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The American Revolution was the only major revolution in the last 250 years, or maybe the only one in all history, to result in a stable government that gave more freedom to the people than the government that was overthrown. The details of the Revolution are fascinating, full of bravery and ingenuity. The major battles are important to know but there are so many interesting stories between the battles that should not be missed.
At the beginning of the American Revolution, there was much arrogance on the part of the British regulars, a professional army run by aristocratic officers. They looked down on the American rebels and imagined that they would soon be able to stop this rebellion of farmers and tradesmen. Rabble on a Hill by Robert Edmond Alter, is a historical novel set right at the beginning of the American Revolution. Nathaniel “Nat” Towne is a young man, about 18 years old, who is part of a traveling acting company that is stuck in Boston because King George III and the British occupying force have closed the port. What is often forgotten that even up to the American Revolution, which side the various Native American nations would take in the war was an important consideration. Nat becomes wrapped up in intrigue surrounding this issue, and is joined by his large friend, Shad Holly, who we have met before in the author’s earlier work set in the French and Indian war, Listen, the Drum (see my review). Shad is brave and good but provides the comic relief in the book. Nat and Shad experience the battles of Lexington and Concord and do some intelligence collecting inside occupied Boston, making use of Nat’s acting skills to provide a good cover. The book ends with the Battle of Breed’s and Bunker Hills, where the “rabble in arms,” which is how the rebels are described by the British officers, show that they can stand up to the British regulars. There is a nice map or two that helps the reader follow the various battles, which is rare to see in middle to high school level historical novels. This exciting book gives a great introduction to the details of the early American Revolution and a real feel for what was like to be there.
A very good feature of historical fiction is that it enables the reader to focus in on a small part of a big slice of history. Silver for General Washington: A Story of Valley Forge, by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, turns a magnifying glass on the events between the occupation of Philadelphia by the British in the late fall, and their leaving Philadelphia the next summer. These events were dominated by the Valley Forge experience of the American army, who suffered greatly from a lack of supplies – clothes, food – being sent to them from the Continental Congress.
The story is told mainly through twelve-year-old Gilbert (Gil) Emmet and his younger sister Jenifer, who are sent from Philadelphia to safety with their aunt and uncle, who have a farm in Valley Forge. Their widowed father, also named Gilbert, was sent on a secret mission to Europe, which is why he had to send his children to Valley Forge. Before they closed up their house, Gil helped his father bury the family silver in the basement to keep it safe from the British soldiers that they knew were coming. Gil and his sister and cousins go about their daily lives on the Valley Forge farm, interacting with the suffering American soldiers and trying to help them as much as possible. Gil has the idea, based on his father telling him to help the rebellion at all costs, to secretly slip into Philadelphia to dig up the Emmet silver and give it to General Washington so that he could buy food for the army. An interaction with spies, a nighttime dash across a barely-frozen river, and the boys’ determination make for an exciting story. The author, Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft, was an excellent author who was well-known for her middle-school-level American historical novels (see my review on By Wagon and Flatboat). In Silver for General Washington, she effectively re-creates the feel of the times through the eyes of children in this limited geographical and chronological era. The detailed pen and ink illustrations add favorably to this upper elementary to middle school level story.
In the time of the American Revolution, the effectiveness of an army was controlled by its access to ammunition, which at the time meant lead bullets and gunpowder. That hasn’t really changed to this day, though modern ammunition is a bit different. Powder Keg by Donald E. Cooke is a historical novel, upper elementary to middle school level, which deals with the gunpowder shortage that plagued the American army at the start of the Revolution. Young Tom Rawlins, with his older brother Bruce, are Boston boys caught up in the events around Boston early in the war. Lexington and Concord have started the fighting going. The battles of Breed’s and Bunker Hills have shown that American militiamen can stand up to British regulars. But these two battles would have turned out better than a draw for the Americans if they had not run out of gunpowder. George Washington comes to take charge of the rebel army, with the British troops bottled up inside Boston. Henry Knox is bringing the cannons of Fort Ticonderoga down to help drive the British out of Boston (see my review of Guns for General Washington), but where would the great quantities of gunpowder needed to fire cannons come from? Gunpowder did come, somewhat mysteriously, from Bermuda. There are few historical facts known about this true incident. Donald Cooke imagines how the events would have actually unfolded, with his hero, Tom Rawlins, directly in the midst of the thrilling action!
As opposed to the three books reviewed above, some historical fiction takes a broader view, using the viewpoint of a fictional character who interacts with many historical figures and experiences. This gives the reader a mental picture of a wider sweep of history. The book Dawn at Lexington, by Norma Wood James, is just such a book, written at the middle to high school level. The main character is the orphan Jeremiah Cutler, who at the beginning of the novel is a 14-year-old apprentice to Henry Knox in his bookstore in 1775 Boston. Mrs. Knox, Henry’s mother, takes Jeremiah in and treats him as a son, since she has lost eight of her ten birth sons, a historical fact. Jeremiah, through the famous Henry Knox, becomes involved in all the great events of the early American Revolution, including Lexington and Concord. Jeremiah meets George Washington, then helps Henry and his brother William bring the cannon and ammunition from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, which are used to drive out the British occupiers. Jeremiah goes on to serve as a courier then a dragoon (mounted infantry), fights in the Valley Forge/Philadelphia battles and meets the Marquis de Lafayette, and serves in the upper New York campaigns and meets Generals Benedict Arnold and Philip Schuyler. He is right there when Benedict Arnold almost turns over the fortress of West Point to the British and serves in the execution guard for Major Andre, a British spy who was the traitor Arnold’s contact. A continuing thread through the story is Jeremiah’s sweet friendship and correspondence with Nancy Star, who is an indentured servant near Albany, New York and is two years younger than him. The novel ends with him going south as a captain for the 1780-1781 southern campaigns of the Revolution. This is a fascinating novel portraying most of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of Jeremiah Cutler, who ages from 14 to 20 years old through the book, basically growing up during the exciting Revolutionary War years.