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Citizen Soldier - Book Release & Signing Reception

Bloomfield was an officer in the 3rd New Jersey Regiment from 1776 to 1779. His service took him from the Mohawk Valley (Guy Park Manor, Johnson Hall, Fort Dayton, Fort Stanwix and others) to Fort Ticonderoga in New York, to the battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania, and to the battle of Monmouth in his native state. Also included are Bloomfield’s important notes on the culture and behavior of the Iroquois tribes known collectively as the Six Nations, which played a crucial role in revolutionary New York.

A new edition of the eyewitness account that introduced readers to the experience of the Continental army: “About sunset we made a stand, when I was wounded, having a Ball with the Wad shot through my left forearm & the fuse set my coat and shirt on fire.” So wrote Major Joseph Bloomfield in his journal on September 11, 1777, describing his experiences during the hard-fought battle of Brandywine.

Unpublished and all but unknown when the first edition appeared, Bloomfield’s wartime journal was praised for providing both scholars and general readers with new information on the Continental soldier; the revolution’s impact on society; warfare in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and the motives and actions of the revolutionary generation. Soldiers and civilians, Patriots and Tories, come alive in this fascinating eyewitness narrative. This new edition of Citizen Soldier: The Revolutionary War Journal of Joseph Bloomfield—the first in thirty-five years—includes a new introduction and bibliographic essay by the editors.

There is no charge but a $5 suggested donation is appreciated. For more information email info@fortplainmuseum.org.

MARK EDWARD LENDER is Emeritus Professor of History at Kean University. He has written widely on early American military and social history, including Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle, a finalist for the 2017 George Washington Prize.

JAMES KIRBY MARTIN is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of History at the University of Houston. Among his many books are Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered and A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763–1789, with Mark Edward Lender.

 

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