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Ian Saberton

Ian Saberton

Ian Saberton holds a PhD in history from the University of Warwick. Perhaps of greatest relevance to his writing about the Revolutionary War was his service as an adviser on constitutional and political affairs, machinery of government, contingency planning, devolution and the like in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) at the height of the troubles. Part of his duties was to write historical papers of an applied nature for the benefit of Ministers. It is then that he became keenly interested in the American Revolution. Overall, what his service in NIO has brought to his writing about the war is hands-on experience in dealing with a quasi-revolutionary situation.

Primary Sources, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) October 11, 2022 October 10, 2022

The British Entry Into, and Occupation of Charlotte, September 26 to October 14, 1780

The first objective in Lt. Gen. Earl Cornwallis’s first invasion of North Carolina was the capture of Charlotte. He intended to establish a post…

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Logistics, The War Years (1775-1783) December 20, 2021 December 19, 2021

The Management of Sequestered Estates in South Carolina, 1780–1782

On September 16, 1780, while at the Waxhaws on the northern border of South Carolina, Lt. Gen. Earl Cornwallis, the British General Officer commanding…

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2
Critical Thinking, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) April 21, 2021 April 19, 2021

Reflections on the Siege and Capitulation of Yorktown and Gloucester

Lt. General Earl Cornwallis, the British general officer commanding in the south, occupied Yorktown and Gloucester on August 1 and 2, 1781, the evacuation…

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Autobiography and Biography, The War Years (1775-1783) December 1, 2020 November 28, 2020

Biographical Sketches of Royal Militia Commanders in the South Carolina Mid- and Lowcountry, North Carolina, and Georgia, 1780–82

Introduction This article supplements one relating to royal militia commanders in the South Carolina Backcountry that appeared in the Journal of the American Revolution…

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3
Autobiography and Biography, The War Years (1775-1783) November 30, 2020 November 28, 2020

Biographical Sketches of Royal Militia Commanders in the South Carolina Backcountry, 1780–82

Introduction After the British capture of Charlestown in mid May 1780 the Crown hoped to raise substantial numbers of militia not only to maintain…

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Primary Sources, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) November 23, 2020 November 22, 2020

The Aborted Virginia Campaign and Its Aftermath, May to August 1781

Lt. General Earl Cornwallis, the British general officer commanding in the south, arrived at Petersburg in the morning of May 20, 1781, having marched…

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Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) October 12, 2020 October 12, 2020

Britain’s Last Throw of the Dice Begins—the Charlestown Campaign of 1780

By the close of 1779 British possessions in the revolted colonies were confined in the north to New York City, Long Island, and Penobscot….

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2
People, The War Years (1775-1783) July 22, 2020 July 21, 2020

Certain British and British American Actors in the Southern Theater of the War

This article supplements one of mine that appeared in the Journal of the American Revolutionin November 2016.[1] Based partly on The Cornwallis Papers,[2] it…

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2
People, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) April 28, 2020 April 28, 2020

Cornwallis and the Winter Campaign, January to April 1781

Leaving Colonel Francis Lord Rawdon to command in the field from Georgetown to Augusta, Lt. Gen. Charles Earl Cornwallis, the British General Officer Commanding…

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Culture, Food & Lifestyle, People September 11, 2019 September 10, 2019

Fire-Hunting by Night in South Carolina: A Pursuit of British Officers

While George Hanger was for a time in limbo, waiting in mid May 1780 for a decision on his part in the British arrangements for…

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Primary Sources, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) August 19, 2019 August 18, 2019

Cornwallis Quits Charlotte, Abandoning the Autumn Campaign of 1780

This article is a companion piece to one of mine that appeared in this journal on July 18, 2017. Beginning with the start of the…

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10
Features, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) July 15, 2019 July 16, 2019

Midsummer 1780 in the Carolinas and Georgia—Events predating the Battle of Camden

Besides dealing with events elsewhere, this article relates in particular the plight of the Carolina loyalists and the way in which British ascendancy in…

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2
Critical Thinking, Espionage and Cryptography, Letters and Correspondence June 6, 2019 June 5, 2019

Decoding British ciphers used in the South, 1780-81

During the southern campaigns the British used two kinds of cipher, each kind being markedly different from the other.  The First Kind of Cipher: The…

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2
Conflict & War, Strategy, The War Years (1775-1783) March 18, 2019 April 12, 2019

Cornwallis’s Refitment at Winnsborough and the Start of the Winter Campaign, November–January 1780–81

As November 1780 begins, we find Cornwallis continuing to wait at Winnsborough, South Carolina, in the hope of being joined by Major Gen. Alexander…

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16
Conflict & War, Critical Thinking, Letters and Correspondence, Primary Sources, The War Years (1775-1783) January 8, 2019 February 15, 2019

The Decision that Lost Britain the War: An Enigma Now Resolved

In this article I address the absurdity of Cornwallis’s decision to march from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Virginia and the light thrown on it…

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6
The War Years (1775-1783) July 18, 2017 July 9, 2017

Cornwallis and the autumn campaign of 1780 ― His advance from Camden to Charlotte

As events would prove, the autumn campaign was a very risky venture indeed, yet despite the operational difficulties attending it Cornwallis saw no option…

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1
People June 22, 2017 June 26, 2017

From Yorktown to England ― Cornwallis’s fraught passage home

Based preponderantly on The Cornwallis Papers,[1] this article describes in part Cornwallis’s last days in Virginia, his brief sojourn in New York, and events…

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33
The War Years (1775-1783) May 24, 2017 May 23, 2017

The South Carolina backcountry in mid 1780

Its occupation by the British, the character of its inhabitants, and its flora, fauna and terrain Overall, I am of opinion that militarily the…

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3
The War Years (1775-1783) May 10, 2017 May 15, 2017

How many troops did Cornwallis actually bring to the Battle of Guilford?

  A re-evaluation in the light of The Cornwallis Papers Works about the Revolutionary War are littered with references to troop numbers, whether to…

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14
Techniques & Tech March 20, 2017 March 13, 2017

The prowess of American riflemen: a mystery now solved

In his Colonel George Hanger to all Sportsmen, and particularly to Farmers and Gamekeepers (London, 1814) Hanger retails a diverting anecdote about the prowess…

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People February 17, 2017 March 12, 2017

George Hanger ― His Adventures in the American Revolutionary War end

THE CHARLESTOWN CAMPAIGN Beginning with the siege of Charlestown, the southern campaigns would prove to be Britain’s last throw of the dice in the…

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4
People January 30, 2017 February 22, 2017

George Hanger ― His Adventures in the American Revolutionary War begin

PHILADELPHIA TO RHODE ISLAND Having pursued a chequered and colourful path in Europe, including a rake’s progress through London high society,[1] George Hanger reached…

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5
People January 10, 2017 January 30, 2017

George Hanger ― His Early Life

“The lives of malefactors in general are prefaced with a strong outline of their birth, parentage and education, with other peculiar circumstances belonging to…

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2
The War Years (1775-1783) December 6, 2016 December 9, 2016

The Revolutionary War in the south: Re-evaluations of certain revolutionary actors and events

This article provides a wide-ranging set of re-evaluations compartmentalised under the sub-headings below and placed in the context of the historiography relating to them. …

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5
People November 21, 2016 November 30, 2016

The Revolutionary War in the south: Re-evaluations of certain British and British American actors

Prefatory remarks Wide-ranging and to some degree disparate as they are, my re-evaluations are, on the one hand, compartmentalized under the sub-headings set out…

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6
The War Years (1775-1783) October 10, 2016 October 7, 2016

Was the Revolutionary War in the south winnable by the British?

A re-evaluation from a British perspective in the light of The Cornwallis Papers Relying mostly on inferences drawn from my commentary in The Cornwallis Papers,[1]…

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3
The War Years (1775-1783) September 28, 2016 September 22, 2016

Why was the Revolutionary War in the south lost by the British?

A re-evaluation from a British perspective in the light of The Cornwallis Papers It was in 1975, when I was researching the American Revolution, that…

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Journal of the American Revolution is the leading source of knowledge about the American Revolution and Founding Era. We feature smart, groundbreaking research and well-written narratives from expert writers. Our work has been featured by the New York Times, TIME magazine, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Smithsonian, Mental Floss, NPR, and more. Journal of the American Revolution also produces annual hardcover volumes, a branded book series, and the podcast, Dispatches.

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