Even when the odds are against you, victory is possible.
Need proof? Look no further than the famous Battle at Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights during the Seige of Boston at the opening of the Revolutionary War (April 1775-March 1776). After suffering defeat at Bunker Hill, George Washington’s men continued to fight and a year later fortified Dorchester Heights. Realizing Boston was indefensible to the American positions, the British evacuated the town and the siege came to an end.
In 1846, Reverend E.B. Hillard documented the lives of six remaining Revolutionary War veterans in the world’s first photo-interviews captured in the book entitled, The Last Men of the Revolution. The veterans were all over 100 years old when their oral histories were recorded.
Hillard stated, “The present is the last generation that will be connected by living link with the great period in which our national independence was archived. Our own are the last eyes that will look on men who looked on Washington; our ears the last that will hear the living voices of those who heard his words.”
The veterans Hillard interviewed included:
- Adam Link, who fought in the Frontier Service for five years
- Lemuel Cook, the eldest living survivor of the war at the age of 105
- Alexander Milliner, a drummer boy in George Washington’s Life Guard
- Daniel Waldo, who was named Chaplain of the House of Representatives at 95 years old
- William Hutchings, who was taken prisoner by the British after the Siege of Castine
- Samuel Downing, who claimed to be a body guard for George Washington
The book offers a wonderful glimpse into the lives of those who fought for and defined the beginning days of this great nation.
'The Last Men of the Revolution' from the Mercury One historical collection. Photo courtesy of Mercury One.
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Republished with permission from MercuryOne.org.