This Fierce People; The Untold Story of America's Revolutionary War in the South

The Untold Story of the Southern Campaign in the American Revolution

A groundbreaking reassessment of the Revolutionary War, This Fierce People sheds light on a long-overlooked chapter of history: the brutal and decisive battles fought in the South. While the famous clashes at Lexington, Concord, Saratoga, and Monmouth are often credited with securing American independence, it was the fierce conflict south of the Mason-Dixon line that led to Britain’s ultimate surrender at Yorktown.

Alan Pell Crawford’s riveting account uncovers the war’s final, critical years—often neglected by historians—when loyalists and patriots waged what was, in essence, America’s first civil war. Through the stories of unsung heroes—African Americans and white militiamen, irregular fighters, patriots and Tories, Americans, Frenchmen, Brits, and Hessians—Crawford challenges the traditional narrative that victory belonged solely to George Washington and his army.

By restoring the southern theater to its rightful place in the Revolutionary War story, This Fierce People reshapes our understanding of how America secured its independence—and the deeply divided nature of the fight that forged a nation.