What is Half-Forgotten Places©?
There is something moving about visiting the physical sites where interesting things have happened in the past. For important sites, the state, local, or federal government does a good job of providing a summary of what happened. But usually there is more to the story. With some digging, it is often possible to find reliable and well written detailed descriptions of what occurred, but it does take some digging. This site is intended to be an aid to help others who want to know a little more about these places. It provides some highlights. It also provides sources, including books and websites, that may be useful to those interested in pursuing this further.
It is intended that this website will, over time, address a number of different historical sites. The first of these are two Revolutionary War forts, Fort Mifflin and Fort Mercer. These forts, and the battles for them, have not been totally forgotten. When one looks, there is a lot written about them, but I at least had never heard of them until I read of what happened there in Joseph Plumb Martin’s classic Memoir of a Revolutionary Soldier. For those who would like to dig deeper themselves, this site provides links and references to many of the resources that are available.
I have given some thought as to whether the appellation “half-forgotten,” when applied to these sites, might be taken as an insult by those who have not forgotten them at all and have spent a great deal of time and effort detailing what happened there. But “half-remembered” does not seem to capture the thought, and other names that might reasonably apply to what this is meant to be had already been taken, so I am hoping no one will take serious offense.
This site is intended in part to be the opening of a dialogue. If any user has something to add to the narrative here, and would like to provide comments, I would be glad to hear from you through the contact feature. I am open to revision of the website as appropriate.
–Also, I should say that I recognize that the website is not particularly sophisticated. I will try to improve that over time as well.
Don Beers