"New Book on the Battle of Brandywine" Topic

Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777 by Michael C. Harris

Mr. Harris has written a book that will be a delight for both the novice and the serious student of the American Revolution. This is an extremely readable account but filled with information, mostly taken from primary sources. It is sure to provide many ideas for wargame scenarios.

The book sets the stage for the campaign with a fascinating description of the overall strategic situation, the problems confronting British Commander William Howe and the American Commander George Washington, and their respective strategies to meet those challenges. The initial thrust and parry between the armies in New Jersey during the spring of 1777 involved several small battles that are interesting in their own right. Then Harris explores General Howe's decision to embark his army on ships to strike at Philadelphia and Washington's uncertainty about where the British armada was headed. The description of these events conveys the tension both men must have felt wonderfully.

When Howe's army finally lands south of Philadelphia and Washington moves to block him, the stage is set for what was, in terms of men engaged, ground area covered, and length of time, the largest battle of the American Revolution.

Mr. Harris' description of the battle itself is masterful. Despite a woeful lack of official reports (particularly on the American side) he has managed to piece together the movements of the armies and the fighting that resulted with a level of detail that is amazing. His use of primary accounts by the participants adds a wonderful level of realism. The many maps and photographs of the ground as it exists today are very useful aids in following the action. Mr. Harris' personal knowledge of the battlefield is evident in his descriptions. Gamers should find a lot of very useful material here.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

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Great timing.

I just need to find another supplier to avoid using Amazon ;-)

Barnes & Noble has it, too.

Thanks for the heads up. I grew up in New Jersey and my family took trips to visit the Brandywine area. Even though I moved away, I have fond memories of what a beautiful area that was, and have wargamed that battle many times. It will be interesting to read a new interpretation of events.

Thanks for the review. I live in the area and was going to pick the book up, so it is nice to hear it is well done.

I have it on my Amazon wish list, so I'll have to make use of Amazon Prime and pick it up. ;-)

I second the recommendation of this book. I met Michael Harris at the Independence Hall Visitor Center in early September and after a conversation with him I was convinced that his book would be perfect for my foray into AWI. I picked up an autographed copy the same day.

I am just finishing the epilog now, and I agree that it is an excellent book. The afore mentioned primary sources really add to the book giving the reader the points of view of various sergeants, officers and generals, including von Knyphausen and Ferguson, and Mr. Harris employed a professional cartographer to add a dozen or so great, modern maps to the book. He also added a full order of battle for both the Crown and Continental forces.

Mr. Harris also wrote the book as a sort of historiography of the battle, but in no way is this book bland. Even during my studies in college I found too many history books boring, by Brandywine is not one of those. It is very well written and the words almost flow off the page as if it were a novel.

To build further on what Scott said, the novice to the period, like me, will not be left in the dark. Mr. Harris gives a biography of each of the major players and the story does not get bogged down as he details the months leading up to the battle.

I believe this book took Mr. Harris around a decade of research and work to complete, and I would say the fruit of his labor was well worth it. I hope he writes more on the era.

Thank you for the recommendation – been looking for another book to read!

I read it also and thought it was very good. It also had enough maps. I dislike these sort of books with only one or two.

Thanks, Scott. I gamed this in 25mm years ago and, currently, I am working on 1/72 armies for this battle.

My group is putting on Brandywine for an upcoming Convention. Just did out first playtest last night. Great Timing!

Anyone interested we will be using Black Powder and the Convention is Nov 7-8th in Rockford, IL

Our Game will follow the Bolt Action Tournament on Saturday night.
what-khan.com

Barnes & Noble has it, too.

Thanks, Scott :-)

I always thought that Monmouth Courthouse was the largest battle.

I picked my copy up from Barnes and Noble also.

Actually Long Island was the largest battle.