It is 1774 in Vermont, and Erastus, a young man from Pownal, Vermont, dreams of becoming a Green Mountain Boy. After the death of his father, his storytelling Uncle Hiram arrives to care for the family farm. Uncle Hiram shares mythical tales of the legendary Ethan Allen and the adventures of the Green Mountain boys, leading Erastus to one conclusion: he wants to belong to this elite group.
Narrated with the excitement and hilarity of a young man fueled with patriotism and pride, this innocent and naïve view of the American Revolution will leave you laughing and teary-eyed. His words speak to us today as he watches “patriots” pontificate at home and profiteers grow rich while young soldiers die far away.
Erastus signed up to fight the Yorkers but ended up defeating the British. Captivated by the stories of Ethan Allen, he joined the Green Mountain Boys, witnessed the attack on Fort Ticonderoga that never made it into the history books, grew to admire Benedict Arnold, tried to escape two overbearing older sisters, shared his journal with a slave, fled from gangs in New York, boarded with Betsy Ross, met squabbling Continental leaders, and confronted his prejudice against Tories and the Dutch. He escaped drowning and scalp hunters, stumbled upon a witch in a cave, confronted a banshee on Lake Champlain, and fought at the Battle of Bennington. His story is the story of the fourteenth original colony of the United States—Vermont.
A novel of the American Revolution by Raymond J. Rodrigues
The Cover Painting: The cover painting is Alonzo Chapelle's "Battle of Bennington," reproduced with permission of the Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont..
Memoir of a Green Mountain Boy
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