so john andre’s wartime journal is viewable for free online here in its original form, and here are some highlights from it in a post lol!
the journal dates from 1777-1778, while andre was charles grey’s aide-de-camp. the front cover is barely a few inches wide, and clearly saw a fair amount of wear and tear during its use.
the inside cover design is pretty cool, but it isn’t an original part of the book. w.k. bixby (you can see his name near the bottom of the illustration) was the former owner of andre’s journal. it was in his possession during the nineteenth and early 20th centuries.
inside, the most immediately eye-catching thing are the maps, and there are a lot of them! andre clearly took the time to make them neat, detailed and correctly scaled. on some, he even uses watercolors to create the illusion of mountains.
wartime accounts make up the largest portion of the journal. andre witnessed a few major conflicts during the time he was writing in it, including monmouth and brandywine, so his accounts are actually really important to understanding how the battles went down. most of it’s pretty technical, explaining exactly how the army moved and in which locations they encountered the enemy. he does complain a few times about the hessians constantly “employing the use of strong liquor,” though, which is pretty funny lmao.
sections of the journal are taken up by catalogues and organization, which andre evidently used to keep track of british numbers and supplies.
andre even stuck a printed declaration into the journal! you can see that it’s dated august 27th, 1777, approved by general howe, and deals with the safety and protection of loyalist civilians living in pennsylvania, maryland, delaware and the chesapeake bay. it also offers to pardon any former patriots willing to admit that their participation in the rebellion was wrong and join the king’s cause instead.
and finally, one of the parts i found most interesting… a list of british ships, including their names! hannah, brilliant, aurora, nancy, clementina, archer, and stag are some of my favorites.
(under the cut is just a citation and more resources, in case you’re interested! :3)
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