Customer Reviews

Washington and Cornwallis: The Battle for America, 1775-1783

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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This is a good book for those of us who remember only slightly the history of the American Revolution from high school or college. It's highly readable, informative and, if you're an American, even inspirational. It's history that has been made enjoyable to read.

While I would have liked to give this more than just three stars, one must admit there is not a lot that's new here. There are also some serious glitches and mistatements. The double bio method of comparing two antagonists has been done before in different periods. Applying this to the Rev War has mixed results. For one Washy and Cornwallis really didn't confront each other that directly most of the time. At Trenton Cornwallis missed an opportunity to press an attack against Washy on the other side of Assunpink Creek which deserves more than just passing reference here. The famous so called quote of "We shall bag the old fox in the morning" attributed to Cornwalis and often used as an example of deriding British generalship during the war has been largely found not to have been said. Still, this author persists in the popular myth. More analysis on why The British did not press their attack on this crucial occasion would have explained some of Cornwallis's inconsistent generalship at times.

The author provides pretty basic backgrounds on both protagonists. Washy gets the lionshare which is unfortunate as his story is very well known already. More on the details of Cornwallis's background would have been nice as there are currently no full length bios out on him now. Again the author assumes that he is merely another British aristocratic general with a sivler spoon background so why do we need to know any more about him! He attributes a vainglory attitude to Cornwallis which seems unfair. Some of the statements made about him seem outwardly false. No mention is made of the fact that after the dreadful action at Guiford Courthouse Cornwallis saw to it that both British and American wounded were treated by his exhausted army. This seems hardly the actions of a selfish, vainglory aristocrat.

On page 227 the author asserts that Cornwallis associated with Tarleton, Nesbit Balfour and Lord Rawdon. He claims all three were known for their cruetlies toward Americans? Perhaps only Tarleton could honestly be accused of this, and even that is debatable. Lord Rawdon was a good, decent officer, as was Col. Balfour who commanded the 23rd Fusiliers and was in charge of the Garrison at Charleston. On what evidence does the author make the claim that these officers were excessively cruel toward Americans? This seems another example of demonizing the British with no apparent reason. True, attrocities were committed in this conflcit, and both sides did their share.

The narrative pretty much follows the standard course of the war which could be found in any decent study of the subject. Here we merely get a mention or two of the two protagonists but nothing special. Some good first-hand material is woven into the descriptions here and there, but the author really does not try to get into the hearts and minds of these two important men. What we get is prety much just a cardbaord bio of each. Some orders of battle are completely wrong. On page 62 the author claims Howe had under his command 70,000 troops! A completely outrageous statement. If the British had possessed such numbers in 1776 even with Howe's lethargy the war would have been over. This is either poor editing or sloppy research.

This is not a comprehensive study of either Washy or Cornwallis during the Rev War. The best bio on the Earl remains an older work from the mid 1970s by Mary Wickwire. What we have here is a rather biased look at the earl. Washy has so much done on him already that nothing new seems apparent here.

A standard, if unexciting read. Those with a slender backgrond of the war might find it interesting. Others seeking a detailed and critical look at these two generals during the war really won't find that here. Some of the statements made in regards to Lord Cornwallis appear totally inaccurate.

There's absolutely NOTHING new here, and it is based only on secondary sources. Folks should read Middlekauf's GLORIOUS CAUSE instead, and leave this one on the shelves.