Diary of Walter Finney: 1778-1780

Finney, Walter, 1748-1820
Farmers--Pennsylvania--Chester County
United States--Army--Military life
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
New Jersey--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
New York (State)--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
Connecticut--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
Pennsylvania--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
Washington, George, 1732-1799

The first diary (June 1778 – December 1780) records Walter Finney’s Revolutionary War experiences primarily in the northern states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. In this volume, Finney rarely mentions doing battle with the British. Instead, he frequently chronicles the movement of American troops from one encampment to another. Additionally, he notes when he saw George Washington, the times he spotted Lafayette, and comments about countless military exercises. In April 1780, in a field near Morristown, New Jersey, such exercises attracted several hundred civilian spectators. A farmer, Finney also writes about the condition of the soil he marched over, sometimes noting how challenging it would be to farm. Finney laments the loose morals and swearing of his fellow soldiers and records instances of punishments for their malfeasance. Lastly, Finney occasionally remarks about cities and towns he passed through. For example, Danbury, Connecticut was a convenient place to conduct trade until the tyrannical British arrived and set it afire. The end of the volume includes two transcribed poems of the day, “The Maid’s Soliloquy” and Thomas Paine’s “Death of General Wolfe.” Joseph Lee Boyle, a military historian who worked at Valley Forge Historical Park for more than a dozen years, transcribed the first two volumes of Finney’s diaries and published them with commentary in New Jersey History, vol. 121, nos. 1-4, 2003, pp. 23-81 and South Carolina Historical Magazine, vol. 98, no. 2, 1997, pp. 126-152.

Finney, Walter

1778-1780

Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Connecticut
New York

Text

Diaries

application/pdf

2005.5001.106.1

2005.5001.106

English

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Chester County History Center

This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education.