British Soldiers, American War: Voices of the American Revolution

by Donald N. Hagist

Nine Rare and Fascinating First-Person Profiles of Soldiers Who Fought for the British Crown
Much has been written about the colonists who took up arms during the American Revolution and the army they created. Far less literature, however, has been devoted to their adversaries. The professional soldiers that composed the British army are seldom considered on a personal level, instead being either overlooked or inaccurately characterized as conscripts and criminals. Most of the British Redcoats sent to America in defense of their government’s policies were career soldiers who enlisted voluntarily in their late teens or early twenties. They came from all walks of British life, including those with nowhere else to turn, those aspiring to improve their social standing, and all others in between.

Statistics show that most were simply hardworking men with various amounts of education who had chosen the military in preference to other occupations. Very few of these soldiers left writings from which we can learn their private motives and experiences. British Soldiers, American War: Voices of the American Revolution is the first collection of personal narratives by British common soldiers ever assembled and published.

Author Don N. Hagist has located first-hand accounts of nine soldiers who served in America in the 1770s and 1780s. In their own words we learn of the diverse population—among them a former weaver, a boy who quarelled with his family, and a man with wanderlust—who joined the army and served tirelessly and dutifully, sometimes faithfully and sometimes irresolutely, in the uniform of their nation. To accompany each narrative, the author provides a contextualizing essay based on archival research giving background on the soldier and his military service. Taken as a whole these true stories reveal much about the individuals who composed what was, at the time, the most formidable fighting force in the world.

Genres: History, American Revolution, Nonfiction, American Revolutionary War, American History

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2012

Reviews

[Stephen Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and underreported perspective on the American Revolution. The book presents the stories, and often the brief memoirs, of a handful of British soldiers who fought in America.We learn how disparate the British forces really were, forces we've always lumped together into one group, the "Redcoats."

The book does bog down into a dry read now and then, but the information is fresh to most of us, so it's definitely worth the time if you'd like the side of the story we don't hear much of on this side of the Atlantic. I'd guess they don't hear much about it in the UK, either, as they tend to overlook the "American War of Independence" and, when it is taught in schools, to dismiss it as "the Americans were being naughty, and we eventually decided to leave them to their fate."

[Christopher Franqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not often we get to hear from their own words the thoughts of the soldiers who fought for the Crown during the American Revolution. In this book we have several such tales told by the men themselves. This book gives a realistic view into what these men were really like. It pulls aside the curtain of wartime propaganda that we expect in war, and shows these men for who they really were. This book may dispel a fair number of pre-conceived notions you may have had about our former adversary. War is hell for all involved.

[Richard Subber · Rating 5 out of 5]

British Soldiers: American War is a historian’s collection of first person accounts from British soldiers who served in North America during the Revolutionary War.
There’s plenty of well-informed context for the lobsterbacks’ stories.
For instance, most of the British troops were volunteers. However, it appears that few, if any, of them had any political motives for serving in the King’s uniform. Many of these lads were simply looking for a steady job or “adventure.”

Read more of my book reviews and poems here:
www.richardsubber.com

[Adelbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great addition to a little researched area.

[Jessica P · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I enjoyed most about this book was that Hagist included lengthy excerpts from autobiographies and dying speeches of actual soldiers, along with analyzing each of these. Hagist is trying to make the argument that the soldiers in the British Army that served in America during the Revolutionary War were not the convicts, deserters, or forced soldiers we have been lead to believe. Unfortunately, most of the accounts he cites falls directly into those categories (in fact, that's why they left the accounts to begin with). This book does help to dispel many myths about the British forces that early American propaganda instilled in our national memory, and for that I've found this a worthy ready. It also helps to humanize the British Army, not through officers but through the average men that served.

[David Mrsich · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a particularly exciting read but I expected that. Regardless, Hagist suffers from a huge lack of source material, which he basically admits to throughout the book. For instance, he presents several first-hand accounts written or dictated by actual British infantry but then immediately discounts each one as being unrepresentative of the army as a whole due to the special circumstances of these individuals. In that case it seems like there's not much point to even bringing them up. And being that there are so few accounts to draw from, it begs the question whether or not this book should ever have been written in the first place.

Nevertheless it was somewhat interesting.

[Kimk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presented me with the stories of many soldiers who fought on behalf of England during the American Revolution. I learned a great deal, as I had only previously read accounts from the American viewpoint. I was engaged, although there was a lot of repetition in the text. Most likely this could've been edited down significantly. A worthwhile read nonetheless for anyone looking to get a more complete portrait of American Revolution.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent narrative based on nine first person accounts of British soldiers who served in or during the American Revolution. A must read for anyone hoping to understand the common British soldier.