Best in Battle

 This month, I am making another effort to highlight a historical character in my Yankee Doodle Spies novel, The North Spy. The character in question was one of a well, questionable character – Benedict Arnold. 

Major General Benedict Arnold

A Tale of Two Men

The name Benedict Arnold is now synonymous with treachery and outright betrayal, and he remains the most tragic figure of the American War for Independence. However, the story of Benedict Arnold is really about two men. His brilliance, strong will, bravery, and creative energy for action, combined with an oversized ego, greed, a quick temper, and a tendency to take offense, led to problems. But this post will focus on his life, ending with the battles at Saratoga in 1777, the conclusion of The North Spy, the turning point of the American War for Independence, and the peak of Benedict Arnold’s career.

Benedict Arnold's Loyalty Oath

Promise and Poverty

Norwich, Connecticut, begins this story. Benedict Arnold was born there on January 14, 1754. His early life was challenging. Arnold’s father, Benedict Arnold III, was a successful businessman and a descendant of one of Rhode Island’s first governors. Arnold received an excellent early education and was on track to attend Yale and join his father’s mercantile business. However, his father became an alcoholic, leading to family troubles, with siblings passing away (he was the second of six children) and his father falling ill. Despite this, his mother, Hannah (née Waterman King), arranged for him to apprentice in her cousin’s apothecary and mercantile business.

Brief Service to the King

The French and Indian War gave the sixteen-year-old a chance to escape his usual routine. He joined a Connecticut regiment and marched to New York to help defend against the French. He was at Albany but then moved north to Lake George. However, after the French took Fort William Henry, the regiment went back south, and Arnold left the unit and the war.

Fort William Henry

Peace and Prosperity

Things turned around for him in civilian life. By 1762, he had his own pharmacy and bookshop. He proved shrewd and diligent in his business dealings and quickly prospered. Arnold made enough money to buy back the family property his father had lost. Then he resold it for a profit, using his cash to buy an interest in a trading company with three New England schooners operating in the West Indies. He had his sister Hannah move to Norwich to manage his shop so he could devote full time to the trade, sailing to Canada and the West Indies as a ship’s master. Arnold’s personal life improved during this period. He married Margaret Mansfield, daughter of the local sheriff, and they had three sons before she died in 1775.

Schooner at Sea

Politics and Action

Although not a political polemicist, the Stamp and Sugar acts of the mid-1760s led him to join the Sons of Liberty and turn to smuggling to evade the unjust taxes. When the war broke out in April 1775, he raised his own militia company and marched to join the New England Army assembling outside Boston. He soon convinced the Committee of Safety to promote him to colonel so he could go to Fort Ticonderoga in New York to seize the critical fortress from the British. On the way, he learned that Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys were aiming for the same objective. The two strong personalities formed an uneasy alliance, and they quickly captured Ticonderoga and its sister fort at Crown Point.

Arnold takes Ticonderoga

Naval Raider

After Ticonderoga fell, Arnold’s shipmaster instincts took over. He commandeered a boat and headed north along Lake Champlain, where he raided the town of Saint Johns, Quebec. Believing the defenses in Canada were weak, Arnold proposed a Quebec expedition to General Washington. The commander-in-chief approved Arnold’s plan to lead a division north through the Maine wilderness to attack Quebec from the south. 

Rabble in Arms

Only a leader with Arnold’s iron will and ruthless energy could conceive of, much less lead, 1,100 men through the vast and desolate wilderness enshrouded in the cold of late winter. Many did not make it. Read Kenneth Roberts’s 1933 novel, Rabble in Arms, for a detailed look at the journey. On November 7, 1775, about 700 half-starved and ragged survivors reached the Plains of Abraham outside the fortified city. Lacking artillery, Colonel Arnold’s men prepared for a siege. Luckily, another expedition through New York and Montreal, led by General Richard Montgomery, joined Arnold a month later.

Arnold's Expedition through Maine

Desperate Assault

With enlistments expiring the following month, Montgomery and Arnold quickly launched an attack. On December 31, they stormed the city in two columns amid blizzard conditions. Montgomery was hit by a blast of grapeshot from the defenders’ guns and later died. Arnold sustained a leg wound. This injury later caused him to walk with a limp. The wounded Arnold assumed overall command and continued the siege, now as a Brigadier General, a rank conferred by Congress before the failed assault.

Storming Quebec in a Storm

Managing Failure

With spring, British reinforcements arrived, and British Governor General Guy Carleton began a series of attacks on the dwindling and undersupplied Americans. Arnold led a gallant retreat south, regrouping forces on the southern shores of Lake Champlain. When he learned Carleton was transshipping warships from the Saint Lawrence to the lake, he began a desperate effort to scrounge and assemble boats of all kinds to meet the naval threat that he knew was coming.

Governor General Guy Carleton

Admiral of the Lake

In a display of leadership and resourcefulness, Arnold assembled a small, diverse group of gunboats ready for Carleton’s October attack, which was the first step in a planned move to Albany aimed at splitting the colonies. The powerful British forces and desperate Americans clashed at Valcour Island from October 11-13. Carleton’s ships overwhelmed the Americans. Although he was close to capturing New York and achieving a complete victory, Arnold’s actions delayed Carleton’s schedule. Rather than risking supply problems late in the campaign season, he withdrew to the northern shores of the lake until spring, when he intended to finish the mission. He never got that chance. Benedict Arnold had saved the Cause.

Battle of Valcour Island

British Counterstroke

By the following spring, General John Burgoyne had reached Quebec with reinforcements and orders, putting him in command of the 1777 campaign to finish Carleton’s unfinished work. After moving south and taking Crown Point, Fort Ticonderoga, and several other northern forts, Burgoyne’s forces—8,000 British and Germans, along with a few hundred Canadian and Indian allies—faced off against an American army gathering around Albany. 

Saratoga Campaign would Decide the War

A New Command

With the fall of the northern forts in the summer, Major General Philip Schuyler was replaced by Major General Horatio Gates, a former British officer. Although the British had momentum, they were at the end of their supply line. More importantly, British and Indian actions along the way had inflamed both New Yorkers and New Englanders. Thousands of men left their farms and shops to face the threat. Gates’ army began constructing a series of entrenchments and breastworks about thirty miles north of Albany, waiting for the British attack. Gates had some highly experienced commanders leading the brigades: Enoch Poor, Ebenezer Learned, John Glover, John Nixon, John Patterson, and Daniel Morgan (who fought with Arnold at Quebec). Brigadier General Arnold commanded the “Left Wing” and was second in command.

Major General Phillip Schuyler

Rhode Island Interlude

Earlier that year, Arnold commanded forces in Rhode Island, where he spent time visiting family and socializing in Boston. He was heading to Philadelphia to complain about being passed over for the rank of major general but had to detour to stop a British raid into his native Connecticut. Arnold was wounded a second time in the leg during the action. Congress later promoted him, but not with the original date of rank. Offended by the slight (more junior officers promoted ahead of him), Arnold resigned from the army once again. 

Major General Horatio Gates

Answering Washington’s Summons

But the British sweep down Lake Champlain, and the fall of Ticonderoga causes General Washington to reject his letter and send him to the Northern Department. Major General Arnold arrives just in time to lead a relief column along the Mohawk River to break up the British siege of Fort Stanwix (today’s Rome, NY). Although the British and Indian allies destroyed an earlier relief column at Oriskany, Arnold’s reputation, along with a clever ruse that makes his division appear larger, forces Lieutenant Colonel Barry St. Leger’s forces to retreat back to Oswego.

Oriskany

Saratoga Battles

With the threat from the west eliminated, the Americans could turn their attention to the juggernaut moving south toward Albany. Two major actions took place north of Albany, sometimes referred to as “The Battle of Saratoga.” 

Freeman’s Farm

With Shuyler relieved, Arnold found himself under a general he neither liked nor respected—Horatio Gates. Arnold did not try to hide his feelings, and soon they became mutual. Discord among top leaders is never a good situation in command but is quite common. The first action took place on September 19, 1777, at Freeman’s Farm. Whether because of or despite his discord, Arnold’s instincts kicked in, and he sprang into action without orders from Gates. Arnold gathered whatever forces he could to meet the threat to the army’s left wing. Morgan’s Rifles, along with American light infantry and militia regiments, stopped British General Simon Fraser’s elite corps.

Freeman's Farm

Bemis Heights

But Gates was not impressed. After Freeman’s Farm, he and Arnold exchanged harsh words, and Gates relieved him of duties for exceeding his authority and insubordination. Arnold was confined to quarters when Burgoyne launched his second assault on the Americans on October 7. Informed of the attack, Arnold broke his confinement and rapidly took action. Once again, men eagerly rallied around him. He quickly led motivated regiments against the British in a brilliant counterattack that halted their advance and captured a key redoubt manned by elite German infantry. During the intense fighting, Arnold’s horse was shot out from under him. He sustained another leg injury. But his daring action set the stage for the first surrender of a British field army in decades.

Bemis Heights

Best on the Battlefield

Horatio Gates claimed the victory, but Arnold’s bravery under fire and leadership secured the win. General Washington regarded him as one of his top battlefield commanders and believed he had greater command responsibilities once he recovered from his wounds. However, Arnold’s gallantry at Saratoga was soon followed by more grievances, both perceived and real, leading to a series of events that would see him go from the nation’s greatest war hero to a figure filled with hated ignominy. A story we will explore in a future post. 

Arnold Monument at Saratoga

 

The Old Wagoner

In my effort to highlight the important (and not-so-important) historical personalities in my fourth Yankee Doodle Spies novel, The North Spy, I must not neglect one who lived about an hour's drive from where I am living in Virginia. 

This larger-than-life figure, whose contributions are the stuff of legend, is the only senior American leader who played significant positive contributions in all theaters from Canada to the Carolinas and led troops in The Northern and  Southern Departments, as well as the main Continental Army. His role merits more than one blog post, so this edition will survey his background and actions leading up to and through the events in The North Spy. His further exploits will be the subject of a future post.

Daniel Morgan 

Daniel Morgan was born around 1736. He came from a family of  Welsh settlers in Pennsylvania, but young Dan Morgan was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, where his parents, James Morgan and Eleanor Lloyd, had resettled. He was five of seven siblings. When just a teenager, Morgan ran from his home in the Jerseys and settled in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley near Winchester, Virginia. Young Morgan spent these years cutting down trees, establishing a sawmill, and running wagons to haul goods. The latter proved quite lucrative. On the personal side, he soon garnered a reputation as a hard-drinking, quick-to-anger frontier brawler. Dan's six-foot, two-hundred-pound frame made him a powerful and muscular young man well-suited for the back-breaking work of life on the frontier. Due to his size and demeanor, Morgan seemed older than his years and was called "The Old Wagoner." 

18th-century frontier wagon

When the French and Indian War erupted, his wagons rolled west with General Edward Braddock in 1755 (See Blog, Road to Destruction). This offered a chance to serve his King while making money and having some excitement. His cousin Daniel Boone was also part of the campaign, as were two of his future commanders, Colonel  George Washington and Lieutenant Colonel Horatio Gates (See Blog, What Ho, Horatio).

Morgan's Cousin, Daniel Boone

The way to Fort Duquesne was rough, but Morgan was more than up to guiding wagons pulled by horse teams through heavily wooded mountains, streams, and rivers of northwestern Virginia (today's West Virginia)), western Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Braddock's column was annihilated at The Battle of the Monongahela, where a smaller force of French and Indians cut the redcoats to ribbons in the dense forests around what is today's Pittsburgh.

Battle of Monongahela

"The Old Wagoner" hated the strict regimen of the British regulars, which he resisted and mocked. For their part, Morgan was the kind of rustic American colonial they loathed and put down at every opportunity. 

In 1756, while Morgan was hauling supplies to Fort Chiswell, he had a run-in with a British lieutenant, who struck the "Old Wagoner" with the flat of his saber. Morgan exploded with a powerful blow to the subaltern's jaw, knocking him cold. A court-martial sentenced him to 500 lashes. He developed a hatred for the British Army. A properly used leather whip of the day could easily have a man near death or begging for it at ten well-placed stokes. He survived, and his joking about it only enhanced his tough-guy reputation, commenting that the British had miscounted and still owed him one more lash.

The lash did not deter Morgan's defiance of British authority

Morgan returned to Virginia and served as a rifleman in Virginia's militia assigned to protect the western settlements from the ravages of Indian raids. He led the relief column at Fort Edwards during its siege and took command of its defenses. In 1758, as Morgan was traveling home to Winchester from Fort Edward, a well-aimed ball from a musket-wielding brave near Hanging Rock passed through his cheek, shattering teeth, disfiguring his face, and contributing to an already fearsome demeanor. 

Fort Edwards

Despite the wounds and struggles with the military hierarchy, Morgan was drawn to campaigning and, in 1753, fought as a ranger in Pontiac's Indian rebellion. And in 1774, Morgan picked up his musket to serve in Lord Dunmore's War between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. 

Virginia militia and Shawnee and Mingo warriors

The Revolutionary War commenced in April 1775, and the Continental Congress authorized the creation of a 10-company regiment of riflemen. Morgan was selected as a captain of a Virginia company. He led it to Boston and joined the main army gathered under General George Washington.

Joining Washington's Army

In September 1775, Morgan marched with Colonel Benedict Arnold on his punishing expedition to seize Canada from British control. He endured many grueling weeks in the rugged and barren Maine wilderness. On December 3, 1775, Morgan and Arnold joined an army led by General Richard Montgomery (See Blog, First to Fall)  outside Quebec.

The Route through Maine

The Americans lacked artillery and supplies, so they launched a desperate attack on Governor Guy Carleton's (See Blog, The Governor General) garrison on December 31, 1775, during a blinding snowstorm. What could go wrong? Well, everything. Morgan took command of the surviving Americans after Arnold was wounded and Montgomery cut down in a torrent of grapeshot. The Americans were haggard, cold, tired, hungry, and unable to breach Carleton's defenses. Morgan surrendered.

Storming Quebec in a storm

Morgan was exchanged after eight months in captivity. He was soon appointed Colonel of the 11th Virginia Continental Infantry. But Washington, sensing the need for able light infantry sharpshooters, directed him to raise a battalion of riflemen. This new battalion would be made up of Virginians, Pennsylvanians, and Marylanders and be known as Morgan's Rifle Corps. 

Morgan's Rifle Corps

Although the Continental Army was busy watching General William Howe's forces in New York City, Congress pressured Washington to send part of his forces to reinforce the Northern Department near Albany, New York. Along with Henry Dearborn's Light Infantry and a few other regiments, Morgan joined General Horatio Gates's army and played a pivotal role in the Saratoga campaign against General John Burgoyne (See Blog, Gentleman Johnny). 

General John Burgoyne

Morgan's Riflemen were used to screen and patrol in the heaviest terrain, on the left flank of Gate's army, defending in farmland and rolling hills about thirty miles north of Albany. The sharpshooters of Morgan's Rifle Corps shot down droves of British officers at the pivotal battles of Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights and pinned down the cream of Burgoyne's Army in the wooded hills. 

Morgan's Rifles holding the right line

On October 7, 1777, one rifleman, Timothy Murphy (See Blog, Patriot Sniper), fired three lead balls at General Simon Fraser (see Blog, Fighting Fraser)), with two striking and mortally wounding the best British leader on the field. Fraser's death demoralized the British, and Burgoyne later surrendered at Saratoga, New York, when Morgan's Rifles and American militia cut off his supply lines and threatened his line of retreat. 

Tim Murphy credited with shooting Simon Fraser

Usually reserving praise for himself and close confidants, Horatio Gates openly admired Morgan's qualities in his official report and gave him partial credit for Burgoyne's demise. Gates wanted Morgan's Rifle Corps to remain with his Department, but Morgan, who did not like the self-serving Gates, marched his Corps to join General Washington and the main Continental Army in New Jersey.

Morgan right front at Burgoyne's surrender

The Baroness

 The North Spy, the fourth novel in the Yankee Doodle Spies series, contains a trove of historical persons as fascinating as any of the fictional characters I developed for the story. However, one of the most interesting personalities in the campaign still lacks representation. I strike a mea culpa for leaving out the remarkable woman who was part of it all, and I hope to make up for it with this post.

Fredericka Charlotte Louise von Masow

Military Brat

The lady in question is a German-born daughter of a senior officer in the army of Frederick the Great. Presumably named for her father's sovereign and military overlord, Fredericka Charlotte Louise von Masow was born in 1746 in Brandenburg, Prussia. The young aristocrat received an excellent education via tutors hired by her father, Count Hans Jurgen Detloff von Masow, as the general brought his family with him in various assignments. Nicknamed the Baroness, Fredericka and her sisters blossomed into beautiful, educated, and refined young women, attracting many young officers.

Frederick the Great

Military Match

One of these was a dashing young cavalry officer, Friedrich Adolphus von Riedesel. The two aristocrats married in 1762, and Fredericka settled into the life of a military wife in a comfortable Berlin home, where she soon gave birth to two children. Unfortunately, neither child survived infancy. 

von Riedesel as a dashing young Hussar

Friederich's military duties uprooted the family. About sixteen years later, he became a dragoon captain in the army of the Duke of Brunswick, a north German principality. Fredericka and her children resided with him in a lavish house in Wolfenbüttel. However, the peacetime idyll was soon to end for Fredericka and her family. 

Summons to War

When the American Revolution broke out in 1775, the British soon found themselves short on manpower, prompting the king to turn to his continental "cousins" for help. The Duke lent his army to King George of England, as did several other minor German princes, most notably the Prince of Hesse-Kassel. The Americans soon referred to all the German auxiliaries serving the British as "Hessians."

Brunswick Grenadier

In 1776, Friedrich was promoted to general and, at the head of a force of German professionals, sailed to Quebec.

Follow the Drum

Family traditions die hard, and Fredericka was determined to accompany her husband, but being heavy with child forced her to remain behind. However, a year later, she was able to pack up her children, along with servants and baggage, and make her way to Belgium, then to France, and finally to England, where they boarded a ship and made the perilous Atlantic crossing to North America.

Atlantic crossing

The thirty-one-year-old Baroness and her three daughters arrived in Quebec just in time to witness some of the most dramatic events of the struggle between the American colonies and Britain. The cheerful and determined Fredericka had disregarded the dire warnings about the harsh lifestyle and savagery of the New World. However, Quebec was primarily a French provincial town, and she quickly made herself at home.

Camp Follower

The British had dispatched a new army to Canada as part of General John Burgoyne's ambitious plan to divide the colonies through an invasion from the north, aimed at connecting with British forces that would march north from New York and unite at Albany. Over 8,000 British regulars, Canadians, Indians, and Germans comprised Burgoyne's well-equipped force. 

Camp Followers

Accompanying them was a group of camp followers consisting of provisioners and a significant number of women who provided services such as cooking, cleaning, repairing clothing, and, most importantly, caring for the sick and wounded. Thus, women accompanying the army were a common sight in 18th-century warfare. However, it was rare for a high-born and refined noblewoman to follow the gun. Yet, the beautiful Fredericka's blue eyes, dark hair, and graceful manner quickly won the hearts of the officers and soldiers who met her.

Blitzkrieg

Not quite a blitzkrieg, but by early July 1777, the invading forces had quickly traversed Lake Champlain and taken the mightiest bastion in North America, Fort Ticonderoga. The army soon moved south, pursuing the fleeing rebels to Fort Edward and Fort George. Could the fall of Albany be far off? 

Fort Ticonderoga

Fredericka and her children, along with the servants, made their way through the lush wilderness to join her husband at Fort George. The untouched beauty of the land was striking, but soon the brutality of warfare engulfed them.

The extensive 200-mile supply line led to supply shortages just as the army appeared to be closing in on its objective. Consequently, General Burgoyne sent von Riedesel and his German troops to venture through the New York forests and fields to requisition livestock, food, and wagons. 

Distance stressed British supply

Von Riedesel objected because of the uncertainties and distances involved. However, he complied, telling his wife it was too dangerous for her to accompany him. She refused to stay behind and insisted on joining his column, which suffered defeat at the hands of John Stark and the New Hampshire militia at Bennington.

Witness to Calamity

Despite the worsening supply situation, Burgoyne moved south, and his army fought two battles against the Americans at Freeman's Farm in September and Bemis Heights in October. By this time, the army was nearly half its original size, but morale remained high. The Americans had gathered large groups of militia to reinforce the continental regiments under the new commander, General Horatio Gates. Both battles were bloody affairs. Fredericka tended to the wounded in both clashes, and she even came under fire at Bemis Heights from the American artillery that targeted the house serving as a makeshift hospital. Gathering her girls, they took shelter in the cellar while cannonballs peppered the building. 

Bemis Heights

Bemis Heights was costly in many ways, but perhaps the most significant loss was the death of British General Simon Fraser, who was shot by a sniper at the height of the battle. The gentlemanly Fraser and Fredericka had formed a close bond. The day after, she attended his funeral, which was a very somber event. The British withdrew to Saratoga, but growing numbers of rebels cut their supply lines, forcing Burgoyne to sue for terms. In this case, "a convention" rather than an admission of surrender. However, this euphemism could not erase the reality of more than 4,000 regulars falling to the rebels.

Death of Simon Fraser

Saratoga Surrender

In many ways, what should have been the end of Fredericka's American adventure was just the beginning. On October 17, 1777, after witnessing the anguish of her husband and the entire army ground arms and standards before the watchful eyes of the Americans, our Baroness joined her husband and the rest of "The Convention Army" in captivity. Most of the officers were eventually repatriated to Britain, and most of the army ended up marching south for an extended period of imprisonment.

Surrender at Saratoga

American Sojourn

General Philip Schuyler, the former commander of the Northern Department and a wealthy, influential politician, invited her and her daughters to his estate in Albany. After this visit, she traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where most prisoners initially stayed. As a senior officer, her husband and his family were treated as guests and participated in the vibrant social life around Boston.

Phillip Schuyler

The Old Dominion

In late 1778, Frederika, her husband, and the girls were provided with a carriage and escorted south along with many other prisoners. The Americans ordered this due to food shortages and the risk of prisoners attempting to escape to the British garrison at Newport, Rhode Island. The family endured hunger throughout the journey and faced a perilous trek through the brutal winter snow, ice, and mud. The locals treated them poorly. Frederika managed these hardships with grace and a positive attitude. Her husband, the general, fared less well.

Governor Thomas Jefferson

The long and winding journey south concluded in the Virginia piedmont town of Charlottesville in January 1779. Life improved in the Old Dominion. The family settled on a nearby estate, enjoying a happy plantation lifestyle. Her husband took to gardening, and she took to playing the piano. They were introduced to the planter social scene and became guests of Thomas Jefferson, now the Governor of Virginia.

New York State of Mind

Later that year, the von Riedesels were directed to travel north. Her husband would be paroled, pending his official exchange for the captured American General Benjamin Lincoln (at Charleston). Once they arrived, life changed. New York was under British control, and the Loyalist population treated them well. They initially resided at Governor Tryon's residence. Fredericka met and charmed numerous notable figures from the British garrison, including General Cornwallis, General Patterson, and the commander-in-chief, General Henry Clinton. 

General Henry Clinton

Her husband later acquired a comfortable home with elegant furnishings, and they became deeply involved in the society of occupied New York. They spent summers at General Clinton's country estate, where he often visited them, sometimes accompanied by the notorious spymaster Major John Andre.

Major John Andre

A smallpox outbreak forced the entire family to undergo the rudimentary vaccination process of that time. When the exchange became official and his parole ended, General von Riedesel took command of the British garrison on Long Island. The family accompanied him there, and Frederika gave birth to another girl, whom she aptly named Amerika.

O Canada

In September 1781, the family left New York for Canada, where several of the general's German regiments remained. He was recovering from a second bout of fever. Life in Canada proved pleasant as the level of fighting drastically decreased after Yorktown. By 1783, British troops and their costly auxiliaries were slowly leaving for home or to defend other parts of the empire. 

Canadian interlude

Royal Audience

The von Riedesels sailed after the last Germans left but paused in England, where King George and his queen welcomed the ever-popular Fredericka and her husband. She entertained Queen Charlotte and the royal princesses with stories of her adventures in the wondrous and troubled New World. 

In der Heimat

The return to Germany was bittersweet. Fredericka rejoiced at seeing her husband reunited with his old command, and the locals welcomed them to the Heimatland (Homeland). However, she carried memories of suffering that left a lasting impression. Too many promising young men had endured hardship and were maimed, wounded, or buried in a distant land.

General Friedrich von Riedesel

Retirement and Remembrance

The von Riedesels then returned to Brunswick, where von Riedesel commanded the Brunswick troops. After six years, they retired to Lauterbach Castle. Following the death of her husband in 1800, Frederika spent most of her time in Berlin, where she founded a home for military orphans. She also constructed a house for the poor in Brunswick. Frederika passed away on March 29, 1808. However, she had captured her remarkable life of adventure in her memoirs. Compiled from her letters and diary, they provided a unique perspective of the war in the New World – a woman's viewpoint. 

The Baroness in later years

The North Spy Retrospective

One of my "stretch" books in the Yankee Doodle Spies series is The North Spy, which takes my protagonist on a harrowing mission in a venue both exotic and remote. And me along with him! 

General Washington's Dilemma

As the winter snows of 1777 melt into spring blossoms, General George Washington faces a tough choice. He knows the British Army, hunkered down in their winter quarters, will strike like a snake at the first chance to take the American capital, Philadelphia. But where and how? Rumors are flying: across the Jerseys by land? Up the Delaware River by sea? Or maybe a mix of both? Yet another option proves to be the toughest puzzle: a move north to link up with a British Army gathering in Canada.

General George Washington

Diverse Approaches

General Washington did not realize that the British armies in New York and Canada would soon be working against each other. Washington has the Yankee Doodle Spies, in the form of Major Benjamin Tallmadge's troop of the 2nd Continental Line Dragoons, patrolling, scouting, and spying in hopes of understanding what the British commander in New York, Major General Sir William Howe, is planning. Despite the soundness of Major General John Burgoyne's "three-pronged" plan to join with Howe at Albany and split the colonies in two, Howe hesitates.

General William Howe

Northern Storm Clouds, Southern Squalls

The capable yet often slow-moving Howe faces significant criticism for failing to capture the rebel capital in 1776 but remains resolute in his mission to complete the task and defeat Washington. As Burgoyne gathers his forces, totaling over 8,000 men south of Montreal to make a move across Lake Champlain and down the Hudson River, he remains unaware that Howe has shifted his focus southward. Howe does instruct his second in command to stay in New York City with a few thousand men to help Burgoyne if possible. We will see how that plays out.

General John Burgoyne

Hopeless Mission

Enter Lieutenant Jeremiah Creed, whom Washington sends on a daunting, if not hopeless, mission to penetrate Burgoyne's Army, ostensibly to report back on its strength and objectives. Washington's "Intelligence Advisor" and senior intelligence officer, Colonel Robert Fitzgerald, provides Creed with secret orders that will connect him with an agent in Canada. Now all Creed has to do is figure out a plan to get there, find the agent, and work his way into the British Army!

Jeremiah Creed must cover a vast wilderness for his mission

To the North

As Creed continues his journey, he reconnects with old friends and faces new enemies. He will confront ruthless Canadian backwoodsmen, fierce Iroquois (Mohawk) warriors, and an army of British regulars and German auxiliaries eager to impose the war on the Americans by any means necessary. Throughout his journey, Creed must use deception and cunning at every turn. He also struggles with a crisis of conscience, as he is compelled to deceive and manipulate people in new and challenging ways.

Creed must face Iroquois warriors

This is a story of skill and bravery as much as of action – and there is enough action to fill Lake Champlain with blood!

TurningPoint

Americans rally to the cause as General Horatio Gates assumes command of the Northern Department. The armies engage in a series of battles, and Jeremiah Creed becomes involved. The Saratoga campaign is arguably the most important turning point of the American Revolutionary War. The North Spy offers my perspective on it, closely following the actions of British and American commanders and soldiers as they clash in deep forests, shimmering lakes, and flowing rivers of the great north. Spoiler alert: Burgoyne's army surrendered to the American rebels at Saratoga in October 1777, bringing France openly into the conflict.

Saratoga  surrender: the Turning Point

The North Spy was released by Lanyard Press. Available at Amazon via https://www.amazon.com/North-Spy-Yankee-Doodle-Spies/dp/1737663678

And at other purveyors of fine books!