The Art of Blitzkrieg

This is the story of the last major battles of the War of 1812, which were fought along the Canadian-American frontier in the summer and autumn of 1814 and had a decisive effect on how the war ended. The first of these actions is the 53-day siege of Fort Erie, which incurred more casualties than the better known battle of New Orleans in some of the most vicious fighting of the entire war. The Americans besieged in the fort on the Canadian side of the Niagara River succeeded in driving off the British attacks but finally decided to withdraw across the border before the onset of winter, thus marking the end of hostilities on Canadian soil. The second major action is the naval and land battle of Plattsburgh, New York. An outgunned American naval squadron on Lake Champlain succeeded through out-standing seamanship in defeating their Royal Navy opponents, causing the British commander in chief, General Sir George Prevost, to withdraw, a reverse that he was unable to live down and an American victory that had a direct bearing on the final outcome of the war. The author also describes the devastating raid in which General Duncan MacArthur's mounted troops burned and plundered their way across south-western Ontario from present-day Windsor to Brantford Written by Donald E. Graves, the master of the battle-field narrative and acknowledged internationally as an authority on the War of 1812, And All Their Glory Past is a fascinating blend of scholarly research, engaging narrative and insight into the minds of men under the stress of combat. It complements two previous books by Donald E Graves, Field of Glory: The Battle of Chrysler's Farm, 1813 and Where Right and Glory Lead! The Battle of Lundy's Lane, 1814, widely read classics that have remained in print for more than a decade due to popular demand.