Replies

Another term would be “feminized,” and the effort to bring it about has been overt for years. Remember when stereotypically “male” behavior and values were actually held up as examples of virtue rather than an object of ridicule? How many American males of today’s generation would march through snow, hungry, pox-ridden and with bloody rags covering their feet, just for the chance to fight a superior force in the cause of their own freedom?

Actually not many did then. Although I am a direct descendant of one who did I have no insight into his heroism. He was the son of an impecunious farmer who owned a small tract of marginal land in what is now Stafford County, Va. He was accepted as a volunteer into the 5th Dragoons (Baylor's ) regiment. That means he and his family paid for a good horse and the horse furniture. A big investment for his family. Maybe some wealthy persons paid into a fund to help such men fit themselves out. I don't know. He nearly died of wounds from the Pawling New York surprise. Recovered and returned to Virginia and went back to his father's farm. He enrolled in the organized militia of Virginia, was mobilized for Cornwallis’ invasion of the Carolinas and was wounded again at Guilford Courthouse. He recovered and returned to his father's farm and returned to the life of a marginal farmer in Virginia. What caused this man to do what only a relative few did then remains a closed book. I only know that such men really do exist and i expect they are among us today.Perhaps the hour of destiny is about to strike again. Who can say?