Rating: 
Summary: A rewarding eye on the American Revolutionary War
Review: "Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution," by Walter Edgar, is a fascinating history of a crucial chapter in United States history. Edgar tells the story of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina.Edgar paints an interesting portrait of the people and culture of that region before and during the war. The book recounts the key battles and personalities that shaped the southern campaign. I was particularly fascinated by Edgar's analysis of the British failure "to win the hearts and minds of the people of South Carolina." Edgar offers tantalizing glimpses at the roles played by women and African-Americans in the ongoing struggle. And the book is full of down-to-earth details, such as how uncooked meat caused illness among the revolutionary troops. Edgar tells a good story. He writes in a clear, engaging style. The book is also packed full of useful supplemental elements: a chronology spanning 1756 to 1783; a glossary of terms, places, and battles; biographical sketches of significant figures; extensive endnotes with bibliographic references; maps; historic illustrations; and an index. This relatively short, but substantial book is an excellent choice for those with an interest in 18th century American history.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the Read
Review: As a native of Charleston, South Carolina, I have found that most people only associate our great state with the Civil War. They neglect to realize the large role that South Carolina played in the Revolutionary War. This book brilliantly illuminates the state's involvement during the Revolution.
It is engaging and well written and keeps the reader entertained from cover to cover. I highly recommend it to anyone without reservation. It is definitely worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: A Different Perspective
Review: Edgar , Dr. Walter B. ,Partisans and Redcoats:The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of The American Revolution ,William Morrow and Co. ,23 OCT 2001 This book was written by Dr. Walter Edgar about the American Revolution in the South Carolina. Dr. Walter Edgar is a history professor at the University of South Carolina where he is also over the Southern Studies department. He is highly regarded as a Southern historian and is widely acknowledged as the authority on his home state's (South Carolina) history. South Carolina : A History is another book that Dr. Edgar wrote due to protest that the preceding books on the history of South Carolina that were widely used as textbooks in the secondary schools of South Carolina were too conservative and politically incorrect. A good job is done with this book ,but many things could be better about it. For many people and students of the American Revolution, this is a theater of war that is often downplayed and ignored .Most schoolchildren in America only know the version of history taught about the Revolution that centered on the New England and the Middle Colonies. That version of the history of the Revolution is due to the fact that "winners write history" and since 1865 the South has never been given much credit for helping secure America's independence by helping to win the American Revolution ,but Dr. Edgar does an excellent job in disproving that theory in his book . Dr. Edgar also differs from many other historians by stating that the battle of "Huck's Defeat" on 12 July 1780 in what is now York County was the turning point of the Revolution in the South, not King's Mountain as many schoolchildren are taught. Dr. Edgar does a good job in proving his theory that "Huck's Defeat" was the turning point of the Revolution in the South .Huck's Defeat was a small battle that was a Patriot victory ,but no strategic physical gains were made by the Patriots in their victory .This battle was between 115 Tories and just a little more Patriots .It was a victory in which the Patriots decimated the Tories .The reason that Dr. Edgar believes that this battle was the turning point of the Revolution in the South is that fact that this little known battle lifted the spirits ,raised the morale , and gave a ray of hope to the Patriots in the backcountry when their spirits were at their lowest ebb and many were about to give up .After Huck's Defeat the fortunes of the Patriot cause in the backcountry grew better despite several setbacks. Another part of the American Revolution in the South Carolina backcountry that Dr. Edgar portrays well in this book is the fratricidal nature of war that happened there .He cites many examples of how many family members often fought against each other with little or no remorse .At the battle of Stallion's {pages 90-91},Captain Love who is a patriot fights against Tories that are holed up in his sister's house and his sister is killed in the ensuing battle by a stray bullet fired by his men. After the Battle of King's Mountain, a Patriot captain saw his wounded Tory brother-in-law dying on the ground and his brother-in-law pleaded for help, but the only reply that he received from him was "look to your friends for help" {page 120}.These are just a few examples of how things were in South Carolina's "civil war". There are many things that are lacking in this book ,but Dr. Edgar's theses and facts are solid and well based .A major fault that I find in this book is that it is too short and does not go into enough detail about the socio-economic and cultural backgrounds of the South Carolina backcountry .Dr. Edgar also gives the false impression and could mislead many readers of his book that the Scots Irish were unanimously for the Patriot cause in the South Carolina backcountry .The Scots Irish were the vanguard of the Patriot forces in the backcountry ,but many of them stayed out the fighting or were Tories .One must remember that the notorious Cunningham brothers who were Tories were also Scots Irish and received most of their support from the predominantly Scots Irish Ninety Six district .This book seems to be written for high school students and people who are not too familiar with this theater of the Revolution ,but I might be a little biased in my judgment because I read the late Dr. Henry Lumpkin's book (From Savannah to Yorktown : The American Revolution in the South ) and never missed his television show on Saturdays (And Then There Were Thirteen) when I was nine (9) instead of reading Judy Blume and watching the Smurfs . Davis Jones Beam III (Jody)
Rating:
Summary: A Different Perspective
Review: Edgar , Dr. Walter B. ,Partisans and Redcoats:The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of The American Revolution ,William Morrow and Co. ,23 OCT 2001This book was written by Dr. Walter Edgar about the American Revolution in the South Carolina. Dr. Walter Edgar is a history professor at the University of South Carolina where he is also over the Southern Studies department. He is highly regarded as a Southern historian and is widely acknowledged as the authority on his home state's (South Carolina) history. South Carolina : A History is another book that Dr. Edgar wrote due to protest that the preceding books on the history of South Carolina that were widely used as textbooks in the secondary schools of South Carolina were too conservative and politically incorrect. A good job is done with this book ,but many things could be better about it.For many people and students of the American Revolution, this is a theater of war that is often downplayed and ignored .Most schoolchildren in America only know the version of history taught about the Revolution that centered on the New England and the Middle Colonies. That version of the history of the Revolution is due to the fact that "winners write history" and since 1865 the South has never been given much credit for helping secure America's independence by helping to win the American Revolution ,but Dr. Edgar does an excellent job in disproving that theory in his book . Dr. Edgar also differs from many other historians by stating that the battle of "Huck's Defeat" on 12 July 1780 in what is now York County was the turning point of the Revolution in the South, not King's Mountain as many schoolchildren are taught. Dr. Edgar does a good job in proving his theory that "Huck's Defeat" was the turning point of the Revolution in the South .Huck's Defeat was a small battle that was a Patriot victory ,but no strategic physical gains were made by the Patriots in their victory .This battle was between 115 Tories and just a little more Patriots .It was a victory in which the Patriots decimated the Tories .The reason that Dr. Edgar believes that this battle was the turning point of the Revolution in the South is that fact that this little known battle lifted the spirits ,raised the morale , and gave a ray of hope to the Patriots in the backcountry when their spirits were at their lowest ebb and many were about to give up .After Huck's Defeat the fortunes of the Patriot cause in the backcountry grew better despite several setbacks.Another part of the American Revolution in the South Carolina backcountry that Dr. Edgar portrays well in this book is the fratricidal nature of war that happened there .He cites many examples of how many family members often fought against each other with little or no remorse .At the battle of Stallion's {pages 90-91},Captain Love who is a patriot fights against Tories that are holed up in his sister's house and his sister is killed in the ensuing battle by a stray bullet fired by his men. After the Battle of King's Mountain, a Patriot captain saw his wounded Tory brother-in-law dying on the ground and his brother-in-law pleaded for help, but the only reply that he received from him was "look to your friends for help" {page 120}.These are just a few examples of how things were in South Carolina's "civil war". There are many things that are lacking in this book ,but Dr. Edgar's theses and facts are solid and well based .A major fault that I find in this book is that it is too short and does not go into enough detail about the socio-economic and cultural backgrounds of the South Carolina backcountry .Dr. Edgar also gives the false impression and could mislead many readers of his book that the Scots Irish were unanimously for the Patriot cause in the South Carolina backcountry .The Scots Irish were the vanguard of the Patriot forces in the backcountry ,but many of them stayed out the fighting or were Tories .One must remember that the notorious Cunningham brothers who were Tories were also Scots Irish and received most of their support from the predominantly Scots Irish Ninety Six district .This book seems to be written for high school students and people who are not too familiar with this theater of the Revolution ,but I might be a little biased in my judgment because I read the late Dr. Henry Lumpkin's book (From Savannah to Yorktown : The American Revolution in the South ) and never missed his television show on Saturdays (And Then There Were Thirteen) when I was nine (9) instead of reading Judy Blume and watching the Smurfs .Davis Jones Beam III (Jody)
Rating: 
Summary: A good read, if brief
Review: I found this book to be both enjoyable and informative, however it was also brief and at times confusing. This book covers the battles between the backcountry forces and the British and allies from the fall of Charlestown until the battle of cowpens. I would recomend this, however it seems both a bit short and the authors writing style confused me about the timeline a bit, however the timeline in the back and the maps of the battles made it all make sense!
Rating:
Summary: Engaging..a different perspective
Review: I found this book to be quite enjoyable. It looks at the American Revolution from a different perspective than most books I have come across, examining the war from a distinctly southern viewpoint. I found two themes to be of particular note in this work. First, the author describes how the many people not inclined to support the Revolution were driven to by the actions of the British troops sent to crack down on the revolt in the early part of the war. Secondly, the sheer brutality of war in the 1700s was brought to life (often using contemporary accounts). Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand and atrocities were committed with regularity on both sides on levels hard for the modern reader to comprehend. It was a very interesting book and well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging..a different perspective
Review: I found this book to be quite enjoyable. It looks at the American Revolution from a different perspective than most books I have come across, examining the war from a distinctly southern viewpoint. I found two themes to be of particular note in this work. First, the author describes how the many people not inclined to support the Revolution were driven to by the actions of the British troops sent to crack down on the revolt in the early part of the war. Secondly, the sheer brutality of war in the 1700s was brought to life (often using contemporary accounts). Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand and atrocities were committed with regularity on both sides on levels hard for the modern reader to comprehend. It was a very interesting book and well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: The American Revolution in South Carolina.
Review: I thought this a nice read on the American Revolution in South Carolina. Edgar turns his pride of his home state into a discourse on how the events in South Carolina resulted in victory of the Continentals in the American Revolution. He also relates the events of the first civil war in South Carolina between the Regulators and the Moderators. He backs up his claim on the fighting in South Carolina with the statistics on the casualties incurred in the fighting there. I certainly agree South Carolina can take pride in the battles fought and won and why they were important to the infant United States.
This is a short book and I thought Edgar could have provided more meat to back up his claims. His use of examples as the melting of the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz, I thought was a bad example in a historical record. All told a good and quick read.
Rating: 
Summary: Makes a good point, but overstates his case...
Review: Most military histories of the American Revolution focus on the "great" battles, and give scant attention to recounting other, lesser engagements. However, those lesser engagements are often the best way of depicting the harsh and divisive nature of the war. In the Carolinas, for example, the war took on many aspects of a civil war within a war, as Loyalist militias, stiffened by British soldiers, took on Rebel militias in a brutal, back-country partisan conflict.
This book attempts to describe that slice of the war by highlighting one engagement within it. That small battle, prosaically named "Huck's Defeat" (after Captain Christian Huck, the Loyalist officer who lost his life in the fight), was the first Rebel victory in the aftermath of the fall of the city of Charleston, and it is the opinion of the author that the importance small militia engagements like this one are overlooked. Huck's Defeat, and several subsequent victories by partisans and militia units, convinced most locals to side with the Rebel forces and oppose the English. This, in turn, kept South Carolina in the war, and ultimately led to the Rebel victories of King's Mountain and the Cowpens. The rest, as they say, is history: the British were forced to leave the state, marching down a path that led to Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown.
While making a good point - that these lesser back-country battles were important and are often neglected - Edgar overstates his case. "Huck's Defeat" was a very small battle indeed: 115 Loyalist and British soldiers vs. ca. 250 Rebels, and lasting no more than an hour. The loyalists were massacred, but unless the Revolutionary cause in South Carolina truly hinged on this one engagement (i.e. defeat would have meant the end of resistance in the colony), then it was simply one particularly bloody skirmish among many.
Rating:
Summary: South Carolina's First Civil War
Review: That is how Walter Edgar describes the fighting that took place in the S.C. back-country after the fall of Charleston and the apparent collapse of the Patriot cause. It was neighbor against neighbor, Father against son, and even brother and or sister against brother. Each side waged a no-holds barred program of genocide on the other side. Let loose by Cornwallis, Bannister Tarleton created havoc in the upper state and enabled loyalist to temporarly gain the upper hand. Even Andrew Pickens and Thomas Sumter thought that the Patriot cause was lost. But Edgar points out that Sir Henry Clinton made the fatal mistake of demanding that former Patriots that had laid down their weapons take an oath of allegiance to the King, and men of honor, such as Pickens and Sumter, spurred on by the slaughter of a Virginia regiment, by Tarleton at the Waxaws, breathed new life into the Patriots (Whigs). Edgar calls the Battle of Hucks Defeat the "turning point" of the war in the South, which led to the eventual routing of Patrick Ferguson's forces at King's Mountain. This is a great history book that reads like a novel. After reading it, you too will see that the United States owes a lot of gratitude to the back-country residents of South Carolina.
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