A colorful figure of 18th-century America, Israel Putnam (1718–1790) played a key role in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. In 1758, while serving with the storied Rogers’ Rangers, he barely escaped being burned alive by Mohawk warriors. He later commanded a force of 500 men who were shipwrecked off the coast of Cuba, and reportedly gave the command “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Robert Hubbard will speak about his recently published book, Major General Israel Putnam: Hero of the American Revolution, on Wednesday, October 18 at 7:00 pm in the Hubbard Room at Russell Library, 123 Broad Street. Detailing his close relationships with Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, and John and Abigail Adams, this first full-length biography of Putnam in more than a century re-examines the life of a revolutionary whose seniority in the Continental Army was second only to that of George Washington.
Hubbard is a retired professor of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven and an adjunct faculty member in the college’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program. For over 20 years, he has been webmaster of websites on Israel Putnam as well as entertainer Phil Silvers. Society members remember him as the co-author of Images of America Middletown and Legendary Locals of Middletown. He will have copies of his book available for purchase and inscription.
