From the Hands of Ethan Allen

Published originally in 1779:

Induced by a sense of duty to my country, and by the application of many of my worthy friends, some of whom are of the first characters, I have concluded to publish the following narrative of the extraordinary scenes of my captivity, and the discoveries which I made in the course of the same, of the cruel and relentless disposition and behavior of the enemy, towards the prisoners in their power; from which the state politician, and every gradation of character among the people, to the worthy tiller of the soil, may deduce such inferences as they shall think proper to carry into practice. Some men are appointed into office, in these States, who read the history of the cruelties of this war with the same careless indifferency, as they do the pages of the Roman history; nay, some are preferred to places of trust and profit by the tory influence. The instances are (I hope) but rare; and it stands to all freemen in hand, to prevent their futhre influence, which, of all other things, would be the most baneful to the liberties and happiness of this country; and so far as such influences takes place, robs us of the victory we have obtained, at the expense of so much blood and treasure.

From the introduction to The Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen