The following article is intended as a tenative guide to any wargamer who is interested in getting into the American Revolution. It is by no means meant to be comprehensive. It seems that each day the publishing houses are releasing new titles to take advantage of the Bicentennial interest. But it is sincere. I will not recommend any title that I do not own myself. And in these days of inflation and low pay, that is the highest possible endorsement. All of the titles I isted should be available from any quality military hobby or book store.

THE CONTINENTALS (AMERICANS)

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CONTINENTAL ARMY UNITS, Fred Anderson Berg. Harrisburg. Stackpole Books, 1972. Price: $6.95

This book should prove to be an invaluable tool to any miniaturist. It provides a complete listing in alphabetical order of every regiment, battalion, legion, and independent corps which served the Continental Congress between 1775 to 1783. Each entry is accompanied by a concise historical sketch, notes on authorized and actual fighting strength, and a list of commanding officers. There are also other sections dealing with infantry organization, light infantry, cavalry, and artillery in general. Appendices are provided to show the exact composition of Washington's forces at certain crucial moments in the Revolution.

The only real flaw I can find with this work is the absence of any illustrations or uniform notes. However, Berg provides information here which can be found in no other single volume anywhere. His book has the support of the Company of Military Historian's Review Board, and who am I to disagree.

AMERICAN SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION, by Alan Kemp. New Maiden: Almark Publishing Co. Ltd., 1972 Price: $6.95 (hard), $4.95 (soft)

This book would be a fine companion to Berg's. Kemp includes some competent notes on the organizatton and character of the Continental troops, but his main emphasis is on the uniforms. This is only natural since he is an accomplished model soldier enthusiast. He also incorporated a large section on the Tory units under the title, Lavishly illustrated with color plates and line drawings, this volume should be a welcome and economical addition to any wargamer's library.

THE BOOK OF THE CONTINENTAL SOLDIER, by Harold L. Peterson. Harrisburg, Stack- pole Books, 1968. Price: $12.95

Peterson's book advertises itself as "a compleat account of the uniforms, weapons, and equipment with which" the Continental lived and fought. Indeed, it is that and much more. There are some very competent sections on regimental organization, insignia, decorations, colors, medical practices, musical instruments, camp equipment, and fortifications. The chapter dealing with the firearms of the Continentals is a complete survey on the flintlocks carried on every side in the Revolution. Since the Americans used captured British and Hessian weapons as well as those purchased or loaned from Europe and of native manufacture, this is understandable. This one section alone could be very helpful to anyone contemplating writing his own set of Revolutionary rules or making adaptations from some later period.

This big book does have its drawbacks, however. It provides a wealth of information that will be of no use to wargamers at all, both in text and illustrations. Yet the uniform views by H. Charles McBarron and Clyde Risley, as well as the great passages on organization, dress, and muskets, makes this a good buy if you have the money.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S ARMY, by Peter Young. Reading: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1972. Price $3.95

This offering is from Osprey's MEN-AT-ARMS Series. Thus its special appeal are the color plates by Michael Roffe. These are fairly well done, and Young's text is able if unispired. It would make a good companion to Berg's masterpiece of research, but one gets the impression that Young and Roffe could have done much better.

THE BRITISH, HESSIANS, AND TORIES

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Edward E. Curtis London. Oxford University Press, 1972. Price $7.50.

Curtis's book was first published in 1926, and is presently available as a reprint. It was written as a scholarly work and makes very dry reading. However, it is highly accurate, reliable, and chock full of information. Aside from a short sketch on the general shape of the British Army at the outbreak of the Revolution, some very skimpy uniform notes, a chapter on recruitment and some illustrative appendices, there's not all that much here to attract the miniaturist. But anyone designing his own boardgame on the War of Independence should look into Curtis's description of the British Army's administrative machinery, transportation, and logistical problems.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITISH, PROVINCIAL, AND GERMAN AARMY UNITS 1775-1783 Rby Philip R.N. Katcher Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1973. Price $6.95

If there is anyone more qualified to write on the uniforms and history of the units which served King George III around the globe during our Revolution than Phil Katcher, I wish he'd make himself known. Katcher was a member of a reactivated Revolutionary War Loyalist company as well as the editor of THE BRIGADE DISPATCH, the official journal of the Brigade of the American Revolution. His vast private collection of militaria contains equipment and uniforms from every phase of American History.

His book is essential to any miniaturist who wishes to simulate the American War of 1775-1783. Every British, Hessian, and Loyalist battalion which served England in that crisis is listed here. The British are arrayed in numerical order while their American and German allies are drawn up alphabetically under their place of origin or commanding officer. Each entry contains a concise history of the regiment, the battles it participated in, a few uniform notes, and a list of commanding officers. The volume is heavily illustrated with uniform plates from the collection of the Company of Military Historians, THE BRIGADE DISPATCH, equipment etchings by Mrs. Rebecca Katcher, and photos of reactivated Revolutionaly War units. There are also three introductory chapters which detail the dress, organization, weapons, and character or the Redcoats, Hessians, and Tories.

This fine work has been accepted a standard reference in Great Britain, and there is no reason it should not receive the same esteem in the U.S.A. Like no other book on the market, Katcher gives complete information on the Crown's forces serving in Africa, Spain, and India, as well as in America. I have found it invaluable.

THE AMERICAN PROVINCIAL CORPS 1775-1784 by Philip R.N. Katcher. Reading. Osprey, Publishing Ltd., 1973. Price $3.95

Katcher's second book was published in the MEN-AT-ARMS Series. It is an excellent supplement to his first volume with a special concentration on the Americans who served King George III. Once again Katcher has proved himself as a scholar and historian. Osprey plans to release a number of Katcher titles on later American armies in the near future. I hope that they are as well done as his previous efforts. In this volume, the color plates by Michael Youens are extremely well done and are a fine compliment to Katcher's informative text.

THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Alan Kemp. New Malden. Almark Publishing Co. Ltd:, 1973. Price: $6.95 hard or $4.95 soft

Once again, Alan Kemp has produced a splendid and valuable book. This new entry far surpasses his effort on the Continentals and Tories. Once again concentrating on the uniform and limiting his perspective to those Redcoats who served only in America, Kemp presents his subject in delightful color plates and accurate line drawings. His research has done much to fill many old gaps. In particular, Kemp has done much to clear up inaccuracies on the dress of the British Guards, Highlanders, Marines, and light infantry companies in America. The Royal Artillery also received full treatment. The text is very well done. This book would make a perfect companion to Katcher's work.

THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AMERICA by Robin May. Reading: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 1974. Price $3.95

Another publication from the MEN-AT-ARMS Series, May's book is a fair effort. His text includes much of what was done better by Katcher and Kemp. It's one real strong point is that it has capsulized that information dug up by Curtis in a form directly applicable to wargamers. The best part of the whole volumn is the color plates by Gerry Embleton, Britain's top military artist. Embleton has a feel for his subject as well as the sharp eye of the scholar. His work alone makes the book worth buying.

NAVAL

SHIPS AND SEAMEN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Jack Coggins. Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1969. Price $12.95

The only work of any direct use to naval wargamers of the Revolution is this big, heavily illustrated gem by the famous author-artist, Jack Coggins. By use of fine drawings and a lively text, Coggins depicts naval warfare of that tumultous era. Appendices, charts, maps, diagrams and tables present a wealth of technical information unattainable in any other book. Coggins, book is by no means complete, but it is the best thing on the market today.

GENERAL

UNIFORMS OF THE AMERICAN BRITISH FRENCH AND GERMAN ARMIES IN THE ARMY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, by Lt. Charles M. Lefferts, Old Greenwich: WE Inc., 1971. Price: $8.00 For those of you operating on tight budgets, this is the book for you. A reprint in black and white of the 1926 original, Lt. Lefferts' volume has come to regarded as the classic authority of the dress of the Revolution. Although modern scholars have found minor flaws, its status still stands. Heavily illustrated with uniform plates from every army engaged as well as a concise, informative text, this book is a good starting-off point for any Revolutionary miniaturist. Although it does not provide all the answers, it gives enough of them to enable you to paint up quite an army.