"A Voice from the Main
Deck" by Samuel Leech (1834) 
This is an exceptionally fine autobiography of a young ship's boy in the British Navy during the early 1800's. He first served on the Macedonian frigate fighting the French and later the Americans in the War of 1812. The Macedonian was defeated and captured by the American frigate U. S. Constitution, captained by Decatur. Leech gives a harrowing and accurate account of the bloody battle in which more than a third of the Macedonian's crew are killed or wounded.
Leech had no love for the vile treatment meted out by the British officers and jumped ship before he could be exchanged for captured Americans. He joined the American Navy and set sail to the coast of Africa where his sloop of war captured several British merchant ships before they were captured by a British ship of the line. He then spent over a year in prison, passing as an American, in Cape Town until the war was over. He was then shipped to England where, along with other Americans, he was imprisoned an unreasonable length of time before being returned to America. The whole time he was in captivity, he faced hanging if discovered. Returning to America, he worked at odd jobs for a while and then reenlisted in the U. S. Navy on a brig. The brig's captain was another absolute tyrant and he jumped ship while in New Orleans. He then worked his way back to New England while saving money along the way. He eventually opened his own business, married and started a family.
Once it was safe for him to return to England, he visited his aging mother, sister, and brothers and toured many religious sites. He was joyful to visit his previous home, but had adopted America as his home wholeheartedly.
This book details the brutal treatment of the British sailor and the evils of grog. Leech found religion after his trials at sea, and pleaded for the sailors to find God and leave off the grog. He was instrumental with the publication of his book in bringing about the better treatment of the common sailor in the U. S. Navy.
The brutal and unjust punishment of some of the men described in the book is astounding. That there were not more mutinies is surprising. Britannia ruled the waves by sheer intimidation and fear is the feeling I was left with after reading this book.
As an aside,
I wonder why, after all the books I have read about the British
versus the French in the Napoleonic Wars, why I root for the British.
The French were more in line with the American view of freedom,
whereas the British were for perpetuating royalty and the elite
classes, much to the detriment of the working classes. The power
of a nation is measured by its working class.
Reviewed by
Ken Smith on 8 July 1999
Available from:
McBooks Press, Classics of Nautical Fiction
Jack Sweetman, Series editor
120 W. State St.
Ithaca NY 14850
www.mcbooks.com
