From The Banks Of The Gunpowder River

"My mother had told me nothing from which I could formulate a suggestion or give a reply that would throw any light upon my family history... ."

Excerpts are from A loyal traitor : a story of the War of 1812, a book described below in Publisher's Weekly:

The story purports to be the memoirs of a sailor, John Hurdiss, which are discovered by the editor and published. [Source]

 "...I [John Hurdiss] knew that the name of the river on which our plantation [Marshwood] bordered was the Gunpowder*, that the blue waters were the waters of Chesapeake Bay... ."  

Source

"I had been a mysterious waif in a Connecticut village, an instructor in small-arms on board a privateer, an English prisoner of war, an alleged Frenchman among the refugees in England, a lieutenant of a fine schooner, and the commander of two vessels, all inside of two years.  As for any other title than that of an American citizen, I care not so much as the snap of a finger... ."

*Note: The reference to Gunpowder River in Maryland was of interest because of ancestors who lived there, including John Greer.