The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder (2023) is a nonfiction history book by David Grann. The book dives into a range of topics, including the history of British colonialism. Grann is a journalist who has written previous books and articles on North and South American naval and crime history, as well as the popular nonfiction books The Lost City of Z (2009) and Killers of the Flower Moon (2017).

The Wager covers accounts of the 18th-century shipwreck of a British naval ship, the Wager, during the War of Jenkins’ Ear between Spain and Britain. The survivors of the shipwreck and their captain, David Cheap, were stranded on an island off the South American region of Patagonia, later named Wager Island. The situation deteriorated with a few survivors robbing and killing other survivors and food supplies running low. After Captain Cheap shot and killed one of the members of the crew, one of the lower-ranking crew members, John Bulkeley, led a group of mutineers who tried to return to England by themselves. When they came back to England, the survivors were put on trial in a court martial. Because the British government found the incident embarrassing, no one was condemned for being responsible for the shipwreck or their crimes on Wager Island.

This guide refers to the 2023 Simon & Schuster edition.

Summary

During a war with Spain in the 18th century, Britain sends a squadron of war ships led by George Anson to intercept Spanish galleons, or sailing ships, carrying treasure from South America. As part of the mission, the ships were to set sail for Cape Horn at the southernmost tip of South America in order to attack Spanish ships trying to sail around the continent. This required the ships to sail on Drake’s Passage, the waters between South America and Antarctica, which were notorious for its “pulverizing” currents and storms (62). Hit by the Passage’s severe storms and underwater rocks near the shore, the Wager was wrecked. The survivors were left stranded on an uninhabited island without much food or fresh water resources.

On the island, the ship’s captain David Cheap struggled to keep order. However, in a rage, he shot one of the sailors in the crew for stealing and insubordination, killing the man. This provoked many of the survivors into launching a mutiny against Cheap. They rallied around the ship’s gunner, John Bulkeley, “a ferocious worker—a survivor” who organized the building of a shelter for most of the surviving crew (114). While Cheap still wanted to try to attack a Spanish settlement on mainland South America, Bulkeley and his supporters left for the Strait of Magellan (at South America’s southern tip), which would allow them to safely make their way back to Britain. Cheap and the members of the crew who supported him were left behind on the island, which would become known as Wager Island.

With the help of local Indigenous populations, most of the survivors made it back to Britain. Because of the accusations of murder against Captain Cheap and the mutiny, the survivors were tried in a court martial. None of the survivors were punished, with the exception of a mild reprimand against the ship’s lieutenant for not properly reporting a warning that could have prevented a shipwreck. Over time, the story of the mutiny on Wager Island was forgotten, since it reflected poorly on the British Empire and its navy.