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

In 1779, the British set in motion a war strategy designed to finally subdue the rebellious American colonies with a minimum of additional time, effort, and blood. Setting sail from New York harbor with an army Of 8,500 ground troops, a powerful British fleet swung south toward Seabrook Island, thirty miles below Charleston, South Carolina. One year later, Charleston had fallen. And as King George's forces pushed relentlessly inland and upward, it appeared certain the six-year-old colonial rebellion was doomed to defeat.In a stunning work of forgotten history, acclaimed historian Walter Edgar takes the American Revolution far beyond Lexington and Concord to re-create the pivotal months in a nations savage struggle for freedom. Gripping, fascinating, and meticulously researched, Edgar's masterful history captures the heat, the fury, and the intense human drama of the ruthless South Carolina campaign. It is a story of military brilliance and devastating blunders -- and the courage of an impossibly outnumbered force of demoralized patriots who suffered terribly at the hands of a merciless enemy, yet slowly gained confidence through a series of small triumphs that convinced them their war could be won. Alive with incident and color, "Partisans and Redcoats presents unforgettable portraits of real-life heroes and villains, Britons and Americans alike, as it chronicles two remarkable years in the fiery birth of a nation. It is the story of an enemy invasion of the Carolina backcountry that sparked nothing less than the first American civil war-when neighbor battled neighbor, Tory fought Rebel, and families were sundered from within. Rich with tales of bravery and personal sacrifice,this monumental work casts a brilliant light on one of the most important yet unsung eras in U.S. history Walter Edgar confirms his standing as one of the Souths most distinguished historians by bringing a truly epic conflict out of the shadows, celebrating the fortitude and great deeds of ordinary men and women, and illuminating the dark nature of war "itself.

Review :
?This is a superb book...a great read.?Emory M. Thomas, author of Robert E. Lee: A Biography?A lively and accurate account of the vicious partisan fighting in the Carolinas during the Revolutionary War.?John Buchanan, author of The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas?A valuable addition to a too-small library on this chapter of the American Revolution.?William Hallahan, author of The Day the American Revolution Began?A solid addition to the Revolutionary War literature.?Kirkus?Edgar's lucid, unflinching account shows the American Revolution in the south was truly the nation's first civil war.?Publishers Weekly?Edgar paints in stark and realistic tones a portrait of the life and society of the backcountry.?Rock Hill Herald, South Carolina?Musketry practically cracks on page after page.?J. Tracy Power, author of Lee's Miserables?A splendid chronicle...This one goes on my shelf of important works about the birth of our country.?John Jakes, author of North and South?A significant contribution to Revolutionary history...Walter Edgar gives us a sobering sense of liberty's price.?Mobile Register?Meticulously researched, a volume reminding us once again that the cost of freedom has always been very high.?The State (Columbia, SC)