Redcoats: The British Soldier and War in the Americas, 1755-1763

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Cambridge University Press, Jan 9, 2006 - History - 360 pages
In the last decade, scholarship has highlighted the significance of the Seven Years War for the destiny of Britain's Atlantic empire. This major 2001 study offers an important perspective through a vivid and scholarly account of the regular troops at the sharp end of that conflict's bloody and decisive American campaigns. Sources are employed to challenge enduring stereotypes regarding both the social composition and military prowess of the 'redcoats'. This shows how the humble soldiers who fought from Novia Scotia to Cuba developed a powerful esprit de corps that equipped them to defy savage discipline in defence of their 'rights'. It traces the evolution of Britain's 'American Army' from a feeble, conservative and discredited organisation into a tough, flexible and innovative force whose victories ultimately won the respect of colonial Americans. By providing a voice for these neglected shock-troops of empire, Redcoats adds flesh and blood to Georgian Britain's 'sinews of power'.
 

Contents

Approaching the American Army
1
Britains war effort in the Americas
11
Gone for a soldier
54
Following the drum
99
The environmental parameters of American campaigning
137
The American Army and Native Americans
162
Irregular warfare in the Americas
191
The tactical evolution of the redcoats
227
The Highland battalions in the Americas
264
The legacies of the American Army
290
Statistical tables
315
Bibliography
321
Index
343
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About the author (2006)

A former newspaper journalist, Stephen Brumwell earned his Ph.D in History from the University of Leeds in 1998. He currently works as a freelance writer in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His recent publications include White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery, and Vengeance in Colonial America.

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