The wayward path of an American hero: Sailing Master Philip Brum

Abstract

Sailing Master Philip Brum executed the decisive manoeuvre that won the Battle of Plattburgh. He would later die of wounds he received in the battle. His widow Susan Brum undertook a public campaign for a widow’s pension, but never mentioned her role in nearly destroying her husband’s naval career and getting him dismissed from his post with the New York gunboat flotilla and reassigned to the campaign on the Great Lakes.