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Between the Lines Banditti of the American Revolution
Harry M. Ward
ISBN: 0-275-97633-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-97633-0
352 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 8/30/2002
List Price: $62.95 (UK Sterling Price: £43.95)
Discount Price: $31.48 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: The Revolutionary War was not a polite conflict between orderly troops and gentlemanly officers. Civilians on the home front suffered considerably. This account depicts the ugly side of the War for Independence, where roving bands of robbers, known as banditti, plagued the countryside in areas not fully under the control of either army.

Regardless of their political sympathies, American civilians lived in terror of these well-armed gangs of looters, who frequently engaged in torture, arson, and murder. The players in this sordid tale, chiefly motivated by greed, chose their victims indiscriminately and then returned to sanctuary. Many civilians fled their homes, leaving large sections of New York, Georgia, and the Carolinas as no-man's-land, where near anarchy and the complete disruption of civilian justice only abetted the success of the marauders.

Ward details the activities of the most prominent banditti and looks at the horrors and devastation of their actions. His account challenges readers to look beyond the set-piece battles and even past the guerrilla activities, to examine what life was like for those caught between the lines.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
    Soldier-Straggler Plunderers
    Cowboys and Skinners
    Long Island Marauders
    New Jersey Refugees
    Highland Gangs
    James Moody
    Pine Robbers
    Doane Outlaws
    Chesapeake Picaroons
    Josiah Phillips
    Maroons
    Scopholites
    Daniel McGirth
    "A Perfect Desert"
    Epilogue
    Index
About the Author: HARRY M. WARD is William Binford Vest Professor of History, Emeritus at the University of Richmond. He is the author of numerous books and other publications relating to Colonial and Revolutionary America.
LCC Class: 973
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