Southern Historical Association

Prelude to Yorktown: The Southern Campaign of Nathanael Greene, 1780-1781 by M. F. TreacyReview by: Clyde R. FergusonThe Journal of Southern History, Vol. 30, No. 2 (May, 1964), pp. 222-223Published by: Southern Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2205077 .

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222 THE JOURNAL OF SOUTHERN HISTORY

and interpretation and the quest for patterns, so vital to history, can become lost in a welter of incidents, anecdotes, and personal trivia. This work also suffers from its pretension. The author has written popu- lar history for popular consumption, yet for some reason he has included copious footnotes and a lengthy bibliography. These are not only super- fluous but they also open the way for criticism that ordinarily would be unnecessary. Careful perusal of this scholarly impedimenta, for ex- ample, fails to uncover references to such key contemporary narratives as those of Bernard Romans and John Williams or to such fundamental secondary works as Charles W. Arnade's Siege of St. Augustine in 1702 and Verne E. Chatelain's book on the defenses of Spanish Florida. Use of Williams, in particular, would have strengthened the chapter on territorial Florida. In any event the reader should be neither de- ceived nor discouraged by the scholarly trappings. This is a readable account of crucial events in the frontier history of the deep South.

Ohio State University JOHN J. TEPASKE

Prelude to Yorktown: The Southern Campaign of Nathanael Greene, 1780-1781. By M. F. Treacy. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1963. Pp. 261. Maps, bibliography, index. $6.00.)

Given a misleading subtitle, this work were better called The Frus- tration of Lord Cornwallis: The War of the Revolution in the South, May 1780-March 1781. The reconquest of South Carolina is not covered; four chapters precede the assumption of command of the southern army by Greene. He is largely missing from the two chap- ters concerned with the battle of Cowpens, leaving him central to only seven of thirteen chapters.

The dissolution and disillusionment of the British southern army, however, form the backdrop of every chapter and give a certain unity to the book. The terrible terrain, the incredible logistics problem, the partisan attacks, the sudden swarms of militiamen who sometimes fought with ferocity, and the seemingly unorthodox tactics of Greene decimated the army of Cornwallis during this period, reinforcing his earlier view that the war must be shifted to Virginia. The events that propelled his Lordship toward that rendezvous at Yorktown make up the content of this work.

In general the narrative moves with clarity and conciseness. Occasion- ally Mrs. Treacy backs into a discussion that were better handled straightforwardly, but this is the exception. She draws on her long ex- perience and acquaintance with the army for descriptions of terrain and the feelings of men before battle, and demonstrates a flair for the dramatic and picturesque. She quotes with aplomb, a trait atypical of the historical profession, and sometimes resorts to a series of quotations from varied sources to set the tone of confusion and misunderstanding that permeated the action in the South. Where speculation is valid,

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BOOK REVIEWS 223

the author brings a vivid historical imagination to bear, particularly with regard to the intangibles of military leadership.

Unfortunately, the book is marred by serious defects, many of which reflect on the editing. There are many contradictions: Tarleton takes one battalion of the 7th Regiment to Cowpens and loses the entire regiment; the distance from Camden to Hillsboro is 180 miles and 200 miles; Cornwallis crosses the Broad River to get to the side he is on. The maps are inadequate for a detailed work filled with place names, and the index is abominable. The footnote form is inconsistent, and a reader must turn to the back of the book 868 times to cover 200 pages of text.

More serious problems result from the author's failure to check such sources as the Greene, Henry Lee, and Thomas Sumter papers in the Library of Congress; many other such oversights exist. A look at Rod- erick Mackenzie's Strictures on Lt.-Col. Tarleton's History and the jour- nals of Thomas Anderson and William Seymour might have prevented certain errors made in detailing the action at Cowpens.

The author handles the major characters with a sure hand; her treat- ment of such men as Andrew Pickens and Thomas Sumter is less than profound.

Kansas State University CLYDE R. FERGUSON

Flowering of the Cumberland. By Harriette Simpson Arnow. (New York: Macmillan Company, 1963. Pp. xviii, 441. Illustrations, maps, index. $6.95.)

Mrs. Arnow had produced three novels before she published Seed- time on the Cumberland in 1960. Seedtime, she explains, "emphasized the borderer's ability to conquer an environment unknown in the Old World," while Flowering "is concerned chiefly with his ability to trans- plant shoots of culture, rooted in the Old World" (pp. vi-vii). Both books focus upon the years 1780-1803, that is, from first settlement until the frontier's passage beyond the Mississippi River. The geograph- ical focus is the Cumberland Valley, primarily Nashville and vicinity, secondarily the upriver area just north of the Tennessee-Kentucky line.

In scope Flowering is broad indeed. It treats, sometimes at length and sometimes sketchily, virtually all aspects of the settlers' relation- ships among themselves and with that outside world with which they maintained contacts. Among topics treated are marriage, home life, child training, slavery, speech, reading habits, education, animal hus- bandry, agricultural crops, manufactures, professional life, commerce, travel, and diversions. Concerning these topics Mrs. Arnow has assem- bled and presented a great deal of information. Other writers had al- ready outlined on a broad canvas the economic, social, and intellectual development of the expansive Old Southwest. Mrs. Arnow has not al- tered the outline but rather, within the segment of that canvas selected

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