In 2018 and 2019, Genealogical.com issued three popular books on the American Revolution by historian Jack Darrell Crowder: Women Patriots in the American Revolution: Stories of Bravery, Daring, and Compassion, Strange, Amazing, and Funny Events that Happened during the Revolutionary War, and The First 24 Hours of the American Revolution: An Hour by Hour Account of the Battle of Lexington, Concord, and the British Retreat on Battle Road . (See below for descriptions of these books.) Now we are delighted to announce the publication of two more engaging books from Mr. Crowder: The Story of Yorktown: Told by the Men Who Were There and Victory or Death: Military Decisions that Changed the Course of the American Revolution.
In the siege of Yorktown, nearly 30,000 American, French, British, and German troops faced each other in a winner take all battle. In The Story of Yorktown, Revolutionary War expert Jack Darrell Crowder provides a day-by-day account of that siege as told by the participants in their journals, diaries, memoirs, pension applications, and letters, as well as in contemporary newspapers. Mr. Crowder begins his coverage with a description of the town of Yorktown and the start of the siege. The narrative continues with the preparations made on both sides, the role of the artillery, the British failed attempt to escape, and their ultimate surrender. As the account of Hessian soldier Johann Conrad Dohla makes clear, the British grossly underestimated the capacity of the Patriot artillery: “At night . . . the enemy began to fire on our left wing, then against our entire line, to fire bombs, cannon, and howitzers. This removed the belief, which we held previously that they had only their regimental cannon there and could not bring up heavy weapons because of the many forests and swamps.” The Story of Yorktown concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places.
In Mr. Crowder’s other new book, Victory of Death, the author explores the impact of the major leadership decisions that influenced the eventual outcome of that war. Each chapter in Victory or Death provides a summary of specific events that were key to the War’s outcome. At the conclusion of every chapter, the author reviews the decisions, for good or ill, that led to the result. Victory or Death concludes with the author’s endnotes, a bibliography, and a detailed index to persons and places.
Making good use of illustrations of the people and places of the American Revolution, these are the pivotal events/decisions that Mr. Crowder explores:
- Selection of George Washington as America’s Commander-in-Chief
- Britain’s frontal assault on Bunker [Breed’s] Hill
- America’s ill-fated siege of Quebec
- General Howe’s reluctance to finish off the Americans in New York
- Washington’s attack on Trenton
- Britain’s miscues at Saratoga
- Significance of Washington’s Spy Ring
- How decisions about African Americans affected the outcome
- Choices made at Valley Forge to preserve the American army
- The Battle of King’s Mountain
- Appointment of Nathaniel Greene as Commander of America’s Southern army
- Yorktown
For more information about The Story of Yorktown, Victory or Death, and our other three Revolutionary War titles by Jack Crowder, please click on the following link:
Store – Genealogical.com
About the Author: Jack Darrell Crowder is a retired teacher and administrator with forty plus years in the classroom. He holds a B.A. and master’s degree from Texas Christian University and has written twelve books on the American Revolution. He gives talks on the Revolutionary War to school classes, historical societies, and Daughters of the American Revolution chapters.
