Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The "fruitful Spot" described by the itinerant Anglican missionary Charles Woodmason was the Waxhaws, a set along the border between the colonies of North and..." (more)
Key Phrases: South Carolina, North Carolina, New Acquisition (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Though sometimes underestimated in standard histories, the American South was of critical importance as a theater of battle in the Revolutionary War. When the revolution broke out, historian Walter Edgar writes, South Carolina was far and away the richest of the American colonies. Charleston's wealth was more than six times that of Philadelphia, and its sparsely settled interior was a seemingly inexhaustible source of timber, cotton, and other prized goods. The war came early to this valuable terrain, first in the form of open combat between Whigs and Tories, then with the arrival of a large British task force that seized Charleston and other ports. As Edgar writes, the British and their loyalist allies then set about trying to tame the rebellious backcountry through a campaign of terror and atrocity so severe that, he maintains, leaders such as Lord Cornwallis and Banastre Tarleton deserve to be considered war criminals in the modern sense. Under their orders, civilians were assassinated and military prisoners summarily executed, farms and villages put to the torch, crops destroyed, and livestock slaughtered.

That campaign was ultimately unsuccessful, for instead of terrorizing the Scots- Irish settlers into submission, it galvanized resistance against British rule. That resistance, Walter Edgar concludes in this useful study, helped assure colonial independence. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

Violence, endemic in a frontier society, was even more deadly in the Carolina back country. University of South Carolina historian Edgar, who has produced the well-regarded South Carolina: A History among eight other books, presents a quickly reconstructed account of the fratricidal civil war that took place in South Carolina during the American Revolution. Years before the Revolution, writes Edgar, patterns of terrible violence had already been set, as white settlers tried to maintain their hold on their lands, fighting among themselves and with the Indians they had displaced. But when the British captured Charleston in 1780 and set out on a policy of subduing the southern colonies, their efforts were doomed by the colonists' siege mentality. Lord Cornwallis, the British commander, misjudged the situation and tried to intimidate the population by repressive measures. His policy failed miserably and only enraged the rebels even more, Edgar shows. Partisan bands such as those led by Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion kept the enemy guessing, while Tories and rebels alike battled each other, killed family members, dispersed slaves, burned crops and houses, and generally kept South Carolina in a state of anarchy. Edgar's lucid, unflinching account shows the American Revolution in the south was truly the nation's first civil war. 8 pages of illus. and maps not seen by PW. (Nov.)Forecast: Regional sales of this title should be relatively strong, but without a compelling hook outside the Carolinas, national sales should be confined to buffs.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (October 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380977605
• ISBN-13: 978-0380977604
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,298,915 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars weak, March 7, 2002

By A Customer

I was not impressed with this book. It is short (140 pages of large print). It lacks detail. It is simply a rehashing of some basic facts of the War in South Carolina. It appears more like a college term paper written by someone who read "The Road to Guilford Courthouse" than a well researched book from a College Professor. I read "The Road to Guilford Courthouse" only a few weeks before reading "Partisans and Redcoats". Believe me, "The Road" is much, much better (only lacks maps..but otherwise very good). For someone in middle/elementary school or possibly high school Edgars work might prove satisfying. Perhaps someone with a limited interest in history might find it useful too. That is the only reason I gave it 2 stars. Get "The Road" instead.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The War for American Independence on the Southern Front, April 23, 2005

By	Ryan Setliff "InternetPundit.com" (VA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

~Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution~ is a succinct and readable narrative history of the American War for Independence with a focus on the Carolinas and the Southern theater. The cast of characters includes patriots like Martha Bratton, Horatio Gates, Joseph Kershaw, and Francis Marion. "The American Revolution was won in the South by determined backcountry patriots," notes Edgar. "Some, such as Andrew Pickens and Thomas Sumter, became American folk heroes." I really like Edgar's book, because it is short and sweet. The body of the text is just one-hundred and forty-five pages. What makes this succinct book so remarkable is that Edgar tells the story and puts you in the shoes of the backcountry frontiersmen. The backdrop he paints of colonial South Carolina prior to the war shows how fragile civilization and civil society was on the frontier. He astutely explains the rigors of frontier life in the Carolina backcountry. He captures the essence of the tempestuous and rugged individualism of the Scotch-Irish settlers which were predominant in the region. Edgar tells of the sectarian animosities and strife that ensued. In one case, the tale of feuding Ulster Scot Presbyterians and Anglicans was rather humorous.** Law and order was hard to come by on the frontier, and criminal gangs of thieves and extortionists were rampant. Blood feuds and social strife ensued as a general rule. This gave rise to vigilante and posse groups like the Regulators who were eventually deputized by the state assembly. Eventually, the forces of ordered liberty quelled the forces of anarchy. The vigilante groups after some abuses were obliged to check one another at the behest of the State legislature. Former elements of such groups like the Regulators and Moderators provided foot soldiers, scouts, and frontiersmen to field the Continental Army and the State Militia during the war.

British policy was coldly deliberate in its policy of total war. Though total war was typically only felt in areas of entrenched, stubborn resistance: the South Carolina backcountry was such a place. "In a Civil War, there is no admitting of neutral characteristics, and... those who are not clearly with us must so far be considered against us," noted British Commander Lord Cornwallis. Edgar catches the drama in his narrative history of families being torn apart and communities being torn asunder amidst reprisals and counter-reprisals. Partisans and Redcoats captures the sacrifices of patriots, the costliness of war, and the devastation it wrings out on civil society. Not surprisingly, the heat of the war gave rise to lawlessness, and Edgar tells some tales of home invasions and plunder. The peasant rabble of the South Carolina backcountry, so deplored by the Tory gentry actually gave the British one heck of a fight. The partisans were greatly underestimated and dismissed as boorish incompetents incapable of waging civilised war. Through, the two-pronged efforts of regular militia and guerilla insurgents, the South Carolinian patriots walloped the British. Their contribution played no small role in the final victory of the American cause. For this reason, battles like Cowpens, King's Mountain and Guilford Courthouse deserve as much consideration as Saratoga, Monmouth, and Yorktown. George Washington's northern armies played cat and mouse games with the British, and seemed destined to lose, but managed to stay afloat. The southern campaign tied down British troops, ate at their morale, depleted their manpower, and paved the way for the climatic victories in Yorktown. The southern contribution in my opinion is sometimes downplayed, ignored, and marginalized. Nonetheless, studying the war for independence in perspective makes one realize that the fraternal bonds of the various regions from New England to Georgia was vitally requisite to the overall success of the cause. The combined efforts of patriots in the thirteen States worked to break the yolk of Tory tyranny. The underdog Continental Army and a ragtag colonial militia defeated of one of the greatest powers of the eighteenth-century-the British Empire.

All things considered, Walter Edgar's book is a real treat. It is easy to read, straightforward, and it packs a punch despite its brevity. Edgar's manuscript captures the fierceness of the conflict in the Carolina backcountry and the breadth of sacrifices made on all sides. The War for American Independence was a hard fought contest. The odds were greatly against the rabble rebel armies of America taking on the might of the British Empire. Providence ordained otherwise and defied those odds. During the American War for Independence, many were content to sit on sidelines whether it was the coastal city slickers from Charleston to Boston had little resolve to fight British even if they had secessionist sympathies. Yet many clergy rallied behind the cause. The conflict was in fact dubbed a "Presbyterian Parson's Rebellion" by Tories in England and loyalists here at home. The predominantly Scotch-Irish population of the Carolina backcountry didn't like dishonored covenants between the governors and the governed, and frankly they didn't much care for the English either. They were hearty frontiersmen who hacked it out of the wilderness, bearing their children along the way. Their tempestuous antagonism against the English played no small part in the fervor that brought the cause for American Independence to fruition. In the end, their love of liberty and their hatred of tyranny compelled them to break the yolk of Tory tyranny.

* * * * * * * * * * *

**Here is an excerpt, which I found particularly funny about Presbyterian-Anglican relations in the backcountry of South Carolina in the mid-eighteenth century. It is told from the perspective a missionary of English pedigree who was sent to one of the token Anglican parishes in the Carolina backcountry. I found this story rather amusing... Anyway, jump ahead to page nine if you want to get to the gist of the story. FYI The quotations are the words of Rev. Woodmason, an Anglican clergyman.

[p. 5]
The Scots-Irish were proud of their heritage. They were, first of all, Scots. They knew their nation's tortured history and its mistreatment by the English. They were fervent Presbyterians whose forebears had been persecuted for their beliefs. They were family men and women and tended to stick close by their kinfolks.

...
[p. 7]
"The People," wrote Reverend Woodmason, "all new Settlers, extremely poor-Live in Logg Cabbins like Hogs-and their Living and Behavior as rude or more so than the savages."
...
[p. 9-10]
It would not be unfair to say that the backcountry was close to being a state of nature. There were settlements, but the only social organization was the church. Woodmason was an Anglican missionary to the backcountry settlements, but there were only two Anglican congregations beyond Parish End. There were several Quaker meetings... but most were Baptists or Presbyterians.
...
Sectarian animosities were fierce. Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were fervently devoted to their churches and just as fervently antagonistic to those who did not share their particular beliefs. They were the bane of Woodmason's existence and harassed him and any who attended his services. In one location, "[a] Presbyterian fellow carried off the Key to the Meeting House" so that services could not be held indoors. At Hanging Rock Creek, Woodmason was roughed up by "lawless Ruffians" who been hired by "debauch'd licentious fellows, and Scots Presbyterians." When the Anglican missionary persisted in holding a service, "a Gang of Presbyterians" interrupted it by "hallooing and whooping... like Indians." In the High Hills of the Santee, some Presbyterians "hir'd a Band of Rude fellows to come to Service who brought with them fifty-seven dogs (for I counted them) which in Time of Service they set to fighting, and I was obliged to stop." A little later, Woodmason took a dog to the home of the area's leaders and informed him "fifty-seven Presbyterians came that Day to Service, and that I had converted one of them, and brought Him home." He was fortunate to have been able to live to tell such a story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, if a bit obscure, January 11, 2005

By	David W. Nicholas (Montrose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution (Paperback)

This book attempts to cover the part of the American Revolution in South Carolina (and by extension the South in general) that general history books overlook or at least partially ignore. This portion of the war (the partisan war that occurred between Loyalist and Rebel forces in the state) is often overlooked because what battles were fought between these forces were generally small. Those that were larger (King's Mountain and the Cowpens, primarily) are often treated as if they were isolated incidents, related only to one another and the battles of Camden and Guilford Court House. By contrast, Edgar weaves the account of the war in South Carolina into the overall history of the Revolution, and recounts various smaller fights in the state that he believes changed the course of the war. Chiefly, he beleives that the Partisan victory referred to as Huck's Defeat was crucial in turning the tide of public opinion in the Backcountry part of the state, which in turn was crucial in preventing the British from pacifying the whole region. He therefore ascribes a considerable importance to this minor battle, in which several hudred partisans ambushed about 115 Tories, killing or capturing most of them, including their commander, Captain Christian Huck.

This is interesting, and the author does a good job of depicting the war in the South in 1780. The civil nature of the conflict (brother against brother, etc.) is highlighted, and also the atrocities and violence of the war and its practitioners. The author doesn't spend much time on the conventional war in the state: King's Mountain and Guilford Courthouse are only briefly discussed, and the Cowpens isn't even really discussed at all, except in its consequences. This narrowing of the focus of the book leads to a very brief volume (less than 200 pages; less than 150 of text). This is in a way good: Mr. Edgar is a college instructor, and his writing style is much more suitable for a weighty tome than something someone would actually read.

All in all, though, this is a worthwhile book, and I would certainly recommend it to those interested in the American Revolution, or to partisan or irregular warfare in general.