{"product_id":"backcountry-war-the-rise-of-francis-marion-banastre-tarleton-and-thomas-sumter-9781594164316","title":"Backcountry War: The Rise of Francis Marion, Banastre Tarleton, and Thomas Sumter","description":"Over the past several decades, the history of the American Revolution in the South has undergone a transformation to better incorporate regional events into the greater narrative of the war. Among these events was the vicious \"backcountry\" war from the Georgia border, across the South Carolina wilderness, to the North Carolina Piedmont between rebel Americans and loyalist and British forces. Centered in South Carolina, this running battle saw some of the most intense and continuous fighting of the war, and from its skirmishes, feints, and sieges, three key leaders emerged: American partisans Francis \"Swamp Fox\" Marion and Thomas \"Gamecock\" Sumter, and British Legion commander Banastre \"Bloody Ban\" Tarleton. \u003cbr\u003e For the first time, \u003ci\u003eBackcountry War: \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Rise of Francis Marion, Banastre Tarleton, and Thomas Sumter \u003c\/i\u003eby Andrew Waters frames the history of these three men into in a single narrative, focusing on the events of 1780 in South Carolina that witnessed their collective ascendance from common soldiers to American legends. It was a time when British victories at Charleston and Camden left the Continental Army in tatters and the entire American South vulnerable to British conquest. Yet in those dark hours, Sumter, Marion, and others like them rose in the swamps and hills of the South Carolina wilderness. Fighting a wildly successful partisan war against better trained and better equipped British forces, including Tarleton's British Legion, with victories at lesser-known places like Hanging Rock and Nelson's Ferry, they gained precious months for the reorganizing Continental Army. Their collective efforts led to the stunning American victory at Cowpens and a stalemate at Guilford's Courthouse the following year that finally convinced British general Charles Cornwallis to abandon the Carolinas for Virginia. \u003cbr\u003e With background biographies of its three main protagonists, a thorough sketch of Great Britain's Southern Strategy, and a sociocultural examination of the South Carolina frontier in the years leading up to the American Revolution, \u003ci\u003eBackcountry War \u003c\/i\u003eoffers a fresh perspective on an extraordinary chapter of American history and a compelling account of the deadly contest between three of the war's most charismatic leaders. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAndrew Waters is a writer, editor, and conservationist. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eTo the End of the World: Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South\u003c\/i\u003e, and the editor of \u003ci\u003eBattle of Cowpens: Contemporary and Primary Accounts\u003c\/i\u003e. He resides in Pittsboro, North Carolina, with his family.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Westholme Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50893781664018,"sku":"9781594164316","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9ae5a48f-c96e-45df-a6a8-84b5ab8f17e4.jpg?v=1738237877","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/backcountry-war-the-rise-of-francis-marion-banastre-tarleton-and-thomas-sumter-9781594164316","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}