The First American Army - Bruce Chadwick [181]
Perhaps Jeremiah Greenman’s post-war life was representative of most of the unheralded soldiers who fought in the first American army. Greenman, shot twice during the Revolution, had no skills when he entered the army at age seventeen and despite some experience as a regimental clerk, had none when he left on the day the army took possession of New York City in 1783. He drifted for a few years after he returned to Providence and then worked as a sea captain from 1790 to 1805, but never really enjoyed it. Then, with his family, he moved to Marietta, Ohio, in 1806 to run a farm.
He died there in 1828 at the age of seventy-one. On his tombstone his sons carved an inscription that might have served for all the soldiers in the first American army:
“Revolutionary Soldier—in memory of Jeremiah Greenman Esq an active officer in that army which bid defiance to britons power and established the independence of the United States.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The writing of The First American Army: The Untold Story of George Washington and the Men behind America’s First Fight for Freedom, was a long journey through original diaries, journals, and letters of nearly one hundred soldiers who fought in the American Revolution. It was a joyous journey because along the way I had the assistance of many fellow lovers of history.
Many people aided me in the work on this book. The most helpful was historian Joseph Lee Boyle, the author of a five volume series of books on Valley Forge and an expert on the American Revolution. Lee served as the official historian at Valley Forge National Historical Park for many years. He read through the book and offered numerous helpful suggestions for its historical structure.
Of considerable help in my research were Kathy Ludwig and Greg Johnson, librarians at the David Library of the American Revolution, at Washington’s Crossing, Pennsylvania. They spent an entire summer helping me locate the enlisted men whose stories comprised the bulk of this book and then were of invaluable assistance through a long winter and spring on other research.
Librarians everywhere were of assistance. These included Marie Heagney at the Morris County Free Library, in Whippany, N.J., Kim Nusco at the Massachusetts Historical Society, in Boston, and the library staffs at New Jersey City University, Rutgers University, the New York Public Library, and the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Connecticut Historical Societies.
I owe a debt of gratitude to New Jersey City University, especially Jo Bruno and Liza Fiol-Matta, for giving me travel grants to complete the research on the book.
I had generous help in finding photos to accompany the book. I owe an enormous debt to Peter Harrington, the curator of the S.K. Brown military history collection of paintings and prints at Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island. He gave me access to the University’s vast collection and helped in the production of photos. I am grateful, too, to Scott Houting of the museum services office at Valley Forge National Historical Park, Andrea Ashby-Leraris at Independence National Historical Park, in Philadelphia, Johnni Rowe at the Morristown National Historical Park, and Christine Jochem and Suzanne Gulick at the Morristown- Morris Township library.
I would like to thank Hillel Black, the executive editor of Sourcebooks, who