Faces in a "green nowhere"

The Forest And The Fort contains fascinating characterizations of rare depth. It makes no difference that we are looking into the past because the characters come to life in these pages!

Abijah Albine

This character, "a disciple of St. Augustine through Calvin, and a mighty preacher of the word of God", is one of the most flawed people in this book! To say he is pompous and cruel is putting it mildly. Eventually, and in a dramatic way, his life comes crashing down around him.

Lemuel Albine

Lemuel is the son of Abijah. Theirs is a violent relationship. Lemuel remains to us, as he did to Salathiel, a vast hulk. He is a mighty blacksmith who is determined, and somewhat angry. We have the feeling that, although he is very independent, his life is ultimately governed by forces beyond his control.

Emma Albine

Salathiel's mother. Not many pages are devoted to Emma, but her impact threads its way throughout the book(s). She has no real dialogue.....just her hushed whisperings in a lonely cabin. Sal's first memory of her is of her leaning down to tell him something....but, he could never recall what it was that she was about to say, and it haunts him for the rest of his life. Then there is a nightmarish ending and her final scream.

Kaysinata

A fierce Indian leader and warrior. I can't decide how I feel about this slayer. It is sad, however, that he is used by the French and English in their struggle. There is a time when he is paraded in Philadelphia and adorned with beads and trinkets, then sent on his way. We see him progress to an old man, full of doubts, uncertainties, and futile preoccupations.

Captain Simeon Ecuyer

Here is a person who has the wisdom of Solomon. He is a professional soldier and a gentleman. The Captain is the one who is chiefly responsible for setting Salathiel Albine on a correct path. One of the most touching moments I recall is the studied carelessness with which he gives Sal his watch, the morning that the siege of Fort Pitt ended: August 9th, 1763, 4:55am.

Colonel Bouquet

If Ecuyer is Salathiel's first, and only, hero, then Bouquet plays the same role for Ecuyer. He is Ecuyer's commanding officer, a fellow Swiss mercenary in the British service, and also his friend. They plan to retire together, until fate overtakes both Ecuyer and "Bucky" in different ways.

As in the case of Ecuyer and St Clair, Hervey Allen happily uses real contemporaries (in this case a quite famous one!) as characters in the novels, alongside the fictional figures.

Friend Japson

Quaker Samuel Japson, a determined and persistent law breaker. His trading with the Indians and their agents is a source of annoyance to deputed authorities. It is odd how one comes to admire his feelings about his birth-country; "England is not here. This is God's country. It and the people of it lie in the fold of His hand."

Edward Hamilton Yates

A most important figure in the Disinherited Series. Yates; witty, smart and dapper, has a mitigating influence on Salathiel's impulsively violent side. He is careful and at times courtly. His life is in balance. Salathiel and Yates forge a friendship which is "made strong by the square" as the books proceed. They will become old men together, and one gets the feeling that these two will share quite a history.

Brine&Ig

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