This is Part 2 of the review of The Voyage of the Catalpa.

The book describes the amazing adventures, courage and fortitude of the Fenian prisoners and of their escape from a British penal colony in Western Australia.

The author, Peter Stevens, lives in Quincy, Massachusetts, near Boston. He is editor of The Boston Irish Reporter and has written many books and articles about historical topics. His work has appeared in American Heritage, American History, America’s Civil War, The World of Hibernia, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and many other magazines and newspapers.

Some work of this prize-winning author has even been made into films. He has a gift for creating powerful scenes and for showing the human qualities of bravery, endurance and commitment.

The action so far: John Devoy and John Breslin, recent convicts themselves in Queen Victoria’s prisons, have not forgotten their Fenian friends still in prison for struggling to free Ireland. The time is 1875-1876 and the story continues:

John Devoy was the over-all director of the plan. John Breslin was to develop the “land” part of the escape. And Captain Anthony would sail from America and meet Breslin and the escaped prisoners on the beach in Western Australia. Together, they would row the small boat used to chase whales, out to the waiting ship, “Catalpa” and then sail to the United States.

They had to rely completely on the sailing skills and the word of Captain Anthony that he would arrive off the coast of Western Australia on time.

Who was Captain Anthony? He was a New England sea captain who had a distinguished record of commanding whaling ships. He was chosen because he was known to keep his word, but mainly because John Devoy sensed that he was a man of great courage. The escape plan—the very lives of the prisoners, their Fenian helpers and the crew—depended on Captain Anthony.

The voyage was to take a year, but he had to be on time. The escape plan had a space of only a few days for him to arrive on time a year later.

The Captain was from New Bedford, Massachusetts and didn’t have a drop of Irish blood. He accepted the responsibility—even though he knew that failure would mean a British life sentence to penal servitude or maybe the British would hang him. So why did he help the Fenians?

His New England ancestors had fought the British in the American Revolution and like them, he was a proud and independent American. But Devoy had told him of the brutal treatment of the prisoners by the British and Captain Anthony wanted to help them because he thought, “It was the right thing to do.”

This wonderful scene shows Anthony’s courage and tenacity. As he prepared to leave the “Catalpa” to land the ship’s long-boat on the coast of Australia to meet the escaped prisoners and their Fenian helpers—the crew was ready to mutiny!

Captain Anthony could only rely on his first-mate and the loyal sailors who would row to shore. The crew was in a group on the deck at the front of the ship. Anthony and his first mate were in the mid-deck area near the entrance to the lower decks. Their backs were to the cabin walls so no one could get behind them.

When Anthony rowed ashore would they overwhelm the first-mate and sail away?

Dennis Duggan, the Fenian hero from Ireland, had joined the ship as a lowly seaman—however Captain Anthony had been secretly told of his background.

John Devoy had put him on the crew to assist Captain Anthony if he ever needed help. That time was now.

The crew was waiting to mutiny and Anthony and his first-mate literally had their backs to the wall when, “as if on cue, Dennis Duggan slipped ‘quick and deadly as a mongoose alongside Anthony and Smith. The Dubliner’s thin-lipped expression was impassive, his lank red hair plastered by salt spray to his forehead. His pale green gaze swept from one crewman to the next. All of them quickly averted their eyes from the Fenian assassin’s silent challenge, taking stock of the holstered Navy Colt revolver on Duggan’s right hip and the sheathed dragoon’s saber on his left.”

With boldness, courage and audacity the Fenians and the American, Captain Anthony, faced down the British. They were heroes when they returned to the United States. The human courage and resoluteness of the characters in The Voyage of the Catalpa helps us remember the sacrifices and many years of painful struggle to create a nation free of Great Britain.

I see all Irish freedom fighters as part of the centuries-long resistance movement against British dominance: Ribbon Men, United Irishmen, Fenians, the IRA (both “old” and “new” faced the same enemy). Gerry Adams and Martin McGinnis are contemporary parts of that continuing struggle.

This is a great story of adventure, suspense and larger-than-life human beings. The author, Peter Stevens, develops vivid scenes with very human characters. He has the ability to make us feel a part of their humanity and of their adventure. The Voyage of the Catalpa is altogether a marvelous book about a story of human greatness.