James Durand, an Able Seaman of 1812
James Durand, An Able Seaman of 1812, was (when it came out in 1820) entitled The Life and Adventures of James R. Durand, During a Period of Fifteen Years, from 1801 to 1816: in which Time He Was Impressed on Board the British Fleet, and Held in Detestable Bondage for More than Seven Years. Including an Account of a Voyage to the Mediterranean. Written by Himself. My copy is the Yale University Press edition of 1926, edited nicely by George S. Brooks.
As with many such narratives, this one lacks much real detail. There are only 90 small pages of original text, 30 pages of useful, and sometimes lengthy, footnotes, and 20 pages of appendix. Included in the end material are a number of quotes from a British source about the misbehavior of Americans during and preceding the War of 1812. It's nice to get the other view.
Anyway, Durand served on the Constitution for a bit (but really didn't like the officers), also on a French blockade runner, and eventually found himself a prisoner of the British. Then he got pressed, with the usual false testimony, and spent the War of 1812 fighting on the British side. He was put in the position of being told to work the guns against his own State, refusing, and being put in irons.
His is quite a tale of woe, (including more than one shipwreck) and interesting despite some errors in his memory for dates, etc.. He is also good for an antidote quote to the fictional Hornblowers and Aubreys out there:
"...I have heard much about English officers and gentlemen and what their word is worth, but I never met one whom I would believe under the most solemn oath. They are and always will be perjured, lying, sottish, brutal creatures, arrogant in victory and sullen in defeat. I know something of them, for as I have indicated, I spent many years in their service."
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The Successful Novelist, David Morrell
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