Dear Mr. Cornwell;
I have, over the years, read many of your books and enjoyed them both for the tales that they tell as well as the events in history that they bring to life. Recently I read ‘The Fort’, in which you state in the introduction that ‘most of the characters in the novel existed’ …. I was therefore intrigued when a character named Isaac Whitney appeared in your novel, which led me to some subsequent genealogical research. It appears that several of my related family served in the Mass. Militia under Capt. Alexander McLellan in his company from Gorham who were part of the Bagaduce Expedition. We are all descendants of a John Whitney who emigrated to Watertown MA from England in 1635. So I am grateful to you in this particular instance for bringing to life not only a notable historical event, but also some family history. I hope to visit Castine ME in the near future to see the site of this event.
With best wishes,
Ralph Whitney