The remarkable story of the mission that inspired a nation to donate
massive relief to Ireland during the potato famine and began America's
tradition of providing humanitarian aid around the world
More
than 5,000 ships left Ireland during the great potato famine in the
late 1840s, transporting the starving and the destitute away from their
stricken homeland. The first vessel to sail in the other direction, to
help the millions unable to escape, was the USS Jamestown, a converted
warship, which left Boston in March 1847 loaded with precious food for
Ireland.
In an unprecedented move by Congress, the warship had
been placed in civilian hands, stripped of its guns, and committed to
the peaceful delivery of food, clothing, and supplies in a mission that
would launch America’s first full-blown humanitarian relief effort.
Captain
Robert Bennet Forbes and the crew of the USS Jamestown embarked on a
voyage that began a massive eighteen-month demonstration of soaring
goodwill against the backdrop of unfathomable despair—one nation’s
struggle to survive, and another’s effort to provide a lifeline. The
Jamestown mission captured hearts and minds on both sides of the
Atlantic, of the wealthy and the hardscrabble poor, of poets and
politicians. Forbes’ undertaking inspired a nationwide outpouring of
relief that was unprecedented in size and scope, the first instance of
an entire nation extending a hand to a foreign neighbor for purely
humanitarian reasons. It showed the world that national generosity and
brotherhood were not signs of weakness, but displays of quiet strength
and moral certitude.
In Voyage of Mercy, Stephen Puleo tells the
incredible story of the famine, the Jamestown voyage, and the commitment
of thousands of ordinary Americans to offer relief to Ireland, a
groundswell that provided the collaborative blueprint for future relief
efforts, and established the United States as the leader in
international aid. The USS Jamestown’s heroic voyage showed how the
ramifications of a single decision can be measured not in days, but in
decades.
Hardcover.
