Volume 10 of the Revolutionary War Series opens with Washington headquartered at the Continental army's encampment at Middlebrook, New Jersey, about seven miles northeast of New Brunswick, the location of the main British force under General William Howe. From this strategic vantage point in the Watchung Mountains, Washington could survey the country between Perth Amboy and New Brunswick while keeping an eye on the road to Philadelphia. Here he weighed contradictory intelligence reports. "The views of the Enemy," surmised Washington, "must be to give a severe blow to this Army and to get possession of Philada. Both are objects of importance; but the former of far the greatest--while we have a respectable force in the field, every acquisition of territory they may make will be precarious and perhaps burthensome." Washington also considered the possibility that Howe might attempt torendezvous his army with General Burgoyne's, thought to be en route fromQuebec to Albany by way of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River.

For his part, Howe, whose army outnumbered the Americans by a margin of more than two to one, hoped to lure Washington away from his defensive positions and force a general engagement. When a series of British maneuvers in late June failed to bring on the desired fight, Howe evacuated his army from New Jersey to Staten Island, leaving Washington completely in the dark as to the enemy's next move and keenly aware of "the great advantage they derive from their navy." Although Howe had abandoned the idea of attacking the main Continental army, from his new disposition the British commander easily could join with Burgoyne via the Hudson, move upon Philadelphia by way of the Delaware River or the Chesapeake Bay, sail farther south into Virginia or to Charleston, South Carolina, or sail northward and invade one of the New England states.

Washington's repositioned his army back at its old camp at Morristown, where it could better assist the American troops at Peekskill, New York, if Howe moved up the Hudson and yet still interfere with any British designs upon Philadelphia. Although surveillance reports revealed that the British were preparing for "a longer Voyage than up the North River," the British capture of Ticonderoga, New York, convinced Washington that Howe would take the northern route, and he swiftly marched the Continental army into New York state, where it remained until it became clear that the British fleet had gone out to sea. Washington then returned to New Jersey, where he made preparations for the defense of Philadelphia, but with several critical weeks of the summer campaign already passed, he confessed his puzzlement at his foe's decision to sail south.

Volume 3 covers the final months of the siege of Boston. It opens with General Washington proclaiming the commencement of the remodeled Continental army on New Year's Day 1776 and closes at the end of March as he prepares to depart for New York in the wake of the British evacuation of Boston.

Washington's correspondence and orders for this period reveal an uncompromising attitude toward reconciliation with Britain and a single-minded determination to engage the enemy forces in Boston before the end of the winter. Washington's bold proposal to attack Boston across the frozen back bay in the middle of February was rejected as too risky by a council of war, but the council did approve occupying the strategic Dorchester Heights overlooking the city and harbor. During the last weeks of February and the first days of March, Washington devoted himself to mobilizing artillery and gunpowder for a massive cannonade of Boston and assembling materials for portable fortifications to be erected on the frozen soil of Dorchester Heights. The successful execution of this operation on the night of 4 March failedto provoke General William Howe into assaulting the American lines and thereby open the way to counterattack on the city as Washington hoped it would. It did, however, compel the British to withdraw from Boston in haste a few days later, giving Washington and his army a spirit of confidence with which to embark on the New York campaign. The volume also includes a number of documents relating to Washington's private affairs in Virginia, the most important of which are eight letters from his Mount Vernon manager Lund Washington.

Volume 6 documents Washington's decisions and actions during the heart of the New York campaign--the period from late summer to early fall 1776 when his British opponent, General William Howe, took the offensive and outmaneuvered the American forces in and around New York City through a series of amphibious landings. Faced with an enemy superior in numbers, mobility, and discipline, Washington attempted to defend New York by placing his green troops behind fortifications on high ground and hoping that courage and patriotism would offset their lack of experience and training. That strategy failed at the Battle of Long Island on 27 August when Howe's army outflanked and routed a larger American force on the Heights of Guana. Two nights later Washington reunited his dangerously divided army by skillfully evacuating every man and most stores and equipment from Long Island to New York City.

During the following weeks Washington spared no one including himself in an effort to restore order and confidence to his badly dispirited troops. He also reassessed his strategy and concluded "that on our side the War should be defensive" and "that we should on all occasions avoid a general Action or put anything to the risque unless compelled by a necessity into which we ought never to be drawn." Reluctantly deciding to abandon New York City, Washington narrowly avoided being forced into a disadvantageous general engagement on 15 September when he marched his army north to defensive positions on Harlem Heights ahead of British and Hessian soldiers landing at Kip's Bay. Although the Battle of Harlem Heights on the following day was an indecisive skirmish between detachments, it raised American morale by showing that some of their troops could and would fight well against enemy regulars in limited actions.

Military concerns so preoccupied Washington that at times his secretary Robert Hanson Harrison had to write the president of Congress and other public officials for him. This volume, nevertheless, includes four long letters that Washington wrote to his plantation manager Lund Washington describing his situation in New York and giving detailed instructions regarding such matters as the sale of flour from the Mount Vernon mill, the remodeling of the mansion house, and the planting of trees around it.

Rick Britton has been writing about Thomas Jefferson and Monticello for over a dozen years. His well-received Jefferson pieces have appeared in newspapers and magazines all across the Old Dominion. Based largely on that work, this book presents an eclectic and captivating collection of Jefferson essays. Within its pages you'll discover: Jefferson's influence on Albemarle, his native county; the British raid that came within a hairsbreadth of capturing Jefferson; slavery along Monticello's Mulberry Row; Jefferson's friendship with Italian vintner Filippo Mazzei; his wide-ranging scientific pursuits; William Clark's 1807 trek to Big Bone Lick, Ky., in search of Mastodon bones; Jefferson's efforts toward exploring the West; the all-but-forgotten Freeman and Custis expedition; Jefferson's slavery correspondence with Edward Coles; Lafayette's 1824 visit to Monticello; Jefferson's founding of the University of Virginia; his amazing architectural legacy; and the early years of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, the organization that owns and operates Monticello.

Every turn of the page reveals some little-known truth, clears up a misunderstanding, corrects an error, or dispels a myth. Packed with all the essential facts, it presents a remarkable overview of Washington's life. Written for the general reader, this book covers Washingtons public career and private life in an interesting, entertaining, and readable Q&A format.

George! A comprehensive guide devoted exclusively to George Washington. The subject range goes beyond the conventional, and includes much about his personal and family life, correspondence, business dealings and more. The illustrated, A_Z format and approach incorporates Washington's own words with those of his contemporaries. Most of the book is based on primary source research, written in a bright, contemporary style. Once you've read this volume, you will know the real George Washington.

George! A comprehensive guide devoted exclusively to George Washington. The subject range goes beyond the conventional, and includes much about his personal and family life, correspondence, business dealings and more. The illustrated, A to Z format and approach incorporates Washington's own words with those of his contemporaries. Most of the book is based on primary source research, written in a bright, contemporary style. Once you've read this volume, you will know the real George Washington.

"An indispensable reference to the life and times of America's indispensable man."--James C Rees, Mount Vernon Ladies' Association." ... we are in the hands of a master of his craft and subject."--John Buchanan, "Journal of Military History."

This volume covers the middle months of the siege of Boston when George Washington faced the delicate task of disbanding one army and recruiting another, all within musket shot of the British forces. Throughout the fall of 1775, assisted and sometimes thwarted by congressmen, New England officials, and fellow officers, Washington laid plans not merely to keep a besieging force around Boston and provide his men with winter necessities but also to remodel the army to make it more efficient and truly continental, intermixing officers and men without regard to their colonial identity. The numerous official letters Washington wrote and received during this period, his daily general orders, the records of his councils of war, and the minutes of his important October conference reveal a competent military administrator and a committed patriot attempting to create a professional American army which would transcend the narrow localism of the colonial past well in advance of the Declaration of Independence.

Unwilling to risk an attack on the main British army in Boston during the fall of 1775, Washington encouraged and monitored two major offensive efforts elsewhere: the outfitting of a small fleet of armed vessels to disrupt the flow of British supplies by sea to Boston and Canada and the two-pronged invasion of Canada led by Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold. Washington also dealt with the treasonous intrigues of Benjamin Church and John Connolly and with the burning of the seaport of Falmouth. He also received several unsolicited schemes for attacking the British fleet in Boston harbor, a steady stream of personal pleadings for discharges, and a laudatory verse written by the black poet Phillis Wheatley.

Substantial portions of Washington's correspondence for this period concern his personal business and family affairs. Most notable are the fourteen letters from his Mount Vernon manager, Lund Washington. They offer rare views into the daily operations of the plantation as well as into Washington's finances and land dealings. They provide valuable information about plans for remodeling the mansion house, proposals for defending it against British attack, and Martha Washington's travels culminating in her journey to join her husband at Cambridge.

Volume 12 of the Revolutionary War Series documents Washington's unsuccessful efforts to capitalize on the American victory at Saratoga and his decision to encamp the Continental army for the winter at Valley Forge. The volume opens with the British forces at Philadelphia, where they had returned following the Battle of Germantown, and the Continental army, in Washington's words, "hovering round them, to distress and retard their operations as much as possible." Recognizing the importance of restricting communication between General William Howe and the British fleet, Washington dispatched a brigade to New Jersey to assist in the defense of Forts Mifflin and Mercer, key components in the American effort to obstruct the Delaware River.

Upon receiving news of the surrender of British general John Burgoyne's army to Major General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, Washington called a council of war to consider his army's options. Although his generals advised against an immediate assault on Philadelphia, Washington perceived an opportunity to defeat Howe and dispatched his aide-de-camp Alexander Hamilton to the northern department to urge upon General Gates the "absolute necessity" of sending a "very considerable" reinforcement to the main army. If those troops arrived before the British could open a supply route on the Delaware or be reinforced from New York, then the American forces could "in all probability reduce Genl Howe to the same situation in which Genl Burgoine now is." There was little further that Washington could do to strengthen the Delaware River defenses, however, and despite the determined efforts of Fort Mifflin's defenders, the Americans were forced to evacuate the fort in mid-November following a sustained bombardment from British land and naval artillery. Moreover, British and Hessian troops from New York arrived before Washington's reinforcement and joined in the British occupation of Fort Mercer a few days later.

After the fall of the Delaware River forts, Washington and his generals began extensive deliberations about the related questions of a possible winter campaign and where to quarter the troops for the winter. The generals were nearly unanimous that a winter campaign was not feasible, but they were divided between quartering the troops at Wilmington, Delaware, or in Pennsylvania along a line from Bethlehem to Lancaster. Washington settled on the third option discussed: hutting in the Great Valley of Pennsylvania. Consequently, the volume closes in December with Washington establishing his headquarters at Valley Forge, about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia. Valley Forge provided the army with an adequate defensive position to guard against a British surprise attack, the ability to limit British depredations in Pennsylvania, and a base to cover Lancaster and York, where the Pennsylvania state government and the Continental Congress, respectively, had moved after the evacuation of Philadelphia.

Other subjects arising in the correspondence include Thomas Conway's reputedly disparaging letter to Gates about Washington; a variety of army reforms embracing reorganization of the cavalry, the establishment of a marechaussee, or provost corps, and the improvement of the lot of the officers and enlisted men; and a purported British peace proposal. Private correspondence discusses Mount Vernon and Washington's other landholdings.

Volume 1 of the Revolutionary War Series begins with Washington's address of 16 June 1775 accepting command of the Continental army and continues to the middle of September 1775. The focus of the volume is on Washington's initial effort to make an effective fighting force out of the green provincial army that he found besieging the city of Boston.

His military letters and orders for these three months deal extensively with his reorganization of the army, the instituting of new administrative procedures and standards of discipline, the teaching of duties to both officers and men, and the measures taken to overcome the army's perplexing supply problems, most notably the alarming shortage of gunpowder. They also touch on matters of strategy and tactics relating to schemes for reducing the British garrison in Boston, the arming of American vessels to intercept enemy supplies at sea, and the planning for Benedict Arnold's bold march to Quebec.

Much of the information upon which Washington based his decisions is contained in the letters that he received from his numerous correspondents. Included here are detailed reports of British military activities in and about Boston, along with the New England coast, in Canada, and in Virginia, as well as news of legislative actions and recommendations of men, to fill positions both high and low in the Continental army.

Supplementing the portrait of Washington the general provided by his official correspondence are a number of letters to and from relatives and friends in Virginia. These offer a more intimate view of the private man and his personal affairs. Of particular interest are the two letters that he wrote in June 1775 from Philadelphia to Martha Washington, rare survivals of the correspondence that Mrs. Washington destroyed shortly before her death.

Jamestown Colony is an authoritative and thorough treatment of all aspects of life in Jamestown, the first successful British colony in the New World. Four centuries after its founding, Jamestown has become the stuff of movies, legend, and tourism. This important work treats the reality behind the legends—Pocahontas, John Rolfe, Powhatan, John Smith, and others—and puts the stories into a broader context. More than 250 A–Z entries detail the colonial strategies, military considerations, political realities, and personal privations that went into the creation of the first enduring beachhead in the British effort to colonize the New World. Based on primary sources and ongoing archaeological work, this book is the most comprehensive look at life in Jamestown. The reader will find detailed scholarship on all the familiar names along with the stories of the lesser known, told in their own words when possible. Published in the quadricentennial of Jamestown's founding, this solid reference is an invaluable resource for the student and history buff.

This encyclopedia offers an A-Z retrospective of George Washington's life, career, and historical significance, based in large part on Washington's own words and those of his contemporaries. George Washington dominated his era like few other Americans. Yet the complexity of the historic events he was involved in and the sheer magnitude of his correspondence-the most voluminous in colonial America-can be overwhelming for researchers. The goal of this volume is to make the larger-than-life figure of George Washington accessible to modern researchers. In its 200 entries readers will discover a detailed and surprising portrait. Washington was not a cold, aloof, and unknowable man, but was extremely convivial by nature; a general who commanded the Continental army without pay but was a better administrator than military strategist; a man of deeds whose appearance was, according to one contemporary, "truly noble and majestic;" a man known to his contemporaries for his complete honesty. Includes people who played a seminal role in Washington's life: Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, John Hancock, Robert Dinwiddie, James Rumsey, and others Explores Washington's many business interests: distillery, fisheries, Great Kanawha tracts, Mount Vernon, surveying