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

by John Buchanan

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780471327165
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	07/01/1999
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	637,320
Product dimensions:	6.07(w) x 9.33(h) x 1.23(d)

About the Author

JOHN BUCHANAN is a popular historian who was an archivist at Cornell University and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. During his nearly three decades on the staff of the museum, he was, for twenty-two years, chief registrar in charge of worldwide art movements. He lives with his wife in New York City.

Table of Contents

The Battle of Sullivan's Island.

The Rice Kings.

Southern Strategy.

The Approach March.

Charleston Besieged.

The Rise of Banastre Tarleton.

Into the Back Country.

Hearts and Minds.

Trouble in the Back Country.

More Trouble in the Back Country.

A Hero Takes Charge.

The Battle of Camden.

The Partisans Fight On.

The Rise of Patrick Ferguson.

To Catch Ferguson.

King's Mountain.

Retreat and Turmoil.

A General from Rhode Island.

The Stage is Set.

Tarleton Pursues Morgan.

Cowpens.

Bayonets and Zeal.

Patience and Finesse.

Guilford Courthouse: "Long, Obstinate, and Bloody".

The Major Characters in Order of Appearance and What Happened to Them.

Notes.

A Selected and Annotated Bibliography.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

* "Outstanding popular military history . . . an accomplishment of the same high order as McPherson's Civil War historiography."—Booklist

"Chronologically connecting events from the siege of Charleston in April 1780, to the battle of Guilford Courthouse, almost a year later, Buchanan carefully weaves politics, battles and personalities into one of the fascinating stories of American independence."—Roanoke Times

"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 of The Nathanael Greene Papers

From the Publisher

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.

Kirkus Reviews