NOTES from the BIG CHAIR

So I've been asked about the significance of the British soldier on my website. He's Major General John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne, the victor of the battle at Fort Ticonderoga (during the Saratoga Campaign of 1777), but who ultimately surrendered at Saratoga. Yes, he was an enemy of my ancestors. But as a boy, this portrait of Burgoyne by Sir Joshua Reynolds had a profound influence on me and my perception of soldiers: The dramatic pose, the uniform, the lordly bearing, the hand resting on the sword hilt, the eyes, the dark foreboding storm clouds and the cavalry and infantry in the distance.
I remember looking at the portrait in my copy of The Golden Book of the American Revolution (which I still own) and - like all boys who fancy themselves as some heroic figure in history - wanting to be the man in the picture.

Semper Fi,
WTSjr

[Please visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com]