Themes in my upcoming novel- The War Comes to Redding

Right now there is a lot of new information about the Revolutionary War and the encampments at Redding coming out and these findings are much more than, "Hey, that's cool!" these findings fill-in gaps and tie-in groups previously over looked; they really are exciting.

My thought with this novel was to deliver some of this new information to readers via a story that's familiar (because it ties to My Brother Sam is Dead) and gives a fresh perspective of the War coming to Redding through the eyes of Jonas Fairchild, a thirteen year old boy.


Here are some of the topics you'll find in the novel:


1.  The impact of 3,000 soldiers situated in three encampments arriving with little time for locals to prepare.
 
In the novel I make it clear that Redding, Connecticut is a very small town about to double in size over-night.

I bring awareness to some of the dangers ahead before they appear in the storyline so readers have a better understanding of their impact when they actually happen.

Example from the Novel:

"Are you happy about the War coming to Redding Mr. Heron?" Elijah asked.

Mr. Heron paused for a long moment.

"I have concerns," he said thoughtfully. "I have concerns because as I just was explaining- with War comes uncertainty. The outcome you expect is rarely the one you get. And we will have a very large and diverse group of people here. If there is any trouble it will have to be handled swiftly and with force by the Generals or the safety of both the army and our citizens will be at risk."

I also explain the views some residents had about the needs of soldiers once they were in Redding through dialog between the characters.

Example from the Novel:

"The soldiers are starving," Abby said at breakfast "isn't there any way we can help them?"

"We have." Said Father. "We have provided them with an efficient means to cut their wood at all three of their encampments."

"But they haven't any food." Pleaded Abby.

"That is not our concern," Father said sternly. "they have the supplies in Danbury and it is the Army's job to get them here. If we give away our stored food to starving soldiers and our supplies run out, then we will be the ones starving."


2.  Another topic I have woven into the story is the role of the Native American Indian in this conflict.

Tom Warrups is a real-life character whose role in the American Revolution I have slightly altered to educate readers about Native American Indian culture and bring awareness to the presence of Native American soldiers in these encampments at Redding. I share Native American Indian Culture via Indian stories that Tom tells to Jonas(his 13 year old neighbor and the story's narrator); tell of the Native American Indian Soldiers via the interactions Tom and Jonas have with the soldiers; and shed light on the fears/questions the Native American Indians had about "Independent" America and what "Independence" would mean for them.

Example from the Novel:

"My people are fearful of what your Independence means for us. Will it be to our benefit or demise? We don't really know. What we do know is that since the white man has arrived in what you call "America," our ancient home lands have been taken and we have been pushed out. For those of us that fight for the Independence of your people we hope this War brings what your Declaration of Independence promises *and* restores for us the rights that we have lost. Do you know what I speak of Jonas?"

"Yes." I said, "We memorized the Declaration last year at the schoolhouse."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever Any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government."

"That is right," said Tom "and I pray that it is known that the Native American Indian soldiers here in Redding are not 'merciless Indian savages' and recognized that they too are men in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness; fighting for their own unalienable rights."


3. Black soldiers or African American soldiers are an important part of the novel. In fact, that is what I am presently working on right now because of information discovered while reviewing documents forwarded to me about the Native American Indian soldiers positioned in Redding.

4. The looting of local farms by the starving soldiers and the locals reaction to this looting.

Example from the Novel:

The snow was really coming down now, it was up past my ankles and with the winds picking up I knew it wouldn't be long before walking would become difficult so I cut across the road and into the pines by the swamp. That's where I saw them, there were three of them and they had someone's calf. There were drag marks across the clearing so I figured it was dead, but still it made my heart hurt to see them butchering it. I ran home as fast as I could.

"What's wrong?" asked my Father as I burst through the barn door.

"Soldiers!" I said. "They stole somebody's calf and they're butchering it in the pines!"

My Father slammed the hay rake he was using down to the ground and cursed. "That's the third calf this week!" He grabbed his gun and headed over to the horse stall.

"Tell your Mother I'm riding over to Sanford's. And tell her not to worry, we're going to handle this without bloodshed."

5. Illness at the encampments due to the cold and the War's on going small pox epidemic. Some modern estimates have the small pox responsible for 100,000+ deaths during the Revolutionary War and because we did have soldier deaths at Redding's encampments I included it as an important element in the story.

6. The executions at Redding in the winter of 1778-79, why they occurred and why they were important to the war and Redding going forward are included as well. 

Desertions and spying were a problem at this point in the War and it was during the Winter of 1778-79 that these issues were dealt with by General Putnam. To give an additional view of desertion and to show that for some it was necessary, the high drama of my novel involves the desertion of several Native American Indian soldiers and a gravely ill Black Soldier.


Why I'm writing this novel:


The purpose of my novel is to bring attention to more Revolutionary War topics than simply battles and timelines with the hope that it will fuel future study of these topics in local schools and help students become more aware of the history that surrounds them and push them to explore interests of their own.

In this novel I pick up where My Brother Sam is Dead left off and tell you the story of what it was like to live in Redding in the Winter of 1778-79. Your narrator is Jonas Fairchild. Jonas is 13 years old and lives within walking distance to the middle encampment. His friend and mentor is a Native American Indian named Tom Warrups. Tom is in his 30's and lives just up the hill from Jonas and his family. Through Tom, Jonas learns about Indian culture and their way of life.

Jonas' father owns and operates two saw mills in town with his brothers. When the army decides on Redding for its winter encampment, the Fairchild family agrees to help the soldiers more efficiently cut their hut lumber by showing them how to make saw pits at each encampment. Little do they know they will be helping the soldiers in many more ways than this as the story unfolds.

More will be shared as I edit my chapters so stay tuned for updates about this very insightful first person narrative of what happened when 3,000+ soldiers and their camp followers arrived to co-exist amongst the Redding residents in the winter of 1779.
Future Updates:

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You can also sign-up for my Dropbox Folder. This book and many others will soon be posted to the Dropbox Folder along with teaching resources for them.

What’s in the My Brother Sam is Dead Dropbox Folder?

Everything I have collected and written over that past 6 years and that's a whole lot. The idea behind this folder is to help parents and teachers better understand what topics the authors have woven into each chapter of the fictional history novel, My Brother Sam is Dead.

I have broken out this resource into three sections:

1). Guide to MBSD(2 e-books and 8 supporting documents),

2). Maps, Photos and Visuals and

3). Teaching Resources(includes lesson plans and online quizzes).

All my ebooks are included at this resource and much more. Photos and maps of everything that occurs in the novel and teaching tools are included as well.

This is everything you need and more to get your kids really excited about the novel and come away with a very good understanding of why the novel was written.

My Brother Sam is Dead Dropbox Access