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After Saratoga: The War that Britain Nearly Won

The Fort Plain Museum

Welcomes

Award Winning Author John Ferling

 as he presents

After Saratoga: The War that Britain Nearly Won

Monday, May 3, 2021 at 7:00 PM EST

This is Free Zoom event and Registration is Required.

Please Click Here to Register

This talk is based on Ferling's upcoming book titled: Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781

Please Click Here to Preorder Winning Independence

Thank you to our Anonymous Donor for making these free virtual events possible and thank you all for your support of the Fort Plain Museum & Historical Park!

About the Talk and Book: It was 1778, and the recent American victory at Saratoga had netted the U.S a powerful ally in France. Many, including General George Washington, presumed France's entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner.

Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a “southern strategy.” The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its pre-war American empire. Deep into 1780 Britain's new approach seemed headed for success as the U.S. economy collapsed and morale on the home front waned. By early 1781, Washington, and others, feared that France would drop out of the war if the Allies failed to score a decisive victory that year. Sir Henry Clinton, commander of Britain's army, thought “the rebellion is near its end.” Washington, who had been so optimistic in 1778, despaired: “I have almost ceased to hope.”

Ferling provides the dramatic story of how and why Great Britain-so close to regaining several southern colonies and rendering the postwar United States a fatally weak nation ultimately failed to win the war. Ferling explores the choices and decisions made by Clinton and Washington, and others, that ultimately led the French and American allies to clinch the pivotal victory at Yorktown that at long last secured American independence.

Author Bio: John Ferling is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of West Georgia. A leading authority on American Revolutionary history, he has appeared in many documentaries and has written numerous books, including Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War for Independence, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, The First of Men: A Life of George Washington, Setting the World Ablaze: Washington, Adams, and Jefferson in the American Revolution, and the award-winning A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic.

Other Books by John Ferling:

Please Click Here to Order: Almost A Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence

Please Click Here to Order: The Ascent of George Washington

Please Click Here to Order: Whirlwind: The American Revolution and the War That Won It

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