Table of Contents
Introduction The Great Revolution 1
Exceptional 3
A Rich Man's War? A Poor Man's Fight? 4
Holy Fire 9
What Are the Odds? 11
Chapter 1 Revolutionary Road 15
The Rights of Englishmen 16
Pulpit of Democracy 19
Pay Your Own Way! 23
A War of Ideas 27
It's a Massacre! 28
The Great Greenwich Tea Party 30
The Limits of Toleration 31
Chapter 2 From Simmer to Boil 33
What Was "Benign" about "Benign Neglect"? 33
Please, Mr. Postman 35
"The Enemies of American Liberty" 38
Ethnic Cleansing 43
Land Ho! 46
Going Short 48
The New Israel 50
Chapter 3 The Boston Blowup 55
The Midnight Ride 58
From Retreat to Rout 59
A Battle Lost, Yet Won 62
Mightier Than the Sword 63
Arras and the Man 66
The Whites of Their Eyes 69
Lack of Preparation Makes for Desperation 73
"No Harum-Scarum Ranting Swearing Fellow" 74
Chapter 4 Militia into Regulars 75
Musket Balls Were YUGE! 78
Forming an Army 81
Chapter 5 Declaration 85
Dismembering the Rebellion 85
North Carolina's Recruitment Dry Run 87
One Colony, Two Governments 88
Out-Marching and Out-Fighting the Tories 89
Not a Slaughter Pen 90
Finish the Bridge 93
"The Most Important Hour Britain Ever Knew" 95
American Scripture 96
Chapter 6 The Fourteenth Colony 101
The Maple Leaf State? 101
Where Are We Going Here? 103
Seeking "Active Woodsmen" 104
The Battle for Quebec 107
Canadians Were Not Americans 110
The Canadian Invasion of America? 111
"Not a Mouthful of Food" 113
Another Miracle 114
Chapter 7 Disaster in New York 119
New York, New York 120
George Washington, Esq. 122
Americans on the Run 124
"Give an American Army a Wall to Fight Behind and They Will Fight Forever" 126
"I Am Bereft of Every Peaceful Moment" 129
Chapter 8 Christmas Miracle 135
Adding by Subtracting 137
Lose One, Gain Two 138
We'll Bag the Old Fox in the Morning 142
Chapter 9 Washington under Siege 147
How Bad Were the British? 148
Civilian Life in Time of War 149
Divide and Conquer? 151
Pyrrhic Victory 156
Turning Point 158
Chapter 10 The Saratoga Surrender 161
"Weak in Numbers, Dispirited, Naked" 162
The Battle of Freeman's Farm 167
The Battle of Bemis Heights 169
The "Convention" 170
Chapter 11 The Devil's Anvil: From Valley Forge to Monmouth 173
The Conway Cabal 174
The "Neutral" Quakers (and the Culper Ring) 176
A Professional Army 177
"We Cannot Stand Against Them" 182
Chapter 12 Mes Amis! The Treaty of Alliance with France 185
Chapter 13 The Forgotten War 191
The Battle of Rhode Island 192
Guerrilla War 193
Benedict Arnold 195
Raids 197
Fiasco 200
Freedom for Service 202
War against the Red Man 203
Advances and Setbacks 204
Mutiny 207
Chapter 14 The South Laid Waste 209
To the South! 210
The Fall of Georgia 211
The Cherokee War 212
Where Are the French? 214
Charleston, the Prize 215
Tarleton's (No) Quarter 217
Huck's Defeat 219
The Battle of Camden 220
Chapter 15 Neutering Cornwallis 225
Advantage, Tories 226
Backcountry War 227
The Battle of Cowpens 230
The Race to the Dan 232
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse 234
Chapter 16 The South Rises Again 237
Fool Me Once 238
Picking Them Off 239
Winning by Losing 241
Death by a Thousand Cuts 243
Chapter 17 Washington Victorious 247
Benedict Arnold, Redcoat General 248
The Founder vs. the Traitor 249
A Narrow Escape 252
A Blizzard of Orders 253
Cornering Corny 255
"The World Turned Upside Down" 257
Chapter 18 The War Winds to a Close 261
Final Fits of Defeat 261
The Plight of the Tories 262
The Battles of Sandusky and Blue Licks 264
American Mutiny 267
Chapter 19 Victory in Paris 273
"In Good, I Fear Bad" 273
A Three-Way Negotiation 274
Necessary and Advisable 276
The Forgotten Ally 277
Unresolved Issues 278
Chapter 20 The After Rebellions 281
One Revolution Begets Another 283
Freedom in France 284
A Rebellious People 286
To the Land! 290
The Whiskey Rebellion 292
The Constitution and American Exceptionalism 293
The Little People 295
Bibliography 297
Index 317
