Virginia's Western War: 1775-1786

by Neal O. Hammon, Richard Taylor

More than any other colony, Virginia looked to the west for its future. After the French and Indian War, the Royal Proclamation of 1754 declared that officers and soldiers would be paid with parcels of western land, vaguely extending about eighty miles in all directions from Lexington. By 1768 most of the area had been explored by the Long Hunters, including Daniel and Squire Boone, James Knox, Hasker Mansker, and the Skagg Brothers. These brave, enterprising men battled both with nature and with the Indians, bringing their families to settle this rough frontier. Virginia's Western War traces the little-known period of colonial history.

Genres: History

Hardcover

First published August 1, 2002

Reviews

[Chuck]

"Virginia's Western War 1775-1786" by Neal O Hammon and Richard Taylor is about the settling of Kentucky (then part of Virginia) after the French and Indian War and during the American Revolution. When I first picked it up I had thought that it concentrated more on the area within modern Virginia borders rather than the borders of the time period. Nonetheless, it covered a topic that I am familiar with, and I appreciated reading it.

I have some mixed feelings about this book. Written by a former Poet Laureate of Kentucky and English professor and an Architect, it is well written, very polished, and obviously a labor of love. I enjoyed reading it and learned much from it.

However, it is not written with a global (or 30,000 foot) view. Instead it is, in many ways an artfully assembled set of details from many primary sources. Not being familiar with many of the details, nor of the geography or history of Kentucky, I sometimes got lost in those details. People and places appear, disappear and then reappear quite frequently. I felt as if I was talking to the family or local genealogist who quite lovingly discussed folks I knew little about in great detail.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the early history of Kentucky. It is a well written and worthwhile read. And, I suspect, it provides an excellent and thorough summary of the primary sources of that period of Kentucky history.

[Sherry Chandler]

This book is an even-handed assessment of all the players in the U.S. Revolutionary War in the west: the British, the Native Americans, the incipient U.S. government, and Virginia. But it's focus is on Virginia and the role that colony played in expanding the new country west of the Appalachian mountains.

I wouldn't call it a page-turner. It's a bit dry but quite readable. Maybe too much emphasis on the ordinance and the statistics of battles for my taste, but it is a good resource for that kind of information.

For some reasons, Good Reads appears only to credit Neal O. Hammon for the writing but his co-author is Richard Taylor.

[Mitzi]

This book is incredibly detailed - not to be read for entertainment really (unless you are a huge history buff!), but if you are researching Kentucky during the Revolutionary War, this is a must have. Dates, names, all the different battles with the Indians, it's all here - the research for this book must have been overwhelming!

[Joshua Horn]

Pretty interesting book and decently written. The introduction seemed to jump right in without a great overview, but read well.