Lucy Flucker Knox (1756-1824) was the daughter of Thomas Flucker, the Provincial Governor of Massachusetts and a loyalist. Born into an aristocratic family Lucy had the advantage of a good education and she was regarded as an intelligent young woman with good marriage prospects. Disastrously for Lucy’s parents their daughter fell in love with Henry Knox, born to Irish immigrant parents in 1750, a bookseller and a man who supported the American rebels. Lucy and Henry were married in June of 1774, and Lucy’s defiant act would sever her relationship with her parents. Once Boston fell to the Continental Army, Lucy’s family sailed for London and she would never see them again.

This letter, dated 23 August 1777, is a letter from Lucy to Henry during one of their periods of separation during the Revolutionary War. Lucy writes to Henry telling him of her of her daily life and comments that her days are “so barren of adventures and so replete with repetition” that they are hardly of any interest. She talks of her routine of breakfast, attending to family matters, riding, taking tea with one of her few friends and her solitary dinners. Lucy writes to Henry about their daughter “little Lucy” who she describes as “the sweetest child in the world”. Lucy’s anxieties about her role as a mother and providing for her family in Henry’s absence becomes apparent in many of their letters. Out of 13 children born to Henry and Lucy, only three lived beyond infancy.

Lucy remained as close to Henry as she could throughout the Revolutionary War and her loneliness and misery during their periods of separation is clear. Lucy tells Henry, “The only friend I have in the world is at such an immense distance from me,” and reflects on her separation from her family; “I have lost my father Mother Brother and Sisters – intirely [sic] lost them.” Her loneliness often turns to despair and jealousy as she writes, “To know that it ever gave you pleasure to be in company with the finest woman in world, would be worse that [sic] death to me.” Lucy refers to the wives of other officers who were more frequent visitors to camp than she.

Lucy remains alert to political and military affairs during Henry’s absences. She reports that she has heard news of General Horatio Gates returning to “his command” and had heard of “confirmation of St Clairs villainy baseness”. Lucy is referring to General Arthur St. Clair and the loss of Ticonderoga in the Saratoga campaign.

The prolific correspondence between Lucy and Henry offers a unique perspective on the American Revolution, and an insight into the life of a woman during the war. Lucy is presented as a headstrong and passionate woman yet these letters also expose her vulnerability; Lucy writes of her worries, anxieties and acute loneliness as she juggles the role of a wife and mother without her husband or family to support her. Despite her emotional struggles her love for Henry is abundantly clear. Her parting remarks in this letter are particularly touching; “I love you with a love as true and sacred as ever entered the human heart – but from a diffidence of my own merit I sometimes fear you will Love me less – after being so long from me – if you should may my life end before I know it – that I may die thinking you wholly mine.”

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