8 Bells Lecture |  Greg Flemming: The Pirate Capture, Bold Escape and Lonely Exile of Philip Ashton
Channel: U.S. Naval War College
Date: 2017-02-01

Greg Flemming, "At the Point of the Cutlass: The Pirate Capture, Bold Escape, and Lonely Exile of Philip Ashton," Eight Bells Book Lecture, Naval War College Museum, Nov. 3, 2016.

Hear the incredible true story of a nineteen year old fisherman, Philip Ashton, from colonial New England who was captured by pirates and then escaped and survived for two years on an uninhabited Caribbean island. In discussing his book, At the Point of a Cutlass, author Flemming will reveal the surprising connections between Atlantic piracy in the early 1700s and major New England seaports like Boston and Newport. Based on Ashton’s own first-hand account, as well trial records, logbooks, and a wealth of other archival evidence, At the Point of a Cutlass pieces together the unforgettable story of the man who's been called America's "real-life Robinson Crusoe."

Gregory N. Flemming is a former journalist with a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spent more than three years researching At the Point of a Cutlass, which tells for the first time the complete story of Marblehead fisherman Philip Ashton and the horrific pirates who captured him. Greg traveled to many of the key locations in Ashton’s odyssey, from the remote Nova Scotia harbor where Ashton was captured at gunpoint to the Caribbean island of Roatan, forty miles off the coast of Honduras, where Ashton escaped.

*****
Disclaimer: The views expressed are the speaker's own and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Naval War College, the Department of the Navy, the Department of Defense, or any other branch or agency of the U.S. Government.