SHIPWRECKED: A True Civil War Story of Mutinies, Jailbreaks, Blockade-Running, and the Slave Trade, by Jonathan W. WhiteWho was Appleton Oaksmith? One contemporary described him as a “good seaman, & a bold & daring officer.” His enemies, President Abraham Lincoln among them, judged him a scoundrel and a traitor. As a young seafaring adventurer in the 1850s, Oaksmith armed mercenaries in Nicaragua and joined the liberation movement in Cuba. After Lincoln took office, in 1861, Oaksmith became a shipping agent, outfitting old whaling ships. Whaling was in decline, so, it was assumed, the people who bought and fitted whalers were likely slavers.

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Persons: Jonathan W, White, Appleton, ”, Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln, Oaksmith Organizations: Slave, Tammany Hall Democrat, Whaling Locations: Jailbreaks, Nicaragua, Cuba, North