The American attack on Quebec in 1775 was a key episode in the American War of Independence (1775-1783). Capture of the city would give the Americans control of Canada - a disaster for the British. The subsequent campaign involved a 350-mile trek across uninhabited wilderness, a desperate American attack on the city of Quebec that left one American general dead and another wounded, and a British counterattack that culminated in a brutal naval battle off Valcour Island on Lake Champlain. In this book Brendan Morrissey details the events of this ferocious struggle whose results would have such...

The battle of Monmouth Courthouse was not only the last major action in the Northern theater, it was also the longest and hardest-fought engagement of the entire Revolutionary War (1775-1783). When the British abandoned Philadelphia to return to New York City, American troops harassed their retreat. On the morning of 28 June 1778, General Lee, George Washington's lieutenant, attacked the British rearguard but his attack went badly wrong. The British rearguard, now reinforced, threw Lee's troops into a headlong retreat. Lee was relieved of his command and Washington's Continentals then stood...

The British assault on Breed's Hill and the burning of Charlestown were the first major battles of the American Revolution; after the events at Boston there was no turning back. This detailed text by Brendan Morrissey explores the opposing commanders and forces involved, whilst describing how the sparks at Lexington and Concord ignited the smouldering resentment of the Colonists into the flame of a rebellion. Colonist militia were pitted against British Redcoats in a series of struggles which led the British to evacuate Boston and to George Washington taking command of the fledgling American...

Osprey's Campaign title for the Siege of Yorktown (1781), which was part of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). By 1781 Britain's struggle to contain the rebels in her American colonies had reached an inglorious stalemate. Six years on from the British defeat by the New England militia at Boston, George Washington's rebuilt Continental Army - with support from the French - now systematically began to seek out and destroy British forces even if protected by seemingly impregnable defences. Yorktown would be a salutary lesson to the British Crown about the odds she now faced in holding...

Osprey's examination of the Saratoga campaign, which was a watershed, and is widely believed to have been the turning point of the American War of Independence (1775-1783). For the first time British regulars were beaten in open battle by equal numbers of Americans. The Continentals bore the brunt of the fighting, supported by 'hordes' of militia who proved adept at attacking detachments or lines of communication.The after-shock in America (on both sides) and Europe transformed a civil war into a global struggle against the two colonial superpowers of the day, France and Spain, and eventually...