Heath's Memoirs of the American War

by Rufus Rockwell Wilson

Overview

This is one of the most important source books of American history. General Heath's memoirs, which were originally published in 1798, are of direct value to the student of the war of the Revolution, constituting a first-hand account of many of the operations connected therewith, and assisting to an appreciation of the men and conditions of the period. The author served as a major general in the American army throughout the long conflict, his military activity dating from the battle of Concord, where he took part in the harrying of the retreating British.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783849663513
Publisher:	Jazzybee Verlag
Publication date:	07/06/2023
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	504
File size:	633 KB

Read an Excerpt

EDITORIAL APPENDICES. Appendix I. See p. 15. Heath's Roxbury farm, lying at the foot of Parker's Hill, was long since given over to residential uses, and is now bisected by a street which bears his name. The house in which the General was born and died stood at the easterly corner of the present Heath Street and Bickford Avenue. The farm passed out of the possession of his family a few years after his death in 1814, and in 1843 the house was demolished. Appendix II. See p. 29. The British losses as officially stated, and as adopted by Stedman and Bancroft, were nineteen officers killed and seventy wounded; of the rank and file, 207 killed and 758 wounded a total of 1,054. The loss of the Americans, as stated by Washington in his report to Congress, was 145 killed and 304 wounded a total of 449. Thus each army lost nearly one-third of the forces brought into action. Appendix III. See p. 37. Professor Justin Harvey Smith, in his "Prologue to the American Revolution," published in 1902, throws fresh light on Allen's foolhardy attempt to capture Montreal. No student of the Revolutionary period can afford to neglect this luminous and satisfying little volume. Appendix IV. See p. 40. The best accounts of Arnold's advance into Canada, one of the heroic achievements of the Revolution, are Justin Harvey Smith's "Arnold's March to Quebec," New York,1903, and John Codman's "Arnold's Expedition to Quebec," New York, 1901, both of which contain a large amount of new data. Heath fails to note that Washington authorized Arnold and Montgomery's demonstrations against Canada because he believed that the Canadian opponents of British policy would eagerly avail themselves of the opportunity which thepresence of the colonial troops would afford for throwing off the yoke o...