In June 1775 the Continental Congress; leading the American rebellion against the British Crown; created the Continental Army to serve in the line of battle alongside militia and "Provincial" units. Although supply problems; issues with discipline; and poor training hampered the Continentals' effectiveness in combat; they were able to inflict a decisive defeat on the British at Yorktown. In contrast; the backbone of the British forces in North America were long-service regular infantrymen; serving for the most part in single-battalion regiments. They had earned a formidable reputation on Europe's battlefields during the Seven Years' War; but in fighting the French in North America during that conflict had already learned a great deal about the very different fighting conditions prevalent in the New World.In a host of encounters ranging from skirmishes to decisive pitched battles; the infantrymen of both sides would be tested to the limit; with supply problems; hostile terrain; and poor weather all adding to the horrors of close-quarter combat. Featuring full-color artwork; specially drawn maps; and archive illustrations; this engaging study offers key insights into the tactics; leadership; combat performance; and subsequent reputations of six representative Continental and Redcoat infantry regiments pitched into three pivotal actions that shaped the outcome of the American Revolutionary War.
#1341327 in Books Matthew Harper 2016-09-26Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.69 x .76 x 6.18l; .0 #File Name: 1469629364224 pagesThe End of Days African American Religion and Politics in the Age of Emancipation
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Harper argues that historians have not given enough attention to ...By JSHarper argues that historians have not given enough attention to the religious motives that informed African American political and economic strategies in the postbellum era. He posits that African Americans “understood political events to be part of a larger spiritual drama;†meaning that nearly every concern was refracted through this millenarian worldview. (61-62). In particular; he reveals that African Americans had a rich millennialist tradition of interpreting events through trying to discern its role in the Second Coming of Christ. However; that did not lead to monolithic views in the African American community. Instead; different interpretations of events led to discord in matters of politics and economics after the Civil War.Harper proves his argument in several case studies of political events that African American communities faced after Appomattox. African Americans viewed topics as varied as voting rights; land reform; temperance; Populism; migration; and segregation through an eschatological lens and employed a variety of biblical stories to buttress their interpretations. This fostered a variety of religious views in African American communities; which in turn spawned different political strategies according to particular religious readings. Harper’s most salient point; though; comes in the final pages of his book. He rightly argues that historians have been cutting at the history of Jim Crow “from both ends;†discovering black political organization for civil rights at progressively earlier dates from the Civil Rights Movement and later dates than Reconstruction. Harper’s historical figures demonstrate that African Americans have consistently fought for civil rights in part because of their eschatological expectations (155-156).
