I’m almost done conducting my research for Maiden
America II: Designing America, and it’s
been just as fascinating as my previous expedition into early U.S. history.
Here’s a few of the more interesting tidbits, which may or may not make it into
the story:
·
Some
of the French wondered whether Philadelphia women were lesbians, since they had
an “odd” tendency to visit female friends for days at a time.
·
According
to one New England patriot who served almost the entire length of the war and
therefore saw just about every state, the prettiest girls in the U.S. were
those found in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
·
After
the French openly declared war on Great Britain (it had been secretly giving
the States funding before), it went about taking everything it could from its
rival. In fact, the only thing that saved the island nation from direct attack
was bad weather.
·
With
that said, most the British and Americans over in the U.S. agreed that the
weather was on the locals’ side.
·
Most
American soldiers were never really compensated for their efforts. At the end
of the war, they were discharged with practically worthless paper notes for
three months’ pay and permission to keep their guns. That was it.
·
Legend
has it that bayonets were first used in seventeenth-century Spain (today’s
Bayonne, France) after a desperate soldier out of ammunition jammed his knife
into his musket’s muzzle for the hand-to-hand fighting he knew was coming. A
hundred or so years later, the British were using the weapon to full advantage,
sending many an American troop running for safety to avoid being impaled.
·
The
British navy wasn’t quite so daring as its army, with Admiral Thomas Graves
avoiding fights at all cost. His laziness played a huge part in the American’s
victory at Yorktown.
·
Another
huge part in why that siege played out how it did was because of poor communication
and bickering among the military leaders.
·
American
women were quite the feisty little things back then. Joseph Plumb Martin
recorded how he and his fellow soldiers would try to commandeer horses from the
locals, but were often thwarted by young ladies who would steal the horses
back, taunt the men for not properly intimidating them into submission, and
then invite them over for dinner just as nice as you please.
·
The
soldiers did more starving then fighting.
·
James
Armistead Lafayette was an American slave who spied on the British, even though
they would have liberated him in a heartbeat for deserting his master.
·
During
almost the entirety of the war, New York City was filled with Tories
entertaining the enemy.
That’s
just a smidgen of what I’ve learned. I still have one and a half research books
to get through, plus my trip to Colonial Williamsburg at the end of the month. After that, it’s time to put all of this intriguing information into America
and Abigail Carpenter’s continuing saga.
Fascinating info! Thank you for sharing!
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