Admiral Rodney, the most capable English naval officer had to go to England for surgery and is not available to direct the English fleet. The British fleet goes from the West Indies up to New York and when they check on the Chesapeake the French fleet is not there yet. Yorktown is a battle where everything works out just as planned for the Allies. General Washington agrees and a combined French and American force of 20,000 moves against Cornwallis and his army of army of 8,800 at Yorktown. Washington wants to attack New York but the French Admiral De Grasse decides that the attack will be made on the Chesapeake. The French make it clear that this expedition will be the last of its kind and Washington understands that this is his hour for victory.
Cornwallis is frustrated by the lack of loyalist support and moves to Virginia to establish a base at Yorktown on the Chesapeake Bay.Ī French fleet comes to America in 1781 to coordinate with American troops to defeat the British. The American General Nathaniel Greene doesn't win many battles but he keeps his army intact. Tuchman first covers the southern campaign of General Cornwallis in South and North Carolina. The final third of the book tells of the Battle of Yorktown which ended the Revolution. The French are seeking revenge on the British for their defeat in the Seven Year's War that made Canada a British possession. The American victory convinces the French to sign a treaty of alliance with America and begin sending them supplies and money. Tuchman begins her story of the American Revolution after the American defeat of the British at the Battle of Saratoga.
This is accomplished in short order and the focus shifts to the American Revolution. Eaustatius and the island's use as a center for smuggling goods into America prompted the English to send a fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney to capture the island for England. She writes about the Dutch struggle for independence and William of Orange who ruled the Netherlands and was selected to be the King of England as William III after the English Glorious Revolution.
This took place on Novemand was the first recognition by a foreign country of the United States.įrom that moment Tuchman goes back to the 17th century and comes forward with a brief history of the Netherlands. Eaustatius, a Dutch island in the West Indies. The title refers to a salute given to the American ship Andrew Doria at the port of St. This book is about the American Revolution and Tuchman's approach is at least mildly unusual. One of the things I liked about her is that she was not an academic but she was a very good history writer. This book published in 1988 was the last book written by Barbara Tuchman.
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