Description
Book SynopsisDon't fire until you see the whites of their eyes remains one of the enduring, and most stirring, quotations of the Revolutionary War, and it was very likely uttered at the Battle of Bunker Hill by General Israel Putnam. Despite this, and Putnam's renown as a battlefield commander and his colorful military service far and wide, Putnam has never received his due from modern historians. In The Whites of Their Eyes, Michael Shay tells the exciting life of Israel Putnam.
Born near Salem, Massachusetts, in 1718, Putnam relocated in 1740 to northeastern Connecticut, where he was a slaveowner and, according to folk legend, killed Connecticut's last wolf, in a cave known as Israel Putnam Wolf Den, which is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
During the French and Indian War, Putnam enlisted as a private and rose to the rank of colonel. He served with Robert Rogers, famous Ranger founder and leader, and a popular phrase of the time said, Rogers always sent, but Put
