As I mentioned in an earlier post, I will be returning to volunteer at the James and Ann Whitall House at Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ this spring after a few years hiatus.
One of the innovations initiated during my first run as a volunteer there, was the History Reading Club which meets once a month on a Friday. Among other things, we read Job Whitall's diary in that club. Mostly, in the old days, we each read on our own and reported back to the group any books we found useful and informative. As time went by, during my time off, the format changed to where the club members read the same book and then discuss it.
Their latest book is From Slaves to Soldiers, by Geakes. I just bought it from amazon. A book I will be bringing with me to share and discuss (if that is permitted) is The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson, volume 1 in a proposed 3 volume set. It was marvelously written and very detailed. I think one of the things that struck me was the immense, almost unfathomable amount of livestock and provisions needed to supply the armies both British and American. In the book Atkins wrote of such numbers as 65,000 head of cattle gathered at an Irish port of departure. literally hundreds of thousands of animals, pigs, cattle and horses were slaughtered annually, amounting, if anyone did the calculations, to the millions, over the course of the war. The search for provisions literally dictated the course of the war as much as any other strategy or battle.
The other book I am going to bring to talk about is 266 Days, the account of the days the British occupied Philadelphia, told in the words of the inhabitants through diaries, letters, and newspaper accounts. I am always interested in the on the scene, ordinary people, of any historical event, so this book was very interesting to me.
It is December, and the ten crucial days of the Revolution in New Jersey would have played out during this month up in Trenton and Princeton. When I walk the dog in the cold and feel the sting of the cold on my face, (as I am lucky enough to have a hooded puffy coat, a pair of quilted boots, heavy fleece lined mittens, and a neck scarf) I often reflect on the suffering of the stoic and stalwart soldiers who endured the biting sharp fanged cold of winter with none of these luxuries, all to bring us the independent constitutional republic in which we live today.
The history of our nation is a subject you can study for your entire life and there are an infinite number of routes of interest to follow in this study!
Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Trails whether in the woods or in your mind!
Jo Ann
wrightj45@yahoo.com
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