Print Resources
for the AMERICAN REVOLUTION in BUCKS COUNTY, PA
General Resources
Craig L. Symonds with William J. Clipson, cartographer. A Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution. Baltimore, MD: Nautical & Aviation Publishing Co., 1986.
Maps & illustrations. Suggested readings. No footnotes nor index.
Introduction to each section. Significant battles have a map and one page description.
· Map 10 – Trenton, p 31-32.
· Map 11 – Princeton, p 33-34.
· Map 22 – The [Patriot] Siege of Philadelphia, p 58-59.
· Map 23 – Monmouth, p 65-66.
Theodore P. Savas & J. David Dameron. Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution. NYC: Savas & Beatie, 2006.
Campaigns / major engagements / actions. Explains strategy & tactics on both sides.
Joseph Plumb Martin. A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier: Some of the adventures, dangers, and sufferings of Joseph Plumb Martin (previously published as Private Yankee Doodle). NYC: Penguin Putnam.
Abridged juvenile version also available.
One map. Index. No footnotes or bibliography. 973.309 M bccc, levit & 4 others
Joseph Plumb Martin is the prose troubadour of the American Revolution. His accounts and observations are oft quoted. Martin recounts his experiences from the lowest rung -– a Continental Army private – sustained through the ordeals by an unquenchable sense of humor.
· Chapter 3 – 1777.
· Chapter 7 – 1781.
John Frantz & William Pencak (ed). Beyond Philadelphia: the American Revolution in the Pennsylvania hinterland. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 1998),
· Introduction: PA & its three revolutions by John Frantz & William Pencak.
· Chapter 2: Bucks – by Owen S. Ireland.
· Afterward: PA revolutions in their broader context by William Pencak.
Individual chapters on the experiences of two of the three original PA counties and the eight back counties at the time of the American Revolution.
Randall Miller & William Pencak (ed). Pennsylvania: a history of the Commonwealth. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2002.
First half is PA history from indigenous inhabitants through 1990. Last half of book examines different perspectives / avenues for exploring history – geography, art, literature, photography, folkways, genealogy, architecture etc.
The New Jersey Campaign
William M. Dwyer. The Day is Ours! NYC: Viking Press, 1983.
David Hackett Fischer. Washington’s Crossing. NYC: Oxford University Press, 2004.
The Philadelphia Campaign 1777-78
Justin Clement. Philadelphia 1777: Taking the capital. NYC: Osprey Publishing, 2007.
A concise guide with maps & military information. Would have benefited from a more complete fact vetting.
Thomas J. McGuire. Philadelphia Campaign
Vol I: Brandywine and the Fall of Philadelphia (2006)
Vol II: Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge (2007)
Mechanicsburg, PA:Stackpole Books, 2007.
Stephen R. Taaffe. The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777-1778. Lawrence, KS: Univ. Press of Kansas, 2003.
Some maps. Footnotes, bibliography and index. 973.333 T doyl, south, levit
Well researched historical narrative written for the general reader. Reasoned analysis of strategy within chapters and in a separate concluding chapter.
· Chapter 7 – Conclusions
Strategies, p.225-30.
On the Battlefield, p. 230-33.
Subordinates, p.233-237.
Schizophrenic America, p.237-38.
· Biographical Afterward, p.239-48. What happened to key participants.
Hannah Benner Roach. “The Pennsylvania Militia in 1777” in The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, XXXII(3), 1964, p161-229.
No maps or illustrations. Two example copies of company & brigade returns documents. Footnotes! Reprint includes name index, primarily of officers 973.344 R warm
“The dual purpose of this study … is to render intelligible the meaning of … records [published in the various Series of the Pennsylvania Archives], and then to relate them to the actual operations of the militia, with particular reference to the first year of its operation under An Act to Regulate the Militia of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (p.161), passed on 17 March 1777, which transitioned the local military units from voluntary Associations to drafted participation. This article “does not purport to be a history of the militia … but is intended as an explanation of the operation of the militia in that period as deduced from the available records.” Only incidental references are made to the overall movements of the Continental Army (p.167-168). Besides the PA Archives, Roach draws upon Supreme Executive Council (SEC) minutes in the Colonial Record, pension records, orders & letters from various collections, and articles in the PA Magazine of History & Biography.
Wayne Bodle. Valley Forge Winter: Civilians & soldiers in war. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2002.
Also covers the land blockade of Philadelphia & civil war in the ‘burbs.
Brendan Morrissey. Monmouth Courthouse 1778: The last great battle in the north. NYC: Osprey Publishing, 2004.
The March to Yorktown
Howard C. Rice & Anne S.K. Brown. American Campaigns of Rochambeau’s Army 1780-83, 2 volumes. Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1972.
Most of the information on the march is just being published in resource guides. A proposal is being submitted to Stackpole Books by Robert Selig to write a guide to the march through southeastern PA.
The Doanes gang
Terry A. McNealy. The Doan Gang: ... Most Notorious Loyalist Outlaws. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2008. A new book coming out on this topic.
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