In Winsor,Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. VI (1889), and in Larned (editor),Literature of American History, pp. 111-152 (1902), the authorities are critically estimated. There are excellent classified lists in Van Tyne,The American Revolution(1905), vol. V of Hart (editor),The American Nation, and in Avery,History of the United States, vol. V, pp. 422-432, and vol. VI, pp. 445-471 (1908-09). The notes in Channing,A History of the United States, vol. III (1913), are useful. Detailed information in regard to places will be found in Lossing,The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, 2 vols. (1850).
In recent years American writers on the period have chiefly occupied themselves with special studies, and the general histories have been few. Tyler'sThe Literary History of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (1897), is a penetrating study of opinion. Fiske'sThe American Revolution, 2 vols. (1891), and Sydney George Fisher'sThe Struggle for American Independence, 2 vols. (1908), are popular works. The short volume of Van Tyne is based upon extensive research. The attention of English writers has been drawn in an increasing degree to the Revolution. Lecky,A History of England in the Eighteenth Century, chaps. XIII, XIV, and XV (1903), is impartial. The most elaborate andreadable history is Trevelyan,The American Revolution, and hisGeorge the ThirdandCharles Fox(six volumes in all, completed in 1914). If Trevelyan leans too much to the American side the opposite is true of Fortescue,A History of the British Army, vol. III (1902), a scientific account of military events with many maps and plans. Captain Mahan, U. S. N., wrote the British naval history of the period in Clowes (editor),The Royal Navy, a History, vol. III, pp. 353-564 (1898). Of great value also is Mahan'sInfluence of Sea Power on History(1890) andMajor Operations of the Navies in the War of Independence(1913). He may be supplemented by C. O. Paullin'sNavy of the American Revolution(1906) and G. W. Allen'sA Naval History of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (1913).
Washington's own writings are necessary to an understanding of his character. Sparks,The Life and Writings of George Washington, 2 vols. (completed 1855), has been superseded by Ford,The Writings of George Washington, 14 vols. (completed 1898). The general reader will probably put aside the older biographies of Washington by Marshall, Irving, and Sparks for more recent Lives such as those by Woodrow Wilson, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Paul Leicester Ford. Haworth,George Washington, Farmer(1915) deals with a special side of Washington's character. The problems of the army are described in Bolton,The Private Soldier under Washington(1902), and in Hatch,The Administration of the American Revolutionary Army(1904). For military operations Frothingham,TheSiege of Boston; Justin H. Smith,Our Struggle for the Fourteenth Colony, 2 vols. (1907); Codman,Arnold's Expedition to Quebec(1901); and Lucas,History of Canada, 1763-1812(1909).
For the state of opinion in England, the contemporaryAnnual Register, and the writings and speeches of men of the time like Burke, Fox, Horace Walpole, and Dr. Samuel Johnson. The King's attitude is found in Donne,Correspondence of George III with Lord North, 1768-83, 2 vols. (1867). Stirling,Coke of Norfolk and his Friends, 2 vols. (1908), gives the outlook of a Whig magnate; Fitzmaurice,Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, 2 vols. (1912), the Whig policy. Curwen'sJournals and Letters, 1775-84(1842), show us a Loyalist exile in England. Hazelton'sThe Declaration of Independence, its History(1906), is an elaborate study.
The three campaigns—New York, Philadelphia, and the Hudson—are covered by C. F. Adams,Studies Military and Diplomatic(1911), which makes severe strictures on Washington's strategy; H. P. Johnston's“Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn,”in the Long Island Historical Society'sMemoirs, andBattle of Harlem Heights(1897); Carrington,Battles of the American Revolution(1904); Stryker,The Battles of Trenton and Princeton(1898); Lucas,History of Canada(1909). Fonblanque'sJohn Burgoyne(1876) is a defense of that leader; while Riedesel'sLetters and Journals Relating to the War of the American Revolution(trans. W. L. Stone, 1867) and Anburey'sTravels through the Interior Parts of America(1789) are accounts by eye-witnesses. Mereness' (editor)Travels in the American Colonies, 1690-1783(1916) gives the impressions of Lord Adam Gordon and others.
On Washington at Valley Forge, Oliver,Life of Alexander Hamilton(1906); Charlemagne Tower,The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution, 2 vols. (1895); Greene,Life of Nathanael Greene(1893); Brooks,Henry Knox(1900); Graham,Life of General Daniel Morgan(1856); Kapp,Life of Steuben(1859); Arnold,Life of Benedict Arnold(1880). On the army Bolton and Hatch as cited; Mahan gives a lucid account of naval effort. Barrow,Richard, Earl Howe(1838) is a dull account of a remarkable man. On the French alliance, Perkins,France in the American Revolution(1911), Corwin,French Policy and the American Alliance of 1778(1916), and Van Tyne on“Influences which Determined the French Government to Make the Treaty with America, 1778,”inThe American Historical Review, April, 1916.
Fortescue, as cited, gives excellent plans. Other useful books are McCrady,History of South Carolina in the Revolution(1901); Draper,King's Mountain and its Heroes(1881); Simms,Life of Marion(1844). Ross(editor),The Cornwallis Correspondence, 3 vols. (1859), and Tarleton,History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America(1787), give the point of view of British leaders. On the West, Thwaites,How George Rogers Clark won the Northwest(1903); and on the Loyalists Van Tyne,The Loyalists in the American Revolution(1902), Flick,Loyalism in New York(1901), and Stark,The Loyalists of Massachusetts(1910).
For the exploits of John Paul Jones and of the American navy, Mrs. De Koven'sThe Life and Letters of John Paul Jones, 2 vols. (1913), Don C. Seitz'sPaul Jones, and G. W. Allen'sA Naval History of the American Revolution, 2 vols. (1913), should be consulted. Jusserand'sWith Americans of Past and Present Days(1917) contains a chapter on“Rochambeau and the French in America”; Johnston'sThe Yorktown Campaign(1881) is a full account; Wraxall,Historical Memoirs of my own Time(1815, reprinted 1904), tells of the reception of the news of Yorktown in England.
TheEncyclopœdia Britannicahas useful references to authorities for persons prominent in the Revolution andThe Dictionary of National Biographyfor leaders on the British side.
Abraham, Plains of (QC), American army on,50.Adams, Abigail,49.Adams, John, in Continental Congress,8; journey from Boston to Philadelphia,9-10; on committee to draft Declaration of Independence,75-76; excepted from British offer of pardon,86,92; opinion of Philadelphia,120,165; criticism of Washington,149; sent to Paris on American Commission,270-271.Albany (NY), plan to concentrate British forces at,133.Allen, Colonel Ethan,40.André, Major John, at Philadelphia,195; treats with Arnold,241-242; capture,242-243; hanged as spy,243.Annapolis (MD), Congress at,275.Anne, Fort (NY),129.Armed neutrality,206.Army, American, camp at Cambridge,27-28; Washington reorganizes,30-35; food and clothing,30-31,32153-156,166; composition,31-32,43; officers,32-35,43-44; after Canadian campaign,51; desertions,100,159-160; plundering by,111; pay,111,158-159,209; in 1777,112; condition under Gates,145; Washington wishes national,151; needs of engineers,152; hospital service,152-153,166-167; weapons and artillery,156-158; religion in,160-161; supplies from France,184; after Valley Forge,197; mutinous,209,246.Army, British, food for,36; press-gangs,176; flogging,176; relations between officers and men,176-177; difficulties of raising,178;see alsoGermans.Army, French, in America,235-236.Arnold, Benedict, at Ticonderoga,40; through Maine to Canada,43,44-45; at Quebec,45-46; at Crown Point,52-53; Coke denounces King's reception of,71; Washington's trust in,110,172-173; at Stillwater,143; describes American Army,155; treason,173,195,240-243; at West Point,238; life at Philadelphia,239; tried by court-martial,239; reprimanded by Washington,239-240; in Virginia,251.Articles of Confederation,163.Assanpink River (NJ), Washington on,105.Atrocities,180,212;see alsoIndians, Prisons.Augusta (GA), British take,211-212; falls to Americans,250.
Baltimore (MD), Congress flees to,100.Barbados, Washington visits,22.Barras, French naval commander,261.Baum, Colonel, at Bennington,131,132.Beaumarchais sends munitions to America,183-184.Bemis Heights (NY), battle,143.Bennington (VT), battle of131-132.Berthier, French officer,231.Biggins Bridge (SC), Tarleton's victory at,216.Bordentown (NJ), Germans at,102.Boston (MA), defiance of British in,2; seige,3,4,35-36; Washington's journey to,9-10; American camp,27-28; evacuated by British,48-49; effect of Washington's success at,81; Howe feigns setting out for,114; safe,116; Burgoyne's force at,146; Loyalists in,212.Braddock, General Edward, Washington with,22-23.Brandywine (PA) battle of,119-120,133,148; La Fayette at,169; Greene at,171.Brant, Joseph (Thayendanegea),134.Breed's Hill (MA)4-5;see alsoBunker Hill.Broglie, Comte de, suggested as commander of American army,185.Borglie, Prince de, with French armies in America,232.Brooklyn Heights (NY), Washington on,88-91.Buford, Colonel Tarleton attacks,217.Bunker Hill (MA), battle of,4-7,33; Washington learns of,10; significance,21; officers at,33,35.Burgoyne, General John, on British behavior at Bunker Hill,7; ordered to meet Howe,68,112,113,124-125; Howe deserts,116,130; life and character,123-124; at Lake Champlain,125et seq.; Indian Allies,125-126,138-140,144; takes Fort Ticonderoga,127; lack of supplies,129-130; at Fort Edward,129;130,141; and Bennington,131-132; at Saratoga,132,141,143; learns of failure of St. Leger,136; crosses Hudson,141; at Stillwater (Freeman's Farm),142-143; surrender at Saratoga,68,122,143-147,149; effect on France of surrender of,186; effect of surrender in England,190,192.Burke, Edmund, and conciliation,69; and Independence,190.Byron, Admiral, sent to aid Howe,200.
Cahokia (IL), Clark at,223.Cambridge (MA), American camp,3,27-28; Washington at,10,30-31,34,35,146.Camden (SC), battle of,219-220,236.Canada, campaign against,37,38-47; Washington's idea of,40France and,188; Loyalists take refuge in,227-228.Carleton, Sir Guy, Governor of Canada,42; commands at Quebec,45-46; operations on Lake Champlain,52-53; Howe and,95; superseded byBurgoyne,124; commands at New York,269; and Loyalists,274.Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, on commission to Montreal,50.Carroll, John, on commission to Montreal,50.Catherine II advises England against war,179.Catholics, Quebec Act,38-39,41; disabilities in England,208.Chadd's Ford (PA), Washington at,118,119.Champlain, Lake (NY), plan for conquest of Canada by way of,43; operations on,52-53,95; Burgoyne at,125et seq.; Arnold at,238.Charleston (SC), on side of Revolution,37; British expedition to,82-83; Prevost demands surrender,213-214; Lincoln at,215-217; surrenders,217.Charlestown (MA), location,3; burned,5,7.Charlotte (NC), Greene at,247.Charlottesville (VA), Cornwallis plans raid of,252.Chatham, William Pitt, Earl of, and conciliation with America,69,190; political status,192,193.Cherry Valley, massacre,229.Chesapeake Bay, Howe on,116,117;see alsoYorktown.Chew, Benjamin, house as central point in battle at Germantown,122.Clark, G.R., expedition,223.Clinton, General Sir Henry,236; at Charleston,82,215; at New York,116,130,133; up the Hudson,143,145; succeeds Howe in command,195; march from Philadelphia,196,197,198; retreats at Monmouth Court House,199; reaches Newport,202; sails for Charleston,217-218; proclamation,218; Rodney relieves,237; and Cornwallis,253; delay in reinforcing Cornwallis,262-263,265.Coke, of Norfolk, wealth,20,69-70; and Toryism,70-71; on American question,71-72; and Washington,71,72, 189.Colonies, attitude toward England,55et seq.; state of society in,60; population,177-178;see alsonames of colonies.Continental Congress, Washington at,1,259; selects leader for army,7-9; Howe's conciliation,92-93; flees to Baltimore,100; loses able men,110; hampers Washington,100; Gates and,142; repudiates Gates terms to Burgoyne,146; Gates lays quarrel with Washington before,150; and enlistment,151; at York,162,163; ineptitude,163-164,236,269-270, gives Southern command to Gates,219; Test Acts,226; and French alliance,244; borrows money from France,271; at Annapolis,275. Conway, General, and Stamp Act,69.Conway, General Thomas,110;“Conway Cabal”against Washington,149,150; leaves America,151.Cornwallis, Lord,230; at Charleston,82, crosses Hudson,97; goes to Trenton,104-105; at Princeton,106; andHowe,115; at the Brandywine,119; goes to Charleston,216; at Camden,219; in North Carolina,221,247-248; proclamation,249; Guilford Court House,249; advance down Cape Fear River,250; in Virginia,251-252; and Clinton,253; Yorktown,254et seq.; surrender,264-266.Countess of Scarborough(ship), Jones captures,205.Cowpens (SC), battle of,172,248.Cromwell, Oliver, as military leader,170.Crown Point (NY), capture of,52-53; Burgoyne at,126.