登陆注册
10459000000002

第2章 Preface

The sign is rusted and scarred. Its aqua-blue surface bears the fading words "MARYLAND HEROES." Suspended from a piece of corroded iron, it marks a mass grave:

Here lie buried 256 Maryland soldiers

Who fell in the Battle of Brooklyn

August 27, 1776

I encountered that neglected piece of history in September 2010 during a walking tour of the neighborhood where the Battle of Brooklyn, also known as the Battle of Long Island, took place. Today it is a depressed area filled with auto repair shops and warehouses. The bright spot is a well-worn, decades-old American Legion post. Several blocks northeast are the elegant brownstones of Park Slope. Somewhere beneath the surface, perhaps under a garage or below a paved street, are the Marylanders' undiscovered bodies. Their remains lie intermingled in what should be hallowed ground.

In the revolutionary summer of 1776 these courageous patriots, known as "gentlemen of honour, family, and fortune," gave their lives in a desperate series of bayonet charges against British troops, who were bunkered in a stone house that was still standing just a few blocks away from where I stood. Their assault on that house arguably remains one of the most important elite small-unit engagements in American history. It bought precious time for the Patriot cause, allowing hundreds of colonial troops to retreat through a gap in British lines.

The lonely weathered placard nestled among the auto-body shops of present-day Brooklyn bears silent witness to the drama that once unfolded in this place and the extraordinary men who changed history.

"Close up! Close up!"

Over the crackle of musket fire and boom of cannon, the indomitable Major Mordecai Gist and many of the founding officers of the Baltimore Independent Cadets ordered their men forward.

Shots tore through the ranks of more than two hundred Marylanders. Undaunted, the men continued to surge toward an old stone house occupied by British General Lord Cornwallis (Charles, Earl Cornwallis) and his Redcoats.

A century earlier, the home's massive walls had been built to fend off potential Indian attacks. Now, these same barriers that had shielded Americans were called upon to repel them. Cornwallis's men trained a light cannon and musket fire on the advancing Marylanders, who launched a preemptive strike aimed at protecting their brothers-in-arms.

The British "[continued] pouring the canister and grape upon the Americans like a shower of hail." In the melee "the flower of some of the finest families of the South [were] cut to atoms."

Defying the carnage unfolding around them, Gist's men "closed their ranks over the bodies of their dead comrades, and still turned their faces to the foe."

The boldness of the Marylanders' charge initially unhinged Cornwallis's defenses as his gunners nearly abandoned their artillery, but intense fire from the house and fresh reinforcements compelled the Marylanders to retreat and then mount yet another charge.

From a distant hill, General George Washington watched the gallant display through his spyglass. As the Marylanders began to fall, he cried out, "Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lose!"[1]

[1]. Their bravery and sacrifice gave rise to the Maryland nickname, the Old Line State.

Yet not all was lost. Scores of Marylanders, led by Major Gist, held off the British long enough to help save a corps of Washington's troops and arguably the bulk of the nascent American army from destruction. The Marylanders' forlorn assaults delayed a British attack on American fortifications at Brooklyn Heights and allowed hundreds of Americans to escape to the temporary safety of their entrenchments. The soldiers who participated in that unorthodox assault would become known as the Immortals or the Maryland 400. With their blood, these men bought, in the words of one American, "an hour, more precious to American liberty than any other in its history." Gist and several men in his group escaped to fight future battles that changed the fate of a nation.

Reading the solemn words etched on that metal sign made me curious. I wanted to know what really happened to these men, who they were, and why citizen-soldiers-amateurs-fought and sacrificed their lives and fortunes to fight the most formidable army in the world. Over the years, I unearthed a hidden war buried in letters and diaries. Forgotten pension files bore testament to heroism and sacrifice, and even to betrayal by fellow Americans. It wasn't the Revolution of famous men trapped in the amber of fading oil portraits, but an alive, boots-on-the-ground, brutally long conflict that pitted brother against brother in a war that America wasn't preordained to win. These sacrifices by a small group of men-in the right place, at the right time-who were willing to march thousands of miles and endure years of unimaginable hardship, made the difference between victory and defeat.

Their nine-year saga has remained untold for over 239 years and nearly forgotten, much like the mass grave in which their comrades now lie. Gist and hundreds of Marylanders from all walks of life became an elite corps that formed the nucleus of the greatest fighting regiments of the war. They helped to keep the Continental Army intact through the darkest days of the Revolution. It is also a story about close friends whose fellowship in battle kept them together in the most impossible circumstances, enabled their survival, and helped them emerge as some of the most decorated and successful battle captains of the war. This book is the first Band of Brothers–style history of the Revolution; rather than providing a regimental history, it focuses on the actions of these men. Facing tremendous adversity, these Americans were often called upon by Washington to play a pivotal role in the war's decisive battles just as they did that day in Brooklyn.

A pockmarked sign memorializes the beginning of an epic journey that started on a winter day in 1774.

But a metal sign isn't enough to commemorate a mystery, the unknown resting place of so many Americans who willingly gave their lives for a nation yet to be born.

同类推荐
  • The Icarus Project
  • The Shanghai Factor
  • Spell of the Island

    Spell of the Island

    When Emma's sister travels to the exotic island of Mauritius in pursuit of a man who's clearly toying with her heart, Emma is determined to rescue her. But when she arrives on the island, she meets the man herself--handsome, arrogant Paul Fanchotte--and is immediately smitten.Paul is gorgeous, sensual, and infuriating--and soon Emma completely understands her sister's dilemma. It's not long before she is caught in a web of desire--and falls desperately in love. But Paul has made a vow never to fall for a woman. Can Emma make him break that vow--or will it be her heart that's broken?
  • Krapp's Last Tape and Other Shorter Plays
  • There Must Be Showers

    There Must Be Showers

    Interior designer Shelley Scott's turbulent marriage ended in divorce--and she's finally back on her feet. But when she lands a wealthy new client and realizes it's her ex-husband, handsome and elegant Nick Montpelier, she curses her bad luck.Soon she realizes Nick has hired her to decorate the beautiful mansion where they both once planned to live--for the new woman in Nick's life. Determined to do the job, earn the money, and never look back, Shelley never dreams she'll fall back into Nick's arms--and back in love.
热门推荐
  • 神纹道

    神纹道

    万古神山之上,上书四字“天道昭然”!稚嫩少年,梦观神山,参悟神纹大道,创千百神通,以悍然之姿,横行天下,成就人族浩荡气运。人族不朽,大道永昌!
  • 吕祖全书

    吕祖全书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 邻居家的男人死了

    邻居家的男人死了

    那天下午,我兴兴头头地带着新买的衣服回来,兴兴头头地剪标签往衣柜里挂,一边挂一边欣赏,仿佛已经看到自己穿上“她们”的样子,好心情又加上了几分自恋。这是我生活中并不常有的不折不扣的快乐的时刻,可以感受到生命液汁的充沛丰足,感受到活着是如此幸福的一件事情。漂亮的衣服总是给我一种阳光明媚的感觉,照耀我的面容,也照耀我的生命,我喜欢这种浅薄的快乐。女人对生命的爱恋一向感性而具体,一件漂亮的衣服一句甜蜜的情话就可以使她们持续几天的好心情。这样的爱恋更本质更实在,不像男人,尽为了一些抽象玄虚的东西而苦恼。
  • 联剑风云录

    联剑风云录

    本书继续讲述了于承珠、叶成林、铁镜心、霍天都、凌云凤步入成年之后用心感受着人生,各有各的选择、各有各的快乐、忧伤和愁怀,在悲喜间见证着那份生命中的“不得不”,从而活出更为多彩多姿的人生,“中年情怀浓如酒”,严格而言,在本书中,他们都尚未步进中年,然而解读他们各自的人生之路,却仿如品尝着一杯杯醇酒,让人平添几多感叹和唏嘘。
  • 婚途陌路,情深不晚

    婚途陌路,情深不晚

    本来岌岌可危的婚姻,随着一系列变故变得牢固;一对感情淡薄的夫妻,最终发现彼此才是命中注定的人。
  • 玛丽·安妮

    玛丽·安妮

    20世纪殿堂级文学大师的传世经典!经典名著《蝴蝶梦》作者。《玛丽·安妮》是以杜穆里埃的曾外祖母玛丽·安妮·克拉克为蓝本所写,后者在历史上的确是一名公爵的情妇。在无法选择命运的年代,她以魅力和野心撼动了整个英国。19世纪的伦敦,一个险恶的名利场。天真的年轻人们都盼望能在这里生根,摆脱自己原本贫瘠的生活。年轻的玛丽·安妮登场了。她用自己绝伦的魅力、果敢的性格和机敏的头脑俘获了无数男人。在无法选择命运的年代,玛丽·安妮以男人为阶梯,登上了权力的高峰,凭借一己之力撼动了整个英国。
  • 反三国志演义

    反三国志演义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 不是说修仙吗

    不是说修仙吗

    穿越异界,喜得系统。奇遇机缘,得道成仙。无边无际求仙之路,生死相伴修仙机缘。紧张而又刺激的修仙日常。不要看了些崩了。
  • 死亡约会

    死亡约会

    肥胖、邪恶的博因顿老夫人是家族的暴君。她就像一只盘踞在网中的蜘蛛,把几位儿女死死地困在身边,不让他们和外界接触,并以此为乐。每个人都对她厌憎无比,却又无力摆脱。古怪的博因顿一家来到约旦。炎热的一天,在佩特拉迷人的玫瑰色峭壁上,博因顿老夫人像尊怪异的佛像一般端坐不动——她死了。只是,她的手腕上留有一个微小的针孔,那是她被注射过致命一针的唯一迹象。这一次,留给波洛解谜的时间,只有二十四小时。
  • 一世无双:邪医小弃妃

    一世无双:邪医小弃妃

    叶瑾瑜,神域的剑主,要才,有得;要貌,也有得。却不想重活一世,要器灵,没有;血脉觉醒,也没有。她本着先天不足,后天有余的信念,一路闪瞎众人的双眼。待到大军兵临城下之时,某男一脸奸计得逞的模样:“都收拾收拾,准备大婚!”叶瑾瑜一脸的嫌弃:“我说,你就不能挑个好日子,非得今天!”某男委屈极了:“怎么不是好日子了,夫人,你瞧盼着我们大婚的人都排到城门外了,你就将就下主随客便吧!”于是,某女就这么稀里糊涂的嫁了。已开新文《至尊驭兽妃》,小仙女们都要来看呦~保证有惊喜,么么扎~