The Reading of the Mail

Some video of Acastas having gotten their mail and reading through it!

Letters from the Packet

Some more video of Acastas having gotten their mail and reading through it!

Apple’s Shiner

Misses Bonnie St. James

Once Apple comes back from liberty ashore with a bloody great shiner and when asked about it he says “do not trust to drink with that William Booth as he is bad to turn mean when he is deep in his cups”.

So later I run into Missus Bonnie what works for Booth and I asked her about Booth giving Apple such a whollop . “Oh” she says “That weren’t Mr. Booth, that was me what done that to that swag Apple”

“How so?” I asks. “Well”, she says ” I just come in the room and he smiles and starts such a song as should never be heard in public- much less in front of a lady! So I punched him a good’un so he would show some respect in the future”.

 I told Apple this later but he never did believe it. Booth also thought he had done the deed for the next time Apple had liberty I did also, and Booth swore eternal friendship and apologies for treating Apple so and they spent the night swapping songs and drinking all night long and cheered on by their mates.

This time they both come away undamaged.

-James Cullen. Remembrances of Eight years before the Mast, 1834.

Apple and Booth, Friends Again!

You can find Wm. Booth, Draper online HERE

1st Class Volunteer Samuel Linden

Today's post written by Teri Linden

Samuel Linden was 8 years old when he was pressed by HMS Acasta into joining their Navy.  

During his “interview” (some say interrogation) then ship’s boatswain, Mr. Hollybrass upon asking young Mister Linden for his age and getting a reply of, “8,” continued refusing the answer, prompting Linden to respond he was 10, until finally the exhausted lad complied telling Hollybrass he was indeed, “10!”  This prompted Hollybrass to immediately sign the lad up for service having him put his slight chicken scrawl signature on a sailor’s contract and telling the boy he needed to report in 3 days for duty and to set sail.  

Young Mister Linden was not duped by this in the least and proceeded to inform his mother the entire weekend that "on Monday, we need to come back so I can go to sea with His Majesty's Royal Navy!”  

This set in motion a series of events over the next 5 years where young mister Linden followed the Acasta Crew to their various event’s shores to sail with the Acasta Crew, learn their trades and crafts and gain ranks among them, currently holding position of 1st Class Volunteer after being promoted from Ship’s Boy last year.

A side note about young Mr. Linden... we encountered him at the Fair at New Boston where we do Press Gang and recruitment activities with the public... we tell the newly 'recruited' men to report back on the following Monday so we can 'go to the ship'. Linden's been reporting back ever since!

The Carpenter's Letter

Mr. Apple ashore.

 The following is a letter that Mr Apple, the ship's carpenter has requested that I transcribe and send to the Admiralty:

"Dear Sirs,

It has been a month since my last post, I have been a good friend to His Majesty's Ships keeping them in good order and having said that I feel very low when I am alone at Sea. Without my current wife I have thought of dressing our boatswain Mr. Cullen up in my last wife's dress and apron. But I implore you kind sirs as I value my position. It is a sickness kind fellows and I wish you to help me before this kills me and they find me dead in my cabin.

Yrs &c.,
Jas. Apple
Ship's Carpenter
HMS Acasta"

While I can certainly appreciate Mr Apple's desire for company of the fairer sex, I do not think the Admiralty would take kindly to his crude petition and familiar tone. I can not, in all good conscience, post such a letter.

Fiddler’s Green in New Boston Town

There was a time on North American Station that we was on some very queer business. We would anchor at New Boston Towne in the Unighted States, sometimes for several days at a time, and the Captain or the Doctor would go ashore, sometimes both. Then we might sail up coast or down coast for a day or two, anchor at some small port while one or both went ashore. Then back to New Boston Towne we’d go for another several days. A couple of times the Doctor sent his pet Frenchman ashore alone. They was all mum about whatever business it was, but the Captain looked rather grim at the time. All in all it was about a month this took.

While we was in New Boston Towne they give us shore leave by watches. Now this may seem strange, and I suppose it was. Most often you will not get shore leave in a foreign port where they speak English for fear of fellows taking French leave. But as I have said before the Acasta was a happy ship, and the Captain firm but fair, and that is what he done. The Lieutenants was all rather grim about it at first, threating to end leave for everyone if the first fellow even turned up late, but we all knew we had a good thing going and kept a watchful eye on each other so as not to spoil it. Before it was done even Jake Booke got leave to go ashore- and he had been flogged for running before and getting caught.

Now in New Boston Towne was a tavern- not a real house style building but one of those which is all canvas and planks, but a tavern none the less and your common tar only cares for being out of the weather when he has a pint- that was called “Lord Nelson’s Arms”.  This was before Trafalgar, but after Nelson had lost his arm at Santa Cruse. That name probably earned them some hard feeling among the Jonathans because there was still plenty of bad blood from the war. They seemed right glad to have some true blue Tars come in. The place had a back room with bunks to rent and a cockpit behind it.

The gal that ran the placed called herself “Sally Brown” just like in the song. We all figured she was run from something and had changed her name- and we all thought she could have done a better job of picking a false one. Right quick Nate Johnson got a leg over on her. It looked like they had known each other from before, because anytime somebody called her ”Missus Brown” Nate would smile this sly smile to hisself. I heard  after the war they was spliced and still run a tavern in America to this day.

Right quick Sam Hollybrass got a leg over on her cousin that also worked there and from then on all of us Acastas was treated like we was family. Nobody went anywhere else when they got leave.

As I said they had a cockpit back of the place, and we had a line of some good old English birds aboard the Acasta. There was a Jonathan woman named Bickenhouser- in America there is no telling what you will find a woman doing- that had a line of birds that was local champions. They was called Delaware Blues, although most of them I seen were white with blue and red spots.

Well, we started fighting these birds, and you would have thought that would have made already bad blood between us and the Jonathans get worse. It done just the opposite. Both lines of birds was so game that there was never any telling which one would win when they was pitted.  One time they would win and the next match we would. Winchester, he knew birds, said he had never seen two lines so equally matched.

If the Jonathans had won, some Acasta would exclaim, "Say cousin you are so flush now how about buying a poor tar a pint?” and some Jonathan would buy a round for all. If we had won some Jonathan would say "Here now John Bull, why be so tight with your winnings when we are all so dry?” and we would do the same. It was jolly times.

Once as I was putting on my shore going rig Apple the carpenter passed by.  I was singing to myself and in high spirits.  “So Cullen” he says “you're off to Fiddlers Green are ya?”. And I reckon that was true. It was as close to Fiddler’s Green as any poor tar will ever come while on commission.

-James Cullen. Remembrances of Eight years before the Mast, 1834.

*** Fiddler’s Green was a mythical afterlife among sailors where the liquor and music flowed free, the girls were always pretty and everyone was always happy.

The Surgeon's Mate

Jean Baptiste Girard

“There is aboard my ship an old French sailor. He has been impressed as the surgeon’s mate, we having lost ours, and he having served in that capacity aboard others. He is a cheerful enough fellow for having been forced into the position of possibly fighting his countrymen and is full of stories from his travels. He has twice been wrecked, chased by land crocodiles in the Dutch West Indies, captured by Spanish privateers, stowed a rattlesnake aboard his ship, lived among head hunters in the South China Sea and a thousand other such tales. If a quarter of what he tells is truth he has lived a full life indeed!”

Robert Watson aboard the HMS Acasta in a letter to his wife, Sept 16., 1813

Taken up by the press gang at New Boston

Evolution of the Acasta

Looking back over the years at the various members and events that have forged the Acasta into the unit it is today.

Sept. 2012 New Boston

Oct. 2012 Trafalgar Dinner

Feb. 2013

July 2013 Jane Austen Festival

Aug. 2013 New Boston

Sept. 2013

Oct. 2013 The Doctor's Wedding

Oct. 2013 Mississinewa

Jan. 2014 School of the Sailor

July 2014 Jane Austen Festival


Sept 2014 New Boston


2014 Fort Bowyer


Jan 2015 Battle of New Orleans


Sept 2015 New Boston


June 2016 Gunboat Weekend


July 2016 Jane Austen Festival


Sept 2016 New Boston

The Fair at New Boston 2016

A new interpretive program added to the Fair at New Boston this year by the Acasta was the 'Lord Nelson Arms', a period tavern impression.

Jake Book reads a reproduction of a period newspaper from the era. Mrs. 'Sally Brown' poses outside of her tavern with her new sign and Acasta fighting cock "Lord Nelson", the namesake of the tavern.

Saturday night in the tavern. The cock fighting pit gets built.