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Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution
From "the finest historian of the American Revolution" comes the definitive account of the battle and unlikely triumph that led to American independence (Douglas Brinkley)
In 1780, George Washington's army lay idle for want of supplies, food, and money. All hope seemed lost until a powerful French force landed at Newport in July. Then, under Washington's directives, Nathanael Greene began a series of hit-and-run operations against the British. The damage the guerrilla fighters inflicted would help drive the enemy to Yorktown, where Greene and Lafayette would trap them before Washington and Rochambeau, supported by the French fleet, arrived to deliver the coup de grâce.
Richard M. Ketchum illuminates, for the first time, the strategies and heroic personalities-American and French-that led to the surprise victory, only the second major battle the Americans would win in almost seven horrific years. Relying on good fortune, daring, and sheer determination never to give up, American and French fighters-many of whom walked from Newport and New York to Virginia-brought about that rarest of military a race against time and distance, on land and at sea. Ketchum brings to life the gripping and inspirational story of how the rebels defeated the world's finest army against all odds.
In 1780, George Washington's army lay idle for want of supplies, food, and money. All hope seemed lost until a powerful French force landed at Newport in July. Then, under Washington's directives, Nathanael Greene began a series of hit-and-run operations against the British. The damage the guerrilla fighters inflicted would help drive the enemy to Yorktown, where Greene and Lafayette would trap them before Washington and Rochambeau, supported by the French fleet, arrived to deliver the coup de grâce.
Richard M. Ketchum illuminates, for the first time, the strategies and heroic personalities-American and French-that led to the surprise victory, only the second major battle the Americans would win in almost seven horrific years. Relying on good fortune, daring, and sheer determination never to give up, American and French fighters-many of whom walked from Newport and New York to Virginia-brought about that rarest of military a race against time and distance, on land and at sea. Ketchum brings to life the gripping and inspirational story of how the rebels defeated the world's finest army against all odds.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 2004
69 people are currently reading
778 people want to read
About the author
Richard M. Ketchum
38 books42 followersA graduate of Yale, Richard Ketchum was a writer and editor who worked for the American Heritage Publishing Company from 1956 until 1974.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 31, 2012
Pretty good.
However, there is nothing special about this book. The author, despite being a well known historian on the Rev War offers nothing new about the Yorktown Campaign of 1781. There are in fact some important omissions.
While covering aspects of Greene's well worn campaign we get the same old accounts of Cowpens, King's Mountain and Guilford Courthouse. These are all well know battles that have been covered many times before. What is lacking is a comprehensive description of the Virginia Campaign leading up to Yorktown. In particular the Battle of Greensprings should have been better described as this was nearly Lafayette's and Waynes demise against a clever Cornwallis who could have crushed them on that occasion.
Th siege of Yorktown is somewhat lacking as well. The author only gets around to it for the last 50 pages or so of the book. Ketchum has an annoying tendency to digress excessively which he has done in his earlier works. Here he does so a bit less, but the narrative still meanders along.
Those thinking that the critical naval action off Virginia Capes is deserving of attention won't find it here. Ketchum probably did not want to be bothered by learning naval terminology so he just decides to write a few pages about the event. This seems a major omission. While certainly not a naval buff myself, failure to describe in more detail the only major action between the opposing fleets in the Rev War seems astonishing. This event had major consequences for Cornwallis in Yorktown.
Even the siege itself is given short work. The standard quotes from Joseph Plum Martin and others are all there. It just seems like Ketchum took his research mostly from Webb's "War of the American Revolution" and Scheer's "Rebels and Redcoats" Both of those works deal with the entire war, but their chapters on Yorktown are more comprehensive than Ketchum's entire book here.
Even the sequencing of the action seems odd. The author moves back and forth for unexplained reasons. While describing the Franco-American assaults on Redoubts Nos 9 and 10, he jumps ahead to the events of the British sortie a few days later under Abercrombie. Then he comes back to the American assault on the redoubt again. This does not make sense.
While this book is well written, and can serve as a nice general read, it falls far short from being a comprehensive account of the pivotal Yorktown Campaign.
However, there is nothing special about this book. The author, despite being a well known historian on the Rev War offers nothing new about the Yorktown Campaign of 1781. There are in fact some important omissions.
While covering aspects of Greene's well worn campaign we get the same old accounts of Cowpens, King's Mountain and Guilford Courthouse. These are all well know battles that have been covered many times before. What is lacking is a comprehensive description of the Virginia Campaign leading up to Yorktown. In particular the Battle of Greensprings should have been better described as this was nearly Lafayette's and Waynes demise against a clever Cornwallis who could have crushed them on that occasion.
Th siege of Yorktown is somewhat lacking as well. The author only gets around to it for the last 50 pages or so of the book. Ketchum has an annoying tendency to digress excessively which he has done in his earlier works. Here he does so a bit less, but the narrative still meanders along.
Those thinking that the critical naval action off Virginia Capes is deserving of attention won't find it here. Ketchum probably did not want to be bothered by learning naval terminology so he just decides to write a few pages about the event. This seems a major omission. While certainly not a naval buff myself, failure to describe in more detail the only major action between the opposing fleets in the Rev War seems astonishing. This event had major consequences for Cornwallis in Yorktown.
Even the siege itself is given short work. The standard quotes from Joseph Plum Martin and others are all there. It just seems like Ketchum took his research mostly from Webb's "War of the American Revolution" and Scheer's "Rebels and Redcoats" Both of those works deal with the entire war, but their chapters on Yorktown are more comprehensive than Ketchum's entire book here.
Even the sequencing of the action seems odd. The author moves back and forth for unexplained reasons. While describing the Franco-American assaults on Redoubts Nos 9 and 10, he jumps ahead to the events of the British sortie a few days later under Abercrombie. Then he comes back to the American assault on the redoubt again. This does not make sense.
While this book is well written, and can serve as a nice general read, it falls far short from being a comprehensive account of the pivotal Yorktown Campaign.
August 4, 2018
This book should have been titled "A Collection of Notes on the American Revolution That Contains Brief Anecdotes Relating to the Siege At Yorktown."
The author has written a disjointed narrative covering the second half of the war. Numerous names are thrown into the middle of paragraphs, the maps are included certainly because the editor said it was probably best to have maps, not because the text relates to them, and the narrative tends to wander.
If you know nothing else about the American Revolution and want to get a brief overview, then this could prove useful. If you are already a student of the period and are looking for greater detail, then I would recommend you go elsewhere.
The author has written a disjointed narrative covering the second half of the war. Numerous names are thrown into the middle of paragraphs, the maps are included certainly because the editor said it was probably best to have maps, not because the text relates to them, and the narrative tends to wander.
If you know nothing else about the American Revolution and want to get a brief overview, then this could prove useful. If you are already a student of the period and are looking for greater detail, then I would recommend you go elsewhere.
January 23, 2023
Richard Ketchum's writing style makes it very easy to read. The book does not suffocate the reader with dates but instead tells a compelling narrative that concisely distills the key facts.
The book does not focus on the events of Yorktown as the title may suguest. Instead, it is a broad overview of the major events that ultimately led to the allied victory at Yorktown.
The book does not focus on the events of Yorktown as the title may suguest. Instead, it is a broad overview of the major events that ultimately led to the allied victory at Yorktown.
August 2, 2025
It reads more like a documentary than a straight (dry) history. Most people are unaware the degree to which the US victory over the British is due to the role of the French fleet in the War.
February 29, 2012
What many people find disturbing about the general populace today is its lack of knowledge of our country’s past. Certainly an understanding of how our country came to be is essential for us to be clear-sighted citizens.
The historical information that Victory at Yorktown provides is targeted for adult readers more than it is people of high school age. Reading the book and appreciating its content requires a discipline not found among a majority people of high school age, in my opinion. Accurate historical fiction would be much more appropriate for adolescent readers.
If the reader is patient, if he reads each chapter after a sufficient time has elapsed to allow him to return refreshed, he will be rewarded.
The book takes up the narrative of the military struggle between American and British forces in 1780, five years after redcoat soldiers and Massachusetts militiamen had fired at each other at Lexington and Concord. Ketchum must set the stage for what is to follow, a difficult task because he has much to cover. I found the first two chapters and chapter 4 rather dull, due mainly to the fact that Ketchum had to present diverse information, I wanting him to focus on two, three, or four aspects. Thereafter, the chapters became more concise with the last chapter being perhaps his best.
I took away from this book a better appreciation of the extreme hardships suffered by those who served their states and their united cause, the absolute necessity of France’s assistance, George Washington’s indefatigability, integrity, and willingness to take chances, and the Continental Congress’s utter incapacity to govern. My awareness of the amazing incompetency of the British military leaders and the extreme obduracy of George III was reinforced. I appreciated as well the role that chance played in the outcome of events, be it who individually lived or died or what broad opportunities were successfully or not successfully utilized. If no other conclusion stays with the reader, the one that should remain is that our forefathers were extremely fortunate to have won their independence. I wish most Americans today had that appreciation.
The historical information that Victory at Yorktown provides is targeted for adult readers more than it is people of high school age. Reading the book and appreciating its content requires a discipline not found among a majority people of high school age, in my opinion. Accurate historical fiction would be much more appropriate for adolescent readers.
If the reader is patient, if he reads each chapter after a sufficient time has elapsed to allow him to return refreshed, he will be rewarded.
The book takes up the narrative of the military struggle between American and British forces in 1780, five years after redcoat soldiers and Massachusetts militiamen had fired at each other at Lexington and Concord. Ketchum must set the stage for what is to follow, a difficult task because he has much to cover. I found the first two chapters and chapter 4 rather dull, due mainly to the fact that Ketchum had to present diverse information, I wanting him to focus on two, three, or four aspects. Thereafter, the chapters became more concise with the last chapter being perhaps his best.
I took away from this book a better appreciation of the extreme hardships suffered by those who served their states and their united cause, the absolute necessity of France’s assistance, George Washington’s indefatigability, integrity, and willingness to take chances, and the Continental Congress’s utter incapacity to govern. My awareness of the amazing incompetency of the British military leaders and the extreme obduracy of George III was reinforced. I appreciated as well the role that chance played in the outcome of events, be it who individually lived or died or what broad opportunities were successfully or not successfully utilized. If no other conclusion stays with the reader, the one that should remain is that our forefathers were extremely fortunate to have won their independence. I wish most Americans today had that appreciation.
September 29, 2022
Much more than the siege and surrender at Yorktown, Richard M. Ketchum treats us to a well-written and highly readable story that begins with the French decision to ally with the Americans and ends with Washington's resignation to Congress. In between is related the arrival of the French fleet with Rochambeau's troops, Benedict Arnold's betrayal, the Battle of Cowpens and the race to the Dan River, the march south by the French and American armies, then the siege, the surrender, and the aftermath. We also learn of the bickering between General Sir Henry Clinton and Charles, Earl Cornwallis which, ultimately, played a part (if not the part) in the disaster at Yorktown. Though my favorite sections of the book were the excerpts from the journals of the French officers where they write of their impressions of the Americans and the country, in particular their manners, attitudes, dress, customs, and appearances. The comparisons they make between themselves and their counterparts are fascinating, immensely enjoyable, and a little humorous to boot. Well done.
June 12, 2020
I was not as impressed by "Victory at Yorktown" as I was by Ketchum's earlier Revolutionary War histories, which are terrific ("Saratoga", "Winter Soldiers"). This one was patchy; it lacked the vivid descriptions of battles, military and political strategy that you expect from Ketchum. It simply did not have the easy and engaging natural flow of the earlier works. As one Goodreads reviewer put it, this book seems more a collection of anecdotes than a seamless narrative history. If you want an intriguing history of the Yorktown victory, try Nathaniel Philbrick's "In The Hurricane's Eye." Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book and learned from it, which is as much as you might ask from a good history.
June 15, 2022
Going back to earlier parts of the war, every detail is explored that led to the last effective battle of the American Revolution. Fascinating book!
November 13, 2018
This review of the Revolutionary War’s penultimate battle unravels like a ball of yarn. Mr Ketchum honestly does start at the very beginning to try to describe the whys and wherefores of the War for independence. He introduces a dizzying amount of characters, and does a masterful job of explaining not only who these people are as well as what made them important in the scheme of things. If you are a student of the American Revolution, much of this material is redundant, such as the obligatory nod to Joseph Plumb Martin. He also gave short shrift to some of my favorite parts of our battle for Independence (Cowpens). However, as an overview, in only 292 pages, this book imparts the information in a highly readable fashion.
June 11, 2025
Victory at Yorktown.
In 2018 I visited the Yorktown battlefield. The tour of the old place was interesting. I found this book and learned more about what events lead up to the battle and it's aftermath. I have also visited Mount Vernon, Washington's home. As I read the book, I remembered my visits and as I read of those events I was able to visualize them happening. As I read about the captures of redoubts 9 and 10, I remembered the guide pointing them out and describing what happened. I really enjoyed this book.
In 2018 I visited the Yorktown battlefield. The tour of the old place was interesting. I found this book and learned more about what events lead up to the battle and it's aftermath. I have also visited Mount Vernon, Washington's home. As I read the book, I remembered my visits and as I read of those events I was able to visualize them happening. As I read about the captures of redoubts 9 and 10, I remembered the guide pointing them out and describing what happened. I really enjoyed this book.
May 7, 2025
The Perfect American History Book
Full of notes, action, character’s, geography and 18th century war at land and upon the sea.
This is a stunning read and should occupy pride of place in 2025, our 250th Anniversary for anyone wishing to know how we fought and won the American Revolutionary War!
Only thing missing was smartphone photo’s of the principal characters and places!
Full of notes, action, character’s, geography and 18th century war at land and upon the sea.
This is a stunning read and should occupy pride of place in 2025, our 250th Anniversary for anyone wishing to know how we fought and won the American Revolutionary War!
Only thing missing was smartphone photo’s of the principal characters and places!
September 18, 2025
I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as Ketchum's book on the battles of Saratoga, which I found to be a beguiling read. This was more meandering and didn't give me nearly enough info on the actual siege of Yorktown. I might just have to track down "The Guns of Independence" by Jerome Green to get a better sense of what the campaign for Yorktown entailed.
November 25, 2017
Lots of crosscurrents going on during this time that the author handles well. I came across this book after reading his book on Saratoga.
July 8, 2021
Great insight leading up to, including, and afterwards of the battle of Yorktown.
September 18, 2013
October 19th, 1781-a British Army under Major General Lord Cornwallis marched out of their entrenchments at Yorktown Virginia and surrendered to General George Washington commanding the American forces and to Lieutenant General de Rochambeau commanding the French. The Revolutionary War would go on for another two years but after Yorktown the British would never try again to subdue it's rebellious colonies.
The story of how the Americans managed to win and the British managed to lose is a fascinating one. The story is well told in Richard M. Ketchum's book, Victory at Yorktown.
The story begins with General Washington entertaining ideas of driving the British out of New York City. He cannot without the help of the French but the French do not come as long as the British control the seas. In the meantime Washington's Army is falling apart. It has virtually nothing of what it needs to wage war. In fact, Congress and the 13 future states seem disinterested and war-weary as well as broke. The Army is held together by the force of Washington's personality and legendary patience.
Food is not sufficient if available at all nor have the soldiers been paid (in worthless Continental script). The army is starving, desertion rates are high and the soldiers that remain are clothed as ragamuffins. Benedict Arnold is about to betray the key post of West Point to the British and should General Clinton's Army in New York be aggressive it is likely the Revolution would be lost. The Yorktown Campaign would turn everything around. Some would call it a miracle.
The British are actively winning but have problems of their own. They have an impossible 3,000 mile supply line and are at war with France, Spain and Holland. Their Generals and Admirals barely tolerate one another and sometimes hate each other. In addition to this they consistently underestimate Washington and his forces and seem content to let the Revolution burn itself out (a very real possibility I might add).
On the other hand they have taken Charlestown in South Carolina and would win a major battle at Camden as American General Gate's forces are scattered.
It's the lowest point of the war since the professional British and Hessians routed Washington's forces in 1776 on Long Island. They would lose the Yorktown Campaign not for lack of bravery but because all the variables the Americans needed to trap Cornwallis' forces fell into place. When the British marched out of Yorktown to surrender their band would play the World Upside Down and indeed it was.
Ketchum tells the story of the turn around relying on primary sources that include letters, diaries, messages between commanders and everything else that was written while the drama unfolded.
Using the primary sources gives the reader insight into how the various leaders got a long, the time is took to send and receive a message as well as the strategies that were involved. The chapter on traitor Benedict Arnold and the heroic Major Andre alone was worth the price of the book.
Ketchum has written three other books on the Revolutionary War including one on Bunker Hill, Trenton and Princeton and Saratoga. I enjoyed Victory at Yorktown so much that the other three books are now on my ever-expanding wish list.
The story of how the Americans managed to win and the British managed to lose is a fascinating one. The story is well told in Richard M. Ketchum's book, Victory at Yorktown.
The story begins with General Washington entertaining ideas of driving the British out of New York City. He cannot without the help of the French but the French do not come as long as the British control the seas. In the meantime Washington's Army is falling apart. It has virtually nothing of what it needs to wage war. In fact, Congress and the 13 future states seem disinterested and war-weary as well as broke. The Army is held together by the force of Washington's personality and legendary patience.
Food is not sufficient if available at all nor have the soldiers been paid (in worthless Continental script). The army is starving, desertion rates are high and the soldiers that remain are clothed as ragamuffins. Benedict Arnold is about to betray the key post of West Point to the British and should General Clinton's Army in New York be aggressive it is likely the Revolution would be lost. The Yorktown Campaign would turn everything around. Some would call it a miracle.
The British are actively winning but have problems of their own. They have an impossible 3,000 mile supply line and are at war with France, Spain and Holland. Their Generals and Admirals barely tolerate one another and sometimes hate each other. In addition to this they consistently underestimate Washington and his forces and seem content to let the Revolution burn itself out (a very real possibility I might add).
On the other hand they have taken Charlestown in South Carolina and would win a major battle at Camden as American General Gate's forces are scattered.
It's the lowest point of the war since the professional British and Hessians routed Washington's forces in 1776 on Long Island. They would lose the Yorktown Campaign not for lack of bravery but because all the variables the Americans needed to trap Cornwallis' forces fell into place. When the British marched out of Yorktown to surrender their band would play the World Upside Down and indeed it was.
Ketchum tells the story of the turn around relying on primary sources that include letters, diaries, messages between commanders and everything else that was written while the drama unfolded.
Using the primary sources gives the reader insight into how the various leaders got a long, the time is took to send and receive a message as well as the strategies that were involved. The chapter on traitor Benedict Arnold and the heroic Major Andre alone was worth the price of the book.
Ketchum has written three other books on the Revolutionary War including one on Bunker Hill, Trenton and Princeton and Saratoga. I enjoyed Victory at Yorktown so much that the other three books are now on my ever-expanding wish list.
May 24, 2011
Richard Ketchum certainly knows the War for Independence, having authored well-received books on Bunker Hill, Saratoga, New York, and Trenton. In Victory at Yorktown, he offers a detailed, well researche, and entertaining account of the events of 1781, when General Washington was required to face that cold, hard truth that, without a decisive victory in the field, the revolution (along with its founders) were doomed. The Continental Army, never large enough to begin with, had dwindled to a mere 3 to 4 thousand men who were still capable of fighting. America's French allies were untrustworthy but indispensable. But the British army was divided, with Clinton in New York and Cornwallis coming north from South Carolina, and with the arrival of the French fleet, there would never be a better chance to strike a decisive blow against them.
Ketchum lays the groundwork for the dramatic climax of the war with factual information enlivened by lesser known details about the personalities and activities of the major players, American, French, and British. The interception of John Andre and exposure of Benedict Arnold's treachery are described in vivid detail, culminating with the farcical reaction of Arnold's alluring wife to Washington's arrival at the house where both were staying. The clandestine motives of the French government (the securing of more American territory for their crown, for instance) are revealed. Naturally, the siege at Yorktown receives considerable attention, but equal importance is granted to the formal surrender ceremonies, which Cornwallis refused to attend, and to the behavior of the French and English toward each other once hostilities has ceased (greeting each other as privileged gentlemen, who understood each other far better than those rustic American commoners ever could.) And who knew that germ warfare was a feature in the war in Virginia?!
If more historical accounts were as readable and interesting as this book, history would be a much more popular subject. Truly, the American victory was close to miraculous, and if you'd like to find out how such a thing could happen, check out Victory at Yorktown.
Ketchum lays the groundwork for the dramatic climax of the war with factual information enlivened by lesser known details about the personalities and activities of the major players, American, French, and British. The interception of John Andre and exposure of Benedict Arnold's treachery are described in vivid detail, culminating with the farcical reaction of Arnold's alluring wife to Washington's arrival at the house where both were staying. The clandestine motives of the French government (the securing of more American territory for their crown, for instance) are revealed. Naturally, the siege at Yorktown receives considerable attention, but equal importance is granted to the formal surrender ceremonies, which Cornwallis refused to attend, and to the behavior of the French and English toward each other once hostilities has ceased (greeting each other as privileged gentlemen, who understood each other far better than those rustic American commoners ever could.) And who knew that germ warfare was a feature in the war in Virginia?!
If more historical accounts were as readable and interesting as this book, history would be a much more popular subject. Truly, the American victory was close to miraculous, and if you'd like to find out how such a thing could happen, check out Victory at Yorktown.
January 5, 2018
Spent today's snow day working my way through this one. I'd enjoyed the author's earlier book Decisive Day: The Battle for Bunker Hill, and so had high hopes for this one, but it just wasn't as pithy or streamlined.
This one took a couple hundred pages to actually build up to the Siege of Yorktown, and while I'd expected some exploration of what went before, I thought the book might get to the main point a bit sooner than that, especially for a not particularly lengthy book.
And for a book that was supposed to be about Yorktown, I was surprised to find how little time was actually spent on the battle itself. Having so much build up only to fizzle out with fairly scant detail about the events was a bit of a disappointment.
There were also a surprising number of completely unimportant and unrelated digressions, including such things as what the French thought about the tradition of bundling, or how some of their officers rated the attractiveness of American women from state to state. It felt like a case of "here is research I must show off" that really should have been edited out.
Not a bad book, certainly, but could have been better.
This one took a couple hundred pages to actually build up to the Siege of Yorktown, and while I'd expected some exploration of what went before, I thought the book might get to the main point a bit sooner than that, especially for a not particularly lengthy book.
And for a book that was supposed to be about Yorktown, I was surprised to find how little time was actually spent on the battle itself. Having so much build up only to fizzle out with fairly scant detail about the events was a bit of a disappointment.
There were also a surprising number of completely unimportant and unrelated digressions, including such things as what the French thought about the tradition of bundling, or how some of their officers rated the attractiveness of American women from state to state. It felt like a case of "here is research I must show off" that really should have been edited out.
Not a bad book, certainly, but could have been better.
February 26, 2011
Mr. Ketchum gives an excellent account of the campaigns in the southern states and then he carries through with the events leading to the Battle at Yorktown and the succeeding two years after Cornwallis’s surrender. Ketchum, also gives the reader an analysis of why events developed as they did. The author’s writing style is terrific. The battles and the events flow very well from one chapter to the next. I was able to follow the story, and it kept my interest throughout the book. The one fault I did find was that the book could have used a few more descriptive maps. I found myself doing numerous rereads just so I could figure out where I was located in any one particular state.
Overall, the book gave me an excellent well-rounded education on the campaign to and including Yorktown.
Overall, the book gave me an excellent well-rounded education on the campaign to and including Yorktown.
June 8, 2024
This book is one of those cases where the title mostly fails to match the contents. Less than half of the book actually covers the Yorktown campaign; much of it is a rather meandering history of the final two years of the war, with a large section on the Southern Campaign battles, especially Camden, Cowpens, and Guilford Courthouse, but without going into too much detail about these battles. The maps also could have been far, far better; there were only three maps, two of the Yorktown Campaign and a general map of the southern theater. The author had an annoying habit of suddenly jumping around in time throughout the book.
December 20, 2012
In the late middle it gets, unavoidably, rather technical. This is where he has pulling together 5 campaigns at once so this can't really be avoided. Other then that the book is truly excellent. I want to give extra props for the integration of information from "Washington's Spys" and also the beautifully written ending that gives a real understanding of the social and political standing post war.
A REALLY good read. READ IT NAOW.
A REALLY good read. READ IT NAOW.
September 1, 2014
This was a good one. I enjoyed the detailed discussion of the combined French and American operations culminating in the English surrender. I enjoyed reading a Revolutionary War book that paid particular attention to the French operations. I believe a bit more detail could have been discussed regarding the final battle at York (Yorktown). Overall I enjoyed this one and would recommend to all.
February 19, 2024
I visited Yorktown and wanted to read more about this campaign. However, I was disappointed in this book. It starts off well about the conditions of the armies involved. Then it is just one anecdote after another. Ketchum just goes on and on about other parts of the American Revolution. I wanted to learn more about Yorktown and, in my opinion, this book just did not deliver.
Read
August 2, 2011A good history of the Yorktown campaign. It looks at the American-French alliance, the feuds among the British army & naval commanders, an overview of the battles in the Carolinas and the naval Battle of the Capes that sealed the fate of Cornwallis.
February 9, 2014
Good read, not Ketchum's best but a good read nonetheless. Worth reading for Washington's Quote
" With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your later days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."
" With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your later days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable."
September 15, 2008
Another good book with Washington quotes. Details many characters from Revolution. Good to read 1776 first.
June 30, 2009
great book, thoroughly enjoyed it
April 20, 2011
I thought that this book gave a super description of the battles in the southern states. The Battle of Yorktown was just icing on the cake.
April 19, 2013
A relatively quick read for such a well researched book!
February 10, 2015
Very well written and worth the read to any history nut. Very informative and presents the facts in a clear concise way.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews