by Robert M. Dunkerly and Irene B. Boland
Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2017. Pp. xvii, 150.
Illus., maps, appends., notes, biblio., index. $21,99 paper. ISBN: 1611177588
A Neglect Battle of the Southern Campaign
One of the last actions of the Revolutionary War, and perhaps the bloodiest - with losses of 20 percent or more on both sides, Eutaw Springs (Sep. 8, 1781) is rather neglected in the literature of the war, a matter addressed by the authors in this relatively short, but very good book.
For the British, the effort to capture the southern colonies was an ill-conceived attempt to offset their virtual loss of the war elsewhere, while for the Patriots, the campaign was rather a strategic diversion. Despite winning nearly every battle, the British never came close to pacifying the Carolinas or Georgia, while Patriot forces cemented their control over the northern colonies and extended their reach to the Mississippi, and their Spanish allies retained their hold on the Gulf Coast.
The authors set the battle and campaign within the larger events of the war. They offer a very good analysis of the political, military, and physical environment, with some profiles of a number of interesting people, most notably Nathanael Greene, after Washington the most important American general of the war, though he never won a battle.
Eutaw Springs is an excellent read for anyone interested in the Revolutionary War, and particular for the Southern Campaign.
Note: Eutaw Springs is also available in several e-editions.
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