The Guns of Independence
****1/2 by Jerome A. Greene. Based on a bicentennial era
Park Service publication intended for park employees, this updated
version gives us the most complete account yet of the decisive
siege. In the first scholarly treatment of the siege in decades,
the author uses numerous sources neglected in other studies, including
archeological studies from the 1930s and 40s, and accounts by
participants, foreign and domestic. Unmatched in detail and
scholarship, and chocked full of insight and information not found
anywhere else, this book is a valuable addition to any Revolutionary
War enthusiast's library. After a brief overview of the events
leading up to the campaign, Greene gives a detailed view of the
thinking of the commanders and the decisions they faced, the methods of
18th century siegecraft, the progress of the siege, and little known
events that had an important impact. The reader will see the
campaign in a whole new light, and understand it like never
before. Indeed, you cannot fully understand Yorktown until
reading this book. The book's excellent maps and battlefields
photos not only help explain the siege, they beg the reader to pack his
bags and go for a visit. Only some minor flaws and lack of a map
of the initial Allied approach keep the book from a five star
rating. Please see an excerpt from the book concerning
Abercrombie's Sortie as an example of the
scholarship and detail.
The Guns of
Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781, signed by
the author. When ordering your signed copy
direct from the publisher, please use the coupon code "John020530S"
so that this website will receive a portion of the proceeds, helping defray
expenses. Thank you!
The Battle: A New History of Waterloo
***** by Alessandro Barbero, translated by John Cullen.
Written by an Italian historian of the medieval era who is also a
novelist, "The Battle" is engagingly written and well translated, using
many first-hand accounts from all major participating nations.
Because the author is Italian, his book isn't Anglo-centric,
Franco-centric, or Germano-centric; all participants are objectively
covered without losing the drama of the battle and without the
booster-ism and cheerleading of other books. Like many military
history books, however, there are few useful maps, but the terrain and
deployments are well described and easy to understand - at least if you
have some knowledge of the battle. Despite this flaw, the author
gives a genuinely new and different account of the battle with many
insights; the examples are many. For instance, the Allied
infantry deployed in four ranks instead of two in order to facilitate
forming square, a clear break from usual practice. D'Erlon's
early afternoon attack was not made in massive columns, as has been
thought, but largely in successive lines - probably in reaction to
experience in the Peninsula War. Lobau's corps was initially sent
to support D'Erlon after his failed attack, and not to oppose the
Prussians as stated in earlier accounts. In fact, the author
shows that Napoleon had not even done the simple reasoning to deduce
that the troops approaching him couldn't possibly have been French and
could only have been Prussian. The British cavalry counterattack
which reached the Grand Battery had little effect on French artillery,
despite claims to the contrary, and in effect destroyed the Allied
cavalry. So when the massive French cavalry attacks occurred,
there was little the Allied cavalry could do. Allied infantry
casualties piled up, and had the attacks lasted much longer, the
squares would have broken. So French cavalry dominance and
skirmisher superiority, neither of which had been the case in Spain,
along with artillery superiority, nearly won the battle for Napoleon
despite French errors. Finally, partly in the hope that their
mere appearance would put the Allies to flight, the Imperial Guard was
brought forward. Not of their former quality, the Guard advanced
in squares, not columns as has been thought. It was touch and go
for some time, but the Allies held firm, and the French fled in
panic. Throughout the book, the psychological state of the men in
the ranks is key to understanding the battle. In short, this book
presents the latest findings on the battle, is well researched, well
reasoned, well written, and well worth reading.
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