Citizen soldier

the long version

"About sunset we made a stand, when I was wounded, having a Ball with the Wad shot through my left forearm & the fuse set my coat and shirt on fire." So wrote Major Joseph Bloomfield in his journal to describe the Battle of Brandywine. His words illustrate the very personal nature of his revolutionary war journal, previously unpublished and all but unknown. Bloomfield was an officer in the Third New Jersey Regiment from 1776 to 1778. A native of Woodbridge, he was a sometime resident of Cumberland and Salem counties, New Jersey, and later mayor of Burlington; he served as governor of New Jersey from 1801 to 1812. Bloomfield's revolutionary service took him from Fort Stanwix to Fort Ticonderoga in New York, to the battle of the Brandywine in Pennsylvania, and to Monmouth and elsewhere in his native state. A compassionate officer admired by his men, Bloomfield carefully recounted the hardships of military campagns: the swings in morale, the shortage of supplies, the ever-present illnesses, discipline problems, and, of course, combat. Of special interest are Bloomfield's notes on the culture and behavior of the Indian tribes known collectively as the Six Iroquois Nations, which played a crucial role in revolutionary New York. Indian ceremonies, food, clothing, games, language, and gender roles were all subject to the young officer's scrutiny. In this journal, both scholars and general reeaders will find new information on the Continental soldier; the American Revolution's impact on society; warfare in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; adn the motives and actions of the revolutionary generations. Soldiers and civilians, Patriots and Tories, come alive in the fascinating eye-witness narrative.