daisy-cutter Another name for a swivel gun.
deadlight A protective cover fitted over a porthole or window on a ship.
dead reckoning The process of calculating position at sea by estimating the direction and distance traveled.
dogwatch Either of two short watches on a ship (1600–1800 hours and 1800–2000 hours).
East Indiaman A large and heavily armed merchant ship built by the various East India companies. Considered the ultimate sea vessels of their day in comfort and ornamentation.
ensign The flag carried by a ship to indicate her nationality.
fathom Six feet in depth or length.
fife rail A rail around the mainmast of a ship that holds belaying pins.
flag lieutenant An officer acting as an aide-de-camp to an admiral.
footrope A rope beneath a yard for sailors to stand on while reefing or furling.
forecastle The forward part of a ship below the deck, traditionally where the crew was quartered.
furl To roll up and bind a sail neatly to its yard or boom.
gangway On deep-waisted ships, a narrow platform from the quarterdeck to the forecastle. Also, a movable bridge linking a ship to the shore.
gig A light, narrow ship’s boat normally used by the commander.
grape or grapeshot Small cast-iron balls, bound together by a canvas bag, that scatter like shotgun pellets when fired.
grapnel or grappling hook A device with iron claws that is attached to a rope and used for dragging or grasping, such as holding two ships together.
grating The open woodwork cover for the hatchway.
half-seas over Drunk.
halyard A rope or tackle used to raise or lower a sail.
hawser A large rope used in warping and mooring.
heave to To halt a ship by setting the sails to counteract each other, a tactic often employed to ride out a storm.
hull-down Referring to another ship being so far away that only her masts and sails are visible above the horizon.
impress To force to serve in the navy.
jack The small flag flown from the jack-staff on the bowsprit of a vessel, such as the British Union Jack and Dutch Jack.
jolly boat A clinker-built ship’s boat, smaller than a cutter, used for small work.
keelhaul To punish by dragging someone through the water from one side of the boat to the other, under the keel.
langrage Case shot with jagged pieces of iron, useful in damaging rigging and sails and killing men on deck.
larboard The left side of a ship, now called the port side.
lateen sail A triangular sail set on a long yard at a forty-five-degree angle to the mast.
laudanum An alcoholic solution of opium.
lee The side of a ship, land mass, or rock that is sheltered from the wind.
leech The free edges of a sail, such as the vertical edges of a square sail and the aft edge of a fore-and-aft sail.
lighter A boat or barge used to ferry cargo to and from ships at anchor.
loblolly boy An assistant who helps a ship’s surgeon and his mates.
manger A small triangular area in the bow of a warship in which animals are kept.
muster-book The official log of a ship’s company.
ordnance Mounted guns, mortars, munitions, and the like.
orlop The lowest deck on a sailing ship having at least three decks.
parole Word of honor, especially the pledge made by a prisoner of war, agreeing not to try to escape or, if released, to abide by certain conditions.
petty officer A naval officer with rank corresponding to that of a non-commissioned officer in the Army.
pig An oblong mass of metal, usually of iron, often used as ballast in a ship.
poop A short, raised aftermost deck found only on very large sailing ships. Also, a vessel is said to be “pooped” when a heavy sea breaks over her stern, as in a gale.
post captain A rank in the Royal Navy indicating the receipt of a commission as officer in command of a post ship; that is, a rated ship having no less than twenty guns.
privateer A privately owned armed ship with a government commission authorizing it to act as a warship.
prize An enemy vessel and its cargo captured at sea by a warship or a privateer.
purser An officer responsible for keeping the ship’s accounts and issuing food and clothing.
quadrant An instrument that measures the angle of heavenly bodies for use in navigation.
quarterdeck That part of a ship’s upper deck near the stern traditionally reserved for the ship’s officers.
quay A dock or landing place, usually built of stone.
queue A plait of hair; a pigtail.
quoin A wooden wedge with a handle at the thick end used to adjust the elevation of a gun.
ratlines Small lines fastened horizontally to the shrouds of a vessels for climbing up and down the rigging.
reef A horizontal portion of a sail that can be rolled or folded up to reduce the amount of canvas exposed to the wind; the act of so rolling a sail.
rig The arrangement of a vessel’s masts and sails. The two main categories are square-rigged and fore-and-aft rigged.
rode A rope securing an anchor.
round shot Balls of cast iron fired from smooth-bore cannon.
royal A small sail hoisted above the topgallant that is used in light and favorable winds.
scupper An opening in a ship’s side that allows water to run from the deck into the sea.
sheet A rope used to extend the sail or to alter its direction. To sheet home is to haul in a sheet until the foot of the sail is as straight and as taut as possible.
ship-rigged Carrying square sails on all three masts.
shipwright A person employed in the construction of ships.
shrouds A set of ropes forming part of the standing rigging and supporting the mast and topmast.
slops Ready-made clothing from the ship’s stores, or slop-chests.
slow-match A very slow burning fuse used to ignite the charge in a large gun.
stay Part of the standing rigging, a rope that supports a mast.
staysail A triangular fore-and-aft sail hoisted upon a stay.
stem The curved upright bow timber of a vessel.
stern sheets The rear of an open boat and the seats there.
studdingsail or stunsail An extra sail set outside the square sails during a fair wind.
swivel-gun A small cannon mounted on a swivel so that it can be fired in any direction.
tack A sailing vessel’s course relative to the direction of the wind and the position of her sails. On a “starboard tack,” the wind is coming across the starboard side. Also, the corner to which a rope is fastened to secure the sail.
taffrail The rail at the upper end of a ship’s stern.
tampion A wooden stopper for the muzzle of a gun.
tholepin or thole One of a pair of pegs set in a gunwale of a boat to hold an oar in place.
three sheets to the wind Very drunk.
top A platform constructed at the head of each of the lower masts of a ship to extend the topmast shrouds. Also used as a lookout and fighting platform.
topgallant The third mast, sail, or yard above the deck.
top-hamper A ship’s masts, sails, and rigging.
topsail The second sail above the deck, set above the course or mainsail.
touchhole A vent in the breech of a firearm through which the charge is ignited.
tumblehome The inward inclination of a ship’s upper sides that causes the upper deck to be narrower than the lower decks.
waist The middle part of a ship’s upper deck between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.
wardroom The messroom on board ship for the commissioned officers and senior warrant officers.
watch A fixed period of duty on a ship. Watches are traditionally four hours long except for the two dogwatches, which are two hours long.
wherry A rowb
oat used to carry passengers.
windward Facing the wind or on the side facing the wind. Contrast leeward.
xebec A three-masted Arab corsair equipped with lateen sails. Larger xebecs had a square sail on the foremast.
yard A cylindrical spar slung across a ship’s mast from which a sail hangs.
yardarm The outer extremity of a yard.
About the Author
WILLIAM C. HAMMOND is a literary agent and business consultant who lives with his three sons in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A lifelong student of history and a longtime devotee of nautical fiction, he sails whenever possible on Lake Superior and off the coast of New England.
The Naval Institute Press is the book-publishing arm of the U.S. Naval Institute, a private, nonprofit, membership society for sea service professionals and others who share an interest in naval and maritime affairs. Established in 1873 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where its offices remain today, the Naval Institute has members worldwide.
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© 2011 by William C. Hammond III
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hammond, William C.,
The power and the glory : a novel / by William C. Hammond. p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-612-51072-9
1. United States. Navy—History—18th century—Fiction. 2. United States—History,
Naval—To 1900—Fiction. 3. United States—History—1797–1801—Fiction.
4. United States—Foreign relations—France—Fiction. 5. France—Foreign
relations—United States—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3608.A69586P69 2011
813’.6—dc22
2011019894
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
First printing
The Power and the Glory Page 32