Smuggler's Woods - by Arthur Pierce (Paperback)

About the Book

Arthur Pierce tells the vivid story of smugglers turned privateers after the Revolutionary War broke out. He recounts from many sources tales of ships and men who fought and, although outnumbered and outgunned, still played havoc with British shipping. He tells also of the profiteering that went hand in hand with the privateering of the war years. From the Mullica River to Cape May stretched the woodlands and the inlets that harbored smugglers. Stealthy and dangerous though their activities were, the smugglers were not outcasts. They were looked upon with indulgence by many respectable citizens of the day.

Book Synopsis

Arthur Pierce tells the vivid story of smugglers turned privateers after the Revolutionary War broke out. He recounts from many sources tales of ships and men who fought and, although outnumbered and outgunned, still played havoc with British shipping. He tells also of the profiteering that went hand in hand with the privateering of the war years. From the Mullica River to Cape May stretched the woodlands and the inlets that harbored smugglers. Stealthy and dangerous though their activities were, the smugglers were not outcasts. They were looked upon with indulgence by many respectable citizens of the day. As bitterness toward the mother country mounted, smugglers were encouraged and actively supported in their operation agains the Crown. The Jersey inns and taverns emerged as the "cradles of revolt" in the years immediately preceding the Revolution. In them were planned and fostered many intrigues and acts of violence that played important parts behind the scenes of military and official action. A number of these inns and taverns are still in active use today and are depicted in the illustrations. Smugglers' Woods deals with smugglers, privateers, patriots, and loyalists to give an exciting account of the tensions and conflicts that gripped pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary New Jersey.

Review Quotes

'Chances are that any reader with prosperous ancestors who came to America before 1755 will find a smuggler somewhere in his family tree, ' writes the author, a New Jersey historian. In Smugglers' Woods he documents his case with true stories of smugglers, from those at highest levels, such as Stephen Girard, to men known as 'swamp angels' whose exploits bordered on fiendish.-- "The New York Times Book Review"