Thomas J. McGuire - Böcker

This second in a monumental two-volume set on the 1777 campaign of the American Revolution follows the saga from Cornwallis' triumphal march of his British and Hessian troops into Philadelphia in late September to Washington's movement of the weary Continental forces to camp at Valley Forge in December. Based on soldiers' and civilians' vivid accounts - many uncovered for the first time from private collections - the story of the compelling fight for independence reaches its most desperate moments. Defeated at Brandywine and out-manoeuvred near Valley Forge, the Continental forces were worn out and ill equipped. Yet on October 4, Washington would embark on his first major offensive of the war - a surprise attack at dawn on Howe's main camp at Germantown. Again defeated, though narrowly this time, the Continentals gained valuable experience and new confidence in the possibility of victory. The seige of the Delaware River forts - one of the bloodiest and prolonged battles of the war - ended with British success in mid-November, but still Howe failed to end the war. In his last American offensive before his resignation took effect, Howe tried unsuccessfully to draw Washington from the fortified hills of Whitemarsh. Now, as the Continental forces moved to Valley Forge for the winter, they would have to face their greatest challenge - survival.

Providing an in-depth examination of the bloody battle of Brandywine and other military engagements that resulted in the British capture of Philadelphia, McGuire weaves surviving first-hand accounts into the compelling story of the fight for the Continental capital. Covering all sides, from the soldiers in the battlefields to civilian witnesses, McGuire’s account of the campaign for Philadelphia is a must-read for military history and Revolutionary War scholars. “The Philadelphia Campaign is first-rate, an absorbing work of tenacious research and close scholarship. Thomas J. McGuire knows the time of the American Revolution and has been over the ground in and about Philadelphia in a way few writers ever have. But it is his empathy for the human reality of war and the great variety of people caught up in it, whether in the service of the king or the Glorious Cause of America, that makes this book especially alive and memorable."--David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of John Adams and 1776

This first full-length treatment of the Revolutionary War battle recounts British general Charles Grey’s brutal attack on Anthony Wayne’s division of 1,500 Continentals in September 1777. The detailed account follows the action from the arrival of Wayne’s division south of the Schuylkill River, near Paoli Tavern, to defend Philadelphia against Howe’s encroaching troops to Grey’s discovery of Wayne’s position, the bloody battle that ensued, and the subsequent court-martial of Wayne, who had been accused of negligence.