American Revolution Map Books

 

  In creating our miniature table top battles miniature war gamers need good maps.  How else to create our table top battlefields.  In addition they are important in learning about a battle and if fortunate  enough to actually visit the site orientated ourselves.  So it is with great news that there are two new books out on maps of battles of the American Revolution.  Both are worth your time, both include numerous battles but are very different.  This includes not on my the map but also text.

Battle Maps of the American Revolution.

The American Battlefield Trust is the premier battlefield preservation organization in the United States. Over the last thirty years the American Battlefield Trust has preserved more than 54,000 acres of battlefield land across 145 battlefields, in twenty-four states.  On its webpages tge Trust has hundreds of maps of both  major and minor battles. Many of these maps have been collected here in this book.  The maps give troops movements and a superior idea of the topography.  Unfortunately there is little to no text description of the battle.

Atlas of the Battles and Campaigns American Revolution.

I have been looking forward to this book for some time now.  I have a couple books by the author David Bonk and great respect and enjoy his work. 

The Atlas of Battles and Campaigns of the American Revolution provides a comprehensive visual summary of the campaigns, major battles and minor skirmishes of the war. The atlas includes over 120 maps created using maps from the Revolution, including the large collection from the US Library of Congress and enhanced with more accurate topographic mapping from the 1880s. The maps also show troop dispositions and movements taken from a wide range of written sources to provide the most accurate representation of the battles and campaigns. The Atlas will be a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in the American Revolution, including wargamers, reenactors, and students of the conflict.

 The Atlas follows the war from Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and then major engagements at  Long Island, Trenton, Brandywine, Saratoga, Monmouth, Savannah, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown. Thre are also A collection of minor but very interesting actions, at Harlem Heights, White Plains, Short Hills, Barren Hill, Stony Point, Hobkirk’s Hill and Green Springs. All of which cry out the be fought on your table top.  Finally the Atlas includes those important  engagements in the West Indies, Gibraltar, and India.  Each engagement includes a well research account of the action as well as good orders of battle. The maps are a new style color coded system.  Personally I prefer the older topographic style maps but these work.

Both books are well done and highly recommended.  The Atlas is a hardback printed book so naturally is much more expensive.  That said I like the maps better in the other book.  So you pays your money and takes your chances.  Personally I recommend both for your library.