Product Description

The Wilderness War is the eagerly awaited fourth volume in Allan W. Eckert’s acclaimed series of narratives, The Winning of America, the violent and monumental description of the wresting of the North American continent from the Indians.

Two hundred fifty years had elapsed since the Five Nations, the greatest of the Indian tribes, ceased their continual warfare among themselves and banded together for mutual defense. Their union had created the feared and formidable Iroquois League; their empire stretched from Lake Champlain, across New York to Niagara Falls. Theirs was a remarkable form of representative government that presaged our own, and their wealth lay in the vast, beautiful lands abundant with crops. As warriors they were unsurpassed—even the depredations of the recent French and Indian War could not diminish their prowess.

But by 1770 the white men living in their land were fighting among themselves again, and war came once more to the Iroquois land.

The Wilderness War begins in 1763 (where the second book in this series, Wilderness Empire, concluded with the English victory over the French in the French and Indian War) and continues through the American Revolution to 1780, by which time the Iroquois League had been ruptured and the Indians dispossessed of their homelands.

Their defeat and humiliation occurred despite the valor of their famous war chief Thayendanegea, better known as Joseph Brant, who had allied his tribes with the one man the Iroquois loved and trusted, Sir William Johnson, Colonial Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and subsequently with Johnson’s son and nephew, leaders of the Tory forces in New York.

Based on an abundance of primary sources: original letters and notes, diaries and journals, deeds, wills, military records, Indian tribal records, logbooks, newspapers and magazines and government reports, and dominated by the compelling character of Chief Joseph Brant, The Wilderness War gives a factual account (sustained with the suspense and pace of first-rate fiction) of the last years of the Iroquois Empire and the first years of the American nation. Allan W. Eckert has molded the raw facts of history into a moving, perceptive and penetrating narrative. It is filled with the pathos and action, humanity and savagery which were all a part of survival on the expanding American frontier.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53644 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

About the Author
A seasoned writer, noted naturalist and historian, Allan W. Eckert is the author of The Great Auk, Incident at Hawk’s Hill, The Crossbreed, and the contemporary novel The Hab Theory. In his current series The Winning of America, he has written The Frontiersmen, Wilderness Empire, and The Conquerors.

Customer Reviews

Gripping historical narration...better than fiction
Eckert is a master at narrating and telling history in as gripping and compelling a fashion as you will find. This entire series is so extremely interesting and filled with drama and information you will not learn in school.

This book, Wilderness War, takes the reader from the end of the French Indian War, through the Revolutionary War in America and tells the tale of the Indian involvement. During this time, the Iroquois League is ripped apart and those strong Indian nations dispossessed of their homelands.

Despite the leadership and commitment of the chief Thayendanegea, their war chief (also known as Joseph Brant), and despite the manueverings and alliance with Sir William Johnson, the mighty Iroquois are defeated.

I would recommend Eckert to anyone desiring a more in depth look at the Indian Wars and the overall history of the Eastern United States.

The Wilderness War
This is an extremely well written book, that is easy to understand. It gives interesting excerpts about the main characters, not just the cut and dry facts about the Revolutionary War taking place on the Pennsylvania and New York frontier. The author tries to give a fair review of the battles taking place from both sides of the war, but is perhaps a little biased in favor of the American Patriots. The book has several maps throughout that help a great deal in following the battles. My only disappointment is that the book ends when the Sullivan Campaign ends, which was not really the end of the Revolutionary War. Only a paragraph in the epilogue refers to Joseph Brant continuing the warfare, as if he alone battled on after Sullivan's campaign. Yet, what was written to that point was the best I have read, so far on the Frontier battles.

The Adventure Continues
This is the best series I ever read. These stories make me humble to be an American.