There is one passage in a letter from Mary Silliman in Connecticut, to her husband Gold Selleck Silliman, with the state militia attempting to effect an orderly retreat from New York, that describes beautifully how much the letters they exchange mean.

Fairfield Septr. 1, 1776 9 o clock P.M.My dearest beloved,
. . . . I thank you my dearest for seting so much by my Letters. It seems it is not with these as with other commodities; when very plenty, they grow cheap. look on; and are not willing they should be so much as handled by any other than our selves. Well, we’ll keep them, they wont rust by lying, and like virtue they’ll shine tho’ worn by the fond readers eye. What reason have we to be thankfull (to use your expression in a former Letter) that we can teach paper to articulate. . . . It is late you’d better go to bed. Well I promis’d to be obedient and will go. Good night my dearest Beloved. Heaven protect you.

The quoted passage can be found on page 55 of In the Words of Women.

Mary Fish Noyes, a widow with three sons living in Connecticut, married Gold Selleck Silliman in May 1775. The following year Silliman, a major in the Connecticut militia, reported with some of his regiment to New York City to support the Continental Army under General George Washington as it faced the expected British attempt to take the city. Mary kept up a lively correspondence with her husband.

Fairfield Aut 1776 10 o.Ck PM [Aug. 24-26]Dearest Sir,
I will for your sake take care of your wife as good care as I can, but she is a little unruly, sometime and get out in the garden to work and gets cold—and I wish her heart was as clear of ill weeds as her garden, but she is as carefull of worrying her self as she can on all accounts, but she has a great deal on her hands and mind, tho has no reason to complain of any one branch of her family . . . I hear a havy fire was heard from 4 o Clock yesterday P.M. till 3 this morning. If so there has been a dreadfull Battle and, my dearest without doubt was in it. And have you surviv’d it my dear? . . . don’t be concerned about my lowness of flesh my dearest, I am very well . . . I don’t expect to grow fat till I have the pleasure of seeing you.—If I do then.

Fairfield Septr. 1, 1776 9 o clock P.M.My dearest beloved,
. . . . Not withstanding the enemys formidable appearance in preparation, will they not withhold hostilities untill General Sullivan returns? The prisoners here vaunt over us, saying the day is their own, and if it had not been for them D—d contrary winds they would have been in possession of New York before now. . . .

Fairfield Septr 8 9 o clock P.M.I want to know how you live, and whether I can send any thing to you that will be comfortable. I send Bottle of Mintwater, and some Ink, which I forgot to apologize for my not sending in two or three of my last till seald. We have been put to it to get ink powder, but at last Billy found some of it at N Haven. . . . I am sorry our Milisha [Militia] behave so odly, and ungratefully defect their Posts. Things indeed look dark, but let us remember that it is frequently darkest just before day. Their deserting you does not weaken the almighty arm, which I hope will ere long be strecht out for our deliverance. A heavy fireing has been heard this day, long to hear the cease, and especially whether my dear Husband is safe. . . .

Septr 9—9 o clock A.M. . . . How are you this morning? what has been the fireing heard ever since it was light till little while ago?

The quoted passages can be found on pages 54-56 of In the Words of Women.

While Joseph Hodgkins was serving with the American forces in October of 1776 his wife Sarah struggled to care for their family back in Ipswich, Massachusetts. She begged him not to reenlist.

My Dear . . . It greives me to think what you have to undergo but I hope it will be for our good. By what you write I think you are not in so Dificult a Situation as when you wrote before. I am glad to hear you are So well off as to have a log house to live in and I Should be glad if you could have more of the Comfortable nesecaries of Life than you have, but I hope you will be carried through all you are to meet with in the way of your duty & in Gods good time be returned home in Safty. I want very much to See you. I hope we Live to See this Campaign out we shall have the happiness of living together again.
I dont know what you think about Staying again but I think it cant be inconsistant with your duty to come home to your family. It will troble me very much if you Should ingage again. I dont know but you may think I am too free in expressing my mind & that it would have been time enough when I was asked but I was afraid I Should not have that oppertunity So I hope will excuse my freedom . . . It grows Late So I must conclude at this time by subscribing myself
your most afectionate Companion till Death Sarah Hodgkins

Joseph survived the American loss of New York City and did come home that winter. He stayed long enough to conceive another child before enlisting for a third term of service. He returned to his family a few months before his term was up, thereby disqualifying himself for a pension. Did Sarah’s entreaties finally get to him?

Sarah’s letter can be can be found on pages 59-60 of In the Words of Women.

I have just finished reading historian Joseph Ellis’s new book Revolutionary Summer: the Birth of American Independence. A short book, it covers the five months between May and October of 1776, focusing on two strands: one political, in which the colonies came together in Philadelphia and agreed on independence, the other military, an account of the battle for New York City between the invading British forces and the Americans, consisting of the recently formed Continental Army and various local and regional militias. While some critics maintain that Ellis is merely reworking material from his other books, of which there are several very good ones, I believe that this period of time warrants the close look and different perspective that Ellis brings. And the bonus is that he is such a wonderful writer!

All of this by way of a preface to some letters written by women during this period. Two have appeared on this blog: one by loyalist Mrs. A Hampton, the other by Mary Fish Silliman whose husband was in the Connecticut militia and was taken prisoner by the British. Here are three more: one for this post and two to follow.

Sarah Perkins Hodgkins, the wife of Joseph Hodgkins, a shoemaker of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and mother of a stepdaughter and two young children, repeatedly tried to convince her husband to come home after participating in the battle at Bunker Hill. But Joseph resisted and in June of 1776 was in camp on Long Island. Sarah wrote to him

Loving Husband these Lines come with my most afectionate regards to you hoping they will find you in good health as they Leave me at this time through the goodness of God . . . I am rejoiced to hear you are well. I am Sorry to hear that you are amongst a People that are So unkind as you inform me they are. Monday night—my Dear I began to write a Letter Last night but it was So Late before I begun I could not write much. I have been very busy all day to day a making you a Shirte. You Sent to me to Send you a couple & I had but one ready for the Cloth that I intended to make you Some Bodys of. I have not got it Quite done So I was abliged to take one off of the Cloth I had in the house & I have got it done & washd and Sister Perkins is now a ironing of it . . . I must Jest tell you that Sally [their daughter] meet with a mishap Last monday. She Scolt her arm prity bad but it Seems to be in a good way to be well Soon. The rest of us are in a comfortable State of health. I want to See you very much. Sometimes I am almost impatient but concidering it is Providence that has parted us I desire to Submite & be as contented as I can & be Thankfull that we can hear from one another.

Militiamen had to supply their own clothing. One wonders if the shirt ever reached Joseph. Luckily, he was one of the survivors of the British onslaught. Sarah wrote him again in October. Read her letter in the next post.

The above letter can be found on page 59 of In the Words of Women.