Captain of the Tides Gunner Morgan

Product Description

In 1882, Charles “Gunner” Morgan, 17, shipped out from New Orleans as a 3rd class apprentice seaman, Navy No. 817. Becoming a Navy team baseball player, he knew the “greats” in American baseball. In 1898, he led the dive team pulling bodies from the USS Maine disaster, reported to President Theodore Roosevelt (then assistant secretary of the Navy), and became “The Man Who Started the Spanish-American War.”
Known also as “The Man Behind the Gun” for his shooting prowess, he was among the first enlisted men promoted to officer. He taught the Japanese how to fire the big guns in the Russo-Japanese War. He survived working in Thomas Edison’s Navy lab at Key West.
Yet, he found time for love. He met Vivian, the sugar king of Havana’s daughter, married and pregnant — both situations temporary. She became his soul’s safe harbor.
In later years, he helped build the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West. As Maritime Inspector, he surveyed and developed the South American airports creating Pan Am Airways.
An American patriot, he lived for the moment that the sunset’s green fire on the sea’s horizon promised the dawn to come. Always he returned to the sea.
Board the ships, climb the rigging, shoot the guns, when America came to rule the seas. Discover the 93 years that defined Gunner Morgan.
His grandson, Charles D. Morgan, discovered his grandfather’s old sea chest, and hidden in its base, stacks of documents and letters, that led the author on a lifetime journey to reveal his grandfather’s legacy to America.
“Captain of the Tides Gunner Morgan” is that legacy, retold as an historical novel, a riveting story of a young Navy seaman whose heroism captured the loyalty of Americans.

Review

As a Marine and avid reader of all things military, it was a real thrill for me to discover a real-life US Navy hero, “Gunner” Morgan, in the historic novel “Captain of the Tides Gunner Morgan.” Enlisting on the New Orleans docks in 1882, his first ship was the USS Kearsarge famous for sinking the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, a fitting start to a stellar career spanning four wars. Working his way from the galley to the gun deck, he became an expert on Naval gunnery earning the title of “The Man Behind the Gun.” Gunner found additional fame as the lead diver during recovery operations after the explosion on the USS Maine in Havana harbor. From his reports on the likely cause of the sinking, he was called “The Man Who Started the Spanish-American War.” A pioneer “Mustang” (enlisted to officer) he was among the first from the ranks promoted to officer amid a nationwide controversy as hidebound “ring knockers,” Academy graduates, tried to prevent the elevation of non-Academy graduates to officer status. He worked with Thomas Edison on Navy inventions and nearly died in an explosion. In the business world, he helped start Pan American Airways and married the daughter of a multi-millionaire sugar baron. Although he came to life with the vivid writing in the book, I wish I could have met Gunner Morgan during his lifetime. The co-authors, Charles Morgan, his grandson, and Jacque Hillman, swept me into Gunner’s life from his early days growing up in New Orleans to walking the quiet streets of Somerville, Tennessee; they led me down history’s paths through the characters who actually lived it. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in military history, particularly naval. – Lt. Gen. John “Glad” Castellaw, USMC (Retired).

This captivating story of the life and remarkable achievements of “Gunner” Morgan grabs hold of the reader from the first to the last word and won’t let go. It’s easy to become caught up as he enlists in the Navy and, from the start, is determined to become the best sailor he could be – as a gunner; as a diver; as a leader and mentor for other sailors; and as a respected advisor to his Navy leaders. His courage under fire and in dangerous situations is the stuff of heroes. The fact that he was among