The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas - Softcover

Buchanan, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471327166 ISBN 13: 9780471327165

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 1999

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

Most of us are familiar with the role that North and South Carolina played in the American Civil War: if nothing else, every grade-schooler knows the significance of the 1861 bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. But to popular historian John Buchanan, "that tragedy is of far less interest than the American Revolution. The Revolution was the most important event in American history. The Civil War was unfinished business." And the Carolinas, Buchanan convincingly argues, were the most critical theater in that conflict, with their wild Back Country seeing "a little-known but savage civil war far exceeding anything in the North."

The Road to Guilford Courthouse is no less than a tour de force of pop military scholarship, an exhaustive battle-by-battle account of the Crown's grinding march to wrest the Carolinas from the resourceful Rebels. Beginning with Colonel William Moultrie's valiant defense atop the palmetto ramparts of Fort Sullivan against an outnumbering force of British men-of-war to the final "long, obstinate, and bloody" exchange at Guilford Courthouse, Buchanan meticulously recounts each skirmish, battle, and shift of strategy in the campaign. Relying on copious primary and secondary sources, he brings the combatants to life, from the worthy but somewhat obscure, such as Nathanael Greene, whom George Washington considered to be his successor should he fall, to soon-to-be legends such as Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. --Paul Hughes

From the Publisher:

A popular historian presents a riveting portrait of the participants and events of a critical campaign during the American Revolution. Buchanan vividly describes the backgrounds and characters of such key figures as Lord Cornwallis, Nathanael Greene, Horatio Gates and Francis, "The Swamp Fox," Marion, offering fresh perspectives and evaluations of their performance. He discusses the severe social and political tensions between the "Low Country" and the "Back Country"--conditions that had a profound impact on the nature and duration of the campaign.

About this edition

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0471327166
• ISBN 13: 9780471327165
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 452