By the award-winning author of Dog Company: a historic account of a Revolutionary War unit’s “tactical acumen and human drama . . . combat writing at its best” (The Wall Street Journal). In August 1776, little over a month after the Continental Congress had formally declared independence from Britain, the revolution was on the verge of a disastrous end. General George Washington found his … George Washington found his troops outmanned and outmaneuvered at the Battle of Brooklyn. But thanks to a series of desperate charges by a single heroic regiment, famously known as the “Immortal 400,” Washington was able to evacuate his men and the nascent Continental Army lived to fight another day.
In Washington’s Immortals, award-winning military historian Patrick K. O’Donnell brings to life the forgotten story of these remarkable men. Comprised of rich merchants, tradesmen, and free blacks, they fought not just in Brooklyn, but in key battles including Trenton, Princeton, Camden, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and Yorktown, where their heroism changed the course of the war.
Drawing on extensive original sources, from letters to diaries to pension applications, O’Donnell pieces together the stories of these brave men—their friendships, loves, defeats, and triumphs. He explores their tactics, their struggles with hostile loyalists and shortages of clothing and food, their development into an elite unit, and their dogged opponents, including British General Lord Cornwallis.
Through the prism of this one unit, O’Donnell tells the larger story of the Revolutionary War.
“Well-written, and superbly researched . . . A must-read for Revolutionary War and Maryland history buffs alike.” —Bill Hughes, Baltimore Post-Examiner
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Excellent book about the Maryland 400
Well written and thoroughly researched history of the Revolutionary War told through the angle of a Maryland brigade that fought in nearly every major battle. Interesting and informative insights into the nature of war in the late 18th century.
Great narrative history of an overlooked but important aspect of the American Revolution. Focuses on soldiers who fought for the Patriot side during the entire war and who hailed from Maryland. Maryland soldiers fought and died heroically in almost all of the major battles in the northern colonies and in almost all of the major actions in the south. Excellent read.
A good review of the Revolutionary War, from the action on Long Island through Yorktown. Follows the Continental Soldiers from Maryland (the Old Line), based on diaries and letters and memoirs. Gives a soldier’s perspective of the war. Detailed battle action.
Excellent historical account.
A whole new look at the revolutionary war in the part that the men from one particular state played in it. Very informative and captivating.
This is the best book about the American Revolution that I have read. It is gritty, filled with realism and very interesting. I had a hard time putting it down. When I finished I felt like I had witnessed the war instead of reading about it.
Good Revolutionary War history from the viewpoint of the Maryland Line troops.
Patrick O’Donnell brings us into the Revolution through the experiences of the officers and men of a crack Maryland unit that was in it from beginning to end. This is splendid history – intimate, immediate, sweeping, inspiring. You should, and you will, honor these men.
Perhaps no war in American history has been more difficult to see through soldiers’ eyes than the Revolutionary War. Patrick O’Donnell brings their experiences to life for twenty-first century readers in a way that no other historian has managed to do, accomplishing for the Revolutionary War what Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers did for World War II. The 1st Maryland Regiment participated in some of the most important battles of the war, gradually progressing from ordinary to elite status. Its story is the story of how the people of the United States became free.
Patrick O’Donnell is blessed with a rare gift for storytelling and a keen empathy for the realities of soldiers in combat. He walks in the footsteps of his subjects like few other historians are able– or willing – to do. In this impressively researched, well-written book, he brings the world of the American Revolution to life with an immediacy that almost defies belief. By focusing on one group of stalwart soldiers who sacrificed so much for the sake of their ideals, O’Donnell sheds important new light on the motivation and actions of America’s most effective revolutionaries. Washington’s Immortals is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in the American combat soldier, regardless of the era.
Washington’s Immortals tells the extraordinary story of the most important band of brothers, forgotten men who changed the course of American history. This is O’Donnell at his very best – a deeply moving, superbly researched page-turner.
I am always a history butt and this point fulfills that need, to a “T.”
A must read for all revolutionary war buffs like myself.
Informed me as to a subset of the American Revolution that I was not aware of. Well researched and documented. Made me feel as if I was there.
Great information about a relatively untold story. Well-written and researched.
Part of the revolutionary war told via one part of Washington’s army that originated in Maryland. The treatment of captives in its full barbarity revealed the hatred of the Americans by the British and their Hessian mercenaries. Probably no different than any other war but described in some detail here.
just read sample…bought for historian. different in that takes on everyday soldiers rather than generals
well researched, well written. A history buff’s good read.
average