Defenders of the Frontier: Colonel Henry Bouquet and the Officers and Men of the Royal American Regiment, 1763-1764

Swiss-born Colonel Henry Bouquet remains one of the most unappreciated British Army officers from the pre-Revolutionary War period in North America. During the uneasy peace that followed the French and Indian War, Bouquet and his Royal Americans, along with troops from the Black Watch and Highland regiments, protected and rescued settlers on the western frontiers of Pennsylvania and Maryland from increasingly frequent Indian attacks. Bouquet’s victory at Bushy Run and his triumphant march into the Ohio Country essentially halted the Indian uprising of 1763-1764. With patience, military discipline and tactical skill, he defeated a resourceful and deadly enemy. Historian Martin Blumenson called Bouquet the foremost soldier of his day.

Ironically, other British Army defeats and disasters of a more sensational nature often obscure Bouquet’s brilliant accomplishments. Military historian and instructor Kenneth P. Stuart thoroughly researched the official papers of Bouquet and his contemporaries for this detailed study. Correspondence reveals Bouquet’s highly trained military mind, his personal frustrations with the colonial assemblies and the British high command, and his private moments of occasional depression.

This well-rounded work includes maps, illustrations, annotations, appendices, a select bibliography and an index. 2007, 5½ x 8½, paper, index, 244 pp., $25.00.

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