At age twenty-two, General Henry Lee commanded the elite Lee's Legion and earned an enviable record: capturing the fort at Paulus Hook; distinguishing himself in the battles at Haw River, Guilford Courthouse, Eutaw Springs, and others; and helping in the siege of Yorktown. But by 1809 Lee's fortunes had tragically altered: He wrote these memoirs while jailed in a debtor's prison. Originally published in 1812 in two volumes as Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States, this third 1869 edition includes Robert E. Lee's biographical essay on his father, the...

Detailing the history of the struggle for independence, from colonial government to the early days of the American republic, this book uses full-colour maps and illustrations in two-page spreads to tell the story of the founding of the United States of America. It focuses on the land and sea battles of the Revolutionary War, but attention is also paid to the society at large and the international impact of the war for independence.

From the moment the Civil War began, partisans on both sides were calling not just for victory but for extermination. And both sides found leaders who would oblige. In this vivid and fearfully persuasive book, Charles Royster looks at William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson, the men who came to embody the apocalyptic passions of North and South, and re-creates their characters, their strategies, and the feelings they inspired in their countrymen. At once an incisive dual biography, hypnotically engrossing military history, and a cautionary examination of the American penchant for...

A reprint of the respected work originally published by Knopf in 1981. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. In Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution, Charles Royster takes an ingenious, creative approach in his consideration of the life of one of the American Revolution's heroes. Having fought valiantly to bring about a victory for the colonies, Henry ("Light-Horse Harry") Lee (1756-1818) envisioned the new country as a virtuous and prosperous classical republic and eventually aligned himself with the Federalist party. He served as governor of Virginia...

In this highly acclaimed book, Charles Royster explores the mental processes and emotional crises that Americans faced in their first national war. He ranges imaginatively outside the traditional techniques of analytical historical exposition to build his portrait of how individuals and a populace at large faced the Revolution and its implications. The book was originally published by UNC Press in 1980.