Commanding Old Ironsides

Silas Talbot’s life illuminates his time—not with greater brightness than the lives of his more famous contemporaries, but with perhaps broader range and greater insight into the experiences and circumstances of a plain citizen of the new republic—a citizen whose bravery and energy helped to create it. Silas Talbot was a farmer’s son who went to sea, learned the building trades, saved and invested his money wisely, married well several times, fought as a Rhode Island soldier in the Revolutionary War, became a lieutenant colonel, served with courage and competence, became a privateer and a prisoner-of-war in the conflict at sea, speculated in western lands, was elected to the New York State Legislature and the U.S. Congress, represented the interests of American sailors forced to serve in Britain’s navy, and was appointed second commanding officer of the frigate USS Constitution. In a full and energetic life of sixty-two years he met and served famous leaders, including Washington, Adams, Hamilton, and Lafayette; raised a family; advanced in the social, political, and business circles of New York and Rhode Island; and was, as the author notes, “among the first of the new citizens of the new republic to seize its gifts.”