Free Talk on Civil War SEAL Commander William Cushing at New York State Military Museum on Saturday, April 9

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (04/02/2016)(readMedia)-- Before the U.S. Navy had SEALS it had Commander William Cushing.

The Civil War exploits of Cushing, a naval officer from Fredonia, New York, will be the subject of a free talk on Saturday, April 9 at 2 p.m. at the New York State Military Museum by Jamie Malanowski, the author of the book "Commander Will Cushing: Daredevil Hero of the Civil War."

Malanowski is a former editor at Time, Esquire, and Playboy; a writer for the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, the Washington Monthly, and the New York Times; and the author of the novels "The Coup" and "Mr. Stupid Goes to Washington" as well as a nonfiction book about the start of the Civil War, "And the War Came." He is also the co-writer of the HBO movie "Pentagon Wars". He lives in Westchester County.

Just before the Civil War started, Cushing had been expelled from the United States Naval Academy for pranks and poor scholarship. When the war began he convinced the Navy to reinstate him and quickly made a name for himself as an aggressive naval officer.

As commander of a small ship in October 1862, Cushing destroyed a large Confederate saltworks at New Topsail Inlet, NC. Salt was important because it was used to preserve the meat that fed the Confederate army.

He also commanded several other boats and led several daring missions behind enemy lines, taking prisoners and providing the Union with valuable intelligence.

But the mission that won him the Medal of Honor and made him famous was his attack on the Confederate ironclad warship CSS Albemarle in October 1864. The Albemarle was anchored in the Roanoke River at Plymouth, North Carolina in water so shallow that no Union ironclad ship could attack it.

Cushing hatched a plan to attack and destroy the ship under cover of night with a handful of men in two small boats. The plan worked and Cushing became an overnight hero.

Theodore Roosevelt said that Cushing "comes next to Farragut on the hero roll of American naval history."

Today, though, most people have never heard of him. Malanowski, who has discussed his book at the United States Naval Academy, among other venues, is out to change that.

The mission of the museum and research center is to preserve, interpret and disseminate the story, history and records of New York State's military forces and veterans. The collection is divided into the museum and the library/archives holdings.

The museum has permanent exhibits telling the story of New York's men and women in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Revolutionary War and as members of the state militia in the 19th Century. The museum has more than 10,000 artifacts ranging from the Revolutionary War to the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The New York State Military Museum is also responsible for the historical exhibits and artifacts at New York's 41 Army National Guard armories. These artifacts and displays, which include historic armored vehicles once used by the Guard, connect current Army National Guard Soldiers with those who served in the past.