Dunmore's War

The Last Conflict of America’s Colonial Era

By: Glenn F. Williams

Narrated by: David Drummond

Known to history as "Dunmore's War", the 1774 campaign against a Shawnee-led Indian confederacy in the Ohio Country marked the final time an American colonial militia took to the field in His Majesty's service and under royal command. Led by John Murray, the fourth Earl of Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia, a force of colonials including George Rogers Clark, Daniel Morgan, Michael Cresap, Adam Stephen, and Andrew Lewis successfully enforced the western border established by treaties in parts of present-day West Virginia and Kentucky.

The campaign is often neglected in histories, despite its major influence on the conduct of the Revolutionary War that followed. In Dunmore's War: The Last Conflict of America's Colonial Era, award-winning historian Glenn F. Williams describes the course and importance of this campaign. Supported by extensive primary source research, the author corrects much of the folklore concerning the war and frontier fighting in general, demonstrating that the Americans did not adopt Indian tactics for wilderness fighting as is often supposed, but rather used British methods developed for fighting irregulars in the woods of Europe, while incorporating certain techniques learned from the Indians and experience gained from earlier colonial wars.

As an immediate result of Dunmore's War, the frontier remained quiet for two years, giving the colonies the critical time to debate and declare independence before Britain convinced its Indian allies to resume attacks on American settlements. Ironically, at the same time Virginia militiamen were fighting under command of a king's officer, the colony was becoming one of the leaders in the move toward American independence. Although he was hailed as a hero at the end of the war, Lord Dunmore's attempt to maintain royal authority put him in direct opposition to many of the subordinates who followed him on the frontier, and in 1776 he was driven from Virginia and returned to England.

©2017 Glenn F. Williams (P)2018 Tantor

The historical events

Very descriptive and detailed and repeated some details in the narrative which added to the length.

Well Done!

Mr. Williams' publication is unprecedented concerning this campaign. No politically correct whining here but rather a comprehensive account of what all actually happened. I would look forward to seeing Mr. William's work on the Fall 1811 Tippecanoe Campaign.

unbiased truth.

unbiased truth based on facts and not rewritten to favor a political agenda. refreshing.

Dunmore review

Interesting book on a piece of history at an early time in America. Very informative but not a story that you can’t put the down.

bookumentary

very informative historical tale depicting the occurrences in western Pennsylvania, Virginia, and along the frontier leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Lots of procedural information

Not what I was expecting or hoped for. While historically accurate, it reads more like a manual than a engrossing depiction of Dumore’s War.

Prescribed to insomniacs not responding to strong drugs

Great story and subject matter, however the narrator has a voice that makes me rather to marvel in awe at snail s*** than listen further. This may be the worst performance on audible. It only got a star because I had to.

subtly prejudiced one-sided view

I looked forward to this book, but unfortunately Williams is too busy defending Virginia's motives while ignoring the Shawnees. I am not a fan of politically correct history, but Williams defends the Virginians taking booty from the Indians as part of the war waged while accusing the Shawnees of (unrestrained) pillaging. For me, there were too many moral judgments of the Shawnees for doing the same things that were 'legitimate' war acts of the Virginians. Scalp taliken by Indians was brutal, yet generally glossed over when done by whites. Williams claims that the treaties that the Virginians used were legitimate. Huh? The Shawnees did not sign them, nor were they the ones paid for the lands, yet Williams claims that the treaties were legitimate. Instead this was just another example of whites acquiring lands from the Indians by making treaties with tribes or chiefs that had no authority to sell another tribe's lands. While William Johnson is usually praised as treating Indian tribes well, it should be kept in mind that he took a Mohawk woman for his wife, lived in Mohawk territory, and made sure that Mohawks and the rest of the Iroquois got much more than their share of British presents. The Fort Stanwix Treaty, which gave more land than specified by the Proclamation of 1763. preserved more land for the Iroquois and pushed settlement further south. The Shawnees had a right ot be angry.
But. as often is the case, the war was really initiated by hot-headed youth on both sides. Most settlers saw Indian land as wilderness, while Indians wanted country unsettled enough to provide plenty of game. two cultures with different ideas of living, and, alas, hunger for land seems to be the one disease even more prevalent among British colonials than smallpox. It was a disaster waiting to happen. particularly given the attitude of whites to Indians.
Williams spent a LOT of time discussing the raising of militia and the minutiae involved. Yet Williams failed to discuss the troubles that Washington had , during the Feench & Indian War, of raising troops and their desertion rate. maybe it is because the F & I militia were based in stations along the frontier without the chance to get horses and other plunder from an offensive movement. I was a bit surprised that in all of Williams talk of Virginia - Pennsylvania borfer disputes that the Mason Dixon Line which was finished in 1769 was not mentioned once as it did define the east - west border if not the north - south border.
Williams also gives Dunmore's character and actions a whitewash which does notm agree with any of the other histories that I have read. The Virginia based presentation of Williams, while sometimes interesting, fails to see any warts the Virginians committed.
I did acquire the Audible version of this book, and that a mistake on my part. Maps of the rivers and streams cited would have been more than helpful to picture the area covered.