The Revolution remembered (fülszöveg)
In this remarkable book you can learn, for the first time, how Ledyard met his death at Fort Griswold, how the Boyd party was massacred during the Sullivan expedition, and the truth behind Israel Putnam's legendary ride down the stone steps near Greenwich meetinghouse. You can read a firsthand account of the daring Sag Harbor raid by the common soldier who conceived it and eyewitness descriptions of Arnold's escape to the British and of Andre's execution. There are six confessions by spies, three Indian captivity narratives, two accounts by black veterans, and autobiographical sketches by two women – one of which provides a fine description of the Yorktown surrender. Difficult as it is to believe, with a single exception, not one of these accounts has ever been published before.
The Revolution Remembered was made possible by an 1832 act of Congress – the first comprehensive pension act for veterans of the Revolutionary War. To apply for a pension, a soldier had to indicate the time and place of his service, the names of units and officers, and engagements in which he participated. In most cases applicants told their stories to a court clerk or reporter; some presented their stories in open court; others related their experiences to lawyers and attested to their narratives in court. The pension application process thus constituted one of the largest oral history projects ever undertaken.
John C. Dann has sifted through the entire collection of applications and on the basis of historical importance and readability has selected those presented here. In their totality, the pension files give the reader a refreshing, uninhibited view of the war. Thinking back a half-century, the participants do occasionally recall the patriotic fervor portrayed in history books, but they also remember the physical hardships and senseless brutality, the soldiers' pranks, and the inconveniences of being drafted. Thoroughly indexed by names, places, and events, and illustrated with related period prints, The Revolution Remembered makes available to all a unique body of historical data on one of the most unusual armies ever to win a war.
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| KATALÓGUS | TARTALOM |
