Contents

EPIGRAPH

MAP

PROLOGUE

It was nighttime in the shipyard, the working day long…

ONE

It was a month before the burning of the Tennessee,…

TWO

Even before the shooting started, Bowater guessed that his blue-water…

THREE

Wendy Atkins looked at the letter in her hand. Crumpled…

FOUR

Samuel Bowater ran forward, reached the bottom of the ladder…

FIVE

Wendy let Molly lead the way to the train station.

SIX

The morning after the brawl, Bowater woke with an unaccustomed…

SEVEN

Wendy Atkins had a disconnected, free-floating feeling, like one of…

EIGHT

Hieronymus Taylor found himself wandering about the decks of the…

NINE

Wendy Atkins had been in a play once. She had…

TEN

Second Master Thomas B. Gregory, United States Navy, in command of Mortar…

ELEVEN

When your sanctuary becomes your hell, there’s no damned place…

TWELVE

The tug rolled along under a perfect blue sky, the…

THIRTEEN

The Union fleet was getting under way, but Wendy and…

FOURTEEN

By the time they dragged Hieronymus Taylor back on board…

FIFTEEN

The next morning, Samuel Bowater went to Shirley’s yard and…

SIXTEEN

The Norwegians were kindness itself to the pair of exhausted-looking,…

SEVENTEEN

In the dark, Wendy saw Molly make her move for…

EIGHTEEN

Samuel Bowater felt like Noah’s less-enlightened neighbor.

NINETEEN

Samuel Bowater had seen his share of theaters and opera…

TWENTY

They stepped tentatively through the iron gates of the shipyard,…

TWENTY-ONE

Samuel Bowater walked stiffly uphill to the hospital. He was…

TWENTY-TWO

Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall stared through field glasses at the…

TWENTY-THREE

Mississippi Mike steadfastly refused to allow his literary doppelgänger to…

TWENTY-FOUR

Wendy could feel her confidence and her boat-handling ability growing…

TWENTY-FIVE

Midshipman Hardin Littlepage brought the news: Lieutenant Jones’s boat was…

TWENTY-SIX

Wendy saw Newcomb running up the trail toward them. It…

TWENTY-SEVEN

It was some time after the death of CSS Virginia…

TWENTY-EIGHT

For Bowater, stepping into command was like pulling on an…

TWENTY-NINE

Flag Officer Charles Davis, United States Navy, looked around his…

THIRTY

There was going to be a battle. A fight on…

THIRTY-ONE

The Union ironclad fleet had let loose with a full…

THIRTY-TWO

The impact tore Taylor’s fingers from the throttle valve and…

THIRTY-THREE

Wendy Atkins was riding the same emotional seesaw as the…

THIRTY-FOUR

Bowater slept fitfully and not long, lurching along on the…

EPILOGUE

By June 30, 1863, the Battle of Memphis was a…


HISTORICAL NOTE

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