. Everyone on the quarterdeck strained their eyes and ears, in fact, all the senses they believed one could strain.

The guns were loaded but not run out through the gun ports . . .

Who Won the Battle?

You can find out here (for ninety-nine cents).

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Have you ever asked yourself who was the American Revolutionary hero Matthew Parke? Okay, probably not unless you are a student of eighteenth century American history. The answer to this question is answered in Marines in the Revolution, a book that was written by Charles R. Smith in 1975 for the History and Museums Division of the United States Marine Corps. The book aided greatly in my research for First to Fight.

Matthew Parke was born in 1746 near Ipswich. England. It is recorded in First to Fight that his grandfather served as aide to the Duke of Marlborough while a British Army colonel. Later he held the post of Governor of the Windward Islands. During or after that posting, he went to Virginia and took Matthew with him. That is where the reader meets Matthew in my book.

There is a gap in the historical record, but probably moved to Philadelphia. He popped up there on November 28, 1775, when he was commissioned a first lieutenant of Marines. He was ordered to the Continental Frigate Alfred where he served in Captain Samuel Nicholas‘ company. The famous naval officer, John Paul Jones, was Navy first lieutenant on Alfred.

Parke Becomes Revolutionary Hero Matthew Parke

His first cruise was under command of Commodore Esek Hopkins, whose squadron captured New Providence, on Nassau in the Bahamas. On 6 April 1776, Alfred, the Brig Cabot, and others ships in the squadron engaged the British Frigate Glasgow in Block Island Sound. Parke was uninjured, but a Marine lieutenant was killed in the sea battle.

Captain Parke’s career in the Continental Marines and then the United States Marines saw many commands. After Alfred, he served on:

• Columbus
• Ranger
• Deane
• Alliance (under the notorious Captain Landais, who Parke later arrested)

On August 15, 1781, Captain Parke wed Judith Cooper. By this time he was still serving Alliance, but under Navy Captain John Barry.

In September 1782, Parke and some other officers left the frigate over a dispute about prize money (pay for ship’s captured). Captain Barry claimed he did not have the funds to cover the debt and left the officers in L’Orient, France when he sailed for America. Parke was found guilty of disobeying orders at his court martial in Philadelphia in 1783. But the court also praised his long, illustrious career to Congress.

Seventeen years after he married his second wife, Jane English, Captain Matthew Parke died in Boston in 1813.

Read much more about his life and exploits in First to Fight.

The post Revolutionary Hero Matthew Parke appeared first on David Perry's Books.

Real characters real stories – this make good fiction. All of my historical novels use the pattern of bringing real characters back to life. Look at this from my third novel, First to Fight.

This novel contains 144 characters, three of which are fictional and were created from the mind of the author. These purely fictional characters include Lawson Bellows of the Virginia Loyalist Navy, Finnestere, who is portrayed as Lord Dunmore’s butler, and Betty Hugg who is the fictional daughter of the real historical figure, William Hugg.

Babcock, Henry

Colonel Henry Babcock of the Rhode Island Militia served in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. He was an eyewitness of the battle for Ticonderoga in the latter war. A lawyer from Yale, he was born in 1736. In April 1776, the Rhode Island legislature removed him from command of his troops because it determined he was mentally unstable. He died in October 1800 in New London, Connecticut.

Bulloch, Archibald

The great-great-grandfather of President Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Bulloch was born January 1, 1730, and died on February 22, 1777. He served as a delegate from Georgia to the second Continental Congress. He died in Savannah while preparing the defenses against British invasion.

Coggins, John

A warrant officer in the Royal Navy, Coggins was Bosun on HMS Bolton. After the brig-sloop was captured, he was sent with his captain and two other shipmates to jail in Windham, Connecticut. They all escaped in a boat, but the other three drowned. Bosun Coggins was recaptured.

Craig, Isaac

Isaac Craig was born about August 1741 in Hillsborough or County Down, Ireland. After moving to Philadelphia, he became a master carpenter and cabinetmaker. One of the original Marine Corps first lieutenants, he was assigned to the brig Andrew Doria in November 1775. He was promoted to captain in October 1776 and became a captain in the Army in March 1777, even serving in the War of 1812. He died in Ohio at age 85 May 14, 1826.

Cummings, Robert

Robert Cummings, or Cumming, was a Marine Lieutenant on the Continental frigate Columbus. He was one of the three Marine officers who had some sort of falling out with Captain Whipple and were listed as deserters. However, all three were officially transferred or reassigned from Columbus.

American history is full of heroes and scoundrels. Discover scores more!

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