The World Turned Upside Down - 8th Virginia Continental Regiment.

The 8th Virginia Regiment was authorized in December 1775 and organized between February and April 1776 at Suffolk Court House, Virginia, as one of eight rifle-equipped provincial regiments raised by the Commonwealth of Virginia to bolster frontier defences and support the patriot cause.

Recruited primarily from eight western counties—Berkeley, Frederick, Dunmore (now Shenandoah, contributing two companies), Hampshire, Culpeper, Augusta (three companies), and Fincastle—the regiment comprised ten companies of riflemen drawn from a diverse ethnic mix of German-Americans, Scotch-Irish, English settlers, and others, earning it the nickname "German Battalion" or "German Regiment" due to its significant German-speaking population and officers.

Peter Muhlenberg as a major general, painted years after the war. 

He never commanded as a major general.

In January 1776, Peter Muhlenberg, Abraham Bowman, and Peter Helphenstine were appointed colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major.

Adopted into Continental service on May 25th, 1776 (retroactive to that date), it initially served in the Southern Department, including the Chesapeake Campaign against British forces near Norfolk and the Battle of Sullivan's Island in June 1776, where nine of its companies helped repel a Royal Navy assault on Charleston Harbour, followed by a failed expedition to East Florida later that year that resulted in significant casualties from disease, primarily malaria.

The area of operations for the 8th Virginia Provincial Regiment during the Chesapeake Campaign February to May 1776

During the Chesapeake Campaign, from February to May, six or seven of the regiment’s companies participated in operations to oppose Lord Dunmore, the royal governor who was raiding coastal plantations and collecting an army of escaped slaves and indentured servants.

Major-General Charles Lee, commanding the Southern Department, responded to news of British troops landing in the Carolinas by taking the 8th Virginia south, stating that the regiment was the best equipped in the Virginia Provincial Line. However as the regiment was still a provincial one, many men objected to service outside of Virginia, and many deserted. Nine of the regiment’s ten companies were at Charleston for the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, June 28th, 1776, and about five companies (535 men) were engaged in combat on the north end of the island, blocking British infantry from crossing from Long Island

The regiment celebrated the Declaration of Independence at Charleston on August 5th, 1776, before Lee then took the regiment south on an expedition to attack St. Augustine in British East Florida, with over 100 men left at Charleston sick with malaria. 

Seriously ill, Major Helphenstine resigned and went home to Virginia, and the expedition halted at Sunbury, Georgia, by which time most of the remainder were sick, and in the end a significant number of 8th Virginia men died of malaria at Charleston and Sunbury.

Whilst the bulk of the regiment was in the south, detached elements went north to fight in the New York and New Jersey campaigns, including the Battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, and the Forage War of winter 1777.

Captain William Croghan, led his West Augusta Company,
plus new recruits who arrived after the 8th Virginia moved south,
to join the Main Army in the North. He was promoted to major on May 16th, 1778.

​Captain William Croghan’s West Augusta Company arrived at Williamsburg after the regiment’s departure south, and a detachment was formed of this company, three groups of new recruits, and stragglers from other companies. Croghan’s Detachment served with the 1st Virginia Regiment until the spring of 1777, with the Detachment marching north to reinforce Washington in August 1776.

The 1st Virginia were then brigaded under Brig. Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling, and participated in the Battle of White Plains (October 28th, 1776) and the Battle of Trenton (December 26th, 1776). 

The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3rd, 1777 - John Trumbull

Dramatically reduced in number from illness and injury, Stirling’s brigade was combined under Gen. Hugh Mercer for the Battle of Assunpink Creek (January 2nd, 1777) and the Battle of Princeton (January 3rd, 1777), with Stirling being ill and absent from these battles, and would see General Mercer mortally wounded at Princeton. Only about six men from 140 originally assigned to Croghan’s Detachment were fit for duty at Princeton. During the 1777 Morristown Encampment, these men recuperated, and were inoculated for smallpox, and later engaged in the Forage War (winter 1777).

The Forage War was a partisan campaign consisting of numerous small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey between January and March 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton. The British army was initially deployed from posts as far north as Hackensack to New Brunswick, with a garrison, numbering about 10,000, concentrated between New Brunswick and Amboy, together with a sizable contingent farther north, from Elizabethtown to Paulus Hook. General Washington established his headquarters at Morristown, separated from the coast by the Watchung Mountains, a series of low ridges, with him establishing forward outposts to the east and south of these ridges that served not only as a defensive bulwark against potential British incursions across the hills, but also as launch points for raids.

The 8th Virginia was reorganized on November 1st, 1777, as part of a broader Continental Army reorganisation, to consist of eight companies that certainly helped to address the problems of attrition from disease, desertion, and combat suffered in the previous twelve months, and the regiment transferred to the Main Army in January 1777, when Muhlenberg was promoted to brigadier general and, in the following March, Colonel Abraham Bowman took command of the unit.

In mid-June 1777 General Howe marched most of his army into central New Jersey in an attempt to lure Washington's Army to where it might be better attacked than its defensive position in the Watchung Mountains at Middlebrook Camp. 

When Washington refused to abandon his position, Howe returned to Amboy on June 22nd, whilst Washington's forward divisions, including that of Lord Stirling, shadowed the British movement, whilst he moved his main army out of the hills to Quibbletown.

Detail of a 1777 map depicting part of north-eastern New Jersey, showing the approximate movements of British and American forces that led to the Battle of Short Hills, June 26th 1777.

It was then that Howe seized the opportunity and on June 26th marched out of Amboy with two columns of troops, the first under Cornwallis, and the second under Vaughan, in an attempt to destroy Stirling's force and draw out Washington to come to his aid and force a battle with Washington off the high ground.

The Battle of Short Hills, June 26th 1777.
A map drawn by the Hessian officer Friedrich Adam Julius von Wangenheim showing the battle positions as he witnessed them.

Stirling's command, numbering about 2,500, comprised William Maxwell's New Jersey brigade, Thomas Conway's Pennsylvania brigade, Daniel Morgan's Corps of Riflemen and Ottendorf's Corps, commanded by Charles Armand. 

Morgan's command of around 350 men included riflemen of his own regiment, the 11th Virginia, , the 12th Virginia, and Captain Darke leading those from the 8th Virginia Regiment

A clearer interpretation of the Battle of Short Hills, June 26th 1777, courtesy of Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783, recently reviewed here on JJ's.
JJ's Wargames: Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783 - David C. Bonk & George Anderson.

Howe's march resulted in a skirmish with Lord Stirling's troops and eventually a pitched battle in Scotch Plains, during which Stirling's outnumbered force retreated, to join Washington, alerted to the British movement, who had by then retreated back to his fortified camp in the hills at Middlebrook, avoiding a major confrontation and preserving his army.

The casualties at Short Hills, amounted to the Americans losing 12 killed, 50 wounded, and 50 missing/captured, and British approximately 70 killed or wounded.

On July 29th, Washington received confirmation that Howe had departed New York and was sailing south, and on the 30th the British fleet fleet was seen at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, before further reports on August 23rd, confirmed that Howe’s fleet was anchored in the Chesapeake Bay, with the British landing at Head of Elk, Maryland, on August 25th, 1777, effectively starting the campaign to capture Philadelphia.

Morgan's riflemen were sent north to support operations to oppose the British offensive towards Albany under General John Burgoyne, leaving the Main Army in mid August 1777, but Captain Darke didn't leave with them, instead leading about 40 men detached to Brig. Gen. William Maxwell’s Light Infantry and part of Stephen's Division of picked men. 

Brigadier General Maxwell's Temporary Light Infantry Battalion 

(Three divisions provided picked men for this battalion, about 200 men each)

Greene's Division Division - men from the 1st and 2nd Virginia brigades

Wayne's (Lincoln's) Division - men from the 1st and 2nd Pennsylvania brigades

Stephen's Division - men from the 3rd and 4th Virginia brigades

Darke's detachment  would see action at the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge (September 3, 1777), supported only by militia.

During the Philadelphia campaign, the 8th Virginia was assigned to the 4th Virginia Brigade of Charles Scott, and the regiment would be heavily engaged at Brandywine and Germantown in the late summer and autumn of 1777.

Brigadier General Charles Scott

commanded the 4th Virginia Brigade in the 1777 campaign

4th Virginia Brigade: Brigadier General Charles Scott (Strength's as at the Battle of Brandywine)
4th Virginia Regiment (314 all ranks)
8th Virginia Regiment (157 all ranks)
12th Virginia Regiment (117 all ranks)
Grayson's Additional Continental Regiment (100 all ranks)
Patton's Additional Continental Regiment (124 all ranks)

At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11th, 1777 Maxwell's temporary light infantry battalion, skirmished extensively on the American left flank, before crossing Brandywine Creek to harass British and Hessian forces for several hours while exposed to enemy fire. 

Brigadier General William Maxwell's temporary light infantry battalion, skirmished extensively on the American left flank, eventually crossing Brandywine Creek to oppose British and Hessian forces. 

The main body of the regiment, 157 men, all ranks, under Colonel Bowman, held defensive lines as part of Scott's brigade, attempting to block General William Howe's flanking manoeuvre, though the Continentals ultimately retreated after heavy fighting.

The main body of the 8th Virginia Regiment, 157 men, all ranks, under Colonel Bowman, held the right of Washington's line on high ground above Birmingham Meeting House as part of Scott's 4th Virginia Brigade.

The regiment's involvement continued at the Battle of Germantown on October 4th, 1777, where Scott's brigade advanced on the British right flank as part of Washington's surprise attack on the Philadelphia garrison. 

Thick morning fog caused severe disorientation, leading to friendly fire incidents; elements of the 8th Virginia exchanged volleys with Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania brigade, mistaking them for the enemy in the chaos. 

Major William Darke, recently promoted, led a forward detachment into the mist and was captured along with several officers and men during the initial assault. 

William Darke, portrait by Frederick Kemmelmeyer, circa 1790-1800. 

Captain and then Major Darke was a key personality in the 8th Virginia Regiment, 

first leading the rifle detachment under Colonel Daniel Morgan, 

and then the picked men who joined Brig. Gen. William Maxwell’s Light Infantry, 

later becoming a militia general after the war.

Despite early gains, the fog-induced confusion contributed to the American retreat, after which the regiment fell back with the rest of the army to take up winter quarters at Valley Forge. Lt. Col. John Markham was later cashiered for refusing orders to advance amid the disorder, and Stephen was relieved of command for misconduct, after evidence surfaced that he was intoxicated during the battle.

Encamped in the Muhlenberg Brigade sector, the regiment endured extreme hardships, including shortages of food, clothing, and shelter, with many soldiers furloughed or discharged as three-year terms ended by early 1778.

Under the instruction of Inspector General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who arrived in February 1778, members of the 8th Virginia participated in intensive training to standardize drill, manoeuvrers, and bayonet use, transforming the army's discipline and effectiveness.

By June 1778, with enlistments expired and recruits slow to arrive, the 8th Virginia was consolidated into the temporary 4th–8th–12th Virginia Regiment under Colonel James Wood, and Lt. Col. John Neville (of the 4th) and this combined unit joined the Monmouth Campaign, pursuing General Henry Clinton's British army as it evacuated Philadelphia. 

Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield

Positioned near the vanguard, the former 8th Virginia elements engaged in minor skirmishes and pursuit actions leading to the Battle of Monmouth on June 28th, 1778, where they supported the main assault after initial setbacks under Major General Charles Lee, part of Scott's Brigade then under the command of Colonel William Greyson, helping to stalemate the British withdrawal in intense heat.

Monmouth Maps from the Book "Fatal Sunday"
Monmouth Maps from the Book Fatal Sunday - Friends of Monmouth Battlefield

Remnants of the original 8th Virginia Regiment, which had merged into the 4th Virginia Regiment in September 1778, along with personnel from the short-lived new 8th Virginia (reorganized from the former 12th Virginia Regiment and consolidated into the 4th on May 12th, 1779), contributed to southern defences following the British capture of Savannah in late 1778 and their advances into Georgia and South Carolina. 

On May 12th, 1779, the consolidated 4th Virginia Regiment was assigned to the Southern Department under Major General Benjamin Lincoln. Additionally, veterans and new recruits intended for Virginia line regiments, formed part of Brigadier General Charles Scott's levies totalling about 1,300 men drawn from various Virginia regiments that marched south starting in mid-1779 to support Lincoln's army.

Throughout 1779, elements of Scott's levies engaged in skirmishes in Georgia, repelling British and Loyalist incursions near Savannah as part of joint Franco-American operations, and participating in the siege of Savannah from September to October, where they suffered heavy losses during the failed assault on the Spring Hill Redoubt, with 13 killed and 51 wounded out of 166 engaged. Disease, harsh conditions, and desertions plagued these detachments during their southern march and operations, reducing their ranks significantly before reaching allied lines.

Map of the Siege of Savannah and the Attack on 9th October 1779 - map by John Fawkes

By early 1780, as British General Sir Henry Clinton shifted focus to Charleston, remnants associated with the former 8th—now within the 4th Virginia Regiment and Scott's levies—integrated into the reinforced defences alongside Brigadier General William Woodford's brigade of Virginia regiments (2nd, 3rd, and 6th). Scott's detachments marched approximately 800 miles from Virginia to join Lincoln's army in March, assigned to key positions in the earthworks.

Map of the Siege of Charleston; April and May 1780  -  map by John Fawkes

The Siege of Charleston ended on 12th May 1780 with Benjamin Lincoln's surrender, and at least 2,650 American Continentals were captured in addition to militiamen.

The 8th Virginia Continental Regiment would be formerly dissolved on January 1st 1783 with most troops mustered out between June and November 1783.

My 8th Virginia Continental Regiment is composed of Perry Miniatures plastic Continental Infantry, and carry a Colour from the Flags of War range, and the unit finished off with a set of low profile sabot bases from Supreme Littleness Designs.

They are depicted as they might have looked after their reorganisation in 1777, with one source suggesting the issue of French supplied blue coats with white turnbacks, and predominantly musket armed, but with some of the rifle armed elements modelled with the figures in hunting shirts, and at strength before sickness and desertions took effect.

I have modelled them as a 16-figure regiment, about 320 men, but as the history shows this is generous indeed, as the regiment barely mustered 200 men for much of its service as a Continental regiment, and so my 8th Virginia will likely be representing a combined battalion for much of its time on table, as many Virginia regiments, such as the 12th Regiment that served alongside the 8th in the 4th Virginia Brigade, were in a similar state

To complete the look, I have a drummer kitted out in a captured British yellow faced drummers coat and an extra officer alongside the Lieutenant Colonel, sword drawn, to represent Captain William Darke with fusil under arm, ready to lead a detachment of picked men and rifles.

Next up the focus returns to the British collection as work concludes on my First Composite Battalion of Grenadiers.

More anon

JJ

Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783 - David C. Bonk & George Anderson.

 

Continuing my look at recent book acquisitions to my AWI research library, it's time to look at another book from Helion and David C Bonk (DB) this time in collaboration with George Anderson (GA), namely 'Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783' first published in hardback in 2023 and in paperback, which my copy is, in 2026, oh and this is definitely one book where I wont be complaining about a lack of maps!

The cover of the atlas illustrates a colonel of the 1st New York Continental Regiment, circa 1781, courtesy of the well known military artist Christa Hook, and DB has composed the text whilst GA put together the maps to accompany it; and with both being wargamers the subject matter gets a wargamers eye brought to the information we would want included alongside a broad collection of battle maps, that include large and small land engagements, together with sieges, and key naval battles.

My copy of 'A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution'
by Craig L. Symonds and William J Clipson published in 1986.

Things it seems have come along way since I picked up my copy of 'A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution' by Craig L. Symonds and William J Clipson in 1986, with its forty-one maps of pretty well all the key battles and actions of the war, but with frustrating gaps in the detail of the maps and missing many of the lesser well known actions that we historical wargamers are wanting to know about, which in a pre-internet age in which this book appeared, made finding the information required even more frustrating.

The Battle of Brandywine from 'A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution'
by Craig L. Symonds and William J Clipson. Pretty basic, but the state of the art back then.

The Battle of Brandywine map above illustrates the point, with just a basic indication of where various components of the two armies were in relation to key battlefield landmarks, and with no detail of elevation about the high ground indicated.

Helion describe their atlas on their website page thus;

'The Atlas of Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution provides a comprehensive visual summary of the campaigns, major battles and minor skirmishes of the war. The atlas includes over 120 maps created using maps from the Revolution, including the large collection from the US Library of Congress and enhanced with more accurate topographic mapping from the 1880s. The maps also show troop dispositions and movements taken from a wide range of written sources to provide the most accurate representation of the battles and campaigns. The Atlas will be a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in the American Revolution, including wargamers, reenactors, and students of the conflict.

Beginning with the opening skirmishes at Lexington and Concord the Atlas follows the course of the war including the major engagements at Brooklyn, Trenton, Brandywine, Saratoga, Monmouth, Savannah, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown. The Atlas also includes a large collection of minor actions, including Harlem Heights, White Plains, Short Hills, Barren Hill, Stony Point, Hobkirk’s Hill and Green Springs. The Atlas addresses critical naval battles as well as key engagements in the West Indies, Gibraltar, and India.

The sample pages hosted on the Helion website illustrating maps from the book display a marked improvement on what has gone before, as illustrated by the example map of the Battle of Chatterton Hill, a key engagement fought during the Battle of White Plains on October 28th, 1776, where British and Hessian forces captured the strategic high ground from American troops.

The Battle of Chatterton Hill, October 28th, 1776

As you can see we now can enjoy colour to give a much more precise indication of ground elevation and a much more detailed illustration of the position taken by various units involved together with the maps showing their strengths on the day of battle, a feature I particularly liked, as well as an indication of other key terrain such as orchards, fencing and marshy ground lining the Bronx River.

The atlas is composed of nine sections looking the key military and naval events:

• Section I: The Road to War
• Section II; 1775
• Section III: 1776
• Section IV: 1777
• Section V:1778
• Section VI: 1779
• Section VII: 1780
• Section VIII: 1781
• Section IX: 1782

Each of these sections commences with a Strategic Summary and map to illustrate an overview of the period being looked at, with the example map below showing the positions of British garrisons and the various partition lines between the colonies, province of Quebec, Native American Reserved Lands, Nova Scotia and Spanish territory in April 1775 as war loomed in British North America, Section I: The Road to War. These summary maps are very useful for folks planning campaigns centred on a particular year.

The strategic overview and battle maps covered by year are:

1775 - The 1775 Strategic Summary, The March to Lexington and Concord, Concord: Opening Phase, Concord: Final Phase, Bunker Hill: First Assault, Bunker Hill: Second Assault, Bunker Hill: Third Assault, Ticonderoga and St Johns. The March to Quebec, Assault on Quebec, Great Bridge.

1776 - The 1776 Strategic Summary, Dorchester Heights, Moore's Creek Bridge, Sullivan's Island, New York Operations, Brooklyn, Kip's Bay, Harlem Heights, Pell's Point, White Plains, Fort Washington, The Retreat Across New Jersey, Prelude to Trenton, Assunpink Creek, Advance to Princeton, Princeton, The Struggle for Lake Champlain, Valcour Island.

1777 - The 1777 Strategic Summary, Bound Brook, The Danbury Raid, Short Hills, Burgoyne's Advance, Fort Ticonderoga, Hubbardton, Oriskany, Bennington, Freeman's Farm, Bemis Heights, Staten Island, Howe Moves to Head of Elk, Cooch's Bridge, Advance to Brandywine, Brandywine (North), Brandywine (South), The Battle of the Clouds, Paoli, Germantown Opening Phase, Germantown Final Phase, Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, Philadelphia Defences, Fort Mercer, Fort Mifflin, Advance to White Marsh, Edge Hill, Valley Forge.

1778 - The 1778 Strategic Summary, Barren Hill, The March to Monmouth, Monmouth the Morning, Monmouth the American Retreat, Monmouth the Conclusion, Newport, Rhode Island, The Grand Forage, The Capture of Savannah.

Concord: Opening Phase, 19th April, 1775

1779 - The 1779 Strategic Summary, Briar Creek, Stono Ferry, The Penobscot Bay Expedition, The New Haven Raid, Sullivan's Campaign against the Iroquois Confederation, Advance to Stony Point, Stony Point, Paulus Hook, The Siege of Savannah, The West Indies, The Vigie Peninsula St Lucia.

1780 - The 1780 Strategic Summary, The Charleston Campaign, The Siege of Charleston, Charleston Neck, Waxhaws, Connecticut Farms, Springfield, Hanging Rock, Camden, King's Mountain, Blackstocks.

1781 - The 1781 Strategic Summary, Cowpens, New Garden, Guilford Courthouse, Guilford Courthouse Third Line, Cape Henry, Hobkirk's Hill, The Virginia Campaign Part One, Petersburg, The Siege of Ninety Six, The Virginia Campaign Part Two, Spencer's Ordinary, Green Springs, The Raid on New London, Eutaw Springs, The Advance to Yorktown, The Battle of the Capes, The Siege of Yorktown, Gloucester Point, The Assault on Redoubts 9 and 10.

1782 - The Treaty of Paris, The Siege of Gibraltar, The Naval Attack on Gibraltar, The Battle of the Saintes, Suffren's Indian Ocean Campaign, Trincomalee.

So as you will see a very broad and comprehensive list of battles you would want included in an AWI Atlas and one that makes this a must have book in the AWI library, and one I have found myself dipping into frequently whilst compiling my individual unit showcase posts, when following the history of campaigns and battles participated in by the unit being featured.

Before I turn to my additional comments, and before I am asked, 'should I get this book JJ?', my answer is yes indeed; this is to my knowledge the best and most comprehensive collection of battle and campaign descriptions with accompanying maps to illustrate the war as a whole currently available, and will save you a lot of time scrolling through the 'Library of Congress' collection and other internet sources, plus specific books on specific campaigns, to get a similar level of understanding, not that you wont want to do that as well, but just saying.

My gentle criticism of this atlas principally centres around when I compare it with similar battlefield atlases I have in my library, and particularly with what I consider to be the best I have come across too date, both from Colonel Nick Lipsombe and published by Osprey, The English Civil War and The Peninsular War atlases, the former reviewed here on JJ's back in 2020, link below.

My Peninsular War Atlas, published back in 2010, I note is showing a bit of wear on it that betrays how often it has been thumbed through in previous years when I was working on my own Peninsular War project covering Sir Arthur Wellesley's first campaigns in Portugal and Spain, culminating in me recreating the Battle of Talavera, my English Civil War atlas less so, in anticipation for when I build an English Civil War collection. As they say, 'never say never'.

JJ's Wargames: The English Civil War, An Atlas and Concise History of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1639 -51 - Nick Lipscombe

One of the key stand outs for me that differentiates these two works from my American Revolution atlas is the lack of contour heights, with the AWI maps having some three shades of green to indicate height variation, but with no clear indication what those variations are, or if they are the same from one map to another, which I suspect they aren't.

The colour contours are all very well and nicely presented, but without height indicated makes it very difficult to determine matters such as line of sight blocks and the likely extent of dead ground from one high point to another, something that as a wargamer trying to better represent the battlefield on my table is really useful, and something the Osprey books include.

The Pajar Vegara redoubt on my Talavera table.

I have learnt how helpful this level of detail is, and I would have thought is easy to include with the modern representations of ground surveys and maps to refer to for guidance. When working out the ground scale for my Talavera table, back in 2018, identifying the precise elevation of one ridge line to another, especially as the French and opposing British lines faced each other across a valley, with gun batteries aiming to play on the opposite lines, became a key issue.

The Pajar Vegara feature, middle left, and close up below, seen as the eye would have it and without telephoto lens in 2019 when I walked the battlefield, and seen from the Allied line. Such a low feature, you would miss it if you were walking too quickly!
JJ's Wargames: Battles and Actions in the Tagus Valley, Part Two (Battle of Talavera) - Peninsular War Tour 2019

Peninsular War ridge lines and dead ground for round shot and visibility are a key aspect that was included on the table, with discreet markers along hill tops indicating where the military ridge was so that players could determine how far back to keep their infantry lines to avoid long range firing, but be close enough to move up and over to contest matters with approaching enemy troops.

The hill is so discreet, on ground rising to about eighty feet above where I am standing at its highest point, and takes a close up picture using the telephoto lens to illustrate its height compared to the ground around it. This level of detail is why height contours are so useful.

On some contemporary maps of Talavera the small mound at the Pajar Vegara farm on which the Anglo-Spanish constructed a small redoubt is somewhat exaggerated in size and seeming height, and it was really pleasing to see that my representation on the table, as seen above, and based on Nick Lipscombe's map matched my interpretation when I saw the actual feature back in 2019.

Map of the Battle of Stone Arabia, October 19th, 1780, from ‘The Burning of the Valleys’

In addition I have two other slight 'niggles', namely how comprehensive the battle list is, understanding that the focus is rightly and primarily on land actions and engagements rather that naval, which is very understandable, and there are other tomes around covering the naval war in more detail should the want arise.

However I was a bit disappointed to find that although the overview of the punitive expedition against the Iroquois by General Sullivan in 1779 was included, the response to that campaign that followed in 1780, namely the Mohawk and Schoharie expedition by Sir John Johnson and Joseph Brant, and the subsequent, all be it small and minor battles of Stone Arabia, October 19th, 1780 and the Battle of Klock's Field fought the same day are not.

Map of the Battle of Klock's Field, October 19th, 1780, from ‘The Burning of the Valleys’

Very often when an author is laying out ‘the stall’ for a new book there will often be a comment or two stating what is included and what is not and the editorial decisions that lie behind the choice, but without such a disclaimer it is hard to firstly comment on why these omissions occur, and secondly to what extent other actions are not included and how comprehensive the atlas actually is.

I have included the best maps I have in my collection to help me recreate these actions going forward, one covering Stone Arabia from the US Battlefields Trust and the others from a Canadian publication, “The Burning of the Valleys’ by Gavin K. Watt and James F. Morrison, an excellent read covering the 1780 expedition, and which reminds me that I should do a review of it in a following book review.

Which leads me on to my next issue concerning the references for the maps to enable a look at the source material for them.

JJ's Wargames: The World Turned Upside Down - His Majesty's 1st Light Infantry Composite Battalion, 1777.

I mention this because during my research on one of my recent unit posts I was looking at the atlas and then thought I would check other sources to compare and contrast the accounts in the book to other sources.

Battle of Cooch's Bridge, 3rd September 1777, Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783. The position of the British 1st Light Infantry (B) and their subsequent movements to outflank the Americans defending Cooch's Bridge, shows them on the left flank of the Jägers, and ending up mired in a swamp at Point 9 on the map, failing to close the trap on the American retreat.

My confusion arose when studying the movements of the British 1st Light Infantry composite battalion at the Battle of Cooch's Bridge, 3rd September 1777, link above and the map in the atlas illustrated above when compared to other accounts and similar maps.

For example the map shown below and used in my post shows a close look at the positions at 10.00 am in the lower map as the American retreat commenced with Iron Hill on the left flank of the Jägers advance, and with the British 1st Light Infantry clearly shown to their right below Cooch's Bridge, similarly mired in said swamp.

This map of Battle of Cooch's Bridge, 3rd September 1777 was created by Sean Moir
for the Pencader Heritage Area Museum in Newark, DE

Similarly the map below clearly illustrates the British 1st Light Infantry to the right of Cooch's Bridge, , and marked as the British Flanking Column, similarly on route to mire in said swamp, north of the Christiana Creek, whereas Sean Moir's map above suggests the mire was south of Christiana Creek.

Battle of Cooch's Bridge, from Campaign to Valley Forge by John Reed.

Clearly all the maps have discrepancies with each other, but only the atlas map has the British 1st Light Infantry out on the left flank of the Jägers battle to take Cooch's bridge, which had me erring towards the Moir map as a preferred reference, somewhat none the wiser.

I'm not stating the atlas is wrong, as I simply don't know, but it would be very handy to be able to check the veracity of GA's map and DB's account, especially as they come up with a different version from other sources.

To be fair to DB, I sympathise with his dilemma in his choice of sources and the inconsistencies he encountered, illustrated here in the other two maps of Cooch's Bridge and he mentions, in the Author's Note at the back of the atlas, his intentions by stating that;

'Many of the modern histories of the American Revolution repeat errors perpetrated in earlier works, in large part because many authors have apparently never attempted to match the details of a battle with a map of the terrain over which the battle was fought.

Authors trying to describe the tactical movements of large bodies of men fail to appreciate that their descriptions of dispositions and subsequent movements are highly unrealistic given the terrain in which the action took place. The perpetuation of previous inaccurate narratives and the lack of mapping provide an incorrect picture of these battles.'

This is a laudable aim for the book and is to be applauded as I have other such tomes that have similarly exploded often repeated myths that have gone on to correct the historical record in subsequent accounts thanks to that work, however I think it is beholden to 'submit the receipts' that support and back up the corrections to such inconsistencies so it is possible to confirm the assertion’s arrived at.

Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution 1775-1783 | From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 | Helion & Company

In conclusion then, I think David Bonk & George Anderson are to be congratulated for this welcome addition to the wargamers resource library and Helion for their support for our hobby of historical wargaming, and I am very happy to have a copy with the caveats I have mentioned.

Next up the spotlight is shone on my latest addition to 'The World Turned Upside Down' project with a showcase of the 8th Virginia Continental Regiment.

As always, more anon.

JJ