This is an excellent overview of the Southern theatre of the American Revolution; one that includes all the major players, each leading into the next. There's Baron de Kalb, a German veteran who joined the American cause in 1777, fighting mostly in the South. Then at the Siege of Charleston, a brutal 42 days of bombardment, we meet Benjamin Lincoln and Gov. John Rutledge. Preventing support from Lieut. Col. Huger is Lieut. Banastre Tarleton, later known as "Bloody Ban." At the Carolinas border is Abraham Buford, whose forces would lose to Tarleton in the "Waxhaws Massacre." Between him, Patrick Ferguson, rank politics and state isolationism, the Americans are hard pressed to retrieve supplies. The Battle of Camden would be particularly devastating, but Francis Marion and his band of 25-30 men would be a scrappy thorn in the Loyalist side in the interim. The Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of Cowpens would come as surprising victories, with Nathaniel Greene now in charge of the "Southern Dept." Both proved significant in the lead up to the final Battle of Yorktown.

As Crawford acknowledges, many historians are understandably reluctant to acknowledge Southern revolutionary efforts. Crawford asserts that the Southern rebellion was based not in the preservation of slavery (that came later), but rather in defense of rights due as British subjects. They also called themselves "Whigs," not patriots in honor of those fighting a corrupt Parliament back in England. Still, it's a shameful contradiction of independence vs hundreds of thousands still in bondage. Loyalists also existed in far greater numbers in the South, resulting in an unrefined, plundering, neighbor-against-neighbor campaign that was wholly different from its northern counterpart. Tactics were unpredictable, messy, but effective. However, there are plenty of side skirmishes, dramatic encounters and first hand accounts that add a bit of flair to the narrative. I thought the description of the Battle of King's Mountain was particularly well done! ( )