Special Operations in the American Revolution

This is a great overview of the development of Warfare in North America and a detailed analysis of early special operations actions in the Revolutionary war. Well written and documented

By no means exhaustive, this book does a good job of sampling a variety of Patriot missions from the Revolutionary War which would probably be classified as Special Operations today. The focus has a tendency to be on raids and deep strike missions, from the seizure of Ticonderoga to the raid on Nassau to John Paul Jones' raids on the English coast to the seizure of Vincennes. Still, very well done for the operations that it focuses on.

Very interesting presentation of a few extraordinary men who took on the challenge and help win the war against the powerful British army and Navy. Tactics developed by these independent thinkers are still valid today. Once again an incredible recount of impossible determination to achieve a goal with minimum resources.

This book has quite a bit more detail than you will get in most books related to the specifics of certain actions during the Revolutionary War, for example the fort take overs on the Great Lakes and local actions in and around New York to name a few. I plan to use what I learned to find even more content related to this and other actions described in the book, to include the extra details provided around what happened to Nathan Hale.

This is a very good account of small-group planning and action during the American Revolution, plus some background information from colonial operations during what we call the French and Indian War. The author, a former special operations officer, draws conclusions and points out reasons for successes and failures during these wars. The accounts are very readable, and I did not get bogged down in unnecessary details.

Already a history buff, I learned some new stories about our earliest secret military ops. The author proves the point that general Washington was fond of secret attacks and spycraft. Small secret militia units doing very dangerous work can and did change history.

The information in this account of Special Operations during the Revolutionary War is quite interesting. The references mentioned here are just a quick look into how to fight an unconventional war. It shows how we work in close association with all aspects of military units.

.... some of the situations described really don’t qualify as “special operations” per se. However, the author’s enthusiasm for the subject is obvious and the storied well told.Warning: any proofreading done on this book is very painfully undetectable.

A superb account of some of the actions of the American side during the Revolutionary War that would nowadays be classed as special operations. Some of these, such as John Paul Jones' raid on Whitehaven, or the irregular warfare of Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion in Carolina, I was already aware of. Others like George Rogers Clark's retaking of Vincennes, or William Barton's capture of Major General Richard Prescott were new to me. The author's writing is very readable, making clear the bravery of the men involved in these operations, without ever lapsing into a "boy's own adventure" style. There is plenty of detail and at the end of each chapter Colonel Tonsetic brings his own military experience to bear with a brief assessment of the operations in modern terms. There are also notes and a bibliography.I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the American Revolutionary War (AKA The American War of Independance) or the history of special operations. The book should be of particular interest to wargamers, many of the operations described would lend themselves to scenarios for skirmish or regimental level rules. I have already added the author's other book on the AWI to my wishlist.