I'd read this (many times) as a teenager - was reminded of it and found it. And, amazingly, it's as good as I remembered (a lot of my teen books just aren't). It's got a lot more to it than I remembered, too. I remembered him being a drummer boy, and the English officer (only I thought it was a group) writing Yankee Doodle as a joke on these raw Provincials. I'd forgotten he had run away to join the army - and I thought it was Revolutionary War, not before that when the American army was still more-or-less (or officially, at least) British. Si's machinations to get a meal and a place with the army are fun, and his and his friends' adventures with army life and army drill and signals are beautifully drawn (both in words and in pictures). This is one I'm really glad to have found again. Oh, and as a bonus - it gives some early verses (possibly the original...who knows?) for Yankee Doodle and talks about the tune (which is apparently ancient - it was old in Medieval times, according to the foreword). Lots of fun! ( )