Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It

by Larrie D. Ferreiro Narrated by David Colacci

Overview

In this groundbreaking, revisionist history, Larrie D. Ferreiro shows that at the time the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord the colonists had little chance, if any, of militarily defeating the British. The nascent American nation had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a militia bereft even of gunpowder. In his detailed accounts, Ferreiro shows that without the extensive military and financial support of the French and Spanish, the American cause would never have succeeded. France and Spain provided close to the equivalent of $30 billion and 90 percent of all guns used by the Americans, and they sent soldiers and sailors by the thousands to fight and die alongside the Americans, as well as around the world.

Ferreiro adds to the historical records the names of French and Spanish diplomats, merchants, soldiers, and sailors whose contribution is at last given recognition. Instead of viewing the American Revolution in isolation, Brothers at Arms reveals the birth of the American nation as the centerpiece of an international coalition fighting against a common enemy.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Brothers at Arms is an impressive work that will serve as the definitive account of the role of France and Spain in the American Revolution for many years to come. With magisterial command of diplomatic and military history on both sides of the Atlantic, Ferreiro elucidates the webs that connected American revolutionaries to major and minor figures within the French and Spanish empires with remarkable clarity and detail.”  —Jeffrey Stanley (Dalton State College), H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews

“Remarkable. . . . Brothers at Arms is one of the most important books on the American Revolution published in this decade.”  —Dallas Morning News

“[I]n his wide-ranging study . . . [Ferreiro] draws attention to people and events that George Washington and the other eminent founders routinely overshadow. The result is a familiar story told from a new vantage point. Revisionist in the best sense, Mr. Ferreiro’s book deftly locates the war within the rivalrous 18th-century Atlantic world. . . . . Impressive.”  —The Wall Street Journal
                                                                                                                                               
“Engaging and informative, Ferreiro’s Brothers at Arms refutes the widely-held view that the Marquis de Lafayette alone represented France until Vicomte de Rochambeau and Admiral de Grasse sealed the fate of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. . . .  Ferreiro is a skillful storyteller. His experience in the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and Department of Defense, and as an exchange engineer in the French Navy, is on display in his descriptions of battles on land and at sea. Brothers at Arms is filled with telling—and titillating—details. . . . In the end, however, the enduring importance of Brothers at Arms is Ferreiro’s accurate (and perhaps humbling) reminder that when Brig. Gen. O’Hara, representing Cornwallis, emerged at Yorktown to surrender, and turned toward Rochambeau, he was acknowledging that the victory was as much France’s as it was America’s. And when Rochambeau wordlessly pointed him across the lane toward Washington, he was ‘well aware to whom belonged the moment.’ After all, as Ferreiro concludes, ‘the American nation was born as the centerpiece of an international coalition.’”  —Glenn Altschuler, Tulsa World
 
“Imporant as scholarship, Ferreiro’s history is also eminently fluid for all readers interested in the U.S.’s beginning.”  —Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

“Even seasoned American history readers will likely find new content on a pivotal era.” —Library Journal (starred review)
  
“Ferreiro mounts a deeply informed, authoritative, and compelling argument for the importance of two major European powers to American independence. ‘Instead of the myth of heroic self-sufficiency,’ he writes, ‘the real story is that the American nation was born as the centerpiece of an international coalition.’ . . . Besides offering a vivid chronicle of combat, the author traces the tense negotiations between American emissaries in Europe—notably Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane—and their French and Spanish counterparts. . . . A largely untold, engrossing history of our nation’s fraught, and unlikely, path to liberty.”  —Kirkus  (starred review)
 
“For some time, historians have understood that globalization was born during the founding of the American colonies, north and south. Now comes Larrie Ferreiro to recount in this magnificent volume the myriad ways that the globalized world was very much in play when those colonies began to come undone—during the American Revolution. A whole canvas of passions and interests is illumined here, allowing us to see history through a thoroughly fresh lens.” —Marie Arana, author of Bolívar: American Liberator
 
“As Larrie Ferreiro proves in this fascinating and groundbreaking account of the American Revolutionary War, there would have been no United States without the help of France and Spain.  Brothers at Arms is an important corrective to the notion that our nationhood was preordained.  As Ferreiro demonstrates time and time again, American independence depended on France and Spain.” —Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Bunker Hill and Valiant Ambition
 
“In Brothers at Arms, Larrie D. Ferreiro recasts the American Revolution in a revealing new light by situating the local fight for freedom in the context of global power struggles. This eye-opening narrative takes us beyond the shores of the fledgling United States to show us how French and Spanish forces in places as far flung as Honduras and Gibraltar helped make victory possible.” —Laura Auricchio, author of The Marquis: Lafayette Reconsidered
 
“This book will revive in an enlightened way an old controversy among Americans—both historians and educated laymen—concerning the American Revolution: Could it have been won without French and Spanish help? Professor Ferreiro’s answer is clearly given in the subtitle and throughout his book. The book is excellent—based on solid research and wide reading, argued with much spirit and insight. It is an illuminating and suggestive study deserving of a wide readership in and out of universities and colleges.” —Robert L. Middlekauff, author of Washington’s Revolution
 
“Brothers in Arms vividly tells the forgotten story of how French and Spanish military and financial support enabled thirteen weak colonies to take down an empire. Anyone interested in how the United States actually won its independence should read this book.”  —Kathleen DuVal, author Independence Lost
 
“An informative and wide-ranging introduction to the vital French and Spanish roles in the War of American Independence, Ferreiro’s survey is full of human interest details.” —Jonathan R. Dull, author of The Miracle of American Independence: Twenty Ways Things Could Have Turned Out Differently
 
“Surprisingly the war that we people of the United States call our revolution, could not have succeeded if it were not part of a world war. Here is the story of the various motives that came together with a common purpose—the defeat of Great Britain—that resulted in our independence. Fascinating and revelatory.” —Thomas Chávez, author of Spain and the Independence of the United States
 

Library Journal

★ 09/15/2016
Ferreiro (history, George Mason Univ.; Measure of the Earth) presents the American Revolution in a global context, detailing the many Europeans who played critical roles in American Independence, delving into the histories of the players whose decisive actions gave George Washington the men, material, and ships necessary to wrestle the colonies from Britain. Readers will discover important figures such as French minister Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, and admiral Charles Hector, Comte d'Estaing, as well as Spanish commander Bernardo de Galvez. Ferreiro also discusses the intricate Atlantic supply chains that fed the U.S. army, as well as critical naval technology and tactics like copper plating. The text describes the motivations of numerous French and Spanish ministers, traders, sailors, and soldiers, unveiling many underappreciated actions, including the Spanish seizure of British Pensacola, the chess match in the Caribbean islands, and the cat-and-mouse game between the French and British fleets. VERDICT This work is scholarly and heavily researched, a denser read than David McCullough's 1776, providing much information from an often neglected perspective. Even seasoned American history readers will likely find new content on a pivotal era.—Jeffrey Meyer, Mt. Pleasant P.L., IA

Kirkus Review

★ 2016-08-03
European allies supplied arms, ammunition, uniforms, savvy commanders, engineers, and soldiers to aid the American Revolution.The newly proclaimed United States was not the only nation that wanted Great Britain out of North America in 1776. After being defeated by Britain in the Seven Years’ War, France and Spain were eager to show their strength against their adversary. Ferreiro (History and Engineering/George Mason Univ., Stevens Institute of Technology; Measure of the Earth: The Enlightenment Expedition that Reshaped Our World, 2011) mounts a deeply informed, authoritative, and compelling argument for the importance of two major European powers to American independence. “Instead of the myth of heroic self-sufficiency,” he writes, “the real story is that the American nation was born as the centerpiece of an international coalition.” At the time, America’s militia was “ill-equipped” and undisciplined. In July 1775, George Washington became commander in chief with no military training and quickly crammed by studying translations of European military books. When he needed engineers and artillerists, he looked to France, which reputedly had the best. He came to rely most on Louis Lebégue Duportail, an engineer whom he promoted to major general. It was Duportail who persuaded Washington to set up a camp at Valley Forge, strategically located 20 miles from British forces in Philadelphia. The encampment, speedily built by soldiers, with more than 1,000 huts, “became America’s fourth-largest city” within six weeks. Besides offering a vivid chronicle of combat, the author traces the tense negotiations between American emissaries in Europe—notably Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane—and their French and Spanish counterparts. Other nations were involved, too: Dutch merchants were part of a long supply chain providing arms and “some of the finest gunpowder in the world”; the Prussian Baron von Steuben carried out relentless drills to professionalize the continental soldiers. But as Ferreiro shows, French aid was foremost: Franklin did not exaggerate when he called France’s King Louis XVI America’s “friend and father.” A largely untold, engrossing history of our nation’s fraught, and unlikely, path to liberty.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170098941
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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Introduction
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