Winning Independence
The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781
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- 28,99 €
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- 28,99 €
Publisher Description
Co-Winner of the 2022 Harry M. Ward Book Prize
From celebrated historian John Ferling, the underexplored history of the second half of the Revolutionary War, when, after years of fighting, American independence often seemed beyond reach.
It was 1778, and the recent American victory at Saratoga had netted the U.S a powerful ally in France. Many, including General George Washington, presumed France's entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner.
Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a "southern strategy." The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its pre-war American empire. Deep into 1780 Britain's new approach seemed headed for success as the U.S. economy collapsed and morale on the home front waned. By early 1781, Washington, and others, feared that France would drop out of the war if the Allies failed to score a decisive victory that year. Sir Henry Clinton, commander of Britain's army, thought "the rebellion is near its end." Washington, who had been so optimistic in 1778, despaired: "I have almost ceased to hope."
Winning Independence is the dramatic story of how and why Great Britain-so close to regaining several southern colonies and rendering the postwar United States a fatally weak nation ultimately failed to win the war. The book explores the choices and decisions made by Clinton and Washington, and others, that ultimately led the French and American allies to clinch the pivotal victory at Yorktown that at long last secured American independence.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Ferling (Apostles of the Revolution) examines in this deeply researched and well-argued account how the Revolutionary War shifted from a conflict "that many on both sides had thought would be short, and not especially bloody" to a "gigantic world war" that dragged on for eight years. He details England's missed opportunities to quash the rebellion early on, before delving into how Sir Henry Clinton, who took charge of British forces in North America in May 1778, stalemated the conflict by shifting troops and resources from the North to the South, seeking to regain British control of the Carolinas and Georgia. Bucking conventional assessments of Clinton's leadership, Ferling portrays him as a "comprehensive and thoughtful" tactician whose "southern strategy" sunk the rebels' morale, ravaged the American economy, and nearly led to a negotiated peace with England in control of multiple colonies. Though Ferling is more focused on tactics and strategies than personalities, he draws incisive comparisons between Clinton's belief that "more was to be gained from avoiding defeat than rolling the dice in hopes of gaining victory" and Gen. George Washington's mindset. Readers will gain fresh insight into how thin the line between victory and defeat was for both armies.
