Coming Soon in the Emerging Revolutionary War Series: The Redcoats Take the Capital
The Redcoats Take the Capital: A Guide to the Battlefields and Historic Sites of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign
by Michael C. Harris
Savas Beatie, 2027
As the America 250 rolls on, our Emerging Revolutionary War Series invites you to explore the battlefields and historic sites associated with the 1777 campaign to take Philadelphia. And who better to take you around than one of the foremost experts on the Philadelphia campaign, Michael C. Harris.
About the Book:
1777 proved the turning point of the American Revolution. The year began with high hopes for the British forces in North America. John Burgoyne led an army south from Canada with the goal of cutting New England off from the other colonies. While the Saratoga campaign played out in upstate New York, British General William Howe chose to capture Philadelphia rather than support Burgoyne’s operation. Howe’s decision ultimately doomed Burgoyne leading to the French Alliance the next year.
During the ten month period from March-December 1777, the Philadelphia campaign played out from northern New Jersey to northeastern Maryland. Two large battles at Brandywine and Germantown, dozens of lesser engagements like Short Hills, Cooch’s Bridge, Paoli, Gloucester, and Matson’s Ford, and numerous skirmishes took place. The campaign culminated with the occupation of Philadelphia and ended with George Washington’s army arriving at Valley Forge. Over 35,000 troops participated in the campaign.
The campaign is the story of British aristocrats and common soldiers, Germanic troops ordered far from their homeland, American farmers and tradesmen fighting for liberty, and a civilian population torn asunder. Homes, farms, businesses, and public buildings suffered the consequences of two large armies traversing the landscape. George Washington, Nathanael Greene, John Sullivan, Anthony Wayne, Henry Knox, and the Marquis de Lafayette take center stage for the Americans. William Howe, Charles Cornwallis, Charles Grey, Wilhelm von Knyphausen, and Richard Howe lead the British effort.
Many of the sites associated with the campaign remain unmarked and difficult to locate. Based upon twenty years of research, historian Michael Harris now leads you on the ultimate Revolutionary War road trip with The Redcoats Take the Capital: A Guide to the Battlefields and Historic Sites of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign.
Great news. The author’s trilogy covering the campaign is definitive and this will be an excellent supplement. His scholarship and his on-the-ground knowledge make him the ideal choice for this book.