The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas (Paperback)

~ (Author) "can war, was Clinton's second in command, but he played a minor role. Among the lowliest of junior officers serving under His Lordship was a..." (more)
Key Phrases: provincial regulars, country militia, legion infantry, South Carolina, North Carolina, Nathanael Greene (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most of us are familiar with the role that North and South Carolina played in the American Civil War: if nothing else, every grade-schooler knows the significance of the 1861 bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. But to popular historian John Buchanan, "that tragedy is of far less interest than the American Revolution. The Revolution was the most important event in American history. The Civil War was unfinished business." And the Carolinas, Buchanan convincingly argues, were the most critical theater in that conflict, with their wild Back Country seeing "a little-known but savage civil war far exceeding anything in the North."

The Road to Guilford Courthouse is no less than a tour de force of pop military scholarship, an exhaustive battle-by-battle account of the Crown's grinding march to wrest the Carolinas from the resourceful Rebels. Beginning with Colonel William Moultrie's valiant defense atop the palmetto ramparts of Fort Sullivan against an outnumbering force of British men-of-war to the final "long, obstinate, and bloody" exchange at Guilford Courthouse, Buchanan meticulously recounts each skirmish, battle, and shift of strategy in the campaign. Relying on copious primary and secondary sources, he brings the combatants to life, from the worthy but somewhat obscure, such as Nathanael Greene, whom George Washington considered to be his successor should he fall, to soon-to-be legends such as Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. --Paul Hughes

From Booklist

This outstanding popular military history covers the American Revolution in North and South Carolina. More divided than any other region between patriot and Tory, the Carolinas were the scene of a two-year British campaign (1780^-81) to raise the country for the crown. Lord Cornwallis began well by taking Charleston but subsequently found himself facing an assortment of American generals who could not win but refused to submit. Cornwallis was also hindered as much as helped by the Tories, whose militia efforts were never as successful as those of their patriot counterparts. Eventually, lack of supplies rather than actual defeat drove Cornwallis into Virginia and on the road to Yorktown. Buchanan writes with superlative clarity and considerable wit, providing character sketches better than many novelists', while maintaining balance in judgment and thoroughness in research (the annotated bibliography is valuable to beginning and entrenched students of the Revolution alike). Altogether, an accomplishment of the same high order as Robinson's Good Year to Die (1995) and McPherson's Civil War historiography. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 452 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471327166
• ISBN-13: 978-0471327165
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #146,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #9 in	Books > History > United States > Revolution & Founding > Battles
  #32 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > North Carolina
  #42 in	Books > History > United States > State & Local > South Carolina

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Well Written Account of Revolution in the South, August 12, 2000

By	Wayne A. Smith (Wilmington, DE) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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 sources to buttress his observations and they add to the book.

This campaign was at its heart a brutal civil war. Neighbor fought neighbor in actions where sometimes no quarter was given. The British under Banestre Tarleton (Bloody Ban)were particularly brutal, burning, raping and slashing their way through a back country they hoped to ally with their presence and draw support from. Their behavior forced many passive citizens to the rebel side and greatly complicated the efforts of Cornwallis to receive native support. Often the actions were all american affairs of Tories fighting militia. At one significant battle -- King's Mountain -- the only British soldier on the field was Major Ferguson, the British commander. It was a very different kind of war than that fought by Gen. Washington in the more famous battles.

The brutality, stategy, tactics and personalities are all weaved together in a memorable book that belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in understanding how our freedom was won.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buchanan Hits the Spot!, January 16, 2001

By	Bill Peeples "doorsdoorsdoors" (Valdosta, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Campaign Study, July 5, 2000

By	Kevin F. Kiley - See all my reviews

If you're looking for a book on the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, this isn't it. Fewer than 25 pages are dedicated to it near the end of the book.

However, this is one of the best campaign studies on Greene's southern campaigns that I have ever read. The author's treatment of the campaign as a whole is masterful, and of the Retreat to the Dan in particular, is superb. He presents to the reader what could be a very confusing chain of events, and puts them in logical order to give a sequence that is easy to follow and highly informative.

This is military history at its best and it gives a more than clear picture of the campaign that led directly to Yorktown and American (and French) victory over the British.

Nathaniel Greene was one of the most effective and talented commanders this country has ever produced. Never winning a battle, but always winning his campaigns, he is an American Turenne, and one of the American commanders the British feared.

This volume belongs on the bookshelf of every military history enthusiast of the period.