Featuring full-color artwork, this is the engaging story of Britain's
elite light infantrymen in battle during the American Revolutionary
War.
During the Seven Years' War (1755-63), a number of independent
light-infantry outfits served under British command and dedicated light
companies were added to the British Army's regular infantry battalions.
The light companies were disbanded after the war but the prominent role
played by light infantry was not forgotten, and in 1771-72
light-infantry companies were reinstated in every regiment in the
British Isles.
Although William Howe formed a training camp at Salisbury in 1774
specifically to practice light-infantry doctrine, the outbreak of the
American Revolution in 1775 found the British Army wanting, and the
light companies were no different. After evacuating Boston in March
1776, Howe began to remodel and drill his army at Halifax, standardizing
lighter uniform and emphasizing more open-order tactics. He also
brigaded his light companies together into composite battalions, which
went on to fight in almost every major engagement during the American
Revolution. They spearheaded British assaults, using night-time surprise
and relying upon the bayonet in engagements such as Paoli and Old
Tappan. They also matched their regular and irregular opponents in
bush-fighting, and at times fought in far-flung detachments alongside
Native American and Loyalist allies on the frontier. Featuring specially
commissioned full-color artwork, this book offers a comprehensive guide
to the formation, uniform, equipment, doctrines, and tactics of these
elite light infantry companies and battalions, and considers how, over
the course of the war they developed a fearsome reputation, and
exemplified the psychological characteristics exhibited by crack
military units across history.
