The King's Ranger: Thomas Brown and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier Paperback – June 1, 1999

An amazing book on a often forgotten theater of the Revolution.

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History is usually written by the victor, or at least from the victor's perspective. To some extent this is unfortunate, since historical "truth" requires a balanced perspective. If one is truly interested in understanding the American Revolutionary War, then one must actively seek out the perspective of the losing side. That is why books like, Piers Mackesy's The War For America, 1775-1783, David Syrett's The Royal Navy in American Waters, 1775-1783 & Edward Cashin's The King's Ranger are so important. The first two put our revolution in overall geopolitical perspective from the British point of view. The latter focuses exclusively on the often neglected "southern campaign". With the excitement generated by the 1999 movie, "The Patriot", this book is re-released at an opportune moment. While the beginning and ending portions focusing on Thomas Brown's pre- and post-american life, respectively, are somewhat dry and could stand more judicious editing, the central meat of the book is an excellent and scholarly contribution to the study of the American Revolutionary period. In this book we gain insight into the significant role of tories in America as well as the american indian contribution to the campaign in the south. We learn what happened to most tories after their cause was lost and come to realize just how close we came to being on the losing side. This is a scholarly work of history, portions require concerted effort and concentration to wade through. However, the "pearls" contained within, particularly in the central portion, are well worth the effort.

For years people in the Southern US have been taught to loathe this man. Of course, the crime he is mainly hated for today is thathe refused to commit one.The book gives a very good description of the feelings and actions of this bravely loyal fellow. While, like most biographies, the author takes a personal liking to the subject and is likely to give facts in a way to make him seem better than he was, the book is very accurate.I only wish more loyalists get this type of Biographical treatment.

“The King’s Ranger” by Edward Cashin is one of the best biographies of a figure from the American Revolution that I have ever come across. Cashin focuses on Thomas Brown, a Loyalist who moved from Scotland to Georgia right before the war began. Soon after arriving, Brown was tarred and feathered by supporter of independence in a nightmarish scenario involving the loss of toes, a fractured skull and being slashed across the face. Brown becomes one of the top Loyalist commanders in the area with his King’s Rangers defending East Florida and taking part in campaigns in Georgia and South Carolina. As Cashin convincingly shows, Brown had a solid grasp on strategy, including allying with Native Americans against the fledgling United States. Brown would even be the chief British leader dealing with Native Americans in the South. Cashin helps clear the myths of Brown being a butcher and shows how he was an excellent leader, even as the British lose the war and abandon their Native American allies and Loyalists (including Brown) who had thought they would be rebuilding in East Florida. Cashin takes readers through Brown’s decades in England and his efforts to become a gentleman planter in the Caribbean including his being imprisoned for two years over a confusing fraud case. Relying on both primary and secondary sources, Cashin offered a memorable portrait in this well written biography which offers insights on an overlooked but important figure of the American Revolution. Highly recommended.