Alden Carter: Writer

"William Barker Cushing was the most intrepid and exciting officer in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. His daring raids behind enemy lines, including the destruction of the Confederate ironclad Albemarle, are the stuff of legends. Alden R. Carter perfectly captures Cushing's personality and actions in his introduction to the naval officer's fascinating wartime memoir."
--Chris E. Fonvielle Jr., University of North Carolina Wilmington, author of The Wilmington Campaign, Last Rays of Departing Hope

In the Civil War's first weeks, Navy Secretary Gideon Welles gave a final chance to expelled midshipman William Barker Cushing. Brash, ingenious, and fearless, Cushing became the terror of the North Carolina Sounds. The war turned bitterly personal for Cushing in April 1864 when the rebel ironclad Albemarle shot apart the Federal squadron at Plymouth and killed his mentor and friend, Lt. Cdr. Charles W. Flusser. On a chilly night Cushing steered a frail launch up the Roanoke River to destroy the Albemarle and win an immortal place in Navy annals. Cushing's memoir, thoroughly annotated here for the first time, is a stirring tale of adventure and incomparable daring.