George Washington's Great Gamble: And the Sea Battle That Won the American Revolution

by James L. Nelson

One shining yet overlooked moment that changed the course of the Revolutionary War In the opening months of 1781, General George Washington feared his army would fail to survive another campaign season. The spring and summer only served to reinforce his despair, but in late summer the changing circumstances of war presented a once-in-a-war opportunity for a French armada to hold off the mighty British navy while his own troops with French reinforcements drove Lord Cornwallis's forces to the Chesapeake. The Battle of the Capes would prove the only time the French ever fought the Royal Navy to a draw, and for the British army it was a catastrophe. Cornwallis confidently retreated to Yorktown, expecting to be evacuated by a British fleet that never arrived. In the end he had no choice but to surrender. Although the war sputtered on another two years, its outcome was never in doubt after Yorktown. General Washington's Great Gamble is the story of the greatest naval engagement of the American Revolution. It is also a study in leadership, good and bad, political machinations and the wild, unpredictable circumstances that led to the extraordinary confluence of military and naval resources at that time and place. Topics
Looking South; Sea Power for the General; Arnold; Copper Bottoms; Head of Elk; The Battle of Cape Henry; An Attempt to Conquer Virginia; Greene and Looking North; The American Command; The Battle of Guilford Courthouse; Pyrrhic Victory; Reinforcing the Chesapeake; "[T]he enemy have turned so much of their attention to the Southern States..."; The Battle of Blandford; The British War at Sea; Juncture; "I am inclined to think well of York..."; The Promise of a Fleet; The Battle of Green Springs; The March on New York; An Operation to the Southward; The Arrival of De Grasse; The Battle of the Capes;Cornwallis Surrenders

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

400 pages, Hardcover

First published April 19, 2010

About the author

James L. Nelson (1962-) is an American historical nautical novelist. He was born in Lewiston, Maine. In 1980, Nelson graduated from Lewiston High School. Nelson attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for two years, and then transferred to UCLA, with the ambition of becoming a film director. Nelson, his wife, Lisa, and their daughter Betsy lived for two years in Steubenville, Ohio, while Lisa attended Franciscan University. They also have two boys, Nate and Jack. They now live in Harpswell, Maine, where Nelson continues to write full time.

Reviews

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book on the Battles of the Virginia Capes and Yorktown. Nelson’s book is well-researched and well-written. The book’s story revolves around George Washington, but Nelson also devotes the right amount of attention to Admiral de Grasse, Lafayette, Cornwallis, and Clinton.

Nelson vividly details the Battle of the Capes, and explores the strategy of the Yorktown campaign. A successful land campaign in the area required a decisive defeat of Britain’s naval forces, but the Americans by that time had little in the way of warships; they had to rely on the French, who up until that point, had never won a naval engagement with the British.

Nelson deftly covers the both Battle of the Capes and its lead-up, and he has a good grasp of the strategy employed at the time. "The Battle of the Capes was an epoch-making event,” Nelson writes, “ yet there had been nothing extraordinary in the performance of either fleet.” Nelson argues that the French victory owed itself largely to luck. While many historians have explained the outcome of the battle in terms of unwise decisionmaking on the British navy’s part, Nelson emphasizes de Grasse’s decision to divide his forces.

In all, a well-written and interesting book, although I’m pretty sure Nelson gets a few geographical details wrong, like calling Cape Fear “Wilmington,” and such things.

[Numidica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent history of the last year of the Revolutionary War, and the key role of the French Navy (and Army) in defeating the British. Nelson's descriptions of the sea battles are full of the kind of knowing detail that an author who is himself a sailor brings to the subject. One of the great virtues of this history is that it is written by an author who is normally a writer of historical fiction, so the book has good pacing, reads like a novel, and tells an often overlooked story in an engaging way. Reading this book inspired me to read Lafayette by Unger.

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good look at the Revolutionary War in 1781 in a popular history style. It is marred by a click-bait title, and a blurb that really tries to oversell the subject (not in importance, but calling Yorktown 'overlooked' is irresponsible at best), but the content is good. It also continues a trend of an in medias res intro presenting the most 'exciting' bit of the climax that I'm getting very tired of.

But the overall thrust of the book is well-handled. At the beginning of 1781, the Continental Army had been promised help from France that had yet to amount to much. Washington had come to see that control of the sea was going to be essential to any successful prosecution of the war, and the French navy had yet to manage much on that either. There's a very good section on Arnold leading a force in ravaging much of Virginia and cutting off supplies to Continental troops in Carolina. And an attempt was made to contain him and force a battle and defeat his force.

This ends with Arnold getting away to sea, but until that point, it's basically a dry-run for the Yorktown campaign. This is hammered home a little too often in the text, but certainly an interesting point. The idea of the 'gamble' of the title is that Washington is gambling that the French navy could actually hold the Virginia coast long enough to trap Cornwallis. But it doesn't come off as that much of a gamble. Is it sure? No. Is Washington really out anything by trying? Not so much. He was working on a siege/assault of New York, that was canceled in favor of moving to Virginia, but that was unlikely to have gone far.

There's an interesting look at what everyone's writing when, and Rochambeau's behind-the scenes steering of focus from New York to Virginia. There's also a look at the breakdown of British communications, and Cornwalis' decision to abandon the Carolinas in favor of Virginia.

In all, it's an engaging look at the 1781 campaigns, and does a good job with sorting out all the various activities separated by long distances. It does not lose focus, and juggles multiple theaters very well.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a work that explores the evolution of George Washington's military thinking as the French entered the Revolutionary War. Talking about his "Great Gamble," I think, rather overstates things. A key point of this book is how Washington began to appreciate the potential value of naval superiority. After the French entered the War, he had hoped for some collaborative successes between the French navy and the American-French infantry. It did not happen.

The book also notes Washington's fixation on New York as the proper focus of his military strategy. British General Clinton was hunkered down in New York City and its environs--making it difficult for Washington to "get at him."

The book also considers Lord Cornwallis' retreat from the Carolinas to Virginia. Poor strategic thinking by the British left Cornwallis and his forces tied to the coast, to allow for the British fleet to communicate with him. However, a large French fleet set out from the Caribbean. Cicrumstances conspired to lead Washington and the French General, Rochambeau, to target Cornwallis rather than Clinton. The march of these two forces south and the confluence with the French navy threatened Cornwallis' position.

Then the story of the naval battle and the French victory and the doom of Cornwallis' forces. The book concludes that Washington's evolution in thinking about the importance of control over the waters was a key part of the signal victory at Yorktown. Well done. . . .

[Robert M. Roth MD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to follow

I have no doubt that this is a credible and, at times enjoyable, book on the events that lead to the victory at Yorktown and the British defeat. It is a wonder that victory ensued given the state of the Colonial army and the implicit lack of effective communication during that period.

I disliked the absence of maps in the Kindle edition, which made following the descriptions of the numerous land marches both tedious and impossible to follow. Secondly, the descriptions of the naval engagements are so swathed in ancient sailing terms that I could not follow what was occurring.

This is a scholarly effort for those who are not faint of heart.

[Nat Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learn more about American history from James Nelson than I ever did in college - and I majored in history!

[Kirby Calhoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will change your entire perspective on the pressures our first president was under. This book absolutely shows God's divine timing.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book written for laymen describing the actions of the last three years of the Revolutionary War. During this time, the French finally came to the aid of the American cause, providing George Washington's army the sea superiority it so desperately needed. Written on a very readable level and moving along quickly, it provides a good overview, although not a very deep one of the events leading to Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown and the absolutely crucial role played in the victory by the French fleet under Admiral de Grasse. My one quibble with the book, as it is with so many recent military books I've read, is the lack of decent maps to illustrate the movements of fleets and armies.

[Peter Aronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nicely focused and readable book about the need for control of the sea for the Americans and their allies to have a chance of winning the Revolutionary War, and the lead-up to the Battle of Yorktown and the battle itself. Not a book to read on the whole conflict, but it covers its subject matter nicely. (The Kindle edition, unfortunately, has unlinked endnotes and an unlinked index, making them rather useless. A better Kindle conversion would have had the endnotes be two-way links into the text and the index linked back into the text.)

[Jeannette Dilouie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both informative and engaging as it details the circumstances surrounding the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, as well as the setting and characters. Rather like David McCullough, James Nelson knows how to weave purely non-fiction history into a captivating story. I'm so glad I found this book while researching for "Designing America!"

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history of the war, especially around the Tidewater area. A bit ponderous at times like any accurate history but a good read.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where would the final battle be that won the war?

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is well researched but tries to tell too much too quickly. This Is a jumbled read that trips over names and dates. I did not enjoy it.