Eburke

Molly Smith** //Molly Smith was born on February 15, 1751 and died on December 21, 1832. Molly's family consisted of two sons and one daughter. Her Husband, John, was sent off to war just before the battles at Lexington and Concord. Molly was a supporter of the war and was proud of John for fighting for their independence. John died in the Battle of Bunker Hill and Molly stepped up to support her family. She became a young nurse working for a hospital in need during the American Revolution. Molly did not have much experience with medicine but she cared for each and every soldier that came to her hospital. She wanted to see all of them get better and go home to their families. Molly was always seen as kind and caring to the soldiers but she had always been this way, even when she was a child. She grew up pretty wealth in England. Her family came to America when she was around five years old. She never experienced a horrible thing like war. She had no siblings, only a mother and father who passed away when she was in her 20s. Molly's only family now were her children and she was determined to give them a good life, which brought her to her next job. During the war Molly discovered that she would like to become a writer after and share the stories she experienced. She carried her diary with her everywhere and made an entry every night talking about the soldiers she met everyday.//
 * [[image:nurse1.jpg width="268" height="328" link="http://www.army.mil/women/nurses.html"]]

**Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775)** //Dear Diary, This chance for freedom seems to be going better than we all planned. Today we have heard about the battles at Lexington and Concord. Seems as though we lost a lot of men. On the bright side, British forces received a lot of hits too. At Lexington our Minutemen stood strong until they realized they were out numbered. [|Captain John Parker] ordered his men to scatter at the sight of the British. British forces were ordered to shoot for no reason and this killed our men! Eight Minutemen were dead and nine were wounded after the short period of time. As the British marched on to Concord, the Patriots decided to stop these horrible men. All of us are beginning to agree that the British don't care for us. They only want what is good for themselves. Regular townsmen hid in the brushes, behind walls and hedges and caught the British off guard. These brave men opened the door to our independence. They showed the British that we are more than just some country that they can control. I am hoping that things get better for us as this war goes on. I pray for my John every night, waiting to see him come home. It is time for us to be independent. Love, Molly Smith//

//Dear Diary, New news has arrived to our town today and it is that of George Washington being named Commander in Chief. I am beyond happy. It is about time we get a leader to lead us. In order to win against the British we need a proper militia. Mr. Washington is perfect for leading our militia to victory. He is a strong and smart man and he was chosen because of his reputation and experience. From what John tells me in his letters Mr. Washington uses the element of surprise to attack the British. George Washington knows that if we were to fight the British with no surprises then we would loose. He takes into account that we are not as strong as the British. John also tells me that Mr. Washington is very passionate about winning this war. He is as passionate as every man fighting. I think a good way to describe Mr. George Washington is [|the spirit of the Revolution]. He believes in the Patriots and through the hardships he has seemed to pull through. I hope that with him we will do even better than before. We can only go forward; we have nothing to loose.// //Love, Molly Smith//
 * George Washington is Named Commander in Chief (June 15, 1775) **

//Dear Diary,// //The Battle of Bunker Hill was a brutal battle. A British force of 1,500 men landed in Charlestown Heights in Massachusetts and their goal was to do a surprise attack on us. Fortunately we knew about the surprise attack and stayed up for 12 hours the night before building a main fortification on Breed's Hill under [|General Prescott's command]. British General Howe was apparently very surprised to see this when he woke up the next morning but still he ordered his troops to advance. The British attacked three time and then took over the third time. John was killed during the battle along with a lot of other Patriots. We did not completely win this war but we did win Britain's respect for our militia. John was shot, the injury was fatal and he died on the battle field. I am so proud of my husband and I have decided to make him proud now. I have signed up to help in hospitals for the soldiers. I am leaving the children with John's sister in Virgina while I go to help. I leave tomorrow and have decided to bring you with me. I want to record everything that happens. Maybe people will be interested in my stories one day. Love, Molly Smith//
 * Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) **

//Dear Diary, Working in the hospital is sad and hard. I try my best to be optimistic and make the patients happy in any way possible. I listen to their stories if they are even willing to talk to me. All I see all day are injured men either dead or dying. Treatments for these men usually don't work. Any kind of break of the bone or deep cut [|lead to amputation]. The pain for the treatments are unbearable but pain killers are scarce. I often hear men praying to die just so they are freed from the war and the pain the war has caused for them. The only good thing about my day today is a couple of papers being passed around from nurse to nurse. A man named Thomas Paine has published his ideas in something called Common Sense. Thomas Paine wrote about how he believed we deserve to be free from Great Britain. Mr.Paine explains how we have evolved and no longer need Great Britain, how the [|British government is not fair] to America and that we cannot live under their rule anymore, how without the British we will have better relations with more countries, and a lot more. Thomas Paine's ideas are helping us come together. It is nice to know that another person is thinking the same thing as me. I agree with Mr. Paine, it is the perfect time to receive independence from Great Britain. Love, Molly Smith//
 * Common Sense by Thomas Paine (January 15, 1776) **

//Dear Diary, We have finally won the French on our side. After the battle at Valley Forge the French agreed to join the war on our side. The French declared war on Great Britain and now they are giving aid to us. At first they were reluctant because we weren't winning many battles at all, but after winning one they decided that we might have a chance. [|John Adams initiated the alliance] between American and France. He was the initial author and really wanted it to happen. From talking to John Adam's wife, Abigail, it seems as though John was doing all he could to receive the French's help. Thank god he was because now we actually have a chance of winning. The French army will help us because our army is slowly falling apart. We are loosing so many men, so fast. By having the French we will have more men coming to relieve our men. Hopefully I will begin to see less and less men come through my hospital's doors. I don't think I can handle much more of this. It gets harder and harder each day because I know eventually almost all of the men I am trying to help will be dead. Because of this alliance the French agreed to not make peace with Great Britain until we receive our freedom. I am praying we get our freedom before all our men are dead. Love, Molly Smith//
 * French Alliance (February 6, 1778) **

//Dear Diary, Finally the war seems to be over! There has been a meeting in Paris where a treaty has been signed. The [|Treaty of Paris] gave us our independence and the opportunity to expand westward if we wanted to. It also established peace between Great Britain and France, Spain, and the Netherlands. After the Battle of Yorktown when we were victorious, the British surrendered! We have received what we have wanted for 8 years! There is nothing stopping us now. I am free to go home in a couple of months when most of the men have cleared out. After that I am going to start my book. The truth about war. The facts of these horrific battle. And how we all made it through. I am proud to say I am an American. Now I can throw in independent so I am proud to be an independent American. Love, Molly Smith//  "Battle of Bunker Hill." //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia//. 3 Nov 2009, 10:08 UTC. 22 Nov 2009 < http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Bunker_Hill&oldid=323663180 >.
 * The United States and Great Britain Sign the Treaty of Paris (September 3, 1783) **

"Treaty of Alliance (1778)." //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia//. 14 Nov 2009, 19:35 UTC. 22 Nov 2009 < http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Alliance_(1778)&oldid=325844483 >.

Higginbotham, Don. "Lexington & Concord." //The American Revolution//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. . //Social Studies for Kids//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .  SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Common Sense.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 21 Nov. 2009.

Volo, James M. //Daily Life During the American Revolution//. N. pag. //Google Books//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Wildman, Franklin B. "George Washington: The Commander In Chief." //Historic// //Valley Forge//. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .