Letters of a Young Soldier

CW: Themes of war, violence, death, and occasional swearing.

April 6, 1775

My name is Locke Jameson. I’m a small farmer in New York, near the Long Island area. I have a wife and we’re due to have a child in a few months. Life is… okay. The British have been living here in the area ever since that stupid King George III passed the Quartering Act. I don’t understand the king nor do I agree with him. Like, why do I have to give housing and food to some random British soldiers who don’t do anything for me? I heard there’s going to be some type of revolution against the British.

June 5, 1775

War broke out after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. There was a mass enlistment and I was drafted into the Continental Army. I miss my wife. It’s been over a month since I left home, but it’s felt like an eternity. Our baby is supposed to be born next month, and I’m going to miss it. Life in the army is hard. We only get 1.5 pounds of meat and 1.5 pounds of bread/flour as our daily ration. We have to drill every day and do very hard work. The pay isn’t good either.

August 12, 1775

General George Washington has been put in charge of the army. I personally don’t like him much as he can be too bossy at times and doesn’t look like a great leader. He is very strict and doesn’t like cursing. He told us that no disobedience will be tolerated and that due punishments will be given to those who don’t comply. He says that an army needs to obey in order to thrive. I would say calling this group of inexperienced amateurs an army is an overstatement. I’m here just waiting for the war to be over to go home.

January 24, 1776

The days of combating have been long. The siege of Boston led by General Washington seems to have no purpose now. I don’t feel like there’s any point to this war either. Why are we, a group of disorganized men, trying to fight against the best army in the whole world? Why can’t we just stay under British control and live our lives? I’ve seen many of my fellow brothers die in this war, giving up their life for this stupid revolution, and all for what? What are we even trying to accomplish? This war is so fucking pointless!

February 29, 1776

Leap day! I guess that’s something to celebrate(?). There haven't been many happy moments here in the war. The British seem to be growing stronger every day, and our supplies just keep going lower and lower. The friends I made here, most of them have died due to starvation or injury. Day after day there’s only fighting. I want to go see my wife and newborn. I want to escape this army, go back home and never return to this, but that would mean I deserted the army and be put to death. Lord God, please make this war stop!

March 18, 1776

Finally! The Lord has answered my prayers! We drove the British out of Boston yesterday. The Siege of Boston was a success. I have hope that we are going to win and that this war will soon be over. I received a letter from my wife telling me that our daughter was growing strong and that she couldn’t wait to meet her father. That’s what keeps me going: knowing that someday I’ll be home with my family in a better place for which we’ve been fighting for. General Washington may not be the best, but his strategies helped us win.

July 4, 1776

We just got the news that we are now an independent country. The United States of America, that’s what they said. General Washington has led us to New York. Now we’re fortifying the city to protect it from the British. They seem to be getting stronger every day, but knowing why we’re fighting for and what we’re defending (independence) has given us a great boost. I’ll fight so that my little girl (we named her Abigail) and my wife, Aurora, will have a better country to live in. No more British soldiers in my house once we kick them out.

December 25-26, 1776

Okay, what the heck is wrong with General Washinton? It’s Christmas day and we’re all celebrating, and then you want us to go attack people who are also celebrating the holidays? Like, aren’t there any holidays in war? And on top of that he wants us to cross a frozen Delaware River in the middle of a freezing winter at midnight! Has he gone mad? There are literal ice chunks floating on the river! We are starved, freezing, tired, and wounded. How do you expect us to cross that river without drowning or freezing to death? Very smart, General Washington!

July 5, 1777

We are at Fort Ticonderoga, again. The British are back and we’re trying to capture it, and I don’t know how much we can resist. That move by Washington to cross the Delaware ended up being too dangerous. Many of our men drowned, starved, or froze to death. The army is weak, and it’s not as if obedience was their strength. Maybe we should just give up. Washington doesn’t know how to make these rowdy people obedient soldiers, and that is going to cost us. I’m tired of this fighting, and I want to leave the army. I can’t continue.

October 3, 1777

Isn’t it crazy to think that it’s been over a year since the Declaration of Independence? The year’s been long. I agree with what many soldiers think: Washinton isn’t a great leader. The army soldiers aren’t listening to him, and I think he got too frustrated because the other day he ordered that a soldier be tied to a pole (for context, the soldier had committed robbery several times). Washington then took a Cat-O-Nine-Tails and beat the living crap out of that poor soldier. He asked if someone wanted to go next. The soldiers have been more obedient ever since.

December 20, 1777

Marching into Valley Forge was an odyssey. It is cold, very, very cold out here. I’m starving, and I know my fellow soldiers are also starving. I can feel the cold beast grasping my bones and not letting me go despite how close to the fire I get. The strong winds put out our bonfires, so to keep the fire alive we’ve had to sacrifice our letters from other relatives. I miss my family. This is not fun. We get horrible pay. I’ve seen soldiers get their brains and intestines blown out by bullets. Most of them were my friends.

January 1, 1778

We’ve been decimated. Many have died of starvation, hypothermia, or disease. Washington insists we have to stay together, now more than ever. I got tired of his yapping about this nonsense so I went to confront him the other day.

“Why do you keep telling us to remain united? Our army is literally falling apart, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it!”

He just kept calm and told me, “The French will come soon to aid us. Have some hope, young soldier.”

Turns out, there is a way to make us want to keep going. Help is coming.

February 23, 1778

We have a new person in camp. His name is Baron von Steuben. He doesn’t speak any English, but he made a good enough impression on Washington that he got appointed temporary Inspector General of the army. If I didn’t know any of these people, I would say that Steuben is the General and that Washington is just some low-rank officer. Steuben just looks more majestic and more fit than Washington to carry out a leadership role. He is big, strong, and his horse is majestic too. They say he came to put some order to this poorly organized army.

March 2, 1778

Nevermind, I take back my words. This stupid Steuben (hey, that actually rhymes) is a complete savage! Take a wrong step in a drill or be unsynchronized during marching time and you’ll be guaranteed to get the butt of that musket shoved into your stomach. We practice new drills daily and nightly to “improve performance and defeat the British”, but I think they’re useless and tiring. I want to go home. The only funny thing here is that Steuben loves using profanity, and in many languages. It’s funny to see Washington arguing with him to stop using profanity. Plainly hilarious.

April 7, 1778

That’s it. I am leaving the army. Tell me whatever you want, but you won’t convince me to stay. Staying away from your family for over three years is hard. I have a young daughter who has never met her father except through the letters I send home weekly, but that’s not how real parenting is done. I told General Washington about my decision and he understood. He told me my due payment would be soon fully paid by the government and he thanked me for my service. I really don’t care about the payment. I just want my family.

May 12, 1778

The French have officially allied with the American government, and I’m officially back at home. My wife was happy to see me, but it was nothing compared to the full blown excitement from my daughter. She laughed and then started crying because she finally got to meet her “daddy.” She told me about all of the war stories mom told her and how brave I was for serving three years in the army. Her big, blue eyes reflected pure innocence and admiration. I love her tender smile and sweet voice. She reminds me of her mother when I see her.

June 16, 1778

Why?! Why did it have to happen? This is so unfair! What’s the point of fighting anymore? All there is is death after death after death, and it’s so fucking annoying! Innocent people die just because they turned out to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Is that why Aurora and Abigail were killed? What did they do to the British? We literally offered them food and shelter whenever they told us to, so why kill them? I miss them a lot. I don’t know if I can keep going. Why couldn’t I protect them better?

October 6, 1778

I was sitting at home this morning when someone knocked on my door. I got up from the dining table where I’d been crying for the past hour, wiped my face, and opened the door. It was a familiar young gentleman in fine clothes. He handed me a blank paper and told me to go to the address indicated by 5pm. 

“Have we met before?” I asked.

He told me if I was fit, I would find him. Then he gave me a flint-and-steel and left. I examined the paper and figured it was invisible ink. Reveal it and… bingo!

December 29, 1778

I figured out the meeting place and became part of Washington’s Culper Spy Ring (I didn’t know the General had money to fund spies). Most of these spies are people from Long Island and New York. They have also suffered the cruelties from the British. Our mission is to capture information about the British and tell Washington. We may not be the army, but we can get revenge from the British this way. I can make them pay for what they did to my family. Just now we got the news that Savannah, Georgia, has been captured by the British.

May 3, 1779

We have been told to keep no evidence of our names whatsoever. My new name is now 613 (means “soldier” in the Culper Code Book). 711 has received all of our reports and is satisfied with them. There is a lady among our group. She told me to call her 355, never stating her name. We were told to act as loyalists as long as the British are out there. They know there are spies, and they’re doing all they can to catch us. Some of us have been already captured, but the British found no evidence we were spies.

November 15, 1779

The army’s attempt to retake Savannah was unsuccessful. Washington and his army are now headed to Morristown, New Jersey, to start camping there. One of our members heard and sent us the message that read: “745 683 38 IDGPRAYZKM, 741”, but for right now, the message said, it’s just a rumor that is going around. The information has already been sent to 85, but we’ve gotten no response as to whether they received it or not. The British are trying to find us because they know we can access their information. This is what they get for messing with us.

June 4, 1780

Turns out the rumors were true. On March 29 the British launched an attack and successfully captured Charleston on May 12. Nothing the army did could stop the British. Besides that, we just got the information that the British are planning to ambush the 6,000 French soldiers that are supposed to arrive in Rhode Island to aid our army. An emergency report on this has been sent to 711. Hopefully this will give him an idea of what to do next. We can just hope he does the right thing for our freedom. The war depends on his decisions.

November 9, 1780

711 has decided to issue an “order” to raid New York in hopes the British will take the bait. Hopefully they do. He told his troops to spread the misinformation all around so that maybe a Loyalist hears and makes the British know. 711 needs to protect those French troops at all costs if we want to win this war. We need their help to defeat the British. I like how he’s taking on his leadership. He’s grown as a leader ever since being my commander back in the army. Maybe there is hope to win this war after all.

January 17, 1781

The British took the bait and the French are now with us. The Culper Spy Ring is trying to recover more information from the British. Right now we are halfway done completing a copy of all the British naval codes. This will be a great advantage to us. The French have been a great help to us. Maybe that is all we needed to finally be on top: fresh troops from an allied country that has a common enemy. The British fear our ring of spies. They know we have their secrets, and they can’t stop us from getting them.

October 20, 1781

Bingo, bingo! Our finished copy of the British naval codes proved to be a pivotal point in the Battle of the Chesapeake. The French Navy had a profound advantage against the British fleet because of us. This amazing French sea victory was key to 711’s Siege of Yorktown. 711 and his army had Yorktown surrounded, and then for some reason British General Cornwallis decided he should try to escape (common sense makes it obvious you can’t escape when surrounded). Cornwallis finally surrendered, and now we seem to be closer to putting an end to this war. It’ll finally be over!

July 11, 1782

Take that one, stupid British soldiers! Now you have fled Savannah. I knew our army would do it. It feels so good to finally see the British pay for their crimes. I will not stop working against them until they have fully paid for their crimes, and I am very sure my fellow spies won’t stop either. We have suffered too much because of them, and now they are feeling what we felt. Maybe that will teach them not to mess with us Americans again! Get out of my land and never come back, you stupid British brats! Never again!

December 14, 1782

And there goes another one! We’ve got them British between the sword and the wall. It won’t be long before they surrender or ask us to negotiate the end of the war. It hasn’t been a month since our government and the British signed some preliminary Articles of Peace. They seem desperate to end this war. I don’t think their economy is built to withstand such a long war effort. I don’t think they ever planned for us Americans to be this resistant against their powerful, well trained army. Even I am impressed we are winning this with our “army.”

March 16, 1783

The soldiers in the Continental Army tried to revolt against 711, but he single handedly managed to put down the revolution with these simple words: “My God! What can this writer have in view by recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the army – can he be a friend to this Country? Rather is he not an insidious foe?... Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown gray in your service and now find myself growing blind.”

Now I see it, the leader he truly is. Not everyone would have been able to do that. He has potential.

September 3, 1783

Here I stand, finally the war is over. The Treaty of Paris has been signed. I wish Abigail and Aurora were here to enjoy this with me. A newly independent country that defeated the greatest army in the whole world. Now, that’s a feat. The Culper Spy Ring has decided to disband. We served our country right, but now that the war is over and the British are leaving, the country doesn’t require our services. Maybe our work will someday help future generations of spies help this country again, but for now, it’s peace time. I will fully enjoy it.

(Author's note: Story originally written for an APUSH class assignment. The task from my teacher was to make a journal from a colonist that spans from the beginning of the American Revolution to the Treaty of Paris. It must have at least 20 entries and exactly 100 words per entry. This is the result of that.)