Hessian Soldier, American Pioneer: A March to Destiny, is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Johann Jakob Rierschneck, "father" of Rasnake, Rasnic, and Rasnick clans. In this improbable, dramatic, action-filled novel, Johann Jakob Rierschneck, a young German farmer, is conscripted into his prince's army, wrested from his family and sweetheart, and shipped to America to fight for the British against their colonists in the American Revolutionary War. The soldier endures perils, hardships, and deprivations on a stormy, tumultuous ocean crossing. In addition to dangers in battles, on picket lines, and while foraging and scouting, the young man tolerates scarce and often almost inedible rations as well as inadequate clothing and shelter. Jakob cheats death in battles but suffers loneliness, heartaches, and unimaginable hardships in America. But the soldier begins to dream. Can he remain in America if he survives the war? Can he become an American farmer? A landholder? Can he bring his sweetheart to America? His family?
About the Author: Alfred Patrick grew up in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia, the setting for his Clinch series of three novels and for the latter part of his historical fiction, Hessian Soldier, American Pioneer. His first four years in elementary school were in a rural one-room school where one teacher taught grades one through seven. The lifestyle portrayed in the Clinch series is what the author, his family, friends, and neighbors lived. Following graduation from Honaker High School in Russell County and from Bluefield College, Alfred earned bachelor and master's degrees at Virginia Tech and a doctorate at the University of Tennessee. He taught at Virginia High School in Bristol, at Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia, at Northeast Louisiana State University in Monroe, and at UT in Knoxville. Over a span of 33 years, the author served as professor, department chair, MBA program director, and dean in the College of Business at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond; he retired from EKU in 1998. He enjoys reading, writing, traveling, gardening, crossword puzzles, and backpacking. Alfred has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, the John Muir Trail in California, and other trails. He and his wife, Peggy, live in Richmond, Kentucky.