Books by "William L. Kidder"
7 books found
This is the life story of Sergeant Thomas Boyne, a native of Prince George's County, Maryland, who joined the 2nd Light Artillery Company "B" of the United States Colored Troops at Point Lookout, Maryland, on February 5, 1864 and went on to receive our nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor, while serving in the 9th United States Cavalry during the Indian Wars. This is also the story of Boyne's comrades-African-American Buffalo Soldiers and the officers who commanded his various assigned units-who helped to open and preserve the West while performing their military duty for their country. This is a story that needs to be told. The integration of official government records, historical events, and newspaper articles enhance this comprehensive look at the struggles endured by Sergeant Thomas Boyne, and other African-Americans who served their country during this period. Sergeant Thomas Boyne's entire military career is covered in precise detail. Careful transcriptions of original muster rolls for the period covered include: Muster Roll Records and Returns for Company "B" 2nd Light Artillery United States Colored Troops, Company "K" 40th United States Infantry and Company "F" 25th United States Infantry, Company "C" 9th United States Cavalry, Company "L" 9th United States Cavalry, and Company "H" 25th United States Infantry. Specific details from a variety of pertinent documents, orders, acts, and news articles; as well as an abundance of names, numerous vintage photographs, illustrations, a bibliography, and an every name index make this book a MUST for historians and genealogists.
A stronghold of Scotch-Irish settlement, Augusta County commands great interest among genealogists because thousands of 18th- and 19th-century families passed through it en route to the West. J. Lewis Peyton's History of Augusta County, Virginia is the standard work on the county. It is essentially a narrative account of Augusta from its aboriginal beginnings and Spotswood's discovery of the Valley of Virginia through the Civil War. Genealogists will value the book, in part, as a companion volume to such Augusta County source record collections as Lyman Chalkley's Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia. Of greater importance to genealogists, however, are the genealogical and biographical sketches of a number pioneering Augusta County families found in the Appendix to the volume.
John Bridge (d.1665), a widower with two sons, emigrated in 1631 from England to Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1658 he married widow Eliza- beth Saunders, widow of Martin Saunders and earlier widow of Roger Bancroft; they had no children, and she married again after John's death. Descendants and relatives lived in New England, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and elsewhere. Includes some ancestry and relatives in England.
On December 25, 1776, the American Revolution seemed all but defeated just six months after the Declaration of Independence had been adopted. George Washington’s army had suffered a series of defeats in New York and had retreated under British pressure across New Jersey and then the Delaware River to temporary sanctuary in Pennsylvania. This left the British army in a string of winter cantonments across the middle of New Jersey, the New Jersey state government in total disarray, and the Continental Congress fleeing Philadelphia now perceived as the next British target. Loyalists in New Jersey felt empowered and Patriots felt abandoned. Washington needed not only a battlefield victory, but also to reestablish Patriot control in New Jersey. Otherwise, it would be impossible to raise a larger, long-term army to continue the fight and convince the citizens that victory was possible. The story of these ten crucial days is one that displays Washington’s military and interpersonal abilities along with his personal determination and bravery to keep the Revolution alive through maintaining the psychological confidence of the Patriots, while reducing the psychological confidence of his British political and military opponents. Throughout these ten days, Washington was faced with changing situations requiring modifications or outright different plans and his well-thought-out actions benefitted from elements of luck—such as the weather or British decisions—which he could not control. While most books look at these ten crucial days focusing on the military actions of the armies involved, this account also considers what was happening in other parts of the world. Leaders and ordinary people in other parts of America, in Britain, and in France were also dealing with the Revolution as they understood its condition. Without the instantaneous communication we have today, they were dealing with dated information and were missing knowledge that could influence their thoughts about the Revolution. This lack of immediate communication was also true—although to lesser extent—for the individuals directly involved in the events in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.