Redcoats: The British Soldier and War in the Americas, 1755–1763

by Stephen Brumwell

• ISBN13: 9780521675383
• ISBN10: 0521675383
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-09
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Recent scholarship has highlighted the significance of the Seven Years War for the destiny of Britain's Atlantic empire. This major study offers an important new perspective through a vivid and scholarly account of the regular troops at the sharp end of that conflict's bloody and decisive American campaigns. Fresh sources are employed to challenge enduring stereotypes regarding both the social composition and military prowess of the 'redcoats'. This shows how the humble soldiers who fought from Novia Scotia to Cuba developed a powerful esprit de corps that equipped them to defy savage discipline in defence of their 'rights'. It traces the evolution of Britain's 'American Army' from a feeble, conservative and discredited organisation into a tough, flexible and innovative force whose victories ultimately won the respect of colonial Americans. By providing a voice for these neglected shock-troops of empire, Redcoats adds flesh and blood to Georgian Britain's 'sinews of power'.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	vi
Acknowledgements	vii
Abbreviations used in footnotes	x
Introduction: Approaching the `American Army'	1	(10)
Britain's war effort in the Americas	11	(43)
Gone for a soldier	54	(45)
Following the drum	99	(38)
The environmental parameters of American campaigning	137	(25)
The `American Army' and Native Americans	162	(29)
Irregular warfare in the Americas	191	(36)
The tactical evolution of the redcoats	227	(37)
The Highland battalions in the Americas	264	(26)
The legacies of the `American Army'	290	(25)
Appendix: Statistical tables	315	(6)
Bibliography	321	(22)
Index	343