“This rich quarry of historic wealth is now, in completed state, accessible to every American . . . Certainly no work is so well calculated to lure the minds of the young through different stages of the great drama of our independence.”
—New York Times
In the final volume in The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Benson J. Lossing describes the downfall of British commander Cornwallis and his retreat to the coast. He analyzes the suffering and sacrifices made by the soldiers and the influence of women on the war.
As in the previous volumes, Lossing’s language captures the eloquence of the time and beautifully relates the events of the war as the young nation struggled to earn its freedom.
Lossing revisits the invasion of Charleston and records the addresses made by George Washington and Gen. Thomas Mifflin. He discusses General Cornwallis’ futile pursuit of French commander La Fayette across Virginia. From the winter before the siege of Charleston to the fleeing of thousands of Loyalists toward the end of the war, Lossing gives justice to the final years of the American Revolution and the end of his journey across the country.