The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide Of The American Revolution By Walter Edgar

The book read was Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict that Turned the Tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar. This book touched on the conflicts and the battles that took place in the South Carolina backcountry, and its significance to the outcome of the American Revolution. It begins with touching on the political conflicts that lead to tensions between the two sides. Followed by, the British invasion to control and settle the territory. Early on, it is obvious how much pressure Britain put on the people who lived in the backcountry, but their techniques of intimidation and cruelty had an adverse effect on the South Carolinians. Instead of being frightened, the locals stayed strong and were able to come together to fight

The first theme that emerges is violence. The British troops used tactics to be the dominant force against locals, but even the everyday people who lived in the backcountry had no choice but to resort to violence. For the residents, It was the only way of survival and it didn’t matter if you were on the American side, British side, or were just a neutral (who would end up being forced to choose sides). The theme used to counter the violence was courage. Through all the events that happened, at times it looked as if the best choice was just to migrate in order to save families and not risk losing assets. The people who took place in these battles had the biggest impacts because they had the courage to band together and keep fighting the opposed threats from Britain. Lastly, the underlying theme shown is confidence, and how it slowly built up in the American spirit time to time. Even when it looked as rough as possible and civilization in the backcountry was all but safe, there were little victories such as keeping the land, surviving an enemy raid, or defeating a small militia in which these Americans gained more confidence in order to win the

Edgar could’ve told the stories and different events in order of importance rather than chronological order. Doing this allowed the book to be more interesting and understandable. Early on, Edgar also does a remarkable job of helping out by introducing and giving an overview of why this location was significant and how it transformed by running through the landscape, geography, religions, and opportunity. He expands by going into the day to day lifestyles of living in the backcountry and the process that led to the settlement. This would set up for the early conflicts such as The Cherokee War, emergence of outlaw gangs, and the regulators. Another strength is the clarity of the intentions of each battle. Due to the descriptions, It was easy to see the viewpoint of the decision maker and recognize the pros and cons during battle strategy explanations. The in-depth descriptions of the conflicts that took place outside of battle played a big role as well. Many of times, things go on right before or after battles that played a bigger role in the development of things. Lastly, Edgar does well of demonstrating the themes and how every time we see violence, an act of courage follows, or if an event had a positive effect on the Americans took place, confidence would build. The weaknesses seen were use of names. It is easy to get lost in all the names, nicknames, and groups of people fighting.