Tom Brearley

Tom Brearley (d 1921) was an officer in the C.S. Navy who served as Roger Kimball's executive officer aboard the CSS Bonefish. Kimball and Brearley worked well together on their sub's bold raids against the U.S. Navy during the Great War. However, after news of the armistice came in, Brearley opposed Kimball's illegal decision to sink the USS Ericsson and refused to serve his battle station during the attack. After the Ericsson was destroyed, Brearley bitterly asked Kimball "How does it feel to be a war criminal--sir?" to which Kimball callously replied "Pretty damn good." A rift opened between the two erstwhile friends which would never heal.

After the war, Brearley watched the rise of the Freedom Party with horror and disgust. He approached fellow Radical Liberal Reggie Bartlett about using the information he had about Kimball to assassinate the character of the prominent Freedomite. The two cooperated in getting an expose run in the Richmond Examiner. The Freedom Party retaliated by sending stalwarts to kill Brearley and burn down his house. However, when news of Kimball's crime reached the United States, Sylvia Enos, widow of Ericsson sailor George Enos, was inspired to travel to South Carolina to assassinate Kimball. Thus, she avenged not only her husband and his comrades but Brearley as well.