Excerpt from The Pictorial History of the United States of America, Vol. 1 of 2: From the Discovery by the Northmen in the Tenth Century to the Present Time It would be ungrateful in me not to avail myself of the present opportunity of acknowledging the aid which I have derived from my literary friends in preparing this work. Every library to which I have desired access has been freely thrown open to me; and from the invaluable collection of original historical portraits in the Phila delphia Museum, Mr. Croome has been permitted, by a vote of the directors, to take such copies as were thought appropriate to the design of the work. From the families of some of the illustrious men whose names adorn the annals of the revolutionary war, I have received original documents, which throw considerable light. On the events of that momentous struggle; and from some of the surviving officers who were distinguished by their services in the more recent contest with Great Britain, I have drawn information which could have been obtained in so authentic a form from no other source. To these friends I render'my heartiest thanks: and I trust that assistance which they have so kindly rendered will without country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.