Fort Laurens, 1778-1779


Book Description

Fort Laurens was erected on the banks of the Tuscarawas River in Ohio in the fall of 1778 as the planned first step to secure the Western Frontier in the Revolutionary War. This book is the first complete account of the fort's history, drawing on all the documentary evidence available and placing it in the context of the larger struggle for independence.







The Continental Army


Book Description

A narrative analysis of the complex evolution of the Continental Army, with the lineages of the 177 individual units that comprised the Army, and fourteen charts depicting regimental organization.




America's First Ally


Book Description

The Revolutionary War historian provides “a comprehensive and accessible guide” to the vital influence France had on America’s path to independence (Publishers Weekly). French support for United States independence was both vital and varied, ranging from ideological inspiration to financial and military support. In this study, historian Norman Desmarais offers an in-depth analysis of this crucial relationship, exploring whether America could have won its independence without its first ally. Demarais begins with the contributions of French Enlightenment thinkers who provided the intellectual frameworks for the American and French revolutions. He then covers the many forms of aid provided by France during the Revolutionary War, including the contributions of individual French officers and troops, as well as covert aid provided before the war began. France also provided naval assistance, particularly to the American privateers who harassed British shipping. Detailed accounts drawn from ships’ logs, court and auction records, newspapers, letters, diaries, journals, and pension applications. In a more sweeping analysis, Desmarais explores the international nature of a war which some consider the first world war. When France and Spain entered the conflict, they fought the Crown forces in their respective areas of economic interest. In addition to the engagements in the Atlantic Ocean, along the American and European coasts and in the West Indies, there are accounts of action in India and the East Indies, South America and Africa.







The Southern Strategy


Book Description

A reexamination of major Southern battles and tactics in the American War of Independence A finalist for the 2005 Distinguished Writing Award of the Army Historical Foundation and the 2005 Thomas Fleming Book Award of the American Revolution Round Table of Philadelphia, The Southern Strategy shifts the traditional vantage point of the American Revolution from the Northern colonies to the South in this study of the critical period from 1775 to the spring of 1780. David K. Wilson suggests that the paradox of the British defeat in 1781--after Crown armies had crushed all organized resistance in South Carolina and Georgia--makes sense only if one understands the fundamental flaws in what modern historians label Britain's "Southern Strategy". In his assessment he closely examines battles and skirmishes to construct a comprehensive military history of the Revolution in the South through May 1780. A cartographer and student of battlefield geography, Wilson includes detailed, original battle maps and orders of battle for each engagement. Appraising the strategy and tactics of the most significant conflicts, he tests the thesis that the British could raise the manpower they needed to win in the South by tapping a vast reservoir of Southern Loyalists and finds their policy flawed in both conception and execution.




Diary of the American War


Book Description

This book presents a translation of the diary written by Hessian mercenary Captain Johann Ewald during his service in the American Revolutionary war. Written with humanity, sensitivity, and humor, Ewald's diary discloses many previously unknown facts. His opinions of the British generals and his discussions of their operations, tactics and mistakes are both revealing and entertaining.




The Heath Papers


Book Description




Brothers at Arms


Book Description

Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History Winner of the Journal of the American Revolution 2016 Book of the Year Award At the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord the American colonists had little chance, if any, of militarily defeating the British. The nascent American nation had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a militia bereft even of gunpowder. In his detailed accounts Larrie Ferreiro shows that without the extensive military and financial support of the French and Spanish, the American cause would never have succeeded. Ferreiro adds to the historical records the names of French and Spanish diplomats, merchants, soldiers, and sailors whose contribution is at last given recognition. Instead of viewing the American Revolution in isolation, Brothers at Arms reveals the birth of the American nation as the centerpiece of an international coalition fighting against a common enemy.




The War of the American Revolution


Book Description

"Wars don't unfold event-by-event or even battle-by-battle. They unfold day-by-day. Activities are underway simultaneously across the theater of operations, some significant and some minor, but their sum shows how the war progresses. Pyne's book [The War of the American Revolution: Day by Day] portrays that reality for the American Revolutionary War-progress in time as the participants would have experienced it."-Dave R. Palmer, Lieutenant General (USA, Ret.), author, television presenter, former superintendent of the United States Military Academy (USMA). "The War of the American Revolution: Day by Day, compiled by Frederick W. Pyne, will make a substantial contribution to the literature on the War of Independence. It will be of use to scholars, but it should find an especially receptive audience among general readers with an interest in the Revolutionary War. Readers will have a veritable encyclopedia of the war in their hands. They can consult this treasure trove of information to discover what occurred on any given day between the outbreak of the war at Lexington-Concord in April 1775 and General Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon near the end of 1783. Readers will also be able to see the ebb and flow of the war. As with no other book, readers will be aware of just how long this war must have seemed to contemporaries. Finally, readers will grasp that this was an extremely difficult war and that victory was elusive until literally the last moment."-John Ferling, professor, author of Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. Numerous illustrations, maps, a glossary, a bibliography, appendices, and an index to full names, places and subjects enhance this exceptional work.