TP



William Anderson was a 17-year-old young man from Boston, Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War. He was born on July 15, 1756. His family was wealthy as he was growing up but that didn’t change who he was. When he was old enough he left home and joined the Colonists in the fight against the British. When he heard about the Boston Tea Party he could not wait any longer and joined the Colonial Army. His mother was never happy about him joining the army. His father and two younger brothers (Jeremy and Simon) were excited to hear that he had joined the army. His entire family supported him throughout the war though. He fought in many battles such as The battle of Quebec, Long Island, White Plains, Saratoga, Monmouth, Savannah, and Yorktown.

12/30/1775 (Battle of Quebec)

Dearest family I am writing to tell you that I have been in my first major battle. Do not fret I am alive, but not so well. We have moved north under the great command of General Montgomery. We suffered more loss than they did and they captured many of my fellow soldiers, around [|400] of them. This battle appears to have been a complete and utter disaster. Some of the men want to give up but me and some other men have convinced them not to leave, that the war is not lost because of one difficult battle. Even though our moral is not very high right now we will never give up fighting for our rights as free men. I would follow any of the great Colonial generals to the end of the Earth. They know a great deal about what the British are trying to do and have many great counters against their moves. I am very proud to be fighting for my country and all of the men and women that live here. All my love, William

8/27/1776 (Battle of Long Island)

Greetings family, I am writing to let you know that I am now fighting under the command of the great General George Washington. At the beginning of this bloody battle we were under the command of General [|Charles Lee]. We lost many men because of his lack of leadership and knowledge of what the British strategy was. Even though Washington is a great general it is hard to make up the ground we lost when General Lee was in charge. They had more advanced weapons and more soldiers than we did. It was not a fair fight from the beginning. They may have more men, weapons, and money but we will always have more spirit and will to win then the darn British.

10/28/1776 (Battle of White Plains)

Hello again! I am writing to tell you that we won a battle! Both of the armies had near the same soldiers. If I had to guess I would have to say around [|13,000]. We were very prepared to lose this battle though. Just in case they were to overpowering we had hills nearby to retreat to. This was a very important battle for the troops. It gave them hope when it looked like there was none. The weather during the battle was not pleasant. It was raining very heavily and it was hard to see through it all. In the end neither side ended up with many casualties. I heard our final count and there were 300 men dead. I do not want you to worry about me. I have made friends in my regimen and we watch each other’s back’s in battles. I am glad that I joined but I would like to have one of mom’s famous pies right now. I am heading that way so hopefully I can take time off and stay home for a little bit. William

10/17/1777 (Battle of Saratoga)

It was nice to have been able to see all of you again. It has not been a fun time back. The weather has not been bad but I heard that many of my friends died in the Battle of Princeton. Not all of them died but more than half. The few of us that are left have to keep each other sane in this difficult time. Well back to the main reason I wrote. I was just in a battle that is now known as the Battle of Saratoga. We ended up defeating the British. We killed around [|1,600] of them from what I heard. We also captured 6,000 of the cowards that surrendered to us. From what I have heard we have many soldiers unaccounted for. I hope that they just fled and were not captured by the British. Some are wounded but less than was expected. Overall this was a great success.

6/28/1778 (Battle of Monmouth)

I have met up with General Washington again. We have been getting so much help from the kind Frenchmen that have been helping us fight the British. They have given us guns, cannons, men, and money. They have given us much hope for the future. General Washington has told us that the soldiers will not be here long though. The artillery will be staying with us though. We are fighting in New Jersey and at least it is closer to home than most of the other battles. This battle was evenly matched. We each lost around [|450 men]. This was neither a defeat nor a victory. Love, William.

12/29/1778 (Battle of Savannah)

I am very nervous now. We have traveled to North Carolina with a group of [|only 700 men]. If we run into British soldiers I fear that we might be killed. We have already run into some and we did not do well. We lost around 80 men and only killed around 15 British. We ended up having to retreat and our defense was broken. This was the most fearful that I have been through the entire war. Wish me luck and hope to see you soon. Love, William.

10/9/1781 (Battle of Yorktown)

It was nice to be with you all for a few years. I have had to return for hopefully one last battle. We are in Yorktown right now and we have the British outmanned and outgunned. It looks to be an easy victory. I hope that next time I come home that it’s for good. I was just with you for very long and I thought that I would be staying but plans change and I have to fight for General Washington one last time. The casualties were near even at around [|360 deaths] on each side. I can’t wait to see you again. Love, William.