Publishing the history & culture
of Southeastern New England • Since 1981
Publishing the history & culture
of Southeastern New England • Since 1981
$13.00
Paperback •
ISBN 978-0932027-726
48 pages • 5.5” x 8.5”
10 Illustrations
For a twelve-year-old boy from New Bedford, Massachusetts, the fighting down south seems far removed from the day-to-day realities of life. Until now, he has passed his time watching whaleships come and go from the port of the Whaling City, dreaming of magnificent adventures at sea, and visiting his Uncle Zoeth's farm in nearby Dartmouth. But this is the Civil War and that changes everything.
Today he watches from shore as the great whaleships leave New Bedford on a mission of sacrifice. The twenty-four ships are heavily leaded with stone and manned only by skeleton crews. They are bound for Charleston, South Carolina and Fort Sumter, where they will be sunk in an attempt to blockade this key Confederate port.
With his father sitting beside him, tears in his eyes, as he calls off the names of each ship in a final salute, one New England boy learns the tragic realities of war. Naming the Stones, based on an actual episode of the Civil War, resonates with themes that are relevant today, reminding us how war engenders fear, sorrow and patriotism.
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Clara Stites is a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. Her stories have appeared in numerous literary magazines. She is also the author of two children’s books about California history and a coeditor of In the Shadow of the Giant: Thomas Wolfe, a collection of letters between Wolfe’s literary agent and his editor. A native of the New Bedford area, she has long been interested in local history and the natural environment. She and her husband, Clay, live in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Clara Stites provides a charming account of a little-known episode in Civil War history, demonstrating both the ingenuity and patriotism of the citizens of Massachusetts. It is the quintessential American story.
- H.G. Jones, The North Caroliniana Society
History is everywhere in this story, but it comes to us sidelong, beautifully rendered through the eyes of a New Bedford boy who is trying to decipher both the workings and the costs of war. Clara Stites has written a moving and important story that will live long in the mind.
- Elizabeth Graver, Author of Unravelling and The Honey Thief
It was a celebrated event in New Bedford's history. Ms. Stites has charmingly evoked and image of the people involved in this ambitious undertaking.
- Elton W. Hall, former curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
