This Fierce People: The Untold Story of America's Revolutionary War in the South

by Alan Pell Crawford

A groundbreaking, important recovery of history; the overlooked story—fully explored, of the critical aspect of America’s Revolutionary War that was fought in the South showing that the British surrender at Yorktown was the direct result of the southern campaign and, that the battles that emerged south of the Mason-Dixon line between loyalists to the Crown and patriots who fought for independence were, in fact, America’s first civil war.

The famous battles that form the backbone of the story put forth of American independence—at Lexington and Concord, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, and Monmouth, while crucial, did not lead to the surrender at Yorktown.

It was in the three-plus years between Monmouth and Yorktown that the war was won.

Alan Pell Crawford’s riveting new book, This Fierce People, tells the story of these missing three years, long ignored by historians, and of the fierce battles fought in the south that made up the central theater of military operations in the latter years of the Revolutionary War, upending the essential American myth that the War of Independence was fought primarily in the north.

Weaving throughout the stories of the heroic men and women, largely unsung patriots—African Americans and whites, militiamen and “irregulars,” Patriots and Tories, Americans, Frenchmen, Brits and Hessians, Crawford reveals the misperceptions and contradictions of our accepted understanding of how our nation came to be, as well as the national narrative that America’s victory over the British lay solely with General George Washington and his troops.

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

400 pages, Hardcover

Published July 2, 2024

About the author

Alan Pell Crawford is the author of "Unwise Passions: A True Story of a Remarkable Woman - and the First Great Scandal of Eighteenth Century America" and "Twilight at Monticello". His writings have appeared in "American History", "The Washington Post", and "The New York Times". He is a regualr book reviewer for "The Wall Street Journal". Crawford has had a residential fellowship at the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. A former resident of Washington, DC, he lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife Sally Curran, the editor of My VMFA, the quarterly magazine of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. They are the parents of two sons, Ned and Tim.

Reviews

[Numidica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Crawford does excellent work detailing the battles in the American south during the Revolution, from the American debacles at Camden and Waxhaws to the American victories at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, and the Fabian strategy of Nathanael Greene that followed, along with supporting work by Frances Marion and others, all of which set the stage for Yorktown. Most Americans are unaware that the Revolution was won in the south, despite having been started and fought to a draw in Boston and New York. Crawford describes how the reversal of fortunes in favor of the Americans initiated by Kings Mountain and Cowpens led Washington to send Greene to the south to lead a coordinated effort there, and how Greene brought strategic thought to the war. Greene knew that if he could simply keep his army in existence while hurting, if not defeating the British, he would eventually outlast them. In addition, he initiated the "war of the posts" to deprive the British of any armed control of the interior areas of the Carolinas, and he ultimately isolated British forces in the towns of Charleston and Savannah.

Lord Cornwallis became sufficiently frustrated with Greene's, Marion's, and others' hit and run tactics that he decided to destroy Greene's army at all costs, and he severely depleted his own forces in the attempt, which depletion led to him deciding to move the British forces to Yorktown in order to evacuate them to New York where they could be rested and re-equipped for a subsequent attempt to subdue the south.

Where Crawford's narrative stumbles, in my opinion, is in his overly short treatment of Yorktown, and his overly long treatment of Thomas Jefferson, who had very little to do with the operations in the Carolinas and Virginia. Crawford spends exactly one paragraph on the Battle of Capes, in which the French fleet cunningly drew the British away from Chesapeake Bay, conducted a two-day running battle that severely damaged several British ships, and then reversed course under cover of darkness to return to the Chesapeake and block its entrance. At that point, Cornwallis was cooked, and all that was required was for Washington, Hamilton, Lafayette, and Rochambeau to conduct a classic siege of the British, whose outcome, without naval support from the British fleet, was pre-ordained. By the way, for an excellent description of Yorktown and the Battle of the Capes, see James Nelson's Washington's Greatest Gamble.

Despite the latter part of the book being strangely truncated, the author presents the best fully integrated account of the events in the south that led to Yorktown and to American independence.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well researched and contained a lot of detail on the players in the American Revolution in the South, to include Francis Marion, Daniel Morgan, John Laurens, Nathanael Green, and Andrew Pickens. The author also provided detailed information on British leaders, such as Banastre Tarleton, who played a critical role in this campaign. The author supported the material with relevant politics as the war progressed throughout the southern campaign. I felt this book focused on people rather than battles. For example, there was more time spent on who owned slaves and how they felt about slavery than the actual siege of Yorktown. The actual battles fought at Cowpens and Ninety-Six felt glossed over. This created (for me) a difficult flow of information throughout the book. The author went forward and backward in time based on the person who was being discussed. The description of the book suggests Alan Pell Crawford's intent is to show the British surrender at Yorktown was the direct result of the southern campaign and to argue the battles fought south of the Mason-Dixon line between the loyalists to the Crown and the patriots who fought for independence can be attributed to America's first real civil war. The author did not successfully convince me of the first however did provide sufficient information to suggest the latter.

I am grateful to have received an advanced reader's copy through NetGalley.

[Evan Ladouceur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent history of the American Revolution in the South. Alan Pell Crawford is a very capable writer, with a huge gift for narrative. He isn’t a traditional historian, having worked as a journalist and speechwriter, and I think it shows favorably in how he structures this book. He weaves a compelling and well constructed history featuring numerous figures in disparate locations over a period of several years into a single seamless construct. Highly educational and immensely readable. I will seek out any book by Crawford.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Feirce People by Alan Pell Crawford talked about a side of the revolutionary war that isn’t much talked about and some people I’ve only heard of from the play Hamilton which I have since learned is fraught with inaccuracies. This book is full of first-hand accounts from segments of letters from general Washington himself to the negative points of being a quartermaster even talk about the horrible things the British did to those who weren’t loyalist we learned about brave men like John Lawrence,, Nathaniel Greene of course George Washington and so many more we also hear the opposite about the villains Tarlington and and evil loyalist name Howk we even hear about Napoleons fellow spy and his hanging I’m so sorry I forgot his name but either way this book is a great book we learned about the first time someone brought up freeing the slaves in the continental congress just an FYI it was John Lawrence. I could just go on and on this for such a good book ever since I saw the play Hamilton I wanted to know more about the revolutionary war and this book was my latest effort in doing that and although as I said Hamilton is full of inaccuracies and misleading history it was a great springboard to get me to read this great awesome book. I was surprised to learn Mr. Crawford isn’t a historian but a journalist and so kudos to him he is done a great job covering The southern part of the revolutionary war.#Knoph,#NetGalley, #AlanPellCrawford, #ThisFiercePeople,

[Philip Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book about the little publicized Revolutionary War, in the American South. Crawford covers all the major figures with a nice biography, not too long and not too short. He also covers the major female figures, which is always a good thing. Crawford covers the battles in some detail, but not too much as to bog down the narrative and confuse the common reader. It is very intriguing that he refers to the war in the Carolinas as a "civil war" between Americans, which it really was. The fighting was brutal and were several reprisals on both sides, not the same kind of war that was fought in the North in New York or Pennsylvania.

The whole book had lots of little things I didn't know about the Revolutionary War in the South, so it gets five stars from me. I wholly recommend reading it. The book is around 325 pages, so it's not a slog. I recommend it for book clubs as well: it's written for the common reader and not for military historians.

Phil Kuhn

[Mike Mcphail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nathaniel Greene, Harry Lee, Thomas Sumter, Francis Marion, William Moultrie, Baron de Kalb and Marque de Lafayette please and thank you.

[William Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this but ultimately disappointed by the experience. Billed as an important survey of a missing portion of American Revolution history, This Fierce People covers the Southern theater of the conflict in the latter stage of the war. Crawford helpfully illuminates how often the gap between Monmouth and Yorktown is ignored in teaching or studying the war—while I have vague recollections of Camden, Guilford Courthouse, and Kings Mountain from AP US history, I never knew or realized that there was a two-year spell between Northern battles grinding to a standstill and the British pivoting to a Southern offensive.

While I appreciate the intent and the new information I learned while reading, Crawford crams in almost too much information to his chapters—they are short and clearly meant to be punchy, but they don’t land that way for me—and I found it hard to follow at times. Given the huge cast of characters, it could be challenging to keep track of people, and Crawford has a bad habit of not always reintroducing folks after an absence from the narrative. I went back several times trying to find a previous reference to just a last name, unable to place that individual. Crawford also had a tendency to leapfrog himself in the timeline to create semi-self-contained chapters, and I found that jarring at times; the death of John Laurens, and Jefferson’s sudden prominence in the last few chapters, are good examples of this.

I was also surprised by how little narrative was devoted to some of the key battles, particularly Yorktown. There was as much attention paid to how combatants arrived at the battlefields as there was to the actual fighting, which, while interesting, served to dilute the impact of what Crawford was arguing were consequential episodes in the winning of the Revolutionary War. I could have also used more (and more helpful) maps than what the book contained.

Overall, while I feel like I learned a lot, and have a greater appreciation for the chronological and geopolitical scope of the American Revolution, it’s not a book I would necessarily recommend to others.

[McKay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the easiest to follow which made it difficult for me to get into. This is another that I listened to on the Spotify App, but I just couldn't get the flow. The author jumped back and forward in time quite often and all over the map as well. I also didn't love the negative view points about George Washington and how the war in the north was downplayed to make the war in the south more important; I think they both carried great weight to the outcome and success of the American Revolution. There were interesting facts and many things that I learned, just not my favorite format. (SPOTIFY)

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

While chatting with my husband about this book, I was shocked to learn that he (a Tennessean) had never heard of Francis Marion, while I had at least remembered from elementary school that he was nicknamed “Swamp Fox” for his tricksy guerrilla tactics during the war. So I’m giving four stars because SWAMP FOX and because I needed to learn more about people like Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, Daniel Morgan, Thomas Sumter, and honestly even Greene—all figures that I recognize the names of, but who until now remained fairly hazy in my knowledge despite all my museum-hopping. Also it goes without saying that I can never get enough of Lafayette, honorary Virginian (Lafayette! Nous voilà! etc. etc.).

I both loved and hated hearing about some of the individual tales of civilian harassment from “both sides” of the revolutionary south. This is something I knew almost nothing about until Turn popularized the concept, and even then the focus was up north. This type of behavior lends nuance to the conflict between loyalists and patriots, fills in a lot of blanks for me, and gives context to post-war (even pre-Civil War) attitudes and resentments that may have lingered amongst neighbors. As an adult, I hear these stories and don’t think “Well I would never,” I think “There but for the grace of God go I.” It was a hard time and people were forced to make hard choices, which makes me marvel at how tricky the story really is versus the cut-and-dry version I was capable of understanding as a child.

Local heroes I was glad to see discussed (albeit briefly) included Jack Jouett and Peter Francisco, though I wondered why he didn’t mention Susanna Bolling. I enjoyed Susanna's Midnight Ride but would also like to see a well-researched nonfiction version of that tale.

William Bennett’s review does a great job of describing This Fierce People's weak points, particularly of the jumping-around variety, so I won't re-describe those. I also thought it could have devoted valuable space going into more depth about little-known characters and topics instead of beating the dead horse of Certain Well-Trodden Ground as is duly re-trodden any time the word “southerner” is uttered. Bro, we know. If we’re picking up a fairly nerdy historical text we’ve already trodden that ground. Weeeeeee got it.

Audiobook note: The reading is okay but has some really cringeworthy pronunciation, which always brings the credibility of a book down in my eyes. It feels like either the author and editors don’t know how to pronounce these terms they ostensibly spent years researching, or they didn’t bother to listen even once before hitting the “publish” button. So what else did they miss? What else that I wouldn't know enough to catch myself, I mean. Like I can sorrrrrta understand it for fairly obscure historical figures like Jouett (“jute?” 🥴) but this man can’t even say the words “Staunton” or “Monticello” properly. Get it together dude. This Virginian is not having it.

[Brandon Westlake · Rating 4 out of 5]

The southern colonies were central to the Revolutionary war, Alan Pell Crawford contends in this well-written analysis of the theater of war that often attracts less attention. The civil war in the south changed the attention of military leaders and overall military strategy. Crawford's writing unpacks this important claim, adding to our understanding of the war from not just a civil war between colonists but an evolving strategic operation to gain independence (or, to maintain allegiance, from the British perspective).
Crawford's work focuses on the divide between Loyalist and patriot, showing how the division truly led to an internal revolt between those who believed American fared better with continued relationships with Britain. Absent, though, is a wider discussion of internal disagreement between moderate and radical patriots. While this has been documented elsewhere, with regards to New England, it would be interesting to contrast that debate with whatever had been occurring likewise in the south.

With the focus on the British colonies in America, the Caribbean is absent from Crawford's work. This is understandable but it leaves one questioning how much could be contrasted in Barbados and Jamaica with what was going on in South Carolina or Georgia. The British ultimately lose the war not in America, but in the Caribbean; some mention in the epilogue could make the narrative come full circle.

The book provides a great overview of Tarleton. Crawford focuses on the Waxhaws district, but does not delve into the historiography of Andrew Jackson. While some of that story may be myth, I think it is an interesting narrative about some individuals and how his experience shaped him as a public servant. Recounted elsewhere, it isn't as central to the story, but again could add depth.

The focus is taken off of George Washington, who is still included, but Crawford writes with the focus on other people, particular other military leaders like DeKalb, Gates, Greene, and Richard Henry Lee. There is space devoted to Francis Marion, whom contrasts with the formal leadership of the former. These sketches make the book a great read for anyone interested in military history. Regarding locations in the book, Crawford makes a strong case for the importance of Charles Town (Charleston) to the larger revolutionary story. Absent is Valley Forge, New York, and the fighting around Boston.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

3.75

I was in Winston-Salem, NC, last fall and had some spare time and happened across Guilford Courthouse so I decided to stop and check it out. The modern day National Park is small, but the ranger was informative and made me realize just how little I knew about the American Revolution, and how other than Yorktown, everything I did know was in the North. In that respect, I think the effort of this book to highlight the three years between Monmouth and Yorktown was much needed and really impactful.

Alan Pell Crawford clearly knows his stuff and I appreciated all the firsthand accounts he used. I also appreciate that he focused more on people than battles and on lesser known people at that, in part by virtue of the book focusing on lesser known battles, but even beyond that I was happy to see that he touched on the lives of women and slaves during this time. I also appreciate that the chapters were short and punchy. It made it easy to pick up a bite size chunks if I only had a few minutes to read. In some respects though, that made a longer/bulkier reading experience feel a little choppy.

All that to say, I thought this was an enjoyable read and a good entry point for the every day person who might want to learn more about the American Revolution. I think I found it especially impactful as someone who now lives in Virginia because while I generally think of it’s Civil War history, there’s a lot of really interesting colonial/revolutionary history here too.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this fascinating narrative about the American Revolution, Alan Pell Crawford focuses on the three years between the Battles of Monmouth and Yorktown and the many battles and critical figures from the Southern colonies. By focusing on a region and its people largely ignored by other American Revolution historians and texts, this book gives readers some fascinating new insights into activities like the Edenton Tea Party and the final battles of the Revolution from the perspectives of Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Henry and John Laurens (yes, that John Laurens from Hamilton). With a wealth of historical information from primary sources and quality historical analysis, Crawford is a masterful writer that really brings this part of the Revolution to life. The book focuses on a variety of social groups involved in the Revolution, creating a holistic and inclusive portrait of the war while also highlighting the misperceptions and contradictions present in other accounts of the war. This book was hard to put down because of the depth of the analysis and the fantastic historical detail present in the book, and fans of American history will definitely enjoy this riveting history book and its insights into the missing years of the American Revolution.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the advance copy.

[Lissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I brought this book along with me to Boston (to see the 250th anniversary of Lexington and Concord, yeah buddy!).

I feel like the war in the southern states tends to get ignored, save for the "big" names (Cowpens and Yorktown, for the most part, with the occasional mention of Waxhaws or Camden). Personally, I think what happened in the south is fascinating, because it truly was a civil war with neighbors fighting neighbors (often quite brutally). The armies involved might not have been large, but a lot of important things happened there.

Crawford paints a picture of what happened once the British focus shifted to the south. The prose is very readable and kept my interest, and I enjoyed reading about battles that so often receive little, if any, notice in other books. He doesn't shy away from the brutalities committed by both sides, but I feel like he was fair to both the loyalists and the rebels. (For example, he delves into whether Tarleton was truly responsible for what was called "Tarleton's Quarter" at Waxhaws and is very even with his analysis.)

Reading this book really makes me want to plan a roadtrip to the Carolinas and Virginia and see all of these places! :D

This book was also responsible for me ordering seven other books that were mentioned in its pages.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in part due to recent genealogical work tying my family to carolina revolutionary war participants. Turns out my family switched sides a time or two during the conflict and reading this book explicates the point often. At one point author says most of the patriots fighting were former loyalists and most of the loyalists were former patriots- interesting! Good book, good overview of the southern rebellion. However, it isn't an original book, as the entire thing is suffused with secondary sourcing. That's fine, but most of the book is (broadly) the author citing others views and (one presumes) the author sharing the view he finds most plausible. Episodic, this book can be read in separated chapters which is both ok (nice to have history nuggets) but also annoying - a sometimes random overall narrative. Given the nature of the conflict and the many personalities, militia's, state and non state actors, one sympathizes with the author trying to concoct one overall "narrative" (as i am asking for) but maybe that's why this realm of the revolution remains less studied,

[skip thurnauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the familiar battles and events that occurred during the American War of Independence took place in what are now the northern states. This Fierce People tells the story of America’s Revolutionary War in the South. America was fortunate that leaders like Nathanael Greene, Francis Marion, and Daniel Morgan rose to the occasion to lead inexperienced troops to victory after victory against the British army, considered at the time to be the best in the world. Crawford goes into great detail describing battles and skirmishes that played out across the south. He also delves into the personalities of both the American and British leaders in these battles where neighbors battled neighbors. All of the action leads up to the decisive battle of Yorktown, although by then it seems almost anticlimactic after numerous American victories in South Carolina. There were many times where the future of the national seemed to be held together by a thread.

[Anson Cassel Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-grounded and engagingly written history of the American Revolution in the South. Though I was generally knowledgeable about this topic beforehand, Crawford gave me a better mental framework and increased my historical understanding with his well-paced account. Buffs may prefer a stricter chronological treatment with more detailed battlefield descriptions, but I appreciated Crawford’s more relaxed narrative style interspersed with social history and biographical portraits.

I have two complaints: 1. Crawford does not use footnotes and therefore spends more time than necessary citing sources in the text itself. 2. The publisher should have sprung for battlefield maps. (In his Acknowledgements, Crawford thanks the artist who created “the map”—the single one following the table of contents that shows locations of places mentioned in the text.)

[Steve Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diana Gabaldon writes about the Revolutionary War in the South in her continuing series Outlander. those books couldn't hold my attention the way this book did. Crawford does a great job of bringing the wide palette of characters alive, through terrible weather, ongoing lack of food and shelter, and other impedements to military success by the Americans. He shows how the victory at Yorktown was significant, but NOT the end of the Revolutionary War. so many players led to success, yet victory was never assured.
one key to American success was Britain trying to hold together a world wide empire with conflicts seemingly more important than the rebeling American colonies.
read it!

[Brett Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and thorough account of how the fighting in the southern theater decided the outcome of the War for Independence. Crawford pulls together a wide array of previously published sources to paint a thrilling account of the men and women on both sides of the conflict, the ever-shifting military strategy and objectives, and the series of battles and smaller skirmishes so often neglected in our traditional understanding of the conflict. Insightful and accessible, this one was hard to put down!

[Bert Dumars · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an interesting read about a critical aspect of the Revolutionary War that is often overlooked and underemphasized. The book does cover the essential battles, skirmishes, and strategies employed by the Americans and British/Loyalists, but it often strays into tangential topics that are not as relevant to the overall story. A good read on the Revolutionary War in the South, but I look forward to Rick Atkinson's 3rd book in his Revolutionary War trilogy to get a more detailed and focused perspective on the battles, strategies, and events.

[Bobby Eubanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally A Complete History of the South and the Revolution

I have read many books on the American Revolution. Thus book met my expectations. I have been searching for a historical account about the Southern campaign of the Revolution. This without a doubt detailed the importance of the Southern Patriots contribution to winning the war. It is well written with great detail of the people and events. This a must read for those interested in the American Revolution.

[James Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incomplete and only occasionally engrossing.

Disjointed and sporadic in its attention to the details on the multiple characters/stories it follows. The writer brings forth the various personalities of the conflict, only to seemingly lose the thread of their story and move in on with the tale incomplete. Others are crammed in for short bursts of drama only to feel unnecessary to the main thesis. C+ overall

[QuiAudetAdipiscitur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up down the street from the Guilford Courthouse battlefield, I was incredibly excited to read this. This is by far the best book I've read on the Revolutionary War in the southern US. Very well-written and researched, Crawford paints a vivid portrait of every facet of the war and why the southern front was so decisive for America's victory.

[james blanchard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fierce People INDEED

This magnificent work covers the American Revolution with general references to battles in the Northern States and particular coverage in-depth of Revolutionary War battles in the Southern States. The reader is led through many battles where the British Army was weakened to the point where victory was achieved through persistent drives by the militia.

[Michael G. Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the author states, the battles in the South during the second half of the Revolutionary War are less well known than the battles in the North during the first half. I enjoyed the book, and learned a lot.

[Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A people-focused historical account of the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas and Virginia. An enjoyable read about the Swamp Fox, Gamecock, and other unique people and forgotten battles in the civil war of the Carolinas. Worth a read and likely the best book (to date) about the Southern theater.

[Jarred Luján · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, deep analysis into the southern campaign of the American Revolution. Not sure it fully convinced me of its central thesis and the narrative can get a little bogged down in tangents here and there, but learned a lot and dug it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent source of Revolutionary War history. It read like a novel, making it easy to read. The High School history books emphasize the war in the North, but there was fighting in the southern colonies as well. I recommend it for all American History buffs of all ages.

[Tamela S. Bash]

I truly enjoyed this book. I knew so little about the Revolutionary War in the south that most of the material was new to me. The book is written. in a very readable way, no stuffy history review here.

[Luke Wiest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a comprehensive overview of the battles that took place in the South. The author interspersed biographical chapters on some of the major players in the war as he proceeded through the chronological history of the war.

[Stephen Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colonial history is my favorite. Much about the revolutionary war I was reminded of in this book. I also learned some new things particularly about the war in our southern states. I was most surprised by the large number of loyalist to the crown referenced in these pages.