Pillar to Post Odysseys in Revolutionary America

“In short, this was a paradise on Earth for women, the epicure’s Elysium and the very centre of freedom and hospitality. But in the short space of three years, it has become the theatre of War, the Country of distraction, and the seat of slavery, confusion, and lawless oppression. May the Almighty of his infinite goodness and mercy, reunite and reestablish them on their former happy and flourishing situation.”

Nicholas Cresswell, July 19, 1777 “This man Herd at 72 is strong and robust, he has been in the [postal riding] service 46 years; he pretends that he makes nothing by it, and says “he will give it up--that at present he only rides for his health's sake, which induces him to keep it. It is well known that he had made an estate by his riding, and it is said, in the following way...”

Hugh Finlay, November 11, 1773

Narrow escapes from prison. Adventures with Indian wives and wanderings through Moose country. Postal riders, sometimes negligent. All of these and more surface in this delightful, and sometimes astonishing, combination of journals from the Revolutionary period. With Hugh Finlay, we walk from Quebec City to Charleston, South Carolina. In the company of Nicholas Cresswell, we journey from Chesapeake Bay to Indian country in what is now Ohio and Kentucky. These two British subjects don't approve of the American Revolutionaries, not by a long shot. Cresswell invents a code by which to describe the people he meets: Slebers or Sgnik Sdneirf (spell them backwards to get the truth!). All together, it's a riveting ride through the years 1773 to 1777.