General de Brigade

[Artist]

I have just started to read into the AWI beginning with Hugh Bichenco's Rebels & Redcoats, and I have ordered Thomas McGuire's 2 volumes on the Philadelphia Campaign. What is you view on these two books, and would you recommend any others ( I have read Mark Urban's Fusiliers).

[Ronan the Librarian]

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
_________________
You can lead a horse to water, but a toy soldier can no longer be lead (due to Health & Safety Regulations).

[Artist]

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" )


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.

[Gassendi]

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

[Ronan the Librarian]

[Cornet]

[Gassendi]

I'll disagree with you on ward. I have found it very helpful.

If you keep an eye on abebooks the two Elting titles come up from time to time. I bought my copies at a most reasonable price considering their rarity.

You can also use Google Books to search for excellent material on the Revolution, such as Hadden's and Hanger's memoirs and material from Clinton's correspondence.

Sincerely,
G