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Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers
FROM THE CIVIL WAR TO THE TURN OF THE CENTURY, THIS IS THE TRUE-LIFE STORY OF THE ORIGINAL COAST GUARD AND ONE CREW OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HEROES WHO FOUGHT STORMS AND SAVED LIVES OFF NORTH CAROLINA'S OUTER BANKS.
"Fire on the Beach" recovers a lost gem of American history. It tells the story of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, formed in 1871 to assure the safe passage of American and international shipping and to save lives and salvage cargo. A century ago, the adventures of the now-forgotten "surfmen" who, in crews of seven, bore the brunt of this dangerous but vital duty filled the pages of popular reading material, from "Harper's" to the "Baltimore Sun" and "New York Herald." Station 17, located on the desolate beaches of Pea Island, North Carolina, housed one such unit, and Richard Etheridge -- the only black man to lead a lifesaving crew -- was its captain.
A former slave and Civil War veteran, Etheridge recruited and trained a crew of African- Americans, forming the only all-black station in the nation. Although civilian attitudes toward Etheridge and his men ranged from curiosity to outrage, they figured among the most courageous surfmen in the service, performing many daring rescues. From 1880 to the closing of the station in 1947, the Pea Island crew saved scores of men, women, and children who, under other circumstances, would have considered the hands of those reaching out to help them to be of the wrong race. In 1896, when the three-masted schooner E. S. Newman beached during a hurricane, Etheridge and his men accomplished one of the most daring rescues in the annals of the Life-Saving Service. The violent conditions had rendered their equipment useless.Undaunted, the surfmen swam out to the wreck, making nine trips in all, and saved the entire crew. This incredible feat went unrecognized until 1996, when the Coast Guard posthumously awarded the crew the Gold Life-Saving Medal.
The authors depict the lives of Etheridge and his crew against the backdrop of late-nineteenth-century America -- the horrors of the Civil War, the hopefulness of Reconstruction, and the long slide toward "Plessy v. Ferguson" that followed. Full of exploits and heroics, "Fire on the Beach," like the movie "Glory," illustrates yet another example of the little-known but outstanding contributions of a remarkable group of African-Americans to our country's history.
"Fire on the Beach" recovers a lost gem of American history. It tells the story of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, formed in 1871 to assure the safe passage of American and international shipping and to save lives and salvage cargo. A century ago, the adventures of the now-forgotten "surfmen" who, in crews of seven, bore the brunt of this dangerous but vital duty filled the pages of popular reading material, from "Harper's" to the "Baltimore Sun" and "New York Herald." Station 17, located on the desolate beaches of Pea Island, North Carolina, housed one such unit, and Richard Etheridge -- the only black man to lead a lifesaving crew -- was its captain.
A former slave and Civil War veteran, Etheridge recruited and trained a crew of African- Americans, forming the only all-black station in the nation. Although civilian attitudes toward Etheridge and his men ranged from curiosity to outrage, they figured among the most courageous surfmen in the service, performing many daring rescues. From 1880 to the closing of the station in 1947, the Pea Island crew saved scores of men, women, and children who, under other circumstances, would have considered the hands of those reaching out to help them to be of the wrong race. In 1896, when the three-masted schooner E. S. Newman beached during a hurricane, Etheridge and his men accomplished one of the most daring rescues in the annals of the Life-Saving Service. The violent conditions had rendered their equipment useless.Undaunted, the surfmen swam out to the wreck, making nine trips in all, and saved the entire crew. This incredible feat went unrecognized until 1996, when the Coast Guard posthumously awarded the crew the Gold Life-Saving Medal.
The authors depict the lives of Etheridge and his crew against the backdrop of late-nineteenth-century America -- the horrors of the Civil War, the hopefulness of Reconstruction, and the long slide toward "Plessy v. Ferguson" that followed. Full of exploits and heroics, "Fire on the Beach," like the movie "Glory," illustrates yet another example of the little-known but outstanding contributions of a remarkable group of African-Americans to our country's history.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2001
19 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
David Wright
2 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This is David Wright, born 1964.
He also publishes under the name David Wright Faladé.
This is David Wright, born 1964.
He also publishes under the name David Wright Faladé.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 5, 2023
Another great book I picked up on the Outer Banks this past summer. This is one of those great attempts to recover a little bit of lost history, in this case, one that covers a lot of historical ground. The Pea Island Lifesavers were the first all-black (due to post-Reconstruction racism, natch) life-saving crew on the Outer Banks. Etheridge was the head keeper of the post and did much to resuscitate the much-maligned lifesaving service, the precursor to the Coast Guard. Etheridge's story starts, though, with him growing up a slave on Roanoke Island, his career as a Union soldier in the Civil War, accounts of battles along the VA and NC coast, and only then do we get to the Pea Island crew. Like I said, this covers a lot of fascinating ground. The Pea Island guys did a lot of good work saving shipwrecked folks along the notoriously dangerous Outer Banks and this is a welcome slice of American history that got forgotten, but thanks to the Davids, revived.
February 15, 2017
Non-fiction account of these brave men and the challenges they faced reads like an historical novel.
February 22, 2022
Fire on the Beach is an amazing story. I can't write a review of it because I am at a loss for words. I cried through the last chapter. This is the story of seven truly outstanding men. They were outstanding, not because of their color, and not in spite of their color; they were outstanding because they did what they did not for money or recognition but to save lives.
February 22, 2026
It was interesting that after the disastrous season with LSS failures and deaths, Congress debated turning it over to the Navy, or making an inland canal that would connect to Chesapeake Bay to Wilmington so ships would travel waterways and avoid the treacherous stretch of coast between Cape Henry and Cape Hatteras. But this was too costly. The problem was the political appointments and this the incompetent life savers. It was suggested making the LSS its own entity, creating more stations and decreasing the distance between them from 12 to about 6 miles, upgrading equipment and doubling keeper’s salaries to $400. This bill was passed.
It was also interesting to read about the two officers chosen to tour the stations and investigate the keepers and crews. They both said that black surfmen were among the best in NC. They both recommended that #6 Richard Etheridge be appointed the new keeper at station 17, after their recommendation that that keeper be discharged as well as 2 of his surfmen.
I got chills as I read about surfmen William Bowser’s grandchildren holding his portrait.
The story of Keeper Midgett and his crew including Richard going out to a schooner that was not grounded on the shoal, but stuck about a mile out, was incredible. I just ate it up. They went out in the surf boat and got her turned around and guided her into the inlet and she was able to continue her journey.
Things took a turn and it was so unexpected I was like what happened?? It seemed like the inspectors Newcomb and Shoemaker were for African Americans in the service and thought they were as good or better than most of the white men. But then
No one was sad to see Richard leave Bodie Island station. They were probably happy to see him gone but resented him becoming keeper, especially the fellow surfmen who was John B’s nephew (the man who owned Richard’s mom and took Richard into the family and was possibly his dad) and had applied for a keeper position. Once he came to Pea Island station, 4 white men, including another of John B’s nephews left. None of them wanted the indignity of serving under a black person, especially the nephew who was the #1 surfman and should have been given the position but was passed over.
The district superintendent Joseph Etheridge had spoken against the black keeper’s appointment and opposed hiring blacks, despite championing black equality during the war and after. He was said to have Northern ideals and was for suffrage for free blacks. He reported directly to Superintendent Kimball and served as an intermediary between the community and the service. His role consisted in part of interpreting the feelings and communicating the interests of locals to the bureaucrats and making sure federal authorities didn’t overstep their bounds and upset area customs and traditions.
He didn’t doubt Richard or any black surfman, but he was a native of the area and knew his neighbors. He knew that putting a black man in a position that many white men wanted was risky. Newcomb and Shoemaker ignored him a few insisted appointing Richard was the right thing to do.
Joseph went down to appoint Richard without waiting for Newcomb. Newcomb knew the decision would be unpopular and wanted to be on hand as a show of authority or perhaps in case of trouble. Bad weather delayed him and when he arrived he was informed that he was late and Richard was already appointed, and that 4 white surfmen weren’t remaining. He reprimanded them severely and told them he was of a mind to have them discharged on the spot. He didn’t but sent them home. He had anticipated this and had counted on their refusal to set in motion the second part of his and Shoemaker’s plan. His object was to get rid of mixed crews, and they had proposed to Kimball and he approved the plan to juggle personnel between stations and staff Pea Island with all African Americans. Northern inspectors had recommended segregating service at Station 17 as essential to the Service.
This was as a way to include blacks in the LSS. This ensured they would be hired in the Outer Banks which was becoming less likely. Two stations were staffed by checkerboard crews but whites resented it from the start. Integrated crews had been tolerated in the early years but was now unpopular. As Reconstruction faded, white keepers quit hiring black surfmen. Only a few, mostly those active in Republican politics, had hired them in the first place. Keepers who were hired by men who had hired blacks didn’t do so when hiring their own crews. One black surfman was passed over by a young white man over two decades his junior, then after his departure from illness, was passed over by a man not even on the crew.
To Newcomb and Shoemaker, the likelihood that black lifesavers would be eliminated from the service promised dire circumstances, and appointing a black keeper might offer a solution to the problem of white keepers refusing to hire those skilled watermen.
Southern “Redemption” segregation didn’t have all the negative associations that it would in the 20th century. People began to talk of a “New South,” where blacks and whites would have equal citizenship but in separate spheres.
Two years after the first heated debate over incorporating the LSS into the Navy, Kimball realized he couldn’t afford to discharge capable surfmen because of their race, but he didn’t want to decrease effectiveness of crews because of the presence of blacks.
Joseph Case and Wescott were transferred to Pea Island but resisted and wrote to Kimball that it was because it would put them traveling 40-44 miles from home instead of 3-4 miles which would prohibit them from visiting family. It was sad they thought the keeper was pleased with them when really he didn’t want to work with blacks. And Newcomb didn’t consult them in the matter, and told the keeper to discharge Case.
A letter came out from Case accusing Newcomb of making political moves and being racist and it was all the talk. It was upsetting to have his character attacked. He knew Case was illiterate and this didn’t sound like the man who’d visited his office and explained that he regretted his decision because two of the whites had put them up to it. And he could have made the move because he owned no property and could have moved his family but the men convinced him not to, along with Wescott. And Richard had been misinformed. It was an attempt to intimidate them into leaving the service.
The whole business of the larceny was awful. The authors made it sound like Newcomb and Shoemaker were going to bust the culprits, but they got away, and Kimbal even promoted them at a later time, not being able to spare good life savers. It pissed me off that they could burn the station to the ground and not even face any consequences.
I thought it was so cool that they became figures of authority in their communities. They helped out with all kinds of things. It’s amazing that the lifesavers of Kitty Hawk helped Wilber with his airplane.
It was so interesting that Martha Coston continued her late husband’s work and perfected his flawed idea of the coston flare.
It was absolutely incredible and gave me chills that the famous line “The book says we’ve got to go out—it doesn’t say a damn thing about coming back!” made it in here. Someone heard Patrick Etheridge say it about their mission just before the Hatteras station went out in the surfboat.
And nerve wracking waiting for their demise. It’s so nice that the Big Kinnakeet Station attempted to launch their boat to support them. They saved all the sailors and all made it back.
The hurricane was the worst anyone had ever seen had surges that were “crotch deep.” It was amazing that while all the other stations were hunkering down or leaving for safety, Pea Island was going out into it. A schooner struck a shoal and they couldn’t get the breeches buoy set up and couldn’t try the boat, so Richard said they’d have to swim out. The men wore life jackets and were secured by a line to each other, made 9 trips in teams of 2 abs saved everyone aboard. The captain found the nameplate in the surge the next day and awarded it to them.
The 3am to sunrise was the final patrol of the night.
Patrolling was often frightening, a combination of darkness and sound, but no surf man worth his salt would admit.
In 1880 a directive had come out from headquarters in Washington that surfmen couldn’t carry lighted lanterns on patrol, as ships might mistake the beam for a ship’s and be drawn into the breakers. They went into the darkness using only their knowledge of beaches and storms and their sense of duty.
When a surf man returned from his 6 mile March, he got whatever sleep he could, then had a day of exhaustive drilling and hard work.
New Inlet had been shoaling up for years, and a storm could close it for good or open a deeper passage like the one at Hatteras.
A patrolman would normally meet his neighbor from the adjacent station and exchange a stamped badge to prove to the keeper that the entire beat had been covered.
Because the Outer Banks is broken by several inlets, many stations were cut off from their neighbors. Surfmen from Pea Island and Oregon Inlet stations were cut off from their neighbors to the north by the swift, deep currents of Oregon Inlet. They were stranded together on a tiny strip of barrier island.they met halfway on patrols, worked in unison during shipwrecks, and shared rides back and forth to Roanoke Island. On the other end of the patrol, a time clock stood at the tip of the sandy bight separating them from the opposite shore. Men would turn a key in the clock, the keeper checking it daily to guarantee fastidiousness.
The southern patrol from Pea Island wasn’t always a solitary march. Sometimes the man from Chicamacomico would arrive at the same time at about the same time. The sound of the breakers made it too noisy to communicate, but they might raise an arm to let the other know all was well. Then each man would turn his key in the clock and head back.
Keepers and surfmen were the guardians of thousands of miles of shoreline and hundreds of coastline ships. Like clockwork, surfmen walked our coasts each night in the foulest weather. These men were the only hope a stranded crew had when their ship struck the shoals.
The Life-Saving Service was set up in the maritime tradition of nightly watches, rotating duty, and adherence to strict codes.
A system of coded flags allowed surfmen to communicate with passing ships. In this manner, each station could relay important information from shore, such as latitude and longitude coordinates and storm warnings, to the bridge if a cruising vessel.
Each station was under the supervision of a station keeper, usually referred to as Cap’n by his crew of six surfmen. The keeper, recommended and reviewed by a government inspector, hired and trained crews, which without exception were local men, men who could keep stroke with an oar, knew the local currents, and had the sort of disposition that allowed for high risks at low pay.
The stations were organized into regional districts, with NC and 3 outposts in VA making the Sixth District.
As in duty aboard a schooner or whaling vessel, each crewman was assigned a nightly watch, but coastal surfmen trudged over dark beaches and looked seaward for ships in distress instead of walking the decks and peering over railings into the sea.
While most of the nation slept, these men faced “all natural vicissitudes, all hardships, all exposure known between the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, bitter cold, rain in torrents, cutting sleet, blinding flights of sand and spray.”
Over the LSS’s history, coastal lifesavers often went beyond duty and performed rescues that are hardly fathomable today.
It was marked by incompetence in its early years, particularly in NC stations, that marred the efficacy and reputation of the LSS to the degree that its future was in jeopardy.
In Jan 1880 Richard Etheridge was appointed to replace the ousted keeper of Station 17, who like many Outer Banks keepers, had failed to respond to a ship in distress. He recruited and trained a crew of African American surfmen, forming the only all African American station in the entire LSS.
The Civil War still influenced daily life very much. For Southerners, memories of the early brought pain over lost comrades, fallen heroes, and a vanquished way of life. Animosity died slowly in postbellum South. To some Outer Bankers, the Pea Island crew brought up all those losses. They were either a curiosity, a lark, or an outrage.
Before Etheridge, the best a black surfmen could hope for, whatever his experience, was the number six man or substitute. Heather would be expected to cook, do menial tasks such as cleaning the galley or tending the station’s ponies if they had any, while staying isolated from the crew, unless a ship came ashore. Then he’d be in the surfboat with the others. They wanted to be there despite the daily humiliations.
It was called “wrecking” when items washed ashore like lumber and cargo.
The men would fish and trap terrapin and gather shellfish. And be familiar with the sea’s sudden changes and could tell by the clouds that a storm would soon be over.
They wore heavy oilskins and weatherproof boots.
White surge would roll into shore, backlash and kick up spray. The thick and misty weather made it impossible to see the breakers but he could hear them rumbling and building. A scent accompanies a coming gale: briny odor of the sea mixed with seaweed, wet wood, and sweet sea grass. He would walk along the high-water mark, stepping I er driftwood, seaweed, and spindrift from the ocean. He’d occasionally be caught off guard by the seas, getting doused. Then would walk up near the dunes, the storm surge intensifying with each wave. The wind kicked up salt water and sand and stung the eyes. Walk with head down, chin tucked into jacket. The wind moaned over the hummocks and dunes, and whistled through old shipwrecks on the beach.
The 45 mile span from Oregon Inlet to the horn at Cape Hatteras claimed the most vessels in NC. The frigid, southward-flowing Labrador currents collide with the tepid, north-flowing Gulf Stream, forming hidden shoals where depths can go from 125 fathoms to 2 in just a few yards.
Since Colonial times, mariners have taken advantage of the prevailing currents to dramatically reduce their travel time, and the shipping lanes of the Outer Banks became the supply liens for the United States. In the heyday of shopping, spectators could watch as many as 100 vessels tacking about, maintaining a holding pattern until conditions permitted them to clear Cape Hatteras. The area became the most dreaded on the Atlantic coast.
Hurricanes and nor’easters could rise up in the Atlantic with no warning, and destroy whole fleets. To the north mariners could anchor and ride out the gales in the relative safety of the Chesapeake bay.
All Outer Bankers, whether well to do or not learned the skills of their parents at early ages and worked alongside them. They built boats and piloted them, they mended yards of nets and learned how and where to set them. They dredged for oysters, hauled in mullet, caught loggerhead turtles, cut blubber from beaches whales and boiled it to make oil.
The LSS didn’t adopt uniforms for crews until 1889.
The bulk of the work wasn’t the spectacular saves but the routine drill and labor of keeping the boats and outfit clean and ready and the nightly patrols.
Surfmen from coast to coast would later wear a common uniform, a dark blue navy style with rank sewn into the sleeve. In the early years the keeper had some discretion on how they wanted their crews to dress. Most favored some sort of single-breasted dark coat, and reserved the double-breasted model for themselves to distinguish themselves from their surfmen.
At Pea Island station, Mondays and Thursdays were for drilling with the beach apparatus including firing the Lyle gun. Tuesdays were for boat drills, Wednesdays for flag and signal drills, Fridays for first aid and practice restoring the drowned. Saturdays were general cleaning of the station, inside and out. Sundays according to regulation we’re supposed to be days of rest. But Richard inspected his crew at 9 and read to them from the blue-jacket manual. And they maintained their regular patrols and lookout duty.
Disease was overwhelmingly the cause of the most deaths of life savers more than any other cause including drowning and injuries.
Richard would purposely capsize the lifeboat during drills to teach his crew to right the boat.
The men exchanged proofs to show their keepers that they had covered their beat. In the early years it was letters it lanterns. Then eventually it became a stamped badge that had the man’s station number and rank inscribed. On coasts separated by inlets, the lifesaver carried a time detector. A key was attached to a post at the far end of the beat that would stop the clock. The keeper could tell the diligence of his crew by checking when the key was turned.
Pg 226-230 info
238-239
Women Societies provided clothing and other items lifesavers used for survivors. In the earliest years, women served as cooks.
Women were a welcome presence especially in times of crisis. They helped by cooking, making coffee, and caring for the injured or exhausted shipwreck survivors.
There were no pensions. If a lifesaver died on duty, the family was paid the sum of what he was owed until the date of his death.
In 1900 some lifesavers banded together to form the Surfmen’s Mutual Benefit Association, to provide for the families of lost lifesavers since there were no pensions. African Americans were never allowed in and never received benefits.
It was also interesting to read about the two officers chosen to tour the stations and investigate the keepers and crews. They both said that black surfmen were among the best in NC. They both recommended that #6 Richard Etheridge be appointed the new keeper at station 17, after their recommendation that that keeper be discharged as well as 2 of his surfmen.
I got chills as I read about surfmen William Bowser’s grandchildren holding his portrait.
The story of Keeper Midgett and his crew including Richard going out to a schooner that was not grounded on the shoal, but stuck about a mile out, was incredible. I just ate it up. They went out in the surf boat and got her turned around and guided her into the inlet and she was able to continue her journey.
Things took a turn and it was so unexpected I was like what happened?? It seemed like the inspectors Newcomb and Shoemaker were for African Americans in the service and thought they were as good or better than most of the white men. But then
No one was sad to see Richard leave Bodie Island station. They were probably happy to see him gone but resented him becoming keeper, especially the fellow surfmen who was John B’s nephew (the man who owned Richard’s mom and took Richard into the family and was possibly his dad) and had applied for a keeper position. Once he came to Pea Island station, 4 white men, including another of John B’s nephews left. None of them wanted the indignity of serving under a black person, especially the nephew who was the #1 surfman and should have been given the position but was passed over.
The district superintendent Joseph Etheridge had spoken against the black keeper’s appointment and opposed hiring blacks, despite championing black equality during the war and after. He was said to have Northern ideals and was for suffrage for free blacks. He reported directly to Superintendent Kimball and served as an intermediary between the community and the service. His role consisted in part of interpreting the feelings and communicating the interests of locals to the bureaucrats and making sure federal authorities didn’t overstep their bounds and upset area customs and traditions.
He didn’t doubt Richard or any black surfman, but he was a native of the area and knew his neighbors. He knew that putting a black man in a position that many white men wanted was risky. Newcomb and Shoemaker ignored him a few insisted appointing Richard was the right thing to do.
Joseph went down to appoint Richard without waiting for Newcomb. Newcomb knew the decision would be unpopular and wanted to be on hand as a show of authority or perhaps in case of trouble. Bad weather delayed him and when he arrived he was informed that he was late and Richard was already appointed, and that 4 white surfmen weren’t remaining. He reprimanded them severely and told them he was of a mind to have them discharged on the spot. He didn’t but sent them home. He had anticipated this and had counted on their refusal to set in motion the second part of his and Shoemaker’s plan. His object was to get rid of mixed crews, and they had proposed to Kimball and he approved the plan to juggle personnel between stations and staff Pea Island with all African Americans. Northern inspectors had recommended segregating service at Station 17 as essential to the Service.
This was as a way to include blacks in the LSS. This ensured they would be hired in the Outer Banks which was becoming less likely. Two stations were staffed by checkerboard crews but whites resented it from the start. Integrated crews had been tolerated in the early years but was now unpopular. As Reconstruction faded, white keepers quit hiring black surfmen. Only a few, mostly those active in Republican politics, had hired them in the first place. Keepers who were hired by men who had hired blacks didn’t do so when hiring their own crews. One black surfman was passed over by a young white man over two decades his junior, then after his departure from illness, was passed over by a man not even on the crew.
To Newcomb and Shoemaker, the likelihood that black lifesavers would be eliminated from the service promised dire circumstances, and appointing a black keeper might offer a solution to the problem of white keepers refusing to hire those skilled watermen.
Southern “Redemption” segregation didn’t have all the negative associations that it would in the 20th century. People began to talk of a “New South,” where blacks and whites would have equal citizenship but in separate spheres.
Two years after the first heated debate over incorporating the LSS into the Navy, Kimball realized he couldn’t afford to discharge capable surfmen because of their race, but he didn’t want to decrease effectiveness of crews because of the presence of blacks.
Joseph Case and Wescott were transferred to Pea Island but resisted and wrote to Kimball that it was because it would put them traveling 40-44 miles from home instead of 3-4 miles which would prohibit them from visiting family. It was sad they thought the keeper was pleased with them when really he didn’t want to work with blacks. And Newcomb didn’t consult them in the matter, and told the keeper to discharge Case.
A letter came out from Case accusing Newcomb of making political moves and being racist and it was all the talk. It was upsetting to have his character attacked. He knew Case was illiterate and this didn’t sound like the man who’d visited his office and explained that he regretted his decision because two of the whites had put them up to it. And he could have made the move because he owned no property and could have moved his family but the men convinced him not to, along with Wescott. And Richard had been misinformed. It was an attempt to intimidate them into leaving the service.
The whole business of the larceny was awful. The authors made it sound like Newcomb and Shoemaker were going to bust the culprits, but they got away, and Kimbal even promoted them at a later time, not being able to spare good life savers. It pissed me off that they could burn the station to the ground and not even face any consequences.
I thought it was so cool that they became figures of authority in their communities. They helped out with all kinds of things. It’s amazing that the lifesavers of Kitty Hawk helped Wilber with his airplane.
It was so interesting that Martha Coston continued her late husband’s work and perfected his flawed idea of the coston flare.
It was absolutely incredible and gave me chills that the famous line “The book says we’ve got to go out—it doesn’t say a damn thing about coming back!” made it in here. Someone heard Patrick Etheridge say it about their mission just before the Hatteras station went out in the surfboat.
And nerve wracking waiting for their demise. It’s so nice that the Big Kinnakeet Station attempted to launch their boat to support them. They saved all the sailors and all made it back.
The hurricane was the worst anyone had ever seen had surges that were “crotch deep.” It was amazing that while all the other stations were hunkering down or leaving for safety, Pea Island was going out into it. A schooner struck a shoal and they couldn’t get the breeches buoy set up and couldn’t try the boat, so Richard said they’d have to swim out. The men wore life jackets and were secured by a line to each other, made 9 trips in teams of 2 abs saved everyone aboard. The captain found the nameplate in the surge the next day and awarded it to them.
The 3am to sunrise was the final patrol of the night.
Patrolling was often frightening, a combination of darkness and sound, but no surf man worth his salt would admit.
In 1880 a directive had come out from headquarters in Washington that surfmen couldn’t carry lighted lanterns on patrol, as ships might mistake the beam for a ship’s and be drawn into the breakers. They went into the darkness using only their knowledge of beaches and storms and their sense of duty.
When a surf man returned from his 6 mile March, he got whatever sleep he could, then had a day of exhaustive drilling and hard work.
New Inlet had been shoaling up for years, and a storm could close it for good or open a deeper passage like the one at Hatteras.
A patrolman would normally meet his neighbor from the adjacent station and exchange a stamped badge to prove to the keeper that the entire beat had been covered.
Because the Outer Banks is broken by several inlets, many stations were cut off from their neighbors. Surfmen from Pea Island and Oregon Inlet stations were cut off from their neighbors to the north by the swift, deep currents of Oregon Inlet. They were stranded together on a tiny strip of barrier island.they met halfway on patrols, worked in unison during shipwrecks, and shared rides back and forth to Roanoke Island. On the other end of the patrol, a time clock stood at the tip of the sandy bight separating them from the opposite shore. Men would turn a key in the clock, the keeper checking it daily to guarantee fastidiousness.
The southern patrol from Pea Island wasn’t always a solitary march. Sometimes the man from Chicamacomico would arrive at the same time at about the same time. The sound of the breakers made it too noisy to communicate, but they might raise an arm to let the other know all was well. Then each man would turn his key in the clock and head back.
Keepers and surfmen were the guardians of thousands of miles of shoreline and hundreds of coastline ships. Like clockwork, surfmen walked our coasts each night in the foulest weather. These men were the only hope a stranded crew had when their ship struck the shoals.
The Life-Saving Service was set up in the maritime tradition of nightly watches, rotating duty, and adherence to strict codes.
A system of coded flags allowed surfmen to communicate with passing ships. In this manner, each station could relay important information from shore, such as latitude and longitude coordinates and storm warnings, to the bridge if a cruising vessel.
Each station was under the supervision of a station keeper, usually referred to as Cap’n by his crew of six surfmen. The keeper, recommended and reviewed by a government inspector, hired and trained crews, which without exception were local men, men who could keep stroke with an oar, knew the local currents, and had the sort of disposition that allowed for high risks at low pay.
The stations were organized into regional districts, with NC and 3 outposts in VA making the Sixth District.
As in duty aboard a schooner or whaling vessel, each crewman was assigned a nightly watch, but coastal surfmen trudged over dark beaches and looked seaward for ships in distress instead of walking the decks and peering over railings into the sea.
While most of the nation slept, these men faced “all natural vicissitudes, all hardships, all exposure known between the autumnal and vernal equinoxes, bitter cold, rain in torrents, cutting sleet, blinding flights of sand and spray.”
Over the LSS’s history, coastal lifesavers often went beyond duty and performed rescues that are hardly fathomable today.
It was marked by incompetence in its early years, particularly in NC stations, that marred the efficacy and reputation of the LSS to the degree that its future was in jeopardy.
In Jan 1880 Richard Etheridge was appointed to replace the ousted keeper of Station 17, who like many Outer Banks keepers, had failed to respond to a ship in distress. He recruited and trained a crew of African American surfmen, forming the only all African American station in the entire LSS.
The Civil War still influenced daily life very much. For Southerners, memories of the early brought pain over lost comrades, fallen heroes, and a vanquished way of life. Animosity died slowly in postbellum South. To some Outer Bankers, the Pea Island crew brought up all those losses. They were either a curiosity, a lark, or an outrage.
Before Etheridge, the best a black surfmen could hope for, whatever his experience, was the number six man or substitute. Heather would be expected to cook, do menial tasks such as cleaning the galley or tending the station’s ponies if they had any, while staying isolated from the crew, unless a ship came ashore. Then he’d be in the surfboat with the others. They wanted to be there despite the daily humiliations.
It was called “wrecking” when items washed ashore like lumber and cargo.
The men would fish and trap terrapin and gather shellfish. And be familiar with the sea’s sudden changes and could tell by the clouds that a storm would soon be over.
They wore heavy oilskins and weatherproof boots.
White surge would roll into shore, backlash and kick up spray. The thick and misty weather made it impossible to see the breakers but he could hear them rumbling and building. A scent accompanies a coming gale: briny odor of the sea mixed with seaweed, wet wood, and sweet sea grass. He would walk along the high-water mark, stepping I er driftwood, seaweed, and spindrift from the ocean. He’d occasionally be caught off guard by the seas, getting doused. Then would walk up near the dunes, the storm surge intensifying with each wave. The wind kicked up salt water and sand and stung the eyes. Walk with head down, chin tucked into jacket. The wind moaned over the hummocks and dunes, and whistled through old shipwrecks on the beach.
The 45 mile span from Oregon Inlet to the horn at Cape Hatteras claimed the most vessels in NC. The frigid, southward-flowing Labrador currents collide with the tepid, north-flowing Gulf Stream, forming hidden shoals where depths can go from 125 fathoms to 2 in just a few yards.
Since Colonial times, mariners have taken advantage of the prevailing currents to dramatically reduce their travel time, and the shipping lanes of the Outer Banks became the supply liens for the United States. In the heyday of shopping, spectators could watch as many as 100 vessels tacking about, maintaining a holding pattern until conditions permitted them to clear Cape Hatteras. The area became the most dreaded on the Atlantic coast.
Hurricanes and nor’easters could rise up in the Atlantic with no warning, and destroy whole fleets. To the north mariners could anchor and ride out the gales in the relative safety of the Chesapeake bay.
All Outer Bankers, whether well to do or not learned the skills of their parents at early ages and worked alongside them. They built boats and piloted them, they mended yards of nets and learned how and where to set them. They dredged for oysters, hauled in mullet, caught loggerhead turtles, cut blubber from beaches whales and boiled it to make oil.
The LSS didn’t adopt uniforms for crews until 1889.
The bulk of the work wasn’t the spectacular saves but the routine drill and labor of keeping the boats and outfit clean and ready and the nightly patrols.
Surfmen from coast to coast would later wear a common uniform, a dark blue navy style with rank sewn into the sleeve. In the early years the keeper had some discretion on how they wanted their crews to dress. Most favored some sort of single-breasted dark coat, and reserved the double-breasted model for themselves to distinguish themselves from their surfmen.
At Pea Island station, Mondays and Thursdays were for drilling with the beach apparatus including firing the Lyle gun. Tuesdays were for boat drills, Wednesdays for flag and signal drills, Fridays for first aid and practice restoring the drowned. Saturdays were general cleaning of the station, inside and out. Sundays according to regulation we’re supposed to be days of rest. But Richard inspected his crew at 9 and read to them from the blue-jacket manual. And they maintained their regular patrols and lookout duty.
Disease was overwhelmingly the cause of the most deaths of life savers more than any other cause including drowning and injuries.
Richard would purposely capsize the lifeboat during drills to teach his crew to right the boat.
The men exchanged proofs to show their keepers that they had covered their beat. In the early years it was letters it lanterns. Then eventually it became a stamped badge that had the man’s station number and rank inscribed. On coasts separated by inlets, the lifesaver carried a time detector. A key was attached to a post at the far end of the beat that would stop the clock. The keeper could tell the diligence of his crew by checking when the key was turned.
Pg 226-230 info
238-239
Women Societies provided clothing and other items lifesavers used for survivors. In the earliest years, women served as cooks.
Women were a welcome presence especially in times of crisis. They helped by cooking, making coffee, and caring for the injured or exhausted shipwreck survivors.
There were no pensions. If a lifesaver died on duty, the family was paid the sum of what he was owed until the date of his death.
In 1900 some lifesavers banded together to form the Surfmen’s Mutual Benefit Association, to provide for the families of lost lifesavers since there were no pensions. African Americans were never allowed in and never received benefits.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2024
Excellent! This book is a valuable gem of information on Richard Etheridge and his all Black crew of surfmen in the U.S. Life-Saving Service (LSS) on Pea Island, North Carolina. The authors did an exceptional amount of research to provide many historical details on the topic. I am very appreciative of their work.
The book is divided into three sections about Richard Etheridge’s life. The first part focuses on his early life as a slave in North Carolina and his Union Army enlistment into 36th U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). He fought against the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The book also pays homage to the 54th Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment featured in the movie Glory (1989). The second part is an introduction to the Life-Saving Service (LSS) in North Carolina. The LSS was an early forerunner to the U.S. Coast Guard Service. The third part reveals the life of a surfman with all its challenges and the heroism of the Pea Island crew.
The historical details cover the experiences of Black Civil War soldiers (e.g. lower wages compared to White soldiers, racism on the battlefield & in the military ranks, and their ability to liberate other slaves, including their wives, children, and other family members.) There are highlights of the Reconstruction period (1865-1877) and how the advances of African-American freedmen, fell victim to anti-Black socio-political sabotage to maintain racism as the status quo. The Black Pea Island surfmen would go on to to rescue the crew of the E.S. Newman amid extremely hazardous conditions. On March 5th, 1996 they were rewarded for their ingenuity and brave rescue of the E.S. Newman with the Gold Life-Saving Medal, given posthumously by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Unfortunately, half-truths and racist tropes still exist today about the plight of enslaved Africans in America. African Americans are the ancestral survivors of these people who fought against the inhumanity of chattel slavery (1619-1865, 246 years), when they could and the best they could. That part of the story needs to be told more often. And this book does a good job revealing that side of the story. African Americans participated in their own liberation from chattel slavery when they could through various means: as run away fugitives, plantation slave revolts, lawsuits, and enlistment into the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Finally, I remember many years ago the artist formerly known as Prince claimed unfair dealings in the music industry was a form of slavery. He even wore the word “Slave” on his face in public. This is not a comparison of chattel slavery to unfair contractual dealings. Because these two issues are very different. But there is recognition of a common thread of similarity when people feel entitled to own other people. So, when statements are made to degrade the dignity and plight of enslaved Africans due to ignorance, racist half-truths, or attention-seeking behavior, remember these people had a nation and laws working against them while living in a foreign country. A lot of food for thought. I appreciate the outstanding research done in this book to help restore the dignity of these remarkable people. And tell their side of the story.
🌷Book Quotes:
“Hurricanes and nor’easters could rise up from the Atlantic with no warning, stunning and destroying whole fleets at once.”
“And the black troopers put their confidence in their officers. One, First Lieutenant James Backuss, was excused from the fight because of lameness…but he disobeyed orders to stay with the men and lead them into battle. It was men liked Backuss who exemplified what was best about the white officers.”
“Blacks made up about 11 percent of the Union Army when the fighting ended. By the fall, with the large numbers of white volunteer regiments demobilized, the percentage of USCT jumped suddenly to 36 percent of the active forces.”
The book is divided into three sections about Richard Etheridge’s life. The first part focuses on his early life as a slave in North Carolina and his Union Army enlistment into 36th U.S. Colored Troops (USCT). He fought against the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War (1861-1865). The book also pays homage to the 54th Massachusetts Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment featured in the movie Glory (1989). The second part is an introduction to the Life-Saving Service (LSS) in North Carolina. The LSS was an early forerunner to the U.S. Coast Guard Service. The third part reveals the life of a surfman with all its challenges and the heroism of the Pea Island crew.
The historical details cover the experiences of Black Civil War soldiers (e.g. lower wages compared to White soldiers, racism on the battlefield & in the military ranks, and their ability to liberate other slaves, including their wives, children, and other family members.) There are highlights of the Reconstruction period (1865-1877) and how the advances of African-American freedmen, fell victim to anti-Black socio-political sabotage to maintain racism as the status quo. The Black Pea Island surfmen would go on to to rescue the crew of the E.S. Newman amid extremely hazardous conditions. On March 5th, 1996 they were rewarded for their ingenuity and brave rescue of the E.S. Newman with the Gold Life-Saving Medal, given posthumously by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Unfortunately, half-truths and racist tropes still exist today about the plight of enslaved Africans in America. African Americans are the ancestral survivors of these people who fought against the inhumanity of chattel slavery (1619-1865, 246 years), when they could and the best they could. That part of the story needs to be told more often. And this book does a good job revealing that side of the story. African Americans participated in their own liberation from chattel slavery when they could through various means: as run away fugitives, plantation slave revolts, lawsuits, and enlistment into the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Finally, I remember many years ago the artist formerly known as Prince claimed unfair dealings in the music industry was a form of slavery. He even wore the word “Slave” on his face in public. This is not a comparison of chattel slavery to unfair contractual dealings. Because these two issues are very different. But there is recognition of a common thread of similarity when people feel entitled to own other people. So, when statements are made to degrade the dignity and plight of enslaved Africans due to ignorance, racist half-truths, or attention-seeking behavior, remember these people had a nation and laws working against them while living in a foreign country. A lot of food for thought. I appreciate the outstanding research done in this book to help restore the dignity of these remarkable people. And tell their side of the story.
🌷Book Quotes:
“Hurricanes and nor’easters could rise up from the Atlantic with no warning, stunning and destroying whole fleets at once.”
“And the black troopers put their confidence in their officers. One, First Lieutenant James Backuss, was excused from the fight because of lameness…but he disobeyed orders to stay with the men and lead them into battle. It was men liked Backuss who exemplified what was best about the white officers.”
“Blacks made up about 11 percent of the Union Army when the fighting ended. By the fall, with the large numbers of white volunteer regiments demobilized, the percentage of USCT jumped suddenly to 36 percent of the active forces.”
May 29, 2022
At the conclusion of his Civil War enlistment Etheridge, now married and living on the coast of North Carolina, is working as Keeper of the Pea Island station of the Life-Saving Service (LSS). The LSS preceded the Coast Guard and was only commissioned for service from 1871-1915. Etheridge was challenged by his white crew so he replaced them and together he and the men became known as some of the most courageous in the service. I so enjoyed learning about the precursor of the Coast Guard and the challenges they had on isolated beaches with crews struggling through racism, trying to support their communities and their families while risking their lives against the elements and the capricious sea waters.
I find it really interesting that after working on the nonfiction account of Etheridge’s later life, David Wright Falade was not finished with this man’s story so he went on to create a book about his early life. Black Cloud Rising is definitely the most interesting novel of Civil War troops I have ever read and I highly recommend it. If like me you are taken with the story of Dick Etheridge you too may want to read the true story of his professional endeavors in later years in Fire on the Beach.
I find it really interesting that after working on the nonfiction account of Etheridge’s later life, David Wright Falade was not finished with this man’s story so he went on to create a book about his early life. Black Cloud Rising is definitely the most interesting novel of Civil War troops I have ever read and I highly recommend it. If like me you are taken with the story of Dick Etheridge you too may want to read the true story of his professional endeavors in later years in Fire on the Beach.
April 27, 2022
This was an absolutely incredible book. First of all, the authors uncovered a hidden chapter of history through diligent and thorough research, allowing these brave men to get the credit they have long deserved. Second of all, it's really well written. Especially in the chapters about the rescues at sea, you feel like you're living it. It was absolutely riveting.
I agree with others that the Civil War chapter was a bit longer and more detailed than it needed to be, so just read until it gets too dense with battle details and then skip it... you will still get the basic idea of the heroism of Black soldiers during the war without losing the main gist of the book.
I got this book through interlibrary loan after hearing about the Pea Island lifesavers in a guidebook I read before a trip to the Outer Banks. We stayed in Manteo, where you can visit the actual Pea Island station, which has been moved to the town. There's a statue and plaque honoring keeper Richard Etheridge and his team. We also visited the site where the "freedmen's colony" was located on Roanoke Island. There's some fascinating Black history in the Outer Banks and I'm grateful to this book for opening my eyes to it.
I agree with others that the Civil War chapter was a bit longer and more detailed than it needed to be, so just read until it gets too dense with battle details and then skip it... you will still get the basic idea of the heroism of Black soldiers during the war without losing the main gist of the book.
I got this book through interlibrary loan after hearing about the Pea Island lifesavers in a guidebook I read before a trip to the Outer Banks. We stayed in Manteo, where you can visit the actual Pea Island station, which has been moved to the town. There's a statue and plaque honoring keeper Richard Etheridge and his team. We also visited the site where the "freedmen's colony" was located on Roanoke Island. There's some fascinating Black history in the Outer Banks and I'm grateful to this book for opening my eyes to it.
September 18, 2025
I'm tremendously conflicted on this book.
On one hand, it's extremely well researched and written. Honoring the accomplishment and sacrifice of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island lifesavers as the only black crew in the LSS is honorable and heartwarming. The book has a fantastic intro and outro.
On the other hand...there's about 250 pages in-between the fantastic intro and outro that are...fine. There's a lot of conjecture on the part of the authors with things like "We don't know what Richard Etheridge said here. but we'll go ahead and assume it was this: ..." Running through the entire history of the Civil War and the establishment of the LSS could have been expedited a bit. Plus, it didn't help that 60% of the people on the Outer Banks had the last name Etheridge, Midgett or Bowser, so keeping everyone straight was difficult.
This book probably hits like a truck if you're from the Outer Banks. Having not grown up there, I appreciate the effort from the authors to bring this story to light, but it just didn't 100% land for me.
On one hand, it's extremely well researched and written. Honoring the accomplishment and sacrifice of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island lifesavers as the only black crew in the LSS is honorable and heartwarming. The book has a fantastic intro and outro.
On the other hand...there's about 250 pages in-between the fantastic intro and outro that are...fine. There's a lot of conjecture on the part of the authors with things like "We don't know what Richard Etheridge said here. but we'll go ahead and assume it was this: ..." Running through the entire history of the Civil War and the establishment of the LSS could have been expedited a bit. Plus, it didn't help that 60% of the people on the Outer Banks had the last name Etheridge, Midgett or Bowser, so keeping everyone straight was difficult.
This book probably hits like a truck if you're from the Outer Banks. Having not grown up there, I appreciate the effort from the authors to bring this story to light, but it just didn't 100% land for me.
May 25, 2020
I have vague memories of purchasing this book from a sale bin somewhere and thinking, for a few bucks, it might be an interesting read. It turned out to be a great bargain!
The subject is well-researched and the writing is concise and clear, accessible to those of us without much knowledge of sailing ships or Outer Banks geography & history. The story of the Life-Saving Service is fascinating, albeit brief, and you can’t help but feel respect for the men (and their families) who dedicated themselves to this service. Toss in the extending prejudices of slavery, war, Reconstruction, and Plessy v. Ferguson, and the Men of Station 17 are superheroes.
Perhaps my only disappointment is the long section the authors dedicate to Civil War history. I understand the relevance but felt I could have benefited with a fraction of that information to maintain the momentum of the book’s primary focus.
The subject is well-researched and the writing is concise and clear, accessible to those of us without much knowledge of sailing ships or Outer Banks geography & history. The story of the Life-Saving Service is fascinating, albeit brief, and you can’t help but feel respect for the men (and their families) who dedicated themselves to this service. Toss in the extending prejudices of slavery, war, Reconstruction, and Plessy v. Ferguson, and the Men of Station 17 are superheroes.
Perhaps my only disappointment is the long section the authors dedicate to Civil War history. I understand the relevance but felt I could have benefited with a fraction of that information to maintain the momentum of the book’s primary focus.
February 3, 2022
I picked this book up because my heart belongs to the Outer Banks and I was fascinated by the idea of the all-black lifesaving station crew. I never got to that part. This book is a biography of Richard Etheridge and the author goes into great detail about his life. I couldn't make it past the Civil War. This is not to say that the book isn't good. I just couldn't take the detail right now (I felt compelled to look up every battle scene in Google maps, for example). This is the kind of book that one needs time to savor and delve into deeply. Unfortunately, I don't have the time now. Some day I'll buy this book and find out about Mr. Etheridge and his Pea Island Lifesavers. I'm sure it's a tale worth knowing
August 29, 2024
Interesting story of the US Lifesaving Service in the 1880s and 1890s along the Pea Island area of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The book focuses on the life of Richard Etheridge, born a slave, liberated, and joined the Union Army in the Civil War. Etheridge had been raised by a white family that taught him to read and write and thus he emerged as a leader in his Union Army battalion. Several chapters of this book give Etheridge’s background story. Those Army leadership experiences enabled him to lead the only all-Black lifesaving crew in the nation during those years. Detailed retellings of some of the storms, shipwrecks , and rescues Etheridge and his crew endured are very well done.
February 4, 2026
As a Coast Guard veteran I enjoyed this history of the LSS , the precursor to the Coast Guard. And living in North Carolina it was also interesting from that perspective.
The writing wasn’t the best I’ve read and some sections were a push to get through (hard to follow some of the names and a bit too much Civil War battle strategy). The CW background was somewhat important to the life of the key character, but spent too much time on it.
There were a fair amount of formatting issues, specifically words were combined eg no spaces. Not sure if this was a kindle issue or publishing issue.
The writing wasn’t the best I’ve read and some sections were a push to get through (hard to follow some of the names and a bit too much Civil War battle strategy). The CW background was somewhat important to the life of the key character, but spent too much time on it.
There were a fair amount of formatting issues, specifically words were combined eg no spaces. Not sure if this was a kindle issue or publishing issue.
September 8, 2022
Was hoping for a better history of the station, but this fell short for me. Far too much about his experiences in the Civil War for example, and not nearly enough about the station and its history. I understand there is likely little in the way of primary source material, but it just felt very forced. Would be better understand as an overview of NC live saving stations and general life in the LSS during the period.
April 5, 2025
An in-depth look at the men who saved lives during storms and hurricanes off the coast of North Carolina. Their courage and strength were incredible. Also an enlightening view of being Black -- as a slave, as a soldier in the Civil War, and as a postwar victim of continued racism and "separate but equal."
August 8, 2019
I was ignorant of the history of the Life-Saving Service. I’m glad I stumbled upon this at a thrift store, rich of history and follows a narrative of one the surfmen and the struggles he faced. Great read! The authors worked hard to write it exactly how Richard Ethridge lived.
March 27, 2022
I highly recommend this book. Richard Etheridge and his LifeSaving Service crew have largely been forgotten. This is history that I truly knew nothing of. Everyone should know about his history and the heroic men who worked with him.
April 28, 2025
Great book. About the story of Life Saving Services with a all black crew and the difficulties that face on saving scores of people from grounded ships. Plus the problems of being an all black crew, that did not get all the respect that they deserved.
June 21, 2023
Incredible story, well written and engaging. Read this book.
October 10, 2024
Most interesting story and history of devotion and commitment of African Americans striving to hold their place in history.
August 22, 2016
I had not been aware of the Life Saving Service. This group operated along the eastern coast of the US in the late 1800s and was a precursor group to the coast guard. The men who staffed these stations made sacrifices being away from their families and facing life risks in a daily basis.
This book describes the Pea Island station that was staffed by an all black crew. Their bravery and success in saving lives in the face of the horrific racism they lived through is a testament to their strength.
This book describes the Pea Island station that was staffed by an all black crew. Their bravery and success in saving lives in the face of the horrific racism they lived through is a testament to their strength.
September 17, 2015
This is such a fascinating story and Wright did a really good job of providing some interesting background I had not heard about (I work at a Life-Saving Station museum so I was familiar with the Pea Island story). I was glad to find this book to learn more.
November 28, 2010
Awesome!
November 8, 2010
This book is a very interesting look at the making of the Coast Guard, gives a great insight of the south at a time of great change including the civil war. What a great group of brave men!
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