399 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : 24 cm

Draws from the letters and journals of those who served under George Washington in the Continental Army to provide a narrative of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of the ordinary men who fought the battles

Includes bibliographical references (pages 371-390) and index

Bunker Hill: the arrival of Private John Greenwood, age fifteen, fifer -- The siege of Boston, 1775-1776: Private Greenwood joins an armed camp -- Camp life -- Mother and son reunion -- The soldiers -- Why they fought -- Private Jeremiah Greenman and Benedict Arnold -- Jeremiah Greenman: prisoner of war -- A harrowing retreat -- The healers: the reverend, the doctor, and the smallpox scourge -- Death becomes a daily visitor -- The compassionate minister and the enraged doctor -- Christmas, 1776: Private John Greenwood crosses the Delaware -- The victory that saved the revolution -- New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 1777-1778: Lieutenant James McMichael: a poet goes to war -- Women of the revolution -- Saratoga, 1777: the arduous journey of Sergeant Ebenezer Wild, nineteen -- The harsh road to a winter camp -- Private Elijah Fisher and the agony of Valley Forge -- "The soldiers of our army are almost naked ... ": Lieutenant James McMichael: the poet -- Private Elijah Fisher joins Washington's elite life guard, 1778 -- Monmouth, 1778: Captain Sylvanus Seely's militia goes to war -- The secret life of Captain Seely -- Spring 1778: the African American soldiers -- The heroism of the black Rhode Island regiment -- John Greenwood, privateer -- 1779-1780: the war's worst winter and mutiny -- Springfield: the militia saves the revolution -- 1781: victory at Yorktown

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