No one but a madman would put to sea in such conditions. A blizzard cut visibility to yards. Long Island Sound was galloping white caps. But in this second year of the War of 1812, conditions like these spelled opportunity to Captain Josiah Peabody, USN. His mission: break the British blockade. The only thing in his favor was surprise. Who would expect a Yankee frigate in Long Island Sound that night? Peabody is a fictional character & C. S. Forester's first American hero. Yet it was men like him who compensated for our tragic lack of warships & set the world sounding with the feats of our small navy