Minor characters in the Revolution at Sea Saga
The Revolution at Sea Saga is a five-book "trilogy" by writer/novelist James L. Nelson. They encompass the adventures of Captain Isaac Biddlecomb, his good friend Ezra Rumstick, and his wife Virginia Stanton in the years 1775 and 1776. The following is an alphabetical list of the minor characters who appear in the series. The main characters and antagonists-Captain Isaac Biddlecomb, Ezra Rumstick, Virginia Stanton, William Stanton and more, are listed separately.
Major characters
Isaac Biddlecomb
The hero/protagonist of the series. See Isaac Biddlecomb
Ezra Rumstick
Biddlecomb's best friend and first lieutenant. See Ezra Rumstick
Virginia Stanton
Biddlecomb's sweetheart/wife. See Virginia Stanton
William Stanton
Biddlecomb's employer and, later on, his father-in-law. See Virginia Stanton
Elisha Faircloth
The commander of the marines on board the USS Charlemagne. See Elisha Faircloth
Major Edward Fitzgerald
Edward Fitzgerald is George Washington's adviser in The Maddest Idea. Although his personality and character traits were created by James L. Nelson, it is a historic fact that the first president of the United States had a right-hand man by the same name. In The Maddest Idea, he is assigned with the job of flushing out the traitor who turned Biddlecomb over to the British. He does this by telling the three men suspected of the traitourous deeds three different places that the captain was heading, then paying the British commander's underling to be allowed to read the mail sent to him, which reveals to Fitzgerald who the real traitor is. Fitzgerald was also known in the second Revolution book for having romantic feelings toward Virginia Stanton, who was beginning to doubt her affections for Isaac, especially after he sent her a letter telling of their upcoming wedding, even though they weren't engaged. But directly after she decides to love Isaac as a brother and nothing more, she discovers a hint in the letter that explains that he really loved her after all. Major Edward Fitzgerald appears in The Maddest Idea and Lords of the Ocean, in which he off-handedly mentions Virginia Stanton, to which Biddlecomb replies "...I fear you mistake her name. She is no longer Virginia Stanton. She now goes by the name Virginia Biddlecomb."
Ebenezer Rogers
Sergeant Ebenezer Rogers is the loyal butler of William Stanton. He took care of William's daughter Virginia since the death of her mother, and extends his care to any guests of the Stanton household, especially Isaac Biddlecomb. In The Maddest Idea he is the one who rides to warn George Washington and Major Edward Fitzgerald of the traitorous deeds of one of three specific persons, which had resulted in the capture of Biddlecomb and his crew by the H.M.S. Glasgow, under command of Captain William Maltby. Rogers appears in By Force of Arms and The Maddest Idea.
Nathaniel Sprout
Nathaniel Sprout is the boatswain aboard the USS Charlemagne. He first appears in The Maddest Idea and is also featured in The Continental Risque. He is one of the few of Biddlecomb's Northerners who stay aboard the Charlemagne and begin to take orders from Roger Tottenhill, though never losing their faithfullness to their captain. Sprout sent Midshipman Weatherspoon to convince Ezra Rumstick and Roger Tottenhill to stop their duel and return to the ship immediately.
David Weatherspoon
David Weatherspoon is a fifteen-through-seventeen-year-old sailor aboard the USS Charlemagne. He doesn't appear in By Force of Arms. He has a moderately sized role to play in The Maddest Idea, and finally gets his five minutes in The Continental Risque, in which he stops the riot that has broken out aboard the Charlemagne from escalating by firing a few pistols over the heads of the sailors, who are fighting an all-out civil war skirmish; Northerner verses Southerner. And before that, when Ezra Rumstick and Roger Tottenhill are engaged in a swordfight-style duel on a small island in order to determine which of them is better suited to be the first lieutenant of the Charlemagne, the bosun sends Mr. Weatherspoon to break them up, which he does with the words, "Sirs,...damn it all to Hell! They are getting away with the stores! Now please get into the God-damned boat!" David Weatherspoon is promoted to lieutenant in the space between the third and fourth books. He is killed in the fifth book by John Smeaton, taking a bullet intended for Captain Isaac Biddlecomb.
John Adams
Redirects to John Adams John Adams also appears in the Revolution at Sea Saga, in The Continental Risque. He is aboard the USS Charlemagne when the H.M.S. Glasgow confronts them. For the rest of his appearances in the book he brags about the part he played in the subsequent battle-namely, firing a pistol once or twice at the opposing crew.
Appleby
Mr. "Midshipman" Appleby is a midshipman aboard the H.M.S. Icarus. He is described as fourteen years old and having "the maturity of a boy that age." He was one of the few who survived the destruction of the Icarus. He appears only in By Force of Arms, and is like a foreshadowing of Midshipman David Weatherspoon of the other Revolution books.
"Viking" John Biddlecomb
John Biddlecomb the First is the father of Isaac Biddlecomb. He was married to Sarah Biddlecomb, who died in childbirth with their first daughter, Katlin Biddlecomb, after which he and his son went adventuring with Gorham's Rangers, his old friends from the last war, aboard the Providence, a vessel under the command of William Stanton. John was killed in battle shortly after, leaving Captain Isaac Biddlecomb an orphan.
John "Jack" William Biddlecomb
John William is the son of Virginia and Isaac Biddlecomb. He was born in the year 1777, in the town of Boston, and in the book By Force of Arms. He gets his first name from his paternal grandfather, and his middle name—an uncommon addition in those days-comes from his maternal grandfather.
Katlin Biddlecomb
Katlin Biddlecomb is the younger sister of Isaac Biddlecomb, who died in the process of being born, which her mother, Sarah Biddlecomb, didn't survive either. It is mentioned in The Maddest Idea that, if Katlin had been a boy, her name would have been Thomas.
Sarah Biddlecomb
Sarah Biddlecomb was Isaac Biddlecomb's mother. She died in childbirth with Katlin Biddlecomb, after which her husband, John Biddlecomb retreated from the world, only to return to his friends a few weeks later, after which he was killed.
Thomas Biddlecomb
Thomas Biddlecomb is the hypothetical son of Sarah and John Biddlecomb. When Sarah was pregnant with her second child, her first being Isaac Biddlecomb, the family decided to name the child Katlin if it was a girl, Thomas if it was a boy. The child turned out to be a girl, and died, along with her mother in childbirth.
Carpenter
The nameless carpenter of the USS Charlemagne.
Dibin
Dibin is a sailor aboard the H.M.S. Icarus. He appears only in By Force of Arms.
Ferguson
Ferguson is a Charlemagne, who acts as helmsman and saves the ship during a storm in The Continental Risque, acting against the orders of Lieutenant Roger Tottenhill. He stayed loyal to Biddlecomb during the shipboard civil war in The Continental Risque. Biddlecomb also saves him from drowning in The Maddest Idea.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin also appears in the Revolution at Sea Saga, in the fourth book, Lords of the Ocean, in which it is Isaac Biddlecomb's job to take the famous scientist to France. (See Benjamin Franklin)
John Haliburton
John Haliburton was the carpenter aboard the William B. Adams, the merchantman on which Biddlecomb and Rumstick signed on before they were pressed into work aboard the Icarus. He was actually pressed alongside them, but when he tried to escape by jumping overboard and swimming to Barbados he was shot and killed by John Smeaton, which further darkened Rumstick's already foul mood.
Edward Longbottom
Longbottom is the boatswain's mate aboard the Icarus. He is a small man, and loves brutalising Ezra Rumstick. But when the American revolutionary loses control and attacks the British crew, Longbottom is tossed overboard. He is brought back on the ship, but is killed by the crew after they mutiny.
Boatswain McDuff
McDuff is the boatswain aboard the H.M.S. Icarus. He is a brutal man, and loves beating up on the crew members for sport. He can make the captain, James Pendexter, do nearly anything, because of his long history of naval service and Pendexter's lack thereof. It was during one of his "torture the innocent" sessions that Ezra Rumstick finally lost his self-control and attacked him, resulting in the mutiny of the Icarus's crew and subsequently, McDuff's death.
Joseph Page
Joseph Page is a shipwright in By Force of Arms. He was named after James L. Nelson's father-in-law.
Thomas Page
Thomas Page appears only in The Continental Risque. He is in a bar, being bored by Lieutenant Roger Tottenhill. He is named after the author's brother-in-law.
Fletcher Page
Fletcher Page appears in All the Brave Fellows. He was named after the author's sister-in-law's parrot.
Lieutenant James Pendexter
James Pendexter is the nephew of a very influential naval man. He was given charge of the H.M.S. Icarus because of filial relationship, not in any way because of experience, which he lacks. When he arrives at the longboat that will take him to the ship, the midshipman acting as a ferrier asks which one it is. He is suddenly scared for himself and his reputation, because he had never before seen the Icarus. So he tells the midshipman to try to find it without his help, which he eventually does. Pendexter is frequently used by his first lieutenant John Smeaton and his less intelligence boatswain Mr. McDuff for their own needs, which, for McDuff, is brutalising and torturing the rest of the crew. Pendexter was the one responsible for Biddlecomb's and Rumstick's impressment aboard the Icarus. He was last seen when he and Smeaton are flung off the ship, now in the hands of the mutineers, with only a wooden grate to cling to. They were picked up a few minutes later by the British frigate Cerberus. Pendexter appears only in By Force of Arms, but is made reference to in All the Brave Fellows, when Smeaton makes his second appearance.
Lieutenant Roger Tottenhill
Roger Tottenhill is the man who is elected by the Continental Congress in The Continental Risque to replace Ezra Rumstick as first lieutenant aboard the USS Charlemagne. He is used, just as Lieutenant James Pendexter was in the first book, by Amos Hackett, a fellow North Carolina-man, who is intent on dividing the crew of the Charlemagne. They first became allies when Hackett, in a fit of anger, knocked the lieutenant to the deck and Tottenhill has him lashed twenty-four times with the cat o' nine tales, then realises he has made a mistake in turning against another Southerner and brings the suffering Hackett a bottle of whisky to ease his sufferings. Lieutenant Tottenhill, after unconsciously undermining Captain Biddlecomb's authority and dueling Ezra Rumstick to see who was better suited to be first lieutenant aboard the Charlemagne, finally met his end at the hands of his "ally," Amos Hackett, who, after leading a semi-mutiny aboard the American man-o-war, climbs up into the rigging and shoots the lieutenant before himself being shot by Elisha Faircloth. He appears only in The Continental Risque.
George Washington
George Washington, best known for being the first official president of the United States and a great military leader, appears in The Maddest Idea, and is the one who assigns Major Edward Fitzgerald to the job of flushing out the traitor. (See George Washington)