Though dismissed from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1861, William Barker Cushing soon rejoined the service and transformed himself from a renowned rabble-rouser into a living legend who embodied the special qualities that the Navy demands of those who undertake its most hazardous and secret tasks. By the end of the Civil War, he had amassed four commendations from the Navy Department and earned the thanks of Congress and President Lincoln. Employing his customary readable style, Robert J. Schneller focuses on Cushing's meteoric naval career and those aspects of his personality that affected it. His concise account of this remarkable man reveals some of the most astonishing combat missions of the American Civil War.