This is a wonderful article concerning one of the longest living American Revolution soldiers. Many intriguing and apparently accurate recollections by Mr. Milliner are conveyed. What is remarkable to me also is the exacting and explanatory writing of Ms. Wood. She is able to explain what the man conveyed to author Elias Brewster Hillard in a way that takes into account various scenarios allowing for the reader to decide on the veracity of the accounts. For instance, Milliner recounts having been wounded and not knowing it until a passing officer pointed out that he was bleeding profusely. “Despite the apparent severity of the wound the elderly Milliner seemed to be no more concerned by the memory than he had been as a boy before the officer spoke to him. . .This casual outlook on injury was by no means unheard of even for a young child, but rather speaks to just how involved the camp followers were in battles and the war itself.” This also shows how Wood can extrapolate generalities of conduct during the war and how to approach reading first-hand accounts.
Leave a comment