Leo T. reviewed Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution on + 1775 more book reviews
I had not yet seen the book but there is a favorable review in Army, April 2016, p. 77 by Tyrell O. Mayfield. Receiving it in the summer of 2018, I used it as a lesson with high school students.
The book has an emphasis on the men serving in the ranks. The Marylanders served (1774-1783, nine years) through the entire war, from the Battle of Brooklyn to the surrender at Yorktown.
This is the author's eleventh book, most about WWII, and one about the 2nd Gulf War (he was the combat historian for a Marine rifle platoon). He has done a great deal of research, read many now obscure 19th C. collections of memoirs, and made good use of the applications for pensions by old soldiers.
Endnotes, photos section, but no separate bibliography or evaluation of sources. Index.
In a reading circle for students I used Chapter 39 for all and then those with sufficient interest read and discussed the withdrawal from NYC, a key point in the Revolutionary War as the cause would have been lost if the UK had rolled up the American Army at that point.
There is considerable detail about unit movements and battlefields, so only those who were interested in Chapter 39 went on to read and discuss the chapters on the withdrawal from Brooklyn.
My notes for using some of this material as collateral reading in a US History class.
Preface. pp. ix-xiv + 387.
The author begins with a battered sign remembering 256 Maryland soldiers buried here who fell in the Battle of Brooklyn, 27 August 1776. This is a faded industrial neighborhood so the house, held by British troops, that they charged with bayonets still stands. "Their assault on that house arguably remains one of the most important elite small-unit engagements in American history. It bought precious time for the Patriot cause, allowing hundreds of colonial troops to retreat through a gap in British lines (ix)."
Their bravery led them to being called 'The Maryland 400' or 'The Immortals.' Mr. O'Donnell says this is not a regimental history but the story of the individuals, some well-connected and others working people, "who became the nucleus of the greatest fighting regiments of the war (xiii)."
Chapter Thirty-Nine. Ninety Six.
Very interested students can read and discuss the Battle of Brooklyn, August 1776, a British victory. Chapters 8-10 pp. 53-77 + 393-398.
The Royal Navy allowed support of British troops, thus they could suddenly land twenty-two thousand at Gravesend Bay and march on Long Island where the Patriots were experiencing some disorder as they marshalled their troops. The forts were well sited at Brooklyn Heights by the outnumbered colonials. "The Americans designed a collapsible defense: the Marylanders and other forward troops were to hold the British off as long as possible, inflict maximum casualties, and then fall back toward the forts on Brooklyn Heights (55)."
Chapter Nine discusses the Battle of Brooklyn, the maps in Chapter Eight available to the reader following the troop movements. The author adds some color to this long ago battle by use of reminiscences and statements in pension claims. This was desperate fighting, often with no quarter given. The dominant British troops enveloped the Patriot positions, although some escaped by fording a marsh and river. "The Marylander's desperate, doomed charge on Cornwallis brought salvation for what was left of Stirling's command and the right wing of the American army, giving them a precious window of time in which to escape (71)."
Chapter Ten reveals the good luck that the rebel troops had in making their escape over the East River into New Jersey in the wee small hours of the morning. General Wm. Howe, sure of being able to mop the remaining rebels and mindful of the wasted lives of British forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill had not pressed his advantage the day before. Mr. O'Donnell believes that the rebel cause would have been lost if the British had immediately pursued their advantage as most of the troops on Brooklyn Heights would have been casualties or captured.
Chapter Thirty-Nine. Ninety Six. pp. 339-347 + 437. In this chapter, they are battling the British in South Carolina in 1781. A great many soldiers served only a few months. Siege warfare, although frequent in Europe, is not much remembered in the Revolutionary War.
My notes for discussion:
Note there is no water within the stockade and that sharpened logs served as a defense before the invention of barbed wire. The British are on the run and nearly restricted to coastal towns where the guns of the Royal Navy can be brought to bear, i.e. Charleston, Savannah, but Ninety Six and Augusta were exceptions. The Star Fort defenses included three three-pounder cannons that were effectively used by the British. The British were also successful in sallying forth and upsetting the work on trenches the Americans wished to employ to approach the walls of the fort. Note that the author prefers to label one side 'Loyalists' and the other 'Patriots' because of the divisions in America caused by the Revolutionary War and in this case there were New York troops serving with the British. Note the use of flaming arrows, heated cannon balls, attacks at night, bayonets, etc. Define 'forlorn hope' for the students.
LTC Rawdon was sent to relieve Ninety Six, causing Greene to attack the fort. He was repulsed and the revolutionaries withdrew. Rawdon's force pursued but in turn withdrew because of a lack of provender and Greene's troops were very hungry as they harried the British retreat. [Civil War soldiers, especially of the CSA, were often hungry and ill-clothed. Note that the story of campaigns should include the work of the quartermasters;it is so important.
Discuss: "At this point in the war, a bizarre phenomenon became apparent: many of Greene's troops were British deserters, but a large portion of Stewart's men had formerly fought for the Patriots (347)."
The book has an emphasis on the men serving in the ranks. The Marylanders served (1774-1783, nine years) through the entire war, from the Battle of Brooklyn to the surrender at Yorktown.
This is the author's eleventh book, most about WWII, and one about the 2nd Gulf War (he was the combat historian for a Marine rifle platoon). He has done a great deal of research, read many now obscure 19th C. collections of memoirs, and made good use of the applications for pensions by old soldiers.
Endnotes, photos section, but no separate bibliography or evaluation of sources. Index.
In a reading circle for students I used Chapter 39 for all and then those with sufficient interest read and discussed the withdrawal from NYC, a key point in the Revolutionary War as the cause would have been lost if the UK had rolled up the American Army at that point.
There is considerable detail about unit movements and battlefields, so only those who were interested in Chapter 39 went on to read and discuss the chapters on the withdrawal from Brooklyn.
My notes for using some of this material as collateral reading in a US History class.
Preface. pp. ix-xiv + 387.
The author begins with a battered sign remembering 256 Maryland soldiers buried here who fell in the Battle of Brooklyn, 27 August 1776. This is a faded industrial neighborhood so the house, held by British troops, that they charged with bayonets still stands. "Their assault on that house arguably remains one of the most important elite small-unit engagements in American history. It bought precious time for the Patriot cause, allowing hundreds of colonial troops to retreat through a gap in British lines (ix)."
Their bravery led them to being called 'The Maryland 400' or 'The Immortals.' Mr. O'Donnell says this is not a regimental history but the story of the individuals, some well-connected and others working people, "who became the nucleus of the greatest fighting regiments of the war (xiii)."
Chapter Thirty-Nine. Ninety Six.
Very interested students can read and discuss the Battle of Brooklyn, August 1776, a British victory. Chapters 8-10 pp. 53-77 + 393-398.
The Royal Navy allowed support of British troops, thus they could suddenly land twenty-two thousand at Gravesend Bay and march on Long Island where the Patriots were experiencing some disorder as they marshalled their troops. The forts were well sited at Brooklyn Heights by the outnumbered colonials. "The Americans designed a collapsible defense: the Marylanders and other forward troops were to hold the British off as long as possible, inflict maximum casualties, and then fall back toward the forts on Brooklyn Heights (55)."
Chapter Nine discusses the Battle of Brooklyn, the maps in Chapter Eight available to the reader following the troop movements. The author adds some color to this long ago battle by use of reminiscences and statements in pension claims. This was desperate fighting, often with no quarter given. The dominant British troops enveloped the Patriot positions, although some escaped by fording a marsh and river. "The Marylander's desperate, doomed charge on Cornwallis brought salvation for what was left of Stirling's command and the right wing of the American army, giving them a precious window of time in which to escape (71)."
Chapter Ten reveals the good luck that the rebel troops had in making their escape over the East River into New Jersey in the wee small hours of the morning. General Wm. Howe, sure of being able to mop the remaining rebels and mindful of the wasted lives of British forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill had not pressed his advantage the day before. Mr. O'Donnell believes that the rebel cause would have been lost if the British had immediately pursued their advantage as most of the troops on Brooklyn Heights would have been casualties or captured.
Chapter Thirty-Nine. Ninety Six. pp. 339-347 + 437. In this chapter, they are battling the British in South Carolina in 1781. A great many soldiers served only a few months. Siege warfare, although frequent in Europe, is not much remembered in the Revolutionary War.
My notes for discussion:
Note there is no water within the stockade and that sharpened logs served as a defense before the invention of barbed wire. The British are on the run and nearly restricted to coastal towns where the guns of the Royal Navy can be brought to bear, i.e. Charleston, Savannah, but Ninety Six and Augusta were exceptions. The Star Fort defenses included three three-pounder cannons that were effectively used by the British. The British were also successful in sallying forth and upsetting the work on trenches the Americans wished to employ to approach the walls of the fort. Note that the author prefers to label one side 'Loyalists' and the other 'Patriots' because of the divisions in America caused by the Revolutionary War and in this case there were New York troops serving with the British. Note the use of flaming arrows, heated cannon balls, attacks at night, bayonets, etc. Define 'forlorn hope' for the students.
LTC Rawdon was sent to relieve Ninety Six, causing Greene to attack the fort. He was repulsed and the revolutionaries withdrew. Rawdon's force pursued but in turn withdrew because of a lack of provender and Greene's troops were very hungry as they harried the British retreat. [Civil War soldiers, especially of the CSA, were often hungry and ill-clothed. Note that the story of campaigns should include the work of the quartermasters;it is so important.
Discuss: "At this point in the war, a bizarre phenomenon became apparent: many of Greene's troops were British deserters, but a large portion of Stewart's men had formerly fought for the Patriots (347)."
