PREFACE

    In presenting the "Camp-Fires of the Revolution" to the public, a few remarks may be necessary, or at least, will not be MAL À PROPOS. The "battle sieges, fortunes," of war in which American Independence was secured, may be found detailed in history, with all possible accuracy, and elaborate criticism. But the sufferings of the ill-furnished soldiers during the long and dreary winters of that period, and their means of whiling away the time when forced to gather around the camp-fire and watch when they had not the conveniences for sleeping, are not to be found on the dignified page of history. Yet are they worthy of being noted; and, by the aid of the few remaining heroes of that terrible struggle, when "Saxon met Saxon," -- those few remaining links which chain us to the past, we may imagine the extent of their suffering, and the means they made use to draw their attention from its severity. It is thought, a work upon the plan of the "Campfires of the Revolution," will bring the doings and the scenes of the "trying time" more vividly before the mind than the common history. Here we have the incidents of various battles, and the exploi8ts of chieftains, told as if by eye-witnesses, and in the familiar, easily comprehended language of the farmer and the mechanic soldiers of the American army. No later achievements of a more dazzling character should withdraw the admiration and the gratitude of the American people from those iron-nerved patriots who, destitute of most of the requisites of an army, conquered only because they were determined to conquer. Their history affords the brightest examples for the imitation of those who would be truly brave and patriotic.

THE CAMP-FIRE AT: First hand account of:

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12/24/06.