The road to Guilford Courthouse : the American Revolution in the Carolinas ; the American Revolution in the South, 1780-1781

a Brilliant Account Of The Proud And Ferocious American Fighters Who Stood Up To The British Forces In Savage Battles Crucial In Deciding Both The Fate Of The Carolina Colonies And The Outcome Of The War. A Tense, Exciting Historical Account Of A Little Known Chapter Of The Revolution, Displaying History Writing At Its Best.—kirkus Reviews His Compelling Narrative Brings Readers Closer Than Ever Before To The Reality Of Revolutionary Warfare In The Carolinas.—raleigh News & Observer. Buchanan Makes The Subject Come Alive Like Few Others I Have Seen. —dennis Conrad, Editor, The Nathanael Greene Papers. John Buchanan Offers Us A Lively, Accurate Account Of A Critical Period In The War Of Independence In The South. Based On Numerous Printed Primary And Secondary Sources, It Deserves A Large Reading Audience. —don Higginbotham, Professor Of History, University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. kirkus Reviews a Sweeping Yet Richly Detailed History Of The American Revolution In The Carolinas, Chronicling The 178081 Campaign Of British Forces To Reclaim Those Two Colonies. buchanan (former Archivist At Cornell And The Metropolitan Museum Of Art) Reminds Us That The War For The Southern Colonies, A Struggle Long, Bloody, And Obstinate, Was Of Crucial Importance To The Revolution's Outcome, Yet It Has Received Less Attention Than Some Of The Northern Campaigns. Determined To Regain The Rich Carolina Farmland, The British, Under Lord Cornwallis, Combined Their Forces With Considerable Numbers Of Local Tories. They Eventually Captured Charleston And Destroyed The American Forces At The Battle Of Camden (largely Because Of The Inept Leadership Of General Horatio Gates). Tarleton's Hated British Legion Rode Roughshod Over The Countryside, Launching Repeated Swift, Brutal Attacks Against Civilians And Militias, Burning Homes, Confiscating Livestock, And Hanging Some Who Resisted. The Violence Only Rekindled Opposition Among Carolinians, Who Flocked To Such Ingenious Guerrilla Chiefs As Thomas Sumter, Dan Morgan, And Francis (the Swamp Fox) Marion. Their Groups Constantly Harassed Both The Crack British Regulars And The Tory Militia. Buchanan Vigorously Describes The Nature Of Guerrilla Warfare In The South, And Traces The Series Of Skirmishes Waged By Rejuvenated American Forces, Culminating In The Great American Victory At Kings Mountain.the Battles Of Cowpens And Guilford Court House, Although Technically Victories For The British, Proved To Be The Last Gasp For The Crown's Badly Damaged Forces. Buchanan Provides Fine Sketches Of The Many Remarkable Men Who Fought On Both Sides During The Campaign, And Vivid Descriptions Of 18th-century Warfare. A Tense, Exciting Historical Account Of A Little-known Chapter Of The Revolution, Displaying History Writing At Its Best. The story of the British attempt to recapture the Carolinas, from the Battle for Sullivan's Island with "William Moultrie and his raw South Carolinians" to "the campaign's riveting climax at Guilford Courthouse."--Jacket. Includes such figures as Lord Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, Brigadier General Thomas Sumter, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, James Collins, David Henry, Thomas Young, and Major General Nathanael Greene can war, was Clinton's second in command, but he played a minor role. Among the lowliest of junior officers serving under His Lordship was a twenty-two-year-old cornet of cavalry whose anonymity on his first tour of duty in South Carolina would be matched by infamy on the road to Guilford Courthouse.