The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

In Rio Grande, someone had broken into Bulkeley’s room. Relocating elsewhere, a gang of men banged on the door of a house where Bulkeley and other survivors were staying. The assailants were after Bulkeley’s journal, afraid of what the journals would reveal about their role in the mutiny. Lieutenant Baynes left for England, hoping to get his account about the mutiny on record first. It took months until Bulkeley and the others could also find ships to return to Britain. Once they arrived, they were placed under arrest. The government had heard Baynes’s story of the mutiny. Bulkeley surrendered all of his writing to the Admiralty. Bulkeley’s “journal laid out, from their point of view, the events that had led to the uprising” (203). If anything, Bulkeley was too thorough; he was asked to instead submit a summary of his own work.

In order to help his case, Bulkeley appealed to the court of public opinion. He published his journals with a “preface to preempt criticisms of his decision” (205). Bulkeley was especially careful to address criticisms that, as a “mere gunner” (205), his journal would lack value. Bulkeley’s book received intense criticism, especially from those offended that a seaman would dare publicly attack a senior officer.