I have begun to read the books from my 888 Challenge under the books that I loved as a child category (see What are you reading). My first title is Drums along the Mohawk by Walter D Edmonds. Edmonds, the author of the 1942 Newbery Winner The Matchlock Gun, (another of my favorites) published Drums in 1936. It is the story of the German (Palatine) setters in the Mohawk Valley of New York and their struggle against the British, Indians and Tories during the American Revolutionary War. Sir William Johnson was an early settler in the Mohawk Valley, a friend of the Iroquois he kept them on the English side during the French and Indian war. At the on set of the Revolution Johnson ’s son Sir John Johnson and other loyalists were driven out of the valley to Canada. These Tories retained the loyalty of some of the Iroquois tribe (Mohawks, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga and some Tuscarora) while the Oneida joined the Americans. From 1777 thought 1788 the British and their Tory and Indian allies waged a relentless war against their former neighbors.
Drums along the Mohawk is the story of this struggle as seen from the eye of Gil and Lana Martin a young couple just beginning their lives together. The story is beautifully written just as I had remember. Edmonds’ prose flows as I once again became intimate with his characters. With each attack of the “destructive,” as they were called, the people of the valley were forced to move to the forts for protection and watch as their homes and farms were burned and families and neighbors killed. Without sufficient support from the government they were unable to launch effective campaigns until late in the war. But in the end they do survive.
The reader will be somewhat surprise by the non-PC terms used for ethnic groups but must remember this was written in 1936 and the story takes place in the 1780’s. The characters would not have had our 21st century values and ideas. Historically Edmonds’ novel is very accurate. For more information on the history of the valley in the Revolution visit Drums Along the Mohawk.
The Palatine were a group of people from the Palatinate of section of Germany that was devastated by the 30 Years War. Most were Lutheran and appealed to Queen Anne of England for aid. Thousands escaped through Holland to England and then to the English Colonies of North America. They were an industrious people with prosperous farms, and mills. They worked hard to freely hold their land. The earlier settlers in this area (English and Dutch) considered them to be ignorant because they were slow to adopt the English language and tended to settle together. To find out more about the Palatines visit Who were the Palatines?
