The war we almost did not win

[COL Jagdog]

Where I live and where I am from the Rev War, French & Indian War (Seven Years War for you purists) and the War of 1812 were all very important and all three were in doubt along the northern frontier. I live only a forty minute drive from Saratoga, not to mention there was the fight at Fort Ticonderoga as well. So my area is full of this history and yet every year its pretty much ignored these days. Heck if you ask anyone if this country was invaded they would say no, which is not the truth, the British marched from Canada to Plattsburgh, a good twenty miles plus before they defeated at the Battle of Plattsburgh and the Battle of Lake Champlain, both on September 11, 1814. I am proud to say my ancestors were part of the militia and army that was raised that chased them back across the border again. I wish people knew how close we came in the War of 1812 and the Rev War to saying God Save the King instead of God Bless America.

You make an excellent point regarding the War of 1812 which we are celebrating here in Louisiana as it is our bicentennial year, -- the Battle of New Orleans was a turning point -- GEN Andrew Jackson's regulars, the Louisiana and New Orleans militia (my wife's grandfather was in the New Orleans militia, based on the Chef Menteur Highway, and when they were finally alerted to the aproach of the British (the British had landed south of New Orleans, about 10 miles south of an area known as Chalmette on the east bank of the Mississippi river, which became the locus of the battle. Jackson, aided by New Orleans residents, militia, slaves, free men of color, Creoles and Jean Lafite's buccaneers, had been building breastworks just south of New Orleans, at Chalmette beginning a few weeks before Christmas (figuring, rightly, that the British would land south of New Orleans and march north) -- they finished the breastworks right after Christmas, and aided tremendously by gunpowder, ball and flints brought in by Lafite's corsair ships, prepared for battle (my wife's father is a direct descendant of Jean Lafite, his name is Jean Lafite Spiller). Her grandfather, in the Menteur militia, ran almost 20 miles south to the battlefield with his unit after the alarm was sounded. The British were worn out from their march thru the swampy areas south of Chalmette and arrived exhausted --and the morning mists that often cover the area, burned off,
presenting the troops commanded by Jackson with an unparrelled opportunity to attrit them as they marched lock-step towards the breastworks. They were decimated.

 

[COL Jagdog]

BlackHawkNJ -- great post -- you hit it dead center on both conflicts.
Huzzah!!

 

[Cyrano]

Some of the echoes of the Revolutionary War linger on. I'm from a little town in Connecticut, called Sherman (from Roger Sherman, who signed the Declaration of Independence). It's on the western part of the state, right on the New York border. There's a moutnain there, called Wanzer Mountain. Wanzer was a Hessian (or some other mercenary) who saw all that nice land and deserted when the British marched up one side of the Hudson River and down the other. He settled not too far from the mountain and farmed. Unfortunately he had only daughters, so the name died out.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

Checking up on my family tree I found that I have an ancestor named Rumbaugh that fought in the Revolutionary War from Pennsylvania, A Capt. I think under Gen, Geo. Washington. Makes me proud.

 

[redlevel]

Texas Star, yes, I must have been in "brainlock" -- it was Francis Marion, the famed "Swamp Fox", who was the scourge of COL Tarleton's
British cavalry units.

Marion was indeed the scourge of "Banny" Tarleton's cavalry, and it was Daniel Morgan who outmaneuvered him at every turn at Cowpens. Tarleton barely escaped with his life.

Before the Battle of King's Mountain Patrick Ferguson sent the Over the Mountain men a proclamation declaring that if they did not submit he would lay waste to their lands with "fire and sword". That battle was part of their attempt to "Americanize" the war by relying on Loyalists to fight it for them so they could deploy Crown Forces against the French and Spanish who had become our allies.

King's Mountain was sort of a prelude to the WBTS, with American Patriots fighting American Loyalists.

Those battles in the South are of particular interest to me. I have never thought they were given as much "ink" as they deserved. They were battles of attrition that wore down the British forces with heavy casualties, assuring a good end for the patriots.

 

[kraigwy]

Read Mao, all you have to do is hang on for 10 years and the other side will loose their will. (Not their abilities, but their will).

I.E. Vietnam....................keep a close watch on Afghan.

 

[cowart]

They were simply too spread out at the time

Of course, nowadays, that could never happen to the United States, right? ;>)

 

[COL Jagdog]

Redlevel, enjoyed your post -- the battles fought in the South did in fact attrit troops (most importantly, trained experienced troops) that might have turned the tide in 1782-83.

Banastre Tarleton was a young LT COL of Cavalry (The British Legion) who had a rather meteroric rise in reputation after a couple of early victories. His reputation was tarnished at the Battle of Waxhaws as several hundred surrendering American partiots were massacred as they tried to capitulate. Tarleton later claimed that he had tried to stop the massacre - as the story goes, he was unhorsed towards the end of the battle at the same time that Americans were trying to surrender, and supposedly his men thought this was a ruse designed to kill their leader, so they turned their wrath on the surrendering troops. What is telling is that early in the battle, a very small group of Virginia Dragoons were captured by Tarleton's men and a Dragoon captain was cut down with sabers, even though he had surrendered --
thus, it appears the mindset was already there to teach a draconian lesson to the Americans -- a term was coined -- "Tarleton's quarter"
by the Americans, which meant give no quarter at all.

What is amazing to me is that so many accounts of these battles (which were hand-written AA's -- after-action reports) survived the war and made it into the National Archives.

 

[palmetto99]

Those battles in the South are of particular interest to me. I have never thought they were given as much "ink" as they deserved.

I have always wondered the same thing. I have never heard a good theory on the bias. Maybe it just doesn't fit well into the narrative.