The Military History Of The American Revolution

Warfare in colonial North America: paths to revolution / Samuel J. Watson -- The origins of the American Revolution and the opening moves / Edward G. Lengel -- From defeat to victory in the north: 1777-1778 / Edward G. Lengel -- The war in Georgia and the Carolinas / Stephen Conway -- Yorktown, the peace, and why the British failed / Stephen Conway -- To the Constitution and beyond: creating a national state / Samuel J. Watson.

An in-depth account of the 1777 campaign that would determine the fate of the British invasion from Canada and America’s quest for independence. The crushing British defeat at Saratoga prompted France to recognize the American colonies as an independent nation, declare war on England, and commit money, ships, arms, and men to the rebellion. John Luzader’s impressive Saratoga is the first all-encompassing objective account of these pivotal months in American history. The British offensive—under General John Burgoyne—kicked off with a stunning victory at Fort Ticonderoga in July 1777, followed by a sharp successful engagement at Hubbardton. Other actions erupted at Fort Stanwix, Oriskany, and Bennington. However, serious supply problems dogged Burgoyne’s column and, assistance from General William Howe failed to materialize. Faced with hungry troops and a powerful gathering of American troops, Burgoyne decided to take the offensive by crossing the Hudson River and moving against General Horatio Gates. The complicated maneuvers and command frictions that followed sparked two major battles, one at Freeman’s Farm (September 19) and the second at Bemis Heights (October 7). Seared into the public consciousness as “the battle of Saratoga,” the engagements resulted in the humiliating defeat and ultimately the surrender of Burgoyne’s entire army. Decades in the making, former National Park Service staff historian John Luzader’s Saratoga combines strategic, political, and tactical history into a compelling portrait of this decisive campaign. His sweeping prose relies heavily upon original archival research and the author’s personal expertise with the challenging terrain. Complete with stunning original maps and photos, Saratoga will take its place as one of the important and illuminating campaign studies ever written.

Provides information on the events, places, and personalities that dominated the Revolutionary era in America.

Books and the British Army in the Age of the American Revolution

The American victory in the Revolutionary War came as a surprise to people all over the world. Believing that successful wars were fought by professionals and aristocrats, they could not understand how ragged and hungry troops of ill-assorted civilians were able to defeat one of the world's strongest professional armies. This book is an effort to explain how and why that upset was accomplished. Alternating with scene and summary, the narrative has pace and proportion. Battles fall into campaigns, and campaigns interpret strategy. Commanders are deftly characterized, and flashes of insight illuminate victories and defeats. There emerges a picture of American soldiers as tougher and more deeply motivated fighters than the uncommitted British and German professionals. The book also demonstrates how highly prized were the rights that the revolutionists sought to confirm or establish, and serves as a reminder today that some ideas are worth risking life for. "What is most amazing about this excellent history is Prof. Peckham's ability to retell these . . . legendary events . . . in a way which enriches and absorbs the reader."—Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times

Proceedings of the Sixth Military History Symposium of the United States Air Force Academy, including the annual Harmon Memorial Lecture, "The American Revolution Today." In recent years historians have begun to ask new questions about the circumstances that surrounded the achievement of American independence, have begun to examine the everyday aspects of life and death in that era, have emphasized the study of society "from the bottom up" instead of "from the top down," and have sharpened their analytical skills through the use of new kinds of evidence and new kinds of tools such as computer-assisted statistical runs.

A fascinating naval perspective on one of the greatest of all historical conundrums: How did thirteen isolated colonies, which in 1775 began a war with Britain without a navy or an army, win their independence from the greatest naval and military power on earth? The American Revolution involved a naval war of immense scope and variety, including no fewer than twenty-two navies fighting on five oceans—to say nothing of rivers and lakes. In no other war were so many large-scale fleet battles fought, one of which was the most strategically significant naval battle in all of British, French, and American history. Simultaneous naval campaigns were fought in the English Channel, the North and Mid-Atlantic, the Mediterranean, off South Africa, in the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, the Pacific, the North Sea and, of course, off the eastern seaboard of America. Not until the Second World War would any nation actively fight in so many different theaters. In The Struggle for Sea Power, Sam Willis traces every key military event in the path to American independence from a naval perspective, and he also brings this important viewpoint to bear on economic, political, and social developments that were fundamental to the success of the Revolution. In doing so Willis offers valuable new insights into American, British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Russian history. This unique account of the American Revolution gives us a new understanding of the influence of sea power upon history, of the American path to independence, and of the rise and fall of the British Empire.

Between 1819 and 1845, as veterans of the Revolutionary War were filing applications to receive pensions for their service, the government was surprised to learn that many of the soldiers were not men, but boys, many of whom were under the age of sixteen, and some even as young as nine. In Boy Soldiers of the American Revolution, Caroline Cox reconstructs the lives and stories of this young subset of early American soldiers, focusing on how these boys came to join the army and what they actually did in service. Giving us a rich and unique glimpse into colonial childhood, Cox traces the evolution of youth in American culture in the late eighteenth century, as the accepted age for children to participate meaningfully in society--not only in the military--was rising dramatically. Drawing creatively on sources, such as diaries, letters, and memoirs, Caroline Cox offers a vivid account of what life was like for these boys both on and off the battlefield, telling the story of a generation of soldiers caught between old and new notions of boyhood.

This is the definitive concise military history of the Revolutionary War and the fourth volume in the West Point History of Warfare series is packed with essential images, exclusive tactical maps, and expert analysis commissioned by The United States Military Academy at West Point to teach the art of war to West Point cadets. The United States Military Academy at West Point is the gold standard for military history and the operational art of war, and has created military history texts for its cadets since 1836. Now, for the first time in more than forty years, the Academy has authorized a new series on the subject that will bear the name West Point. The first three volumes of the West Point History of Warfare released to the public have received rave reviews (and an Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award) for their “superbly written” texts and their extraordinary maps, images, and data visualizations. The West Point History of the American Revolution is the last volume in this series of definitive concise military histories. Before it was a military academy, West Point was the most important fortress of the American Revolutionary War. Cadets at the Academy learn about the War of Independence in their “History of the Military Art” course, and now this text is available to the public so everyone can understand the birth of the United States Army, the military leadership of Generals George Washington and Nathanael Greene, and the failed British strategies that shaped the conflict. Award-winning military historians Samuel J. Watson, Edward Lengel, and Stephen Conway explain the military and political background to the war and its immediate causes, conduct, and consequences. Concise narrative and lucid analysis are complemented by an impressive array of artworks, contemporary cartoons, excerpts from participants’ letters and memoirs, and dozens of full-color maps prepared under the direction of West Point military historians. Authoritative, illuminating, and beautiful, The West Point History of the American Revolution belongs in the library of every serious student of the American Revolution.