
Long, Obstinate, and Bloody
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Rene Ruiz
About this listen
On 15 March 1781, the armies of Nathanael Greene and Lord Charles Cornwallis fought one of the bloodiest and most intense engagements of the American Revolution at the Guilford Courthouse in piedmont North Carolina. Although victorious, Cornwallis declared the conquest of the Carolinas impossible. He made the fateful decision to march into Virginia, eventually leading his army to the Yorktown surrender and clearing the way for American independence.
In the first book-length examination of the Guilford Courthouse engagement, Lawrence Babits and Joshua Howard - drawing from hundreds of previously underutilized pension documents, muster rolls, and personal accounts - piece together what really happened on the wooded plateau in what is today Greensboro, North Carolina. They painstakingly identify where individuals stood on the battlefield, when they were there, and what they could have seen, thus producing a bottom-up story of the engagement. The authors explain or discount several myths surrounding this battle while giving proper place to long-forgotten heroic actions. They elucidate the actions of the Continentals, British regulars, North Carolina and Virginia militiamen, and the role of American cavalry. Their detailed and comprehensive narrative extends into individual combatants' lives before and after the Revolution.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2009 Lawrence E. Babits & Joshua B. Howard (P)2009 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Devil of a Whipping
- The Battle of Cowpens
- By: Lawrence Babits
- Narrated by: Knighton Bliss
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Cowpens was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South and stands as perhaps the finest American tactical demonstration of the entire war. On January 17, 1781, Daniel Morgan's force of Continental troops and militia routed British regulars and Loyalists under the command of Banastre Tarleton. The victory at Cowpens helped put the British army on the road to the Yorktown surrender and, ultimately, cleared the way for American independence.
-
-
Don't forget the reference downloads!
- By Jeff on 01-22-10
By: Lawrence Babits
-
The Road to Guilford Courthouse
- The American Revolution in the Carolinas
- By: John Buchanan
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant account of the proud and ferocious American fighters who stood up to the British forces in savage battles highlights just how crucial these individuals were in deciding both the fate of the Carolina colonies and the outcome of the American Civil War.
-
-
Amazing Book
- By Anthony S. on 04-01-21
By: John Buchanan
-
The Swamp Fox
- How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution
- By: John Oller
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the darkest days of the American Revolution, Francis Marion and his band of militia freedom fighters kept hope alive for the patriot cause during the critical British southern campaign. Like the Robin Hood of legend, Marion and his men attacked from secret hideaways before melting back into the forest or swamp. Employing insurgent tactics that became commonplace in later centuries, Marion and his brigade inflicted losses on the enemy that were individually small but cumulatively a large drain on British resources and morale.
-
-
The Swamp Fox - Francis Marion
- By Stephen on 06-07-17
By: John Oller
-
To the End of the World
- Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan
- By: Andrew Waters
- Narrated by: Bill Nevitt
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"In the most barren, inhospitable, unhealthy part of North America, opposed by the most savage, inveterate perfidious cruel Enemy, with zeal and with Bayonets only, it was resolv’d to follow Green’s Army, to the end of the World.” So wrote British general Charles O’Hara about the epic confrontation between Nathanael Greene and Charles Cornwallis during the winter of 1780-81. To the End of the World: Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan is a carefully documented and beautifully written account of this extraordinary chapter of American history.
-
-
Nathaniel Greene--Logistical Genius
- By Mary G on 01-20-24
By: Andrew Waters
-
The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
-
-
Great insight to the tactical and strategic impacts of Saratoga.
- By Ace on 12-07-24
By: Kevin Weddle
-
The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series)
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Aaron Killian
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century.
-
-
Best book of this early battle
- By Bradley Behrhorst on 09-02-22
-
Devil of a Whipping
- The Battle of Cowpens
- By: Lawrence Babits
- Narrated by: Knighton Bliss
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The battle of Cowpens was a crucial turning point in the Revolutionary War in the South and stands as perhaps the finest American tactical demonstration of the entire war. On January 17, 1781, Daniel Morgan's force of Continental troops and militia routed British regulars and Loyalists under the command of Banastre Tarleton. The victory at Cowpens helped put the British army on the road to the Yorktown surrender and, ultimately, cleared the way for American independence.
-
-
Don't forget the reference downloads!
- By Jeff on 01-22-10
By: Lawrence Babits
-
The Road to Guilford Courthouse
- The American Revolution in the Carolinas
- By: John Buchanan
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This brilliant account of the proud and ferocious American fighters who stood up to the British forces in savage battles highlights just how crucial these individuals were in deciding both the fate of the Carolina colonies and the outcome of the American Civil War.
-
-
Amazing Book
- By Anthony S. on 04-01-21
By: John Buchanan
-
The Swamp Fox
- How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution
- By: John Oller
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the darkest days of the American Revolution, Francis Marion and his band of militia freedom fighters kept hope alive for the patriot cause during the critical British southern campaign. Like the Robin Hood of legend, Marion and his men attacked from secret hideaways before melting back into the forest or swamp. Employing insurgent tactics that became commonplace in later centuries, Marion and his brigade inflicted losses on the enemy that were individually small but cumulatively a large drain on British resources and morale.
-
-
The Swamp Fox - Francis Marion
- By Stephen on 06-07-17
By: John Oller
-
To the End of the World
- Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan
- By: Andrew Waters
- Narrated by: Bill Nevitt
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"In the most barren, inhospitable, unhealthy part of North America, opposed by the most savage, inveterate perfidious cruel Enemy, with zeal and with Bayonets only, it was resolv’d to follow Green’s Army, to the end of the World.” So wrote British general Charles O’Hara about the epic confrontation between Nathanael Greene and Charles Cornwallis during the winter of 1780-81. To the End of the World: Nathanael Greene, Charles Cornwallis, and the Race to the Dan is a carefully documented and beautifully written account of this extraordinary chapter of American history.
-
-
Nathaniel Greene--Logistical Genius
- By Mary G on 01-20-24
By: Andrew Waters
-
The Compleat Victory
- Saratoga and the American Revolution
- By: Kevin Weddle
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both sides, the outcome of the American War of Independence hung in the balance. Having successfully expelled the Americans from Canada in 1776, the British were determined to end the rebellion the following year and devised what they believed a war-winning strategy, sending General John Burgoyne south to rout the Americans and take Albany.
-
-
Great insight to the tactical and strategic impacts of Saratoga.
- By Ace on 12-07-24
By: Kevin Weddle
-
The Early Morning of War: Bull Run, 1861 (Campaigns and Commanders Series)
- By: Edward G. Longacre
- Narrated by: Aaron Killian
- Length: 22 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Union and Confederate forces squared off along Bull Run on July 21, 1861, the Federals expected this first major military campaign would bring an early end to the Civil War. But when Confederate troops launched a strong counterattack, both sides realized the war would be longer and costlier than anticipated. First Bull Run, or First Manassas, set the stage for four years of bloody conflict that forever changed the political, social, and economic fabric of the nation. It also introduced the commanders, tactics, and weaponry that would define the American way of war through the turn of the twentieth century.
-
-
Best book of this early battle
- By Bradley Behrhorst on 09-02-22
-
Our First Civil War
- Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution
- By: H. W. Brands
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What causes people to forsake their country and take arms against it? What prompts their neighbors, hardly distinguishable in station or success, to defend that country against the rebels? That is the question H. W. Brands answers in his powerful new history of the American Revolution.
-
-
Not a fresh take on the Revolution
- By James on 01-05-22
By: H. W. Brands
-
The Federalist Papers
- By: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Originally published anonymously, The Federalist Papers first appeared in 1787 as a series of letters to New York newspapers exhorting voters to ratify the proposed Constitution of the United States. Still hotly debated and open to often controversial interpretations, the arguments first presented here by three of America's greatest patriots and political theorists were created during a critical moment in our nation's history.
-
-
Changes key words and concepts from the original
- By Some guy on 08-14-20
By: Alexander Hamilton, and others
-
The Indispensables
- The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware
- By: Patrick K. O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The British had trapped George Washington’s army against the East River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the shoulders of the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side-by-side in one of the country’s first diverse units, they pulled off an “American Dunkirk” and saved the army by navigating the treacherous waters of the river to Manhattan.
-
-
Great Content
- By Elizabeth on 06-13-21
-
The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier
- By: Joseph Plumb Martin
- Narrated by: Brandon Wright
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joseph Plumb Martin (1760-1850) was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Martin participated in the Battles of Brooklyn, the White Plains and Monmouth, and the siege of Fort Mifflin, and the Battle of Monmouth. The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier relates the adventures of a young private serving his country under terrible conditions. There are engaging accounts of army life, adventures, dangers, and suffering during the years 1776-1783.
-
-
A Gospel of the Revolution
- By Eric on 07-19-21
-
Rebel Yell
- The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson
- By: S. C. Gwynne
- Narrated by: Cotter Smith
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
General Stonewall Jackson was like no one anyone had ever seen. In April of 1862 he was merely another Confederate general with only a single battle credential in an army fighting in what seemed to be a losing cause. By middle June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western World. He had given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked: hope.
-
-
Candidate for "My Daguerreotype Boyfriend"
- By Dorothy on 01-10-15
By: S. C. Gwynne
-
Washington's Immortals
- The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution
- By: Patrick K. O’Donnell
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1776, a little over a month after the Continental Congress had formally declared independence from Britain, the revolution was on the verge of a sudden and disastrous end. General George Washington found his troops outmanned and outmaneuvered at the Battle of Brooklyn, and it looked like there was no escape. But thanks to a series of desperate rear-guard attacks by a single heroic regiment, famously known as the Immortal 400, Washington was able to evacuate his men, and the nascent Continental Army lived to fight another day.
-
-
Spectacular
- By Robert Everman on 04-26-16
-
Winning Independence
- The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781
- By: John Ferling
- Narrated by: Rhett Samuel Price
- Length: 24 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was 1778, and the recent American victory at Saratoga had netted the US a powerful ally in France. Many, including General George Washington, presumed France’s entrance into the war meant independence was just around the corner. Meanwhile, having lost an entire army at Saratoga, Great Britain pivoted to a 'southern strategy'. The army would henceforth seek to regain its southern colonies, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, a highly profitable segment of its prewar American empire.
-
-
Superb
- By Aldy on 06-10-21
By: John Ferling
-
Brandywine
- A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777
- By: Michael Harris
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harris' Brandywine is the first complete study to merge the strategic, political, and tactical history of this complex operation and important set-piece battle into a single compelling account. More than a decade in the making, his sweeping prose relies almost exclusively upon original archival research and his personal knowledge of the terrain. Told largely through the words of those who fought there, Brandywine will take its place as one of the most important military studies of the American Revolution ever written.
-
-
good serious and sober view of the battle
- By Brian on 08-12-23
By: Michael Harris
-
The British Are Coming
- The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777
- By: Rick Atkinson
- Narrated by: George Newbern, Rick Atkinson - introduction
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abridged edition: Rick Atkinson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army at Dawn, has long been admired for his deeply researched, stunningly vivid narrative histories. Now he turns his attention to a new war, and in the initial volume of the Revolution Trilogy he recounts the first 21 months of America’s violent war for independence. From the battles at Lexington and Concord in spring 1775 to those at Trenton and Princeton in winter 1777, American militiamen and then the ragged Continental Army take on the world’s most formidable fighting force.
-
-
Great Start!
- By Darren Sapp on 07-14-19
By: Rick Atkinson
-
To the Gates of Richmond
- The Peninsula Campaign
- By: Stephen Sears
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was the largest campaign ever attempted in the Civil War: the Peninsula campaign of 1862. General George McClellan planned to advance from Yorktown up the Virginia Peninsula and destroy the Rebel army in its own capital. But with Robert E. Lee delivering blows to the Union army, McClellan’s plan fell through at the gates of Richmond.
-
-
Magnificent chronicle of mismanagement
- By Triceracop on 10-08-13
By: Stephen Sears
-
War at Saber Point
- Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion
- By: John Knight
- Narrated by: Ian Putnam
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The British Legion was one of the most remarkable regiments, not only of the American Revolution, but of any war. A corps made up of American Loyalists, it saw its first action in New York and then engaged in almost every battle in the Southern colonies. Relying on firsthand accounts - letters, diaries, and journals - War at Saber Point: Banastre Tarleton and the British Legion is the enthralling story of those forgotten Americans and the young Englishman who led them.
-
-
Entertaining story about a notorious Brit.
- By Amazon Customer on 08-31-22
By: John Knight
-
Daniel Morgan: A Revolutionary Life
- By: Albert Louis Zambone
- Narrated by: Tom Taverna
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On January 17, 1781, at Cowpens, South Carolina, the notorious British cavalry officer Banastre Tarleton and his legion had been destroyed along with the cream of Lord Cornwallis’s troops. The man who planned and executed this stunning American victory was Daniel Morgan. Once a barely literate backcountry laborer, Morgan now stood at the pinnacle of American martial success. When George Washington called for troops to join him at the siege of Boston in 1775, Morgan organized a select group of riflemen and headed north.
-
-
Good Book
- By Rob K on 04-08-20
What listeners say about Long, Obstinate, and Bloody
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rodney
- 09-26-12
Horrible reader
I got this book to learn more about the Carolina's during the Revolutionary War as I've recently found out I had relatives that fought in some of the battles this book covers. This book is hurt tremendously by the amateur reader.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stephen
- 02-06-13
Long, Confusing, and Boring
What disappointed you about Long, Obstinate, and Bloody?
I lived in the Carolinas for decades and love both Civil War and Revolutionary War history. Having been to the Guilford Courthouse battlefield, I found the descriptions of the battle confusing. This book starts by making the claims that it would clear up many of the confusing stories regarding the battle.
It does not.
Too much time is spend itemizing every small detail of the armies. The attempts to bring to life the individuals involved in the battle get tangled by the jumping from person to person. There seems to be no flow in the narrative and the listener is required to spend too much trying to keep track of too many people.
I was really disappointed.
I would have preferred the author focusing on a few key people in the battle and following their efforts across the battle. Getting information in depth on a few key people would have been more interesting than reading about a score of people who are just mentioned in passing.
Reading as many historical books as people like myself do, we are all overly familiar with the soldiers and officers who receive the premonition that they would die in the battle. I don't care that they received that premonition. What I care about is how they handled themselves during the battle. True courage is doing your duty to the best of your ability in the face of your death. This book tries to do that, but fails.
What didn’t you like about Rene Ruiz’s performance?
Boring, monotonous, and without passion. I found my mind wandering off during his narration.That truly upset me because I came to this book with reasonable expectations that the reader would add to the story. He does not.
Any additional comments?
I will trade this book in for something more interesting, like the phone book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!