Laurel O'Malley is the nineteen year old daughter of a highly regarded country doctor living just on the outskirts of Baltimore, a city under threat of attack by the British in 1814. Though not officially courting as yet, she fancies herself in a relationship with Edward Morrison who has been corresponding with her since he's been away at West Point. Though the British are steadily increasing the numbers of war ships out in the Chesapeake Bay, the war has been only an annoyance to her until Captain Bret Harrington, an injured privateer, and two of his crew members seek medical treatment from her father. This encounter causes her to begin to awaken to the dangers all Baltimore citizens are facing. Over the course of several weeks, Laurel fights her attraction to the handsome privateer as she struggles to maintain her loyalty to Edward who has been recently posted at Fort McHenry, just up the road from where she lives. Nevertheless, with the daily concern that the British may invade, Edward is unable to make his courtship official. At the same time, Laurel finds herself repeatedly in the company of Bret Harrington, who has made no secret of his interest in her. Over the course of the next months, she is faced with several unforeseen tragedies that turn her life upside down. And then when the British burn Washington, the war becomes ever so real to her and everyone she loves. Laurel finds herself having to stand tall for her country and for the man she has come to love.
Laurel O'Malley is the nineteen year old daughter of a highly regarded country doctor living just on the outskirts of Baltimore, a city under threat of attack by the British in 1814. Though the British have 60 ships in Chesapeake Bay, she is unconcerned about her safety because Fort McHenry stands guard. She goes about her daily life as usual until several events turn her world upside down. Just when she thinks she is back in control, she sees Washington ablaze in the night sky. Caught within the turmoil of war, Laurel has to stand strong for her home and for the man she has come to love.
In a rousing account of one of the critical turning points in American history, Through the Perilous Fight tells the gripping story of the burning of Washington and the improbable last stand at Baltimore that helped save the nation and inspired its National Anthem. In the summer of 1814, the United States of America teetered on the brink of disaster. The war it had declared against Great Britain two years earlier appeared headed toward inglorious American defeat. The young nation’s most implacable nemesis, the ruthless British Admiral George Cockburn, launched an invasion of Washington in a daring attempt to decapitate the government and crush the American spirit. The British succeeded spectacularly, burning down most of the city’s landmarks—including the White House and the Capitol—and driving President James Madison from the area. As looters ransacked federal buildings and panic gripped the citizens of Washington, beleaguered American forces were forced to regroup for a last-ditch defense of Baltimore. The outcome of that “perilous fight” would help change the outcome of the war—and with it, the fate of the fledgling American republic. In a fast-paced, character-driven narrative, Steve Vogel tells the story of this titanic struggle from the perspective of both sides. Like an epic novel, Through the Perilous Fight abounds with heroes, villains, and astounding feats of derring-do. The vindictive Cockburn emerges from these pages as a pioneer in the art of total warfare, ordering his men to “knock down, burn, and destroy” everything in their path. While President Madison dithers on how to protect the capital, Secretary of State James Monroe personally organizes the American defenses, with disastrous results. Meanwhile, a prominent Washington lawyer named Francis Scott Key embarks on a mission of mercy to negotiate the release of an American prisoner. His journey will place him with the British fleet during the climactic Battle for Baltimore, and culminate in the creation of one of the most enduring compositions in the annals of patriotic song: “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, the burning of Washington was a devastating national tragedy that ultimately united America and renewed its sense of purpose. Through the Perilous Fight combines bravura storytelling with brilliantly rendered character sketches to recreate the thrilling six-week period when Americans rallied from the ashes to overcome their oldest adversary—and win themselves a new birth of freedom. Praise for Through the Perilous Fight “Very fine storytelling, impeccably researched . . . brings to life the fraught events of 1814 with compelling and convincing vigor.”—Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An Army at Dawn “Probably the best piece of military history that I have read or reviewed in the past five years. . . . This well-researched and superbly written history has all the trappings of a good novel. . . . No one who hears the national anthem at a ballgame will ever think of it the same way after reading this book.”—Gary Anderson, The Washington Times “[Steve] Vogel does a superb job. . . . [A] fast-paced narrative with lively vignettes.”—Joyce Appleby, The Washington Post “Before 9/11 was 1814, the year the enemy burned the nation’s capital. . . . A splendid account of the uncertainty, the peril, and the valor of those days.”—Richard Brookhiser, author of James Madison “A swift, vibrant account of the accidents, intricacies and insanities of war.”—Kirkus Reviews
Oh Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present generation, to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven, that I ever took half the pains to preserve it. --John Adams, April 26, 1777. Amidst the political divisions that exist today, many Americans believe the Founding Fathers would roll over in their graves if they saw what posterity did with their divine creation. Oh, Posterity! What Have You Done? explores what the Founding Fathers might say to us if given the opportunity in this piece of historical fiction. Is modern America anything close to what they intended? Have twenty-first-century Americans forgotten who they were and subsequently who we are? Have we lost our way, and what will it take to get us back on track and in the good graces of the Almighty? Follow God's new messenger, William Justice Freeman, as he is charged by Providence with the task of breathing new life into the founding generation's words in the hopes of saving the country. Starting on January 6, 2021, and ending on July 2, 2024--prior to an election that could be a turning point in the cause of human freedom--see what the Founders think of modern America as they are given the opportunity to live among us for three years, culminating in eight thought-provoking interviews with Mr. Freeman. Do they believe America can be saved? Why is individual free will so important to the Almighty? Are freedom and democracy synonymous, or has posterity forgotten what the principle of freedom even means? Can Americans regain a connection to the revolutionary generation and understand what they gave us some 250 years ago? Join William Freeman as he attempts to wake America up to its forgotten purpose in the world!
