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Congratulations on opening Pandora's Box........ I would say Bicheno's book is "so-so" as a general military history (it was written in support of a TV series, which can often be a limiting factor). Better histories are Christopher Hibbert's "Redcoats and Rebels" and Piers Mackesy's "War for America" which both present the war from a British perspective - which is harder to find - and thus link the American theatre with the global conflict. McGuire's books are at the other end of the scale from Bicheno's - a highly detailed, well-researched study of the biggest campaign (size-wise) of the war. He has also written a book on Paoli (forget the title) and one on "The Surprise of Germantown" which is a smaller, booklet version of the battle with more maps and low-level details. If you've read "Fusiliers" then get hold of Matthew Spring's new book "With Zeal And With Bayonets Only" which will explain in considerable detail the tactics that Urban's book refers to. The two books together provide an excellent depiction of the British Army at war. What is your perspective - British or American? Which is your principle area of interest - the campaigns, or the armies? My advice would be to read some more general histories of the war, then start reading up on a specific campaign that grabs your interest (eg the Pennsylvania campaign), and then move on to diaries/journals and the minutiae of the armies. The Continental Army by Robert K Wright is on line:- http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ContArmy/CA-fm.htm

Thanks for those suggestions. I will be doing both sides, based on Brandywine from the Scenarios 1 book, starting with Vaughan's brigade. Then I will probably do Hartley's & Humpton's Brigades from the other side (the Whigs, as an Englishman I couldn't possibly call them "Patriots" :lol: ) I have bought most of the figures for Vaughan, but I have a few things in the pipeline before I get to painting them. (some units for WW1/Heart of Africa etc). In the meantime I am enjoying the reading. In answer to your question about perspective, I enjoy building up the armies but I tend to find that a convenient "hook" for researching the period. Brandywine appeals because it seems to cover a fair slice of the units involved and Knyphausen's action as it isn't stacked with "elite" units. I will probably move on to Cornwallis's action afterwards.

More Sources...
I would highly recommend Boatner's The Encyclopedia of the American Revolution as a general reference. It is quite good. Christopher Ward's The War of the Revolution (two volumes) is almost indispensable to any study of the War of the Revolution. Two outstanding battle studies are by Colonel John Elting: The Battle of Bunker's Hill and The Battles of Saratoga. Richard Ketchum has written good books on Bunker's Hill, Saratoga, and Yorktown. McGuire's book on Paoli is entitled The Battle of Paoli. I have found WJ Wood's book Battles of the Revolutionary War 1775-1781 to be very useful. Jerome Greene's The Guns of Independence on Yorktown is very goood. John Luzader's book Saratoga is also very useful. Thomas Fleming has written an excellent book on Bunker's Hill originally entitiled Now We Are Enemies and later titled simply The Battle of Bunker Hill. The author goes into some detail in describing the Americans who were posted in Charlestown and fought from there during the action as well as talking much about the British light infantry. I would disagree that the Philadelphia campaign was the largest of the war. The New York campaign in 1776 involved more troops as well as the Royal Navy and continued through the retreat through New Jersey which is adequately covered in The Long Retreat by Arthur Lefkowitz. You might also try two books by Buchanan, The Road to Guilford Courthouse and The Road to Valley Forge as well as The new study on Guilford Courthouse by Babits and Howard, Long, Obstinate, and Bloody. I just finished my master's thesis on Guilford Courthouse and Josh Howard, the coauthor of Long, Obstinate, and Bloody, was of great help in the research which I am going to expand into a book in the near future. Sincerely, G

Re: More Sources...
I would highly recommend Boatner's The Encyclopedia of the American Revolution as a general reference. It is quite good..... .....Christopher Ward's The War of the Revolution (two volumes) is almost indispensable to any study of the War of the Revolution. Ward is very dated. There is a newer and expanded version of Boatner available, and a much newer 5-volume encyclopedia:- http://www.curledup.com/amerrevo.htm http://www.abc-clio.com/products/overview.aspx?productid=108841 Two outstanding battle studies are by Colonel John Elting: The Battle of Bunker's Hill and The Battles of Saratoga. Absolutely superb, if you can find them - they are very rare (even in the US) and here in the UK, you can only obtain copies via the public library inter-loan fuction, and even then you can only read them in the library and you cannot photocopy any part of it. I would disagree that the Philadelphia campaign was the largest of the war. The New York campaign in 1776 involved more troops as well as the Royal Navy and continued through the retreat through New Jersey.... I meant in terms of troops actually engaged in the main battles (30,000 and 20,000 at Brandywine and Germantown). There were certainly more men available in 1776, but only a small portion of the Continental Army was ever committed in any of the actions.

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I would disagree that the Philadelphia campaign was the largest of the war. The New York campaign in 1776 involved more troops as well as the Royal Navy and continued through the retreat through New Jersey which is adequately covered in The Long Retreat by Arthur Lefkowitz. The Philadelphia Campaign probably would not have happened without significant participation by the Royal Navy, and could not have been half as successful without it. Within the context of the Philadelphia Campaign, the RN landed the British Army at Head-of-Elk, Maryland, in the Chesapeake Bay; then sailed back around the Delmarva Penninsula into the Delaware Bay with the intention of establishing a supply line to the army while it occupied Philadelphia. Wishing to prevent the establishment of that supply line, the Americans strengthened their Delaware River garrisons at Forts Billingsport, Mercer, and Mifflin. Combined operations of the RN and British Army captured Fort Billingsport and engaged both Forts Mercer and Mifflin. The RN lost the frigate Augusta and the armed sloop Merlin supporting a failed Hessian assault on Fort Mercer. If memory serves, the Augusta was highest rated British warship lost in the American theater. The cannonade directed at Fort Mifflin in November of 1777 held the distinction of being the largest, most intensive naval bombardment on this continent until the American Civil War. Brigadier General Henry Knox reported, "The fire the last day of the siege, exceeded by far, any thing ever seen in America." About the same battle, Private Johann Conrad Dohla of the Ansbach-Bayreuth Regiment observed, "The cannonade from these three ships <Somerset, Experiment, and Vigilant> lasted for three days and nights, and in this time there must have been more than twelve thousand shots fired on both sides." That's an average of about 1 cannon shot every 20 seconds for three straight days and nights. Very good books on the subject:<*>Jackson, John W., Fort Mifflin: Valiant Defender of the Delaware. Philadelphia, Pa.:Old Fort Mifflin Historical Society Preservation Committee, 1986. <*>Jackson, John W., The Pennsylvania Navy 1775-1781: The Defense of the Delaware. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1974.As an aside, this series of battles would be fantastic to play in BG! The Battle of Red Bank (Fort Mercer) and the Capture of Fort Billingsport are both tight scenarios that would be easy to compose. Unfortunately, the Siege of Fort Mifflin is so complex and unique it would be quite a challenge to do it justice. I also don't believe there are any rules that address naval support. Thus, I have resisted suggesting that Fort Mifflin be added to the next BG! scenario book despite its historical importance and compelling story. The Battle of Gloucester is a related after-operation that would also make a tight little scenario.

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