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

by Benton Rain Patterson

Overview

Patterson chronicles the battles waged between Washington and Cornwallis, examines their methods of command and their controversial military decisions, and ultimately brings into focus the personalities of these two pivotal revolutionary War generals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781589790216
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/09/2004
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,157,994
Product dimensions:	7.04(w) x 9.24(h) x 1.07(d)

About the Author

Benton Rain Patterson has written for the New York Times and the Saturday Evening Post. He is the author of Harold and William and is professor emeritus of journalism at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he lives.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Chapter 1 The Commander in Chief 1

Chapter 2 The Army before Boston 7

Chapter 3 The King's Volunteer 27

Chapter 4 The Battle of Long Island 37

Chapter 5 The Fall of New York 45

Chapter 6 From Harlem Heights to White Plains 57

Chapter 7 The Shattered Army 67

Chapter 8 The Raid on Trenton 79

Chapter 9 The Battle of Princeton 91

Chapter 10 The Burgoyne Fiasco 103

Chapter 11 The Philadelphia Campaign 117

Chapter 12 The Winter at Valley Forge 137

Chapter 13 The Conway Cabal 145

Chapter 14 The Earl Goes Home and Returns 157

Chapter 15 The Battle of Monmouth Courthouse 167

Chapter 16 The Newport Crisis 181

Chapter 17 A Personal Tragedy 191

Chapter 18 The Benedict Arnold Treason 201

Chapter 19 The Fall of Charleston 213

Chapter 20 The Battle of Camden 227

Chapter 21 The Battle of Kings Mountain 239

Chapter 22 The Battle of Cowpens 253

Chapter 23 The Battle of Guilford Courthouse 271

Chapter 24 The Virginia Campaign 289

Chapter 25 The Battle of Yorktown 301

Chapter 26 The Surrender 323

Epilogue 331

Notes 333

Index 345

About the Author 359

Editorial Reviews

...a gripping tail...Patterson worked diligently to present his subjects as more than just hero or villain.

Gainsville Sun - Marla E. Nobles

...a gripping tail...Patterson worked diligently to present his subjects as more than just hero or villain.
— Marla E. Nobles

Gainsville Sun

In this engaging military history of the American Revolution, journalist Patterson (Harold and William) covers all the major campaigns and battles of the conflict, from the American siege of Boston in 1775 to the climactic surrender of Yorktown in 1781. The personal rivalry implied in the title is somewhat mythical, since Washington and Cornwallis rarely faced each other, but the contrast in character between the two generals is instructive. His army perpetually outnumbered and outclassed by the Redcoats, Washington struggled with shortages of money, weapons, food and men (who simply went home when their brief enlistments expired) while fending off plots by enemies in the Continental Congress and soothing his touchy French allies. Yet he managed to win enough victories—and put enough positive spin on his defeats—to keep a credible force in the field and Patriot spirits buoyed until French aid and British war-weariness tipped the scales. By contrast, Cornwallis and the British largely squandered their advantages with aimless strategy, sluggish campaigning and internal dissension. Patterson goes easy on the psychobiography. He gives a straightforward account of his protagonists’ performances as commanders, while offering vivid thumbnails of secondary characters like Benedict Arnold and Lafayette, the whole embedded in a detailed but well-paced and often rousing campaign-and-battle narrative. The result is both vigorous history and an illuminating study of the tenacity that made Washington so indispensable to the revolution.

From the Publisher