The Wager: A Harrowing Tale

Book #2 of 2024!

My daughter knows I love history, so she gave me David Grann’s book, The Wager, for Christmas. It is, to use the old cliché, a gripping read. I read the entire thing in a couple of days! Usually, I read nonfiction more slowly, but Grann’s style is so engaging, The Wager reads like an adventure novel.

This is the tale of a ship, the Wager, that was part of a British squadron participating in the “War of Jenkins’ Ear” in 1740. The British were itching for an excuse to go to war with Spain, and supposedly a Spanish officer boarded Jenkins’ merchant vessel, accused him of stealing sugar, and cut off his ear. Parliament declared war on Spain, and that was that.

Except, as Grann explains, nations are often eager to go to war, but reluctant to pay for it. The Wager was an old ship that was repurposed into a fighting ship, and it joined a small group of ships led by Commodore George Anson. Their mission was to sail around South America’s Cape Horn and take a Spanish galleon that was laden with gold, silver, and other treasure.

The mission was almost doomed from the start, as they could not get the ships properly outfitted or manned. They even emptied out hospitals and rest homes for retired military men to fill the slots on the ships. Grann describes invalids being lifted onto the ships and expected to actively help sail them!

By the time they cross the Atlantic, they have already been struck with Typhus and have lost many men. Then they get scurvy (this was before medical science knew the importance of vitamin C), and Grann’s description of its effects is truly horrific. But the fun is just beginning – they haven’t even gotten to the infamous Cape Horn yet.

They hit the Cape when winter is at its worst, and horrendous storms batter the squadron. I can’t imagine trying to sail a ship with men dying of typhus and scurvy and hundred-foot waves crashing all around. The Wager, captained by David Cheap (he started out a lieutenant, but was promoted due to the original captain dying of disease) gets separated from the other boats, and soon founders on a desolate, barren island on the southwest side of South America.

What quickly follows is a Lord Of The Flies situation, with Captain Cheap trying to maintain discipline, while a group of survivors mutinies. Meanwhile, food is so scarce, they are reduced to eating seaweed that they scrape off rocks. There is murder, theft, and betrayal. Formerly “civilized” men are reduced to killing each other for a scrap of food. John Byron (the famous poet’s grandfather) is a young 16-year-old midshipman who manages to maintain his humanity. The ship’s gunner, John Bulkeley, exhibits extraordinary leadership skills and convinces a group to leave for Brazil after 5 months of dire privation. Captain Cheap leads another group (including Byron) north to Chile. Both groups eventually make it back to England, but then they face a court-martial.

The death toll of the expedition was staggering: “Of the nearly two thousand men who had set sail, more than thirteen hundred had perished – a shocking death rate, even for such a long voyage.” (page 242).

What is so amazing is the indomitable spirit those men had to survive. Against all odds, they managed to travel thousands of miles back to civilization on makeshift vessels, with almost no provisions. I would say The Wager is an inspiring tale, except that in the grand scheme of things, the entire expedition was pointless and unnecessary. The only reason Grann was able to write such a detailed account is the fact that Bulkeley kept a daily journal that he published when he got back to England. Grann does a good job of presenting a neutral account of what happened, taking neither Cheap’s nor Bulkeley’s side in the debate over whether the men under Bulkeley committed mutiny (a hanging offense) or not.

If you are interested in a well-written true adventure tale, then The Wager will definitely fill the bill.