A comprehensive one-volume study of the military aspects of the War of Independence, drawing on hundreds of specialist sources, contemporary and archival.

Michael Stephenson's Patriot Battles is a comprehensive and richly detailed study of the military aspects of the War of Independence, and a fascinating look at the nuts and bolts of eighteenth-century combat. Covering everything from what motivated those who chose to fight to how they were enlisted, trained, clothed, and fed, it offers a close-up view of the war's greatest battles, with maps provided for each. Along the way many cherished myths are challenged, reputations are reassessed, and long-held assumptions are tested. One of the most satisfying and illuminating contributions to the literature on the War of Independence in many years, Patriot Battles is a vastly entertaining work of superior scholarship and a refreshing wind blowing through some of American history's dustier corridors. (back page).

Part 1Nuts and Bolts of War -- 1 "A Choaky Mouthful": The American Soldier -- 5 -- 2 Lobsterbacks: The British Soldier -- 36 -- 3 "Men of Character": The Officer Class -- 63 -- 4 What Made Men Fight -- 79 -- 5 Feeding the Beast -- 101 -- 6 Things They Carried: Weapons, Equipment, and Clothing -- 119 -- 7 Big Guns: Artillery -- 154 -- 8 Sanguinary Business: Wounds, Disease, and Medical Care -- 162 -- 9 "Trulls and Doxies": Women in the Armies -- 177 -- 10 Cuff and Salem, Dick and Jehu: Blacks in the War -- 183 -- 11 "The Proper Subjects of Our Resentment": Indians -- 190 -- Part 2 Great Battles -- War in the North -- 12 Ambush: Lexington and Concord, 19 April 1775 -- 203 -- 13 "A Complication of Horror...": Bunker's Hill, 17 June 1775 -- 211 -- 14 A Vaunting Ambition: Quebec, 31 December 1775 -- 222 -- 15 "We Expect Bloody Work": Brooklyn, 22-29 August 1776 -- 230 -- 16 Fire and Ice: Trenton I, 25-26 December 1776; Trenton II, 30 December 1776; and Princeton, 3 January 1777 -- 251 -- 17 Philadelphia Campaign: Brandywine, 11 September 1777; Germantown, 4 October 1777; and Monmouth Courthouse, 28 June 1778 -- 267 -- 18 Saratoga Campaign: Freeman's Farm, 19 September 1777; and Bemis Heights, 7 October 1777 -- 288 -- War in the South -- 19 Laurels of Victory, the Willows of Defeat: Camden, 16 August 1780 -- 313 -- 20 Hunters Hunted: Kings Mountain, 7 October 1780; and Cowpens, 17 January 1781 -- 323 -- 21 "Long, Obstinate, and Bloody": Guilford Courthouse, 15 March 1781 -- 332 -- 22 "Handsomely in a Pudding Bag": The Chesapeake Capes, 5-13 September 1781; and Yorktown, 28 September-19 October 1781 -- 341. Part 1 The Nuts and Bolts of War -- 1 "A Choaky Mouthful": The American Soldier 5 -- The Militia 6 -- The Continentals 19 -- 2 Lobsterbacks: The British Soldier 36 -- Britain's German Auxiliaries 48 -- Loyalists 52 -- 3 "Men of Character": The Officer Class 63 -- 4 What Made Men Fight 79 -- 5 Feeding the Beast 101 -- 6 The Things They Carried: Weapons, Equipment, and Clothing 119 -- 7 The Big Guns: Artillery 154 -- 8 The Sanguinary Business: Wounds, Disease, and Medical Care 162 -- 9 "Trulls and Doxies": Women in the Armies 177 -- 10 Cuff and Salem, Dick and Jehu: Blacks in the War 183 -- 11 "The Proper Subjects of Our Resentment": Indians 190 -- Part 2 The Great Battles -- The War in the North -- 12 Ambush: Lexington and Concord, 19 April 1775 203 -- 13 "A Complication of Horror...": Bunker's Hill, 17 June 1775 211 -- 14 A Vaunting Ambition: Quebec, 31 December 1775 222 -- 15 "We Expect Bloody Work": Brooklyn, 22-29 August 1776 230 -- 16 Fire and Ice: Trenton I, 25-26 December 1776; Trenton II, 30 December 1776; and Princeton, 3 January 1777 251 -- 17 The Philadelphia Campaign: Brandywine, 11 September 1777; Germantown, 4 October 1777; and Monmouth Courthouse, 28 June 1778 267 -- 18 The Saratoga Campaign: Freeman's Farm, 19 September 1777; and Bemis Heights, 7 October 1777 288 -- The War in the South -- 19 The Laurels of Victory, the Willows of Defeat: Camden, 16 August 1780 313 -- 20 The Hunters Hunted: Kings Mountain, 7 October 1780; and Cowpens, 17 January 1781 323 -- 21 "Long, Obstinate, and Bloody": Guilford Courthouse, 15 March 1781 332 -- 22 "Handsomely in a Pudding Bag": The Chesapeake Capes, 5-13 September 1781; and Yorktown, 28 September-19 October 1781 341.