A special look at our new Emerging Revolutionary War Series!
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The Civil War: “America’s defining event.” We say it right at the top of our website, in fact, right on the front page. The Revolution founded America, but the Civil War decided what that new nation would ultimate become. The Civil War finishes a story begun in 1775.
But the story didn’t really end in 1865 any more than it started in 1775, did it? Those two wars have a direct connection in a clear narrative arc, but they also rest on a larger continuum of events. One events sets up the next sets up the next sets up the next. (That was the premise behind our recent book
Turning Points of the American Civil War.)
True students of history understand that connectedness and seek to understand it. They also notice the ripples and echoes that result from those connections. At ECW, Chris Kolakowski frequently explores that resonance through his “Civil War Echoes” series.
And now we have a new way to explore those historical connections: The Emerging Revolutionary War Series. Under the leadership of co-founders Rob Orrison and Phill Greenwalt, Emerging Revolutionary War has widened our lens from America’s defining event to now look at America’s founding event, too. Both periods offer dramatic action, colorful characters, and important ideas. Explicitly connecting the two eras gives us renewed opportunity to understand the things that make us
us as a country at a time when there’s renewed urgency to think about those very things.
Chris Mackowski
Editor-in-Chief
(PHOTO:
"A statue of Washington wrapped in his cloak stands near the site where he crossed the Delaware River in 1776."
courtesy Mark Malloy
)
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The Emerging Revolutionary War Series
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With the release of the first two volumes of the
Emerging Revolutionary War Series, the goal is to continue the successful trend of the
Emerging Civil War Series and to highlight the importance of the battles and campaigns of the American Revolutionary War.
Building off the momentum from the blog,
www.emergingrevolutionarywar.org, the book series’ goal is to connect readers, enthusiasts, avid historians, and novices to the importance of the hallowed ground related to our nation’s founding. To kick off the book series—published by our great friends at
Savas Beatie and overseen by series editor Hannah Gordon—we wanted to find starting points for readers to begin their quest into the importance of this era.
Thus, we begin with two of the best-known actions of the Revolution:
“
One of the aspects of the Emerging Civil War Series that I was enthusiastic to replicate for the Revolutionary War series was connecting the campaign to sites on the ground,” said Mark Maloy, author of
Victory or Death
. “I wanted to create a field guide in which readers could not only read about what happened but use maps and coordinates to visit the locations where the actions actually occurred.”
Both books are 192 pages, with detailed maps and more than 175 images, both current and historical.
A Single Blow features a foreword by J.L. Bell, one of the preeminent historians of Boston in the Revolutionary Era.
Victory or Death features a foreword by eminent Revolutionary-Era historian Mike Cecere.
Stay tuned for new volumes coming in the next years, including topics such as Monmouth Court House, Valley Forge, Camden and others.
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A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord
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“I have now nothing to trouble your Lordship with, but an affair that happened on the 19th instant . . .”
General Thomas Gage penned the above line to his superiors in London, casually summing up the shots fired at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the culmination of years of unrest between those loyal to the British monarchy and those advocating for more autonomy and dreaming of independence from Great Britain. On the morning of April 19th, Gage sent out a force of British soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to confiscate, recapture, and destroy the military supplies gathered by the colonists and believed to be stored in the town of Concord.
Due to the alacrity of men such as Dr. Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, and William Dawes, utilizing a network of signals and outriders, the countryside was well-aware of the approaching British, setting the stage for the day’s events.
When the column reached the green of Lexington, Massachusetts, militia men awaited their approach. The first shots of April 19th would be fired there. The rest of the day unfolded accordingly.
In
A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution
, historians Phillip S. Greenwalt and Robert Orrison unfold the facts of April 19, 1775. Walk with the authors through the important places that this pivotal spring day ushered in for the fate of Massachusetts and thirteen of Great Britain’s North American colonies.
About the Authors:
Phillip S. Greenwalt is co-founder of Emerging Revolutionary War and historical editor for the Emerging Revolutionary War Series. He is also a full-time contributor to Emerging Civil War. Phillip is the co-author of
Bloody Autumn: The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864
,
Hurricane from the Heavens: The Battle of Cold Harbor
, and
Calamity in Carolina: The Battles of Averasboro and Bentonville
(all three with Daniel Davis).
Robert Orrison has been working in the public history field for more than 20 years. Currently Rob serves as the Historic Site Operations Supervisor for Prince William County, Virginia. He is co-founder of Emerging Revolutionary War and his published works include
A Want of Vigilance: The Bristoe Station Campaign
and
The Last Road North: A Guide to the Gettysburg Campaign 1863
.
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Victory or Death:
The Battles of Trenton and Princeton
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December 1776: Just six months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, George Washington and the new American Army sit on the verge of utter destruction by the banks of the Delaware River. The despondent and demoralized group of men had endured repeated defeats and now were on the edge of giving up hope. Washington feared “the game is pretty near up.”
Rather than submit to defeat, Washington and his small band of soldiers crossed the ice-choked Delaware River and attacked the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey on the day after Christmas. He followed up the surprise attack with successful actions along the Assunpink Creek and at Princeton. In a stunning military campaign, Washington had turned the tables, and breathed life into the dying cause for liberty during the Revolutionary War.
The campaign has led many historians to deem it as one of the most significant military campaigns in American history. One British historian even declared that “it may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater or more lasting results upon the history of the world.”
In
Victory or Death
, historian Mark Maloy not only recounts these epic events, he takes you along to the places where they occurred. He shows where Washington stood on the banks of the Delaware and contemplated defeat, the city streets that his exhausted men charged through, and the open fields where Washington himself rode into the thick of battle.
Victory or Death
is a must for anyone interested in learning how George Washington and his brave soldiers grasped victory from the jaws of defeat.
About the Author:
Mark Maloy is a historian currently working for the National Park Service in Virginia. He holds an undergraduate degree in History from the College of William and Mary and a graduate degree in History from George Mason University. He has worked at numerous public historic sites and archaeological digs for the past ten years. He is an avid Revolutionary War reenactor and resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, Lauren, and son, Samuel. He is a regular contributor to the blog
Emerging Revolutionary War.
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