Welcome to the first issue of Musings of a Bookish Historian! I’m excited to start this journey and hope you’re looking forward to joining me! To keep up-to-date on all future posts, feel free to subscribe!
I’m Amy, just your average bibliophile and history nerd. I live and work in the suburbs of Philadelphia in higher education IT, but I’ve always loved history, books, and writing. Before moving to Pennsylvania in 2019, I was born and raised in the great ol’ state of Wisconsin, home of beer, cows, and tons of cheese.
I hold a Bachelor of Arts in history, a Master of Arts in history with a public history emphasis, and a Master’s of Library and Information Science with an archives emphasis. I’ve also seen my interests shift in tandem with my professional duties in IT, leading me to receive a Technical Writing certificate in April 2022 and to hopefully start a certificate in UX design sometime next year.
I try to pull from these experiences in my writing in an effort to remain as factual, accurate, and evidence-based as possible. Always. So I hope that sharing a bit about my background lends a little credibility to anything you read here, and at The Bookish Historian. I pride myself on my writing integrity and hope that shines through as you read!
Introduction to Musings of a Bookish Historian
Musings of a Bookish Historian (herein referred to as MBH) came about as I was thinking about how much effort it takes me to write a good, well-written, well-researched, SEO-ready, and accessible blog post over at my website The Bookish Historian. Now that’s not to say the effort isn’t worth it. But SEO especially sometimes feels like it stifles my writing. I’m an intelligent person, and I write intelligently. That doesn’t always translate well to SEO.
Hence why I decided to start something a little more…informal? Creative? Less stifled by SEO? Something along those lines.
But SEO angst aside, I was inspired to write MBH by friends who use it, as well as a desire to slowly build my writing community and to gently encourage myself to write more. I’m very behind on writing on The Bookish Historian, but hopefully between this newsletter and keeping up on Instagram, it will inspire me to post just a bit more often.
This newsletter will consist of at least two parts each week:
Ye Olde History - history facts, primary sources, resources, upcoming events, and more
Bookish - book reviews, what I’m reading, things of that nature
I may also include happenings over at The Bookish Historian and other topics as they come up.
And for today? Here's something a little historic!
Ye Olde History
The Battle of Paoli
Living in Pennsylvania means that you’re often literally a stone’s throw from a remnant of American history, especially battlefields. I live outside of Philadelphia, a short drive from many places associated with the American Revolution. Many people know of Valley Forge, where General George Washington wintered with his troops in 1777-1778.
Less than ten miles away lies the Paoli Battlefield Historical Park. I recently visited this historic site on a lovely autumn day.
The Battle of Paoli took place here overnight on September 20-21, 1777 in southeastern Pennsylvania.
In an effort to prevent British troops from taking the capital of Philadelphia, General George Washington ordered approximately 2000 troops under the command of General Anthony Wayne to pursue the enemy and attempt to attack them from behind. They settled down at a site near the Paoli Tavern, a popular location at the time, to formulate plans.
Unbeknownst to them, the British knew of their plans and approximate location. In an effectively brutal retaliative maneuver, General Charles Grey ordered an attack on the Americans. He prohibited the use of ammunition so as to keep the element of surprise against the sleeping soldiers. Instead, Grey commanded his troops to wield their bayonets.
The Americans, at a disadvantage due to the cover of darkness and the lack of gunfire, had almost no chance to defend themselves. And you can guess what happened next.
It's reported the British killed about 300 Americans and only suffered a handful of casualties of their own. A memorial to commemorate the fallen was erected in 1817 and serves as the second oldest battle monument in the U.S.
Two cannons stand in front of this monument. Dating from 1777, they are some of the oldest surviving American-made artillery.
Currently, the site is located in the Borough of Malvern, Pennsylvania. You may visit, of course, but please be respectful.
For more information, check out the Pennsylvania Center for the Book's article on the battle.
*Note: this text was taken from my Instagram post on the battle.
Bookish
Looking for something spooky to read over the spooky weekend? Are you a fan of true crime? Then check out two of my favorite books: Hell’s Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness by Harold Schechter and H.H. Holmes: The True Story of the White City Devil by Adam Setzer. Both books cover the truth and mysteries surrounding two of history’s prolific serial killers: Belle Gunness and H.H. Holmes. Schechter and Setzer write excellent biographies that strike a fine balance in describing the crimes without sensationalizing them. I highly recommend both of them!
I hope you enjoyed this first issue! Enjoy the weekend, and have a Happy Halloween! For more content, don’t forget to head over to The Bookish Historian Instagram account!
Cheers,
-Amy
I always did love the story of The American Crisis at Valley Forge.
Oh, and there are many, many tons. My wife's family were dairy farmers and I love those people.
Beautiful picture of the national memorial arch!