Discipline & Bayonets
Sep. 2nd, 2013 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marycatelliDiscipline & Bayonets: The Armies and Leaders in the War of the American Revolution by Joseph B. Mitchell
A better subtitle might have been "the regular troops" in that war, because those are what he concentrates on. With passages on how certain battles are misleading about the value of the militia.
An excellent study of how the Continental army was formed and drilled. A lot of details about battles that are not in the popular mythology but were deeply influential. Germantown, for instance. The Americans lost, but that Washington was able to counter-attack so quickly after a defeat got attention.
How Mad Anthony Wayne got his name. It was actually using the same tactics that a British general had used on his forces -- and that one just got nicknamed "No Flint" because he had had the flints removed from the muskets to ensure it was a bayonet attack.
Morgan's smashing victory at Cowpens, where he managed to make effective use of militia. Nathanael Greene used almost the same at Guilford Court House, and while technically Cornwallis had the field at the end,
And more.
A better subtitle might have been "the regular troops" in that war, because those are what he concentrates on. With passages on how certain battles are misleading about the value of the militia.
An excellent study of how the Continental army was formed and drilled. A lot of details about battles that are not in the popular mythology but were deeply influential. Germantown, for instance. The Americans lost, but that Washington was able to counter-attack so quickly after a defeat got attention.
How Mad Anthony Wayne got his name. It was actually using the same tactics that a British general had used on his forces -- and that one just got nicknamed "No Flint" because he had had the flints removed from the muskets to ensure it was a bayonet attack.
Morgan's smashing victory at Cowpens, where he managed to make effective use of militia. Nathanael Greene used almost the same at Guilford Court House, and while technically Cornwallis had the field at the end,
And more.