Review of "Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution," by Walter Edgar

 Review of

Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution, by Walter Edgar ISBN 0380806436

Five out of five stars

History of the American revolution in South Carolina

 When the history of the American revolution against Great Britain is taught in schools, the emphasis is on Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and Yorktown. Very rarely is there any mention of anything south of Virginia. That is unfortunate, for some of the greatest battles of the war took place in South Carolina.

 One fact that is rarely mentioned in the history books is that the American Revolutionary War was more than a battle with British troops. It was very much a civil war and like all civil wars, it was bitterly fought. For when such a war breaks out, many people simply use it to settle old scores and grievances. Some just use it to rob and destroy their neighbor’s possessions.

 At the time of the American Revolutionary War, South Carolina was fundamentally two different cultures. There was the wealthier coastal region and the backcountry made up of settlers that broke the land and worked hard trying to make a living. Neither side really had much time for the other. When the war took place, the British sent an army to the coastal region and tried to recruit armies from the citizens that proclaimed their continued loyalty to the British crown.

 As is described in detail, this was a brutal war where both sides pillaged and engaged in scorched Earth policies, carrying off the livestock and burning the homes of people suspected of being sympathetic to the other side. The number of battles that took place in South Carolina is surprising. Thousands of men were engaged on both sides as the American forces wore down the British and their Loyalist allies. Many of the Loyalists are portrayed as scheming thugs rather than honorable men fighting for what they thought was their legitimate leader.

 This is a book that should be read by everyone interested in how the American Revolutionary War was fought and won. It can be strongly argued that the American victory was won in South Carolina rather than the more well-known fighting in the northern states.