Book Reviews 111 ship grappled with five English 74’s. when the two sides clashed. Though dismasted, Revolutionaire suc- This book follows the traditional Os- ceeded in slipping away under cover of prey template, and includes chapters on darkness. opposing commanders, opposing na- On the following day, the two fleets vies, opposing plans, the campaign, and sparred and jockeyed for position. Still its aftermath. Although Osprey books struggling against the wind, Howe fi- can’t be strictly classified as academic nally ordered a general engagement. volumes, that caveat by no means de- But due to confused signals and the tracts from the author’s research. inevitable fog of war, only a handful Mark Lardas is a lifelong maritime of ships engaged. Howe personally history enthusiast, prolific author, and led the attack, which degenerated into knowledgeable authority on life at sea a disorganized melee. The fight large- during the eighteenth century. He of- ly resulted in a tactical draw, although fers a concise and gripping account of Howe succeeded in securing the weath- one of the most pivotal, if unheralded, er gauge for the next day’s fighting. naval engagements during the wars of By 1 June, Howe finally succeeded Revolutionary France. in bringing his fleet to bear in a classic Joshua Shepherd line-of-battle naval action. After intense Union City, Indiana fighting, Howe, commanding from the quarterdeck of the Queen Charlotte, succeeded in crossing the French line. Jim Lotz. Canada’s Forgotten Arctic By end of day, Villaret-Joyeuse’s fleet Hero: George Rice and the Lady Frank- had been badly battered, forcing him to lin Bay Expedition, 1881-1884. Syd- disengage. ney, NS: Cape Breton Books, www. Ultimately, both sides would claim capebretonbooks.com, 2009. 192 pp., victory: the French for having ensured illustrations, maps, bibliography. CDN the safe passage of the grain convoy, the $14.95, paper; ISBN 978- 1-895415- British for having badly mauled the en- 94-0. emy fleet. But Britain was clearly in a superior position for the continuing war After Henry Grinnell’s first expedition at sea. The Revolution’s frenzied polit- to locate Sir John Franklin in 1850, the ical assault on the French navy, which United States began to direct part of included the purges of both experienced their expansionist interests toward the officers and trained gunners, had badly extreme northern part of the American crippled her maritime capabilities. As continent. Most of the daring adven- the Napoleonic Wars unfolded over the tures that characterize the expeditions succeeding decade, France was left at a toward the North Pole during the latter decided disadvantage. part of the nineteenth century have fea- In addition to an engaging account of tured American military officials. Rel- the fleet actions that took place between atively little attention within the main- 28 May and 1 June 1794, Lardas’ Glo- stream narrative of Arctic exploration rious First of June constitutes a worthy has been reserved for people from other reference volume on the battle. The countries. The story of George Rice, a book includes an exhaustive order of Canadian photographer who joined the battle for both fleets, as well as excel- Lady Franklin Bay expedition in 1881, lent two- and three-dimensional maps is a refreshing example. that help clarify the chaos that erupted Jim Lotz, a Fellow of the Arctic In- 112 The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord stitute of North America and author of land, while Rice reached the northern 24 books, sheds light on the life of this part of Ellesmere Island, after a dra- heroic Canadian in his book Canada’s matic journey that represents one of the Forgotten Hero: George Rice and the most interesting parts of Rice’s diary. Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, 1881- In particular, when Rice and his 1884. The book is enriched by a series companions reached Cape Hecla, they of George Rice’s Arctic photos. found that the ice floe on which they This book is mainly based on Rice’s stood was delimited by the open Arctic diary, dating from 7 July 1881, the day Sea, the existence of which was only the expedition left the port of St. John’s, supposed by previous expeditions. The Newfoundland, until 2 August 1883, crew felt lost when they realized that when all members decided to leave Fort the floe was turning around by itself, Conger in Lady Franklin Bay (Elles- leaving them at the mercy of the sea. mere Island) in a tragic attempt to save Thanks to Rice’s readiness and leader- themselves from starvation. ship skills, the men saved themselves, The Lady Franklin Bay expedition, reaching the mainland. led by US Army Lieutenant Adolphus Rice also proved himself to be a good Greely, was organized as a scientific ex- sailor, further earning the respect of ex- pedition for the third International Polar pedition members, as supported by their Year. The official purpose of this ex- private diaries. The commander, Gree- pedition, promoted by Captain William ly, was one of his strongest admirers, Henry Howgate of the US Army Signal and on many occasions, he showed his Corps, was to establish a temporary sta- confidence in Rice’s skills, giving him tion near Lady Franklin Bay, to serve responsibility for many important mis- as a base for scientific observations and sions, such as asking Rice to conduct a explorations. In reality, as Lotz asserts launch into Sun Bay, in order to prepare in his book, the expedition’s main pur- the retreat journey. On another occa- pose was part of Howgate’s ambitious sion, Greely chose Rice to lead a party scheme for colonizing the Arctic. to rescue a boat in Greenland, left by George Rice joined the other 21 the Nares expedition in 1876. members of the expedition as a vol- Lotz’s book represents an import- unteer, and during the various extreme ant document, opening a window for missions around Ellesmere Island, he readers to discover many aspects of proved to have all the necessary qual- daily life in the Arctic and the difficul- ities of a good leader. ties that people had to face there in the After reaching the western coast of nineteenth century. Another important Greenland, where two Inuit joined the feature of this book is its depiction of expedition, the Proteus got to Cape the difficulty involved in organizing a Frazer, Ellesmere Island, on 4 August, rescue expedition, partly due to the in- and finally arrived at Discovery- Har efficiency of the technology of the era, bour, on 18 August, where the carpen- but also to the disorganization of both ters started to build the Fort, named af- the expedition crew and of the military ter Michigan Senator Omar D. Conger, authorities. who had supported the expedition. The tragedy of the Lady Franklin Bay Three members of Greely’s expedi- expedition was determined by a series tion were able to reach the highest lat- of poor command decisions by Greely, itude ever attained at that time, setting who decided to conduct his crew to- off from the northern coast of Green- wards the southern part of Ellesmere Book Reviews 113 Island, after having waited two years is a biography of not one ship but two; for a relief vessel. As Lotz highlights second, both of these vessels played an in his book, Greely was ambitious but important role in Canadian and Arctic also “a rigid authoritarian, widely dis- history; third, both ships are still ex- liked by all the men of his expedition” tant—one as a museum ship, and the (1). In fact, the US had tried to send the other as a still-active sailing vessel; and Neptune to Fort Conger in the summer finally, because the author is unasham- of 1882, but the ice forced the members edly biased when it comes to the sub- of the expedition to leave 250 rations ject of the book as he is the owner of at Cape Sabine, before heading back to one of the ships. The two ships are the civilization. St. Roch, the famous British Columbian After two years, the men of the Arctic patrol vessel, today presented at Franklin Bay Expedition left Fort Con- the Vancouver Maritime Museum, and ger and started their last, dramatic jour- the lesser-known but equally interesting ney towards the south, in the hope of North Star of Herschel Island. meeting a relief vessel. Given the numerous publications al- The US sent out the Proteus again, ready available on the St. Roch, a patrol but its sinking drastically reduced the vessel owned by the Royal Canadian hope of rescuing Greely’s party. In Mounted Police that made the first cir- February 1884, the first two members cumnavigation of North America, and of the expedition died, quickly followed the fact that the author himself owns the by other men. Rice’s turn came on 9 North Star of Herschel Island, it is no April, in a courageous attempt to re- wonder that there is a certain focus on trieve some rations left at Baird Inlet by the latter vessel. What is much more previous expeditions. interesting than the portraits of the two On 22 June, the Bear and the The- ships is the way the author frames their tis reached Cape Sabine, saving Gree- biographies by focusing on their respec- ly and the last five men who remained tive contributions to securing Canadian and consigning them to history, while sovereignty over the area today known the life of people such as George Rice as Arctic Canada. had to wait more than a century to be Consequently, the book does not be- unearthed. gin with the construction history of the ships, but with a broad introduction to Fabrizio Martino the Canadian Arctic, in particular Her- Prachatipat, Thailand schel Island, and the issue of Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic Archipela- R. Bruce McDonald. Sisters of the Ice. go. While some of the topics are over- The True Story of How St. Roch and simplified, for example the discussion North Star of Herschel Island Protect- of the end of Arctic whaling does not ed Canadian Arctic Sovereignty. St. even mention the rapid development of John’s, NL: Harbour Publishing, www. Antarctic whaling, they provide a good harbourpublishing.com, 2021. xiii+146 introduction to a complex topic and pp., illustrations, bibliography, notes, most important the role of individual index. CDN $19.95, paper; ISBN 978- traders and their interactions with the 1-55017-928-6. Indigenous population in this context. In the following sections it becomes Sisters of the Ice is an unusual book obvious how a very small number of for a number of reasons: first of all, it ships could secure sovereignty over