June 18, 1775 Dear George Keen, I have just joined the Patriots after I heard about the Battle of Bunker Hill. I wanted to help out. I also heard about what the Sons Of Liberty did. But anyway, back to the point. This camp isn’t the best place to be, but, I signed up for this after all. It is surrounded by a cliff and only one entrance that won’t break your legs. I have already met a good friend here but only one. His name is Allan Cooper. He is my age and is very friendly. We have tents next to each other, so, I guess that’s good. That's also how we met. I also spotted a British scout and we captured him! I was rewarded by getting promoted! We had dinner and the food was, well… disgusting. Some of it was over cooked and some of it was under cooked. It’s not like back home at all. Oh, I forgot to tell you about the other men here. Some are very nice and some are very mean. They are all much more experienced than I am. Before we went to bed, fifty-five British soldiers ambushed the camp. I don’t think they should interfere with the Americans, because we are overseas and want to do our own thing. That’s all on King George III. If we want freedom, we get our freedom! But anyway, we had 100 soldiers, but, the British were more experienced. I was the second to fire, and I killed my first man. Then, I reloaded and shot another man but didn’t kill him. But shooting those men haunted me, and they still do today after having really messed up dreams in my sleep. But back to the small battle. After shooting two more Lobsterbacks and wasting 12 more bullets, I ran out of ammo and decided to ask Allan for some. He gave me one bullet. I aimed at the officer and shot. I hit him and killed him making the British run. I and a few other men in the camp chased the British killing two more of them. We got back to the camp, and the ones who stayed back were still throwing away bodies but the smell of death was immense. That night, we were all ordered to scout the area and kill any red coats that survived. No loyalists were found but we did find a lost soldier in the woods. He was a colonist that had his squad killed by that same British regiment. He was shot in the leg. That night we had a celebration in memory of the lost soldiers that night we even prayed for our enemy. They were people too. I couldn’t get to sleep until I think midnight. That is why there is a lack of detail in this letter. I think the camp is haunted by the British that were killed yesterday. It’s not pleasant to think that thought though. I woke up today with the smell of death and blood still in my nose from yesterday. It’s probably the bodies in the river next to the camp. I heard the other soldiers talking about me and how many men I killed which was five by the way. Then I got up to see that all of the breakfast was gone. We are very poorly fed here but I don’t care. That has been my first day at the camp, and I will keep you updated. Your Brother, Nathaniel Keen