Bravest of the Brave

Bravest of the Brave is a chronicle of the life and adventures of David Porter, whose career spanned the formative years of the U.S. Navy, 1796-1843. He rose through the ranks from Midshipman to Commodore. He fought in the Quasi-French War, in the Tripolitan War and against the pirate, Jean Lafitte. During the War of 1812 he took his ship, the frigate U.S.S. Essex, around Cape Horn. It was the first time an American warship entered the Pacific Ocean. There he fought the British and also the Typees in the Marquesas Islands. The voyage ended with a major battle with two British warships at Valparaiso, Chile.

After the war he became on of the three Commissioners of the Navy. He was assigned to rid the Caribbean of pirates. During this endeavor he became involved in a controversial decision that resulted in his court-martial.

The novel, based on his own writings as well as other historical documents about the period, transports the reader through the tumultuous times of the early Republic. America faced perils not unlike today, aggression abroad from pirates and even attacks at home on American soil. David Porter's courage and bravery at a time of great danger to his country were instrumental in the successful termination of the threats and the development of the U.S. Navy.

Porter summarizes his life in an excerpt from a letter he wrote shortly before his death. "There was a time when there was nothing that I thought too daring to be attempted for her (my country); but those times are past, and appear only as a confused and painful dream. A retrospect of the history of my life seems a highly-colored romance, which I should be very loath to live over again; and it would not be believed, if it was written."