Image from Don Cummer’s website about his books and the War of 1812. Source: www.doncummer.com. Photo: Roman Romanovich.
Don Cummer, author of three books of fiction for young readers about the War of 1812, has created a website devoted to his books about two boys, Jake and Eli, whose friendship is tested by the war — and the pivotal war.
On the website, you will find information about the author, his books, and Jake and Eli’s world, including links about the war and about the characters in the books who are based on real people.
The website is constantly evolving with new information added daily. Yesterday, Mr. Cummer added the biographies of the real people who populate the Jake and Eli stories. Most recently, he wrote on his blog about one of those people, General William H. Winders, the unluckiest general of the War of 1812, whose son commanded the US civil war prisons, Andersonville and Libby.
Mr. Cummer’s goal is to create an online resource for teachers and students interested in the War of 1812. He hopes the re-enactor community will use the site to post information.
As for the words, “Make Ready!,” that appear on the banner of the site’s home page, they refer to the command a War of 1812 officer used to order his soldiers to prepare to fire. The next order was “Fire!”
