Southern Seahawk, the first novel in the Seahawk Trilogy, grows from the true story of Commander Rafael Semmes' rise to infamy, becoming the Union's Public Enemy Number One. In June, 1861, Semmes' Confederate cruiser Sumter makes a daring escape through the Federal Blockade of the Mississippi. So begins the commander's career as the Southern Seahawk. With a hand-picked crew of Southern officers and mercenary seamen, Semmes seizes eight enemy ships in four days.
After taking command of the ship he sets out seizing and burning whalers at the rate of one a day, sails back across the North Atlantic against the gulf stream where he picks off another dozen merchant ships headed to Europe. Then, after a thwarted attempt to sneak attack New York City, Semmes makes a beeline for Martinique in the Caribbean during the course of which he has to put down a mutiny on board and evade the USS San Jacinto which has come to destroy him.
This final volume in the Raphael Semmes trilogy of Civil War naval thrillers, Seahawk Burning follows the real-life adventures of Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes and his ship, the C.S.S. Alabama, on the final legs of their reign of terror on the high seas. The novel chronicles Semmes's rise to mythic stature as he becomes Lincoln's public enemy number one.