What Really Happened On April 3rd, 1778

(Authors's note: This piece is comparing the book The Fighting Ground by Avi to the time in history it was set in)

The book “The Fighting Ground” by Avi is about a young boy who wanted to be a soldier. He found his chance when the Hessians were invading his town. He was excited to join, despite his age of 13. When he got to the actual battle, his attitude changed. He was deathly afraid when his colonel told him to lineup in the front. Many people in this time period were afraid of fighting the British, but they did it anyway because fighting for freedom was a more then worthy cause. This book is obviously fiction, but some qualities about it describe how it was in the late 1770’s.

The Hessians were the best soldiers money could buy. They were hired mercenaries that were loyal to King George III. The Hessians were German and the king was from Germany. They were highly trained and ready to kill. They were like this in both the book, and real life. The Hessians were brave and determined because they were being paid and they fought for a career. Some Hessians were highly paid, but others just got their daily bread. It seems that in the book, the oldest Hessian was the commander and he seemed the most determined of the bunch, so he probably got paid the most. The youngest one though, wasn’t very sure of what he was doing, so he must have been the lowest ranked, receiving the lowest pay.

The Hessians were dedicated, but so were the Americans. The Americans weren’t getting paid, but they were fighting for freedom of Britain’s tyranny. Jonathan is a perfect example of this dedication. His greatest wish was to help fight along with the rest of the patriots. Without people like him, America wouldn’t have won the war. It was the heart and spirit of the Americans that drove them to victory. This is a major point that the book got right.

Along with the similarities, there were differences too. One big reason was that this battle never happened in history. On April 3^rd, 1778, there were no battles in the setting of a New Jersey town. Clearly, Jonathan never existed, but there wasn’t another kid out fighting in the revolution. The youngest soldier recorded to ever enlist in the continental army was 17 years old, much older than Jonathan. Also, the hugest difference was that the Hessians didn’t capture soldiers. Where would they take them? They didn’t have a ship ready to take all prisoners of war to Germany. They didn’t have any use for them either. They didn’t have any prison camps for them to send them to.

In conclusion, I believe that this book is more similar to real life than not. Some differences of this story to real life make this book hard to believe, but it is still accounting on what the time looked like through the eyes of a patriot. Jonathan’s character is far-fetched, but he is the picture of the bravery and courage that it took to make this country what it is today.