FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THIS IS THE TRUE-LIFE STORY OF THE ORIGINAL COAST GUARD AND ONE CREW OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEROES WHO FOUGHT STORMS AND SAVED LIVES OFF NORTH CAROLINA’S OUTER BANKS.
Fire on the Beach recovers a lost gem of American history. It tells the story of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, formed in 1871 to assure the safe passage of American and international shipping and to save lives and salvage cargo. A century ago, the adven… More >>
Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers
The book purports to tell the story of Richard Etheridge but the first third is about “Wilds African Brigade,” a black brigade that committed murder, arson, looting and the hostage taking of white women in Tidewater North Carolina and Virginia in October and December 1863.
On its return to base in Portsmouth Virginia Brigadier General Wild was relieved of command and the brigade disbanded.
Rating: 1 / 5
The story of Richard Etheridge is fascinating and inspiring. It is unfortunate that its telling here is tedious and uneven.
Rating: 2 / 5
Wright and Zoby do a great job of explaining the history, culture, and lifestyle of the Pea Island Life Saving Station surfmen. If you have been to Pea Island, Hatteras Island, or the lower Outer Banks of North Carolina you may notice there are very few African Americans. The acceptance that might be there today was obviously not as prevalent in the 1890’s.
FIRE ON THE BEACH provides a glimpse into the culture and the struggle of these brave men. Their gallant actions, in the rescue of the victims of the U.S.S. Huron and E.S. Newman, are described in amazing detail. If you travel to the Outer Banks, be sure to visit the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station and museum (in Rodanthe on Hatteras Island). It will help readers understand the lifesaving station, the rescue methods employed, and the sacrifices made by the United States Life-saving Service surfmen all along the eastern shore.
Rating: 5 / 5
Faced with several days of enforced inactivity as Hurricane Isabel bore down upon Baltimore, what I needed was a good book with which to pass the hours. There on my shelf was Fire on the Beach, purchased several months ago but set aside for just such a circumstance. As the wind howled around my apartment and rain slashed at my windows, I settled in to read.
Authors Wright and Zoby have written a thrilling account about the American Life Saving Service (ALSS), predecessor to the U.S. Coast Guard. Their focus is on the life of Richard Etheridge, born into slavery, a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War, and later, leader of a courageous crew of lifesavers at Pea Island’s Station 17 on the Outer Banks.
Richard Etheridge, probably the son of a white “Banker,” raised and educated as part of his family, obtained his freedom fighting with the North Carolina Colored Volunteers (NCCV), under infamous Colonel Edward A. Wild. After the war, the scandel-ridden ALSS was reorganized and Etheridge was appointed Keeper of the station at Pea Island; the only black man to command a station up to that point. Etheridge was, indeed, a “man among men,” risking his life time and again, driving his 6-member crew of surfmen to rescue sailors and passengers off unfortunate ships driven ashore by storms at least as furious as the one threatening Maryland on this day.
Here is a tale of daring exploits during an obscure time in American history; of courageous men of color fighting steep breakers and raging surf over shallow shoals while saving stranded survivors of doomed vessels before the deadly sea could claim them.
A fascinating account. Some might say it’s black history. But it’s more than that. It’s about raw courage; about bravery against a treacherous enemy – the sea at its worst. Etheridge and his crew were black, but first and foremost, they were real men who willingly risked their lives daily for others.
I heartily recommend this work as an eye-opening account of a time along the Outer Banks before storms were tracked with high-tech equipment, and as a gripping tale guaranteed to hold your interest.
Rating: 5 / 5
This compelling history will appeal to many different audiences, including those interested in the Civil War (particularly in the U.S. Colored Troops), the complex politics and relationships of Reconstruction, maritime history and shipwrecks, and the Outerbanks region of North Carolina.
The authors have pieced together an enlightening and engaging life story of a special man in a unique time in US history. The amazing perseverance of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers is brought to life by Wright and Zoby.
I strongly recommend this book.
Rating: 5 / 5