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

by John Buchanan

Book 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471327166
• ISBN13: 9780471327165
• Release Date: July 1999
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Buchanan Hits the Spot!

In many ways I was raised to be the stereotypical southern white male amateur historian: the only war that mattered was the Civil War. The important battles were Chancellorsville & Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain & Gettysburg. The generals who mattered were R.E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson, Beauregard & A. P. Hill. All the action was in our own backyard.The American Revolution was but a footnote in our elementary and high school texts. At college in Davidson, North Carolina (where the college itself was named for a militia general, constructed on land once owned by him!), the War of Norther Aggression took top status.The Revolution was fought by a southernor, George Washington, on yankee battlefields: Lexington & Concord, Trenton & Saratoga, Valley Forge & Bunker Hill. The actions at Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Yorktown were mere skirmishes which had little influence on the outcome of the war.I am loath to admit that Hollywood changed my perspective. After seeing Mel Gibson's "The Patriot" on opening day, a childhood interest in my ancestor, Francis Marion, was rekindled. I hastily began burying my nose in every book I could find on the subject.Now, six months and three dozen books later, I can say with conviction that if I had to pick one book as my solo source for what I could learn about the American Revolution in the south, it would be "The Road to Guilford Courthouse". Buchanan does a masterful job setting the stage. His research into the backgrounds of all the players is thorough, and his analysis fair and balanced. He understands completely the lay of the land at the time, both figuratively and literally, and he presents it well.I purchased copies of the book as Christmas gifts to my yankee in-laws, Bostonians who still think the American Revolution began and ended with Paul Revere's ride. I hope they will discover, as Buchanan so poignantly reveals, that the American Revolution was fought and won by southernors on southern soil.

Beats "The Patriot"

I became interested in the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas after viewing the movie, "The Patriot". I found the cruelty by the British, that was portrayed in "The Patriot", hard to believe, so I wanted to learn more about the war in the Carolinas. This book was what I was looking for. It is well documented and the presentation and conclusions of the author make more sense than the movie--the British not as cruel and the Americans are not as innocent. It's a great history and a good read.

Very Well Written Account of Revolution in the South

This book is very well written and thoroughly researched. If the reader is looking to gain an understanding of a critical area of Revolutionary War operations in the Carolinas -- an area that has not received its due in history -- this book will more than satisfy.Although often beating General Washington in the middle colonies, the British had certainly not subdued the Revolution in Pennsylvania, New Jersey or New York. They looked to Charleston and the Carolinas as an area where British arms could provide succor to loyalists and take those states and Georgia out of the war.The British won many battles, including the taking of Charleston and the capture of 5,000 rebels. But they could not win hearts and minds nor subdue the countryside. Rebel militia, aided by some of the finest Continental units sent by Washington, were married with a master strategy and excellent generaliship to bloody, thwart and ultimately force a stragetic defeat on British arms. This was done by volunteers, milita, who though often broke when confronted by the bayonets of regular troops, were led by enough able colonels that their guerilla attacks significantly drew upon British strength. The hero of the story is Gen. Nathaniel Greene, who was an excellent strategist. He mastered geography, his troops and militia commanders and drew Cornwallis hundreds of miles away from his base withoug exposing his weaker force to major battle until he was ready to strike upon fields of his own choosing. Greene never won a battle which he personnaly commanded, but won the war. General Morgan, his able lieutenant, did fight and win the masterful Battle of Cowpens, which gave in his words the British a "devil of a whipping" and set the stage for Greene's brilliant strategic dance with Cornwallis.Buchannon, the author, does a masterful job with this wonderful saga. He uses many first person accounts from diaries and published recollections. This gives his book an immediacy and perspective from those who fought similar to that found in the best Civil War books by Sears, Priest and others. The author does an excellent job of revealing the major commanders to the reader. Greene, Morgan, Gates, Cornwallis, Clinton, Marion, Sumpter, Tarleton and about two dozen other significant charactors are introduced with brief biographical sketches at their point of entry to the campaign. This is very helpful as the experience and charactor of commanders often had a significant impact on strategy and tactics employed in the dangerous circumstances most faced. Also, this approach satisfies the curiosity of the reader. Buchannon tells us what the actors did before and what became of them after the war.The best part about this book is that it is so well written. The author has a style and ease with language that make this very engaging. He is not afraid to editorialize nor draw conclusions and offer criticisms. But he presents significant and multiple so

Very Good Introductory Revolutionary Book Has Weakness

This is a very good book. It will still be a good book 50 years from now. It compares favorably with the popular book on Stonewall Jackson, but does not focus on one personality. Protrayals of Nathanial Greene, Daniel Morgan, and Andrew Pickens were extremely moving and enlightening. The Dust-Jacket protrays the Battle of the CowPens, which is described on page 326. I was glad to have this famous painting finally described to me. I would have preferred that the author had identified the "black body servant" who rescued William Washington, but perhaps he is lost in history. I was very frustrated with the pausity of maps, i.e. spatial descriptions of what the author was talking about. Most military history students think spatially. The author also seemed to feel that he could only use complex "authentic-historical maps". The maps used were virtually unreadable. Unless the reader "knows the country", the reader will lose about 20 per cent of the author's information. This is easy to correct in the second edition. This is probably an excellant book to start in reading on the "First Civil War-American Revolution". That's what I'm doing. Again, this is a very good book.

Wow! What a great read!

Many military-history books are written as if the battles happened in a vacuum, with no regard to circumstances happening around the battlefields. Buchanan gives us the whole picture, from strategies that led to the shift in theatres to the class struggles underlying motives for each battle, skirmish and troop movement. Buchanan paints an ugly picture of life in the South during the time of the campaigns as both sides committed grizzly atrocities against the other in the name of ideology. His description of the first American civil war that turned neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother and father against son is brought to life in extreme detail, giving the most vivid and complete account of life and war in the Carolinas from the early stages of the war through 1782. This book is a must-have for any student of the Revolution.