Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence

George Washington remarked that America's victory in the Revolutionary War (1776-1783)was almost a miracle. The Father of our Country was correct! The story is well told in this one volume military history of the war. Author John Ferling, who has written several well received books on the colonial and early American period has produced his magnus opus with this 600 page small print volume! The Revolutionary War was not about stuffy looking wealthy gentlemen in ivory towers pontificating about the need for American independence! The war was long, bloody, costly in lives lost, injuries, money spent and divisive. In a real sense, it was a civil war, as loyalist to King and country battled the rebels. Ferling divides the book into several sections: a. The War in the North-We follow the action from Lexington & Concord to Bunker Hill to the American army's miraculous escape from New York. We see Washington triumph at Trenton and adopt his Fabian strategy to perplex General Howe. Howe's sluggish fox chase against the rebels across New Jersey was not successful as the wily Washington kept his army together. Washington rarely won battles but he never gave up! We suffer at Valley Forge, Morristown in horrible winter encampments. We suffer the betrayal of Benedict Arnold. New York was occupied by the British until the very end of the war. Important battles such as Brandywine, Germantown and Brandywine are covered in depth with maps included. Due to the American victory at Brandywine the French decided to support America with money, troops, ships and much needed supplies. Without the French the patriot cause would have come a cropper. b. The War at Sea featuring John Paul Jones the doughty Scot captain who made raids on Great Britain and defeated the HMS Serapis at Sea. John Adams is the Father of the Navy. We see how difficult a life it was at sea for the sailors who fought on salt water. c. The War in the South. We see how great American general Nathaniel Greene and his friend General Daniel Morgan defeated the British in key victories at King Mountain, Cowpens and Guilford Court House. The British took and held Charleston and Savannah but were defeated by Americans who refused to surrender. General George Clinton hoped to win the war for the British in the South by having the assistant of General Howe. Howe never linked up with Clinton prefering the safety of New York. d. Ferling does a fine job in explaining diplomacy during the era. We see men like Ben Franklin, John Adams and Silas Deane winning French support in Paris; Lord Germaine and Prime Minister North trying to run the military show from London and see 18th century power politics up close. France, England, Spain were the key players moving the chess pieces of political and military power. The fledging United States would benefit from these rivalries. e. Ferling devotes several pages to the life lived by the typical soldier in the British and American armies. We see the importance of Af

In his masterful work, Almost A Miracle, author John Ferling yanks you out of your favorite chair, hurling you back in time to be there with Washington, in the thick of battle, the smell of gunpowder thick in your nostrils, men and horses dying all around you, cannon firing as though they were announcing Judgment Day. This is the War for Independence, sans make believe, sham, romantics or posturing. This is how it was for the colonists in their struggle, and Ferling spares us no pain or agony yet reminds of us of what a heroic breed we can be. Though I have read many accounts of this period in our history, none comes closer to the truth than Almost a Miracle. Get it, read it, live it. It should be required reading for all Americans!

This book deals almost exclusively with the military aspects of the American Revolution. As such, it is excellent. I found it really a page-turner and stayed up to nearly 1am two nights to finish it. The book does not cover the political aspects of the war - for that the best book I've seen is Middlekauff's "Glorious Cause" (Oxford University Press). Ferling is especially good at pointing out the military blunders made by both sides. In fact, at times it's almost a comedy of errors. It's a wonder that either side won!

Bringing to this book nearly forty years of teaching and writing experience, John Ferling is one of the premier authorities on the history of early America. Ferling is the author of numerous books and articles on the American Revolution, including Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and the American Revolution; The World Turned Upside Down: The American Victory in the War of Independence; and A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic (2003), which won the Fraunces Tavern Book Award as the year's best book on the American Revolution. In Almost a Miracle, Ferling, professor emeritus at the University of West Georgia, has written an engrossing, fast-paced military history of the Revolutionary War, from the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. At the end of this eight-year war, George Washington remarked that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle." How did America emerge victorious? Ferling's assessment of George Washington is a double-edged sword. Often out-generaled, Washington made several egregious blunders that, had the British commander (Howe) acted aggressively, would have ended the war almost before it began. Washington also was slow to recognize the importance of Britain's "Southern Strategy," believing that military action in the "backwater" South was of small importance. And yet, Washington's Fabian strategy and tactics (employing frequent "hit-and-run" retreats and a defensive war of posts), held the tattered American forces together, through brutal winters at Valley Forge and Morristown, to live and fight another day. "Washington alone," writes Ferling, "had the preparation for the office of commander in chief at the outset of the war and the intelligence, temper, and character necessary to grow in the office. His defects notwithstanding, fortune smiled on the infant nation when Washington was selected to lead it into the war." Ferling points out that, although there was no turning point in the Revolutionary War, there were, however, significant victories that enhanced the American cause, such as the battles of Bunker Hill, Trenton and Princeton, Saratoga, and King's Mountain. Inclement weather was also an important factor, causing both the British and the Americans to revise their battle plans, resulting in missed opportunities for success or narrow escapes from disaster. (Providence seems to have been confused as to which side to favor.) "Battles often hinged on intangibles," writes Ferling, "such as leadership under fire, heroism, good fortune [luck?], blunders, resiliency, planning, tenacity, and surprise." Above all, Ferling asserts, "French help [financial and military, especially the French fleet] was the single most important factor in determining the outcome of the War of Independence." While this is true, one should not sell short the sacrifices made by numerous soldiers and sailors who fought in the pa

Almost A Miracle is terrific telling of the Revolution, including its details, strategies, participants, daily human realities, the roles of luck and chance, and the might-have-beens of history. As a New Yorker I could actually picture Ferling's recreation of Washington's eight-abreast march down the Post Road as it proceeded from place to place and finally to Broadway as the last Continentals, black and white, re-took York Island in November 1783. That's good writing. I finally learned why a small city in South Carolina would be named for a Rhode Islander. Buffs and newcomers alike will enjoy the flow and perspective in Ferling's version of this oft-told tale. No Founding Era collection could be complete without it. Reviews require criticisms too, and I have two: a book like this would benefit greatly by an Appendix or two that included a timeline and a cast of characters (sort of like White's Bitter Ocean). Secondly, all books have typos and grammatical faux pas - this one has too many.