Minute Man I

Isaiah Hawthorne

Freedom’s Lady Liberty I was not the only famed costumed figure during the American Revolution. Throughout the New England colonies, people talked about Minuteman, a masked colonial soldier with the strength of ten men, who always seemed to arrive in the nick of time, vanishing just as quickly and mysteriously thereafter.
Minuteman was in reality Captain Isaiah Hawthorne of the Continental Army, a member of General George Washington’s staff. During the French and Indian War, Isaiah spared an undefended Happanuk Indian village from being massacred. The tribe’s ancient medicine man rewarded Isaiah for his act of mercy with the secrets of the rare Manaka Root. Properly prepared, an extract of manaka root grants minute-long bursts of superhuman strength and speed, and for many years afterward, Isaiah remained one of the few non-Indians privy to its wonders.
Throughout the Revolution, whenever a crisis arose, Capt. Hawthorne imbibed the manaka extract and then proceeded to battle the odds as well as the clock. Capt. Hawthorne spent the revolution on the edge of a court-martial due to his unexplained absences, which also restricted his costumed intervals. Despite these limitations, Minuteman proved to be the savior of Washington’s army on a number of occasions.
Minuteman seemingly disappeared at the war’s end, but stories about him inspired generations to come. As one of the very first costumed heroes, Minuteman proved just how much seconds count in a crisis, and the difference one valiant man can make.