Greetings! I hope each of you is doing well. I wanted to remind you of our next meeting and also inform you of two developments, one involving me and the other Glenn Williams.
Next Meeting
Our regularly-scheduled meeting the first Wednesday of October will be an online meeting, Wednesday, October 7, at 7 p.m., with author Michael Harris presenting. He is coming out soon with a new book on the Battle of Germantown during the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777. Should be a great meeting.
Please let me know by responding to this email if you would like to attend the online Zoom meeting, if you have not done so already. I will then email you a Zoom link to the meeting on October 7, the day of the meeting.
McBurney Three-Part Series Now Up on the All Things Liberty Website
Currently, on the All Things Liberty website (the online Journal of the American Revolution), I have a three-part article up. The subject is how the American Revolution spurred the first limits on the African slave trade in world history. I believe it is something Americans should be proud about; not perfect by any means, but something to be proud about. I wrote most of it prior to my becoming aware of the 1619 Project’s unwarranted theory that a leading cause of the American independence was the desire to preserve the institutions of slavery and the slave trade. On the contrary, I found that the North American thirteen colonies needed to become independent from Great Britain in order to impose these first limits on the African slave trade that the colonies’ desired. John Grady just read the articles and posted a comment about how he appreciated the “excellent articles” on this little-know history (thanks John!).
You can view the three articles by clicking on this link: www.allthingsliberty.com
Glenn Williams Contributes to a New Book
The following new book of interest has been released: The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution, edited by Edward G. Lengel. There is a separate author for each of the campaigns. Each author has a very impressive background of writing on the Revolutionary War. In many cases, they are the leading authors of the campaigns they cover. For example, Mark Lender, covering the Monmouth Campaign, is lead co-author of the seminal work on the battle, Fatal Sunday. Michael Harris, who handles the Philadelphia Campaign, has written the top book on the Battle of Brandywine, and he is coming out soon with a book on the Battle of Germantown. John Buchanan, who presented at our last meeting on his terrific new book, The Road to Charleston, authors a compelling and fresh chapter on the partisan war in the South. There are other similar examples. By reading these syntheses of the campaigns in this 10 Campaigns book, readers may well be spurred to read the longer versions set forth in these other books.
Our own Glenn Williams is the author of the first chapter, covering the Battle of Lexington and Concord. This was a most confusing battle But Glenn’s piece is a model of synthesis and clarity. Well done Glenn! (Our own Robert Orrison, himself a co-author of a book on the Battle of Lexington and Concord, gives Glenn a thumbs up.)
Best,
Christian McBurney
Author of General Washington’s Nemesis: The Outrageous Treason and Unfair Court Martial of Major General Charles Lee during the Revolutionary War (Savas Beatie, 2020)
