SPECIAL OPERATIONS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

◗ Robert L. Tonsetic ◗ Casemate Publishers (2020) ◗ £18.99 ◗ 272 pages (softback) ◗ ISBN:9781612008936 ◗ casematepublishers.co.uk

This is a paperback reprint of a book first published in 2013. A Prologue offers a useful summary of warfare on the North American Continent, including Native American warfare; the arrival of English settlers in the early 1600s and their clashes with the indigenous inhabitants; the Pequot War and the attack upon Mystic in 1637; King Philip’s War in 1675-6, and the exploits of Rogers’ Rangers during the French and Indian War of 1754-63.

The next eight chapters are devoted to the Revolutionary War and cover the following topics: The bloodless capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point in 1775 by Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys; The Continental Navy’s raid on New Providence Island in the Bahamas to seize the gunpowder stored at Fort Nassau and the ‘battle’ of Nassau in March, 1776; The formation and activities of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton’s Rangers during the Long Island and Newyork campaigns and an account of Ranger Captain Nathan Hale’s spy mission to Long Island, his capture and execution; Lieutenant Benjamin Whitcomb’s scouting expedition between Fort Ticonderoga and the British positions around Saint John and Montreal in July 1776 and shooting of Brigadier General Patrick Gordon; his appointment as captain to raise two companies of rangers for the Continental Army and the service of his Independent Corps of Rangers in the Saratoga campaign; John Paul Jones’s voyage in the Ranger and raids on Britain’s Coast and victory over HMS Drake in 1778; Partisan warfare in the northern theatre.

The rise of partisan warfare in the southern theatre including Francis Marion, the‘swamp Fox’the battle of King’s Mountain and the death of Major Patrick Ferguson; The Whaleboat operations around Newyork and Long Island 1777-1781; and George Rogers Clark’s march along the Ohio river from Pittsburgh tovincennes on the Wabash river in February 1779.

In a short epilogue the author, who served twenty-seven years as infantry officer, retiring with rank of colonel, suggests that “the special operations conducted during the Revolutionary War … all adhered to certain principles of war. In particular, they all emphasized the importance of security, simplicity, surprise, speed, and a sense of purpose...ad-hoc volunteer forces could successfully conduct special operations after the outbreak of hostilities, or even during military campaigns.”

Twelve pages of black and white illustrations, comprised of photographs of sites and memorials and some rather poor reproductions of illustrations, are bound into the centre of the book. There are also twelve full page maps, placed to accompany the appropriate chapters. Nine pages of endnotes, a five page bibliography and a nine page index conclude the book.

The individual chapters offer very useful introductions to the various raids and operations covered, many of which – such as the New Providence raid, an amphibious operation involving a few Continental Navy sloops and under three hundred sailors and Continental Marines – are minor actions that could make ideal scenarios for small battles or large skirmish wargame, but are inevitably limited by the number of pages devoted to each topic. This means that readers inspired to create wargames based upon them will need to do some further research. Recommended for wargamers already interested in the American Revolution seeking further scenarios for their miniature forces.