William Elliott Hazelgrove

I've long been fascinated by the history of the Knox Expedition of the winter of 1775-1776, Henry Knox, a Boston bookseller organized transporting artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York to Cambridge, Massachusetts to be used by the Continental Army in the siege of Boston, then held by the British army. I've long wanted to read a book-length history of the expedition, and this is the first one I've found. As the author notes, part of the problem is that there are actually few primary resources for the Knox Expedition and many inconsistencies within the ones that exist.

From this book I learned that Henry Knox was born and raised in Boston in a family of modest means. He attended Boston Latin School, but also was a member of the neighborhood street gangs that fought on Pope's Night. Knox witnessed the Boston Massacre in 1770 and testified in the trials of the British soldiers. In 1771, he opened the London Book Store where he sold imported books and studied military texts that supplemented his limited practical experience as a member of a local artillery militia.

In the years leading to the Revolution, Knox was active in the Patriot cause but also wooing and marrying Lucy Flucker, who came from a high-status Boston Loyalist family. Lucy would be shunned by her family and in the early years of their marriage also frequently separated from Henry as he served in the Continental Army. The isolation was a strain on Lucy and their relationship but they remained very affectionate in their correspondence.

Despite his knowledge of engineering and artillery coming primarily from book learning, Knox impressed George Washington enough to be appointed leader of the artillery. In this position, he was responsible for transporting 60 tons of canon over 300 miles in the dead of winter. The logistical challenges required Knox to frequently improvise solutions. Problems included finding sleds that could carry the canon, teams of oxen to pull them, and teamsters who could drive the oxen.

Water crossings proved challenging. The canon were carried on boats across Lake George, carefully balanced to avoid sinking, and hoping that the lake didn't freeze before they reached the other end. Once the canon were on sleds the biggest problems was that water was frozen enough to support the weight. Too much and too little snow slowed down the expedition. And the difficult crossing of the Berkshire Mountains was almost too much for the men under Knox's command

Hazelgrove writes in the style of the novel emphasizing the adventure and challenges of the expedition. There's a lot of interesting detail and facts that I hadn't known before. On the down side, Hazelgrove is very repetitious and relies on too many cliches in his writing. He also uses a valorizing tone about "the glorious Revolution" that runs contrary to the best practices of historians toward neutrality. In a few chapters he flashes back to the early military career of Washington, I suppose to compare and contrast the young Knox to his commander, but it feels like filler that detracts from the main narrative.

I believe that there's a much better single-volume history of the Knox Expedition yet to be written, but in the meantime this was an enjoyable read about a fascinating historical event… (more)

Theodore Roosevelt didn’t want to die a quiet death. He fervently sought a hero’s death on the battlefield. Disgusted by President Woodrow Wilson’s lack of martial enthusiasm for joining the war raging in Europe, TR not only criticized his political rival, but relentlessly sought permission to resurrect the Rough Riders, believing they would soon win WWI.

So what if the men he had recruited twenty years ago were old and untrained. So what if TR’s body was struggling with a multitude of health issues incurred over an active and risk-taking life. So what if war no longer was fought with horse and saber, but tanks and gatling guns and U-boat torpedoes and poison gas.

The Last Charge of the Rough Rider covers TR’s last two years, with flashbacks to his earlier life. TR encouraged his sons to enlist, only to be brokenhearted with Quentin’s heroic, but tragic, death. The book also gives insight into President Wilson’s own tumultuous life while in office: Wilson lost his first wife, became despondent, fell in love and married a younger women, and suffered his own health crisis, all while seeking to keep America out of war and trying to broker peace in Europe.

The book is written in a lively, narrative style, never dry. It was interested to read quotes from TR’s letters. A vivid portrait of the aging lion emerges.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbaised.… (more)