We could not possibly have written this book without the assistance and courtesy of archivists, curators, researchers, and historians at multiple organizations and institutions devoted to the American Revolution and the individuals who played significant roles in it. We especially want to recognize the help provided by Margaret Baillie at the Chester County Historical Society, Rose Buchanan at the National Archives and Records Administration, James Fleming at the National Archives of the United Kingdom, Sarah Myers at the Washington Library at Mount Vernon, and the staff at the Library of Congress.
In addition: William Adams at the University of South Carolina Press, Dawn Bonner at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Amanda Breen at the Gibbes Museum of Art, Seth Michael James at the Lilly Library at Indiana University, Tyler Love at the Independence National Historic Park, Michelle Moskal at the Museum of the American Revolution, and the Prints Division of the New York Public Library.
A special thank-you goes to the National Park Service rangers, particularly the Interpretive Specialist William Troppman and the archivist Dona McDermott at Valley Forge National Historical Park. Moreover, the official National Park Service history of Valley Forge as compiled by Wayne K. Bodle and Jacqueline Thibaut proved invaluable to our research efforts. We are also grateful to Dr. William Crawley at the University of Mary Washington; Nancy and Lawrence Goldstone; Commander (Ret.) John J. Patterson, Dr. Paul Jussel, and Robert Martin at the U.S. Army War College; Michael Mannella; and John O. Thornhill of the Sons of the American Revolution. Once again, we appreciate the insights and suggestions of the underground editors David Hughes and Bobby Kelly.
From the onset of this project and through its completion we have benefitted from the enthusiastic support of our editor, Jofie Ferrari-Adler. Others we are happy to thank at Simon & Schuster are Jonathan Karp, Cary Goldstein, Julianna Haubner, Larry Hughes, Stephen Bedford, Nicole Hines, Kathy Higuchi, Susan Gamer, and David Lindroth. Scott Manning and Abigail Welhouse also deserve our appreciation. And as always, we survive to write another day thanks to Nat Sobel and his merry band of elves at Sobel-Weber Associates, particularly Adia Wright. Kudos, too, to the efforts on our behalf of Michael Prevett at the Rain Management Group.
As with any long writing project, we depended on the ongoing support and encouragement of family and friends. You know who you are, but let us single out Denise McDonald, Liam-Antoine DeBusschere-Drury, Leslie Reingold, Kathryn Clavin, and Brendan Clavin.