These stunning images are early photographs of some of the men who bravely fought for their country in the Revolutionary War some 237 years ago.
Images of Americans who fought in the Revolution are exceptionally rare because few of the Patriots of 1775-1783 lived until the dawn of practical photography in the early 1840s.
These early photographs – known as daguerreotypes – are exceptionally rare camera-original, fully-identified photographs of veterans of the War for Independence – the war that established the United States.
(Note: formatting is impossible, more at link. Truly awesome)
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JONATHAN SMITH
Fought in the Battle of Long Island on August 29, 1778.
His unit was the first brigade that went out on Long Island, and was discharged in December after a violent snow storm.
After the war he became a Baptist minister. He was married three times and had eleven children.
On October 20, 1854, he had a daguerreotype taken to give to a granddaughter. He died on January 3, 1855.
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GEORGE FISHLEY
A soldier in the Continental army. When the British army evacuated Philadelphia and raced toward New York City, his unit participated in the Battle of Monmouth.
He was part the genocidal attack on Indians who had sided with the British, a march led by General John Sullivan through 'Indian country,' parts of New York and Pennsylvania.
Fishley was a famous character after the war in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he lived and was known as 'the last of our cocked hats.'