A Long and Obstinate Resistance

Staff Ride Handbook for the Charleston Campaign, 1776–80

Today we are looking at A Long and Obstinate Resistance: Staff Ride Handbook for the Charleston Campaign, 1776–80 by Harold “Allen” Skinner Jr., published in 2023 by Combat Studies Institute Press, an imprint of Army University Press. The book is part of the Army University Press Staff Ride Handbook series and focuses on the Charleston Campaign during the American Revolution. Its ISBN is 9781737204770 for both paperback and Adobe PDF.

The book studies two British efforts to take Charleston, South Carolina. The first, in 1776, failed because of poor British Army-Navy coordination and determined American defense at Fort Sullivan. The second, in 1780, succeeded through a more methodical amphibious and siege campaign, ending in the capture of Charleston and thousands of American troops.

What the Book Really Is

This is a staff ride handbook. That means it is designed not only to be read, but to be used in the field. A staff ride combines historical study, terrain observation, structured discussion, and professional reflection. In this case, the terrain is Charleston and its surrounding operational environment.

The handbook gives facilitators the tools to conduct either a two-day or shortened one-day staff ride. It includes background chapters, stand-by-stand guidance, maps, directions, historical vignettes, discussion questions, integration guidance, orders of battle, biographies, chronology, and glossary material.

Target Audience and Context

The primary audience is military professionals. Unit commanders, staff officers, instructors, and staff ride facilitators can use the book for leader development. It is also valuable for historians and readers interested in the American Revolution, especially the Southern Campaign.

The context is the British strategic shift to the southern colonies after the war in the North became difficult. British leaders believed the South offered Loyalist support, valuable resources, and maritime advantages. Charleston was a major port and therefore a key operational and strategic objective.

Structure and Learning Logic

The book is organized in five major parts. The opening material introduces the campaign and explains how the staff ride should be planned. Part I covers the opposing forces, including American and British ground forces, naval forces, weapons, artillery, tactics, logistics, engineering, communications, intelligence, medical support, and religious support.

Part II gives the Southern Campaign overview from 1776 to 1783, including the British strategic reformulation after Saratoga and the American response. Part III is the field study phase, with day-one “outer ring” stands and day-two “inner ring” stands around Charleston. Part IV explains the integration phase, where participants connect historical study and terrain observations to modern professional lessons. Part V provides support guidance, while the appendices include maps, biographies, orders of battle, chronology, glossary, bibliography, and author information.

The staff ride methodology follows the logic of orientation, description, and analysis. Participants first orient themselves to the terrain, then examine what happened, and finally analyze decisions, consequences, and modern relevance.

Main Themes / Core Content

1. Charleston as a strategic and operational prize

Charleston mattered because it was a major southern seaport, a logistics hub, and a political symbol. For Britain, it offered a possible base for reasserting control over the southern colonies. For the Americans, holding Charleston protected South Carolina and preserved political legitimacy in the region.

2. The contrast between 1776 and 1780

The 1776 British attack failed, while the 1780 campaign succeeded. The contrast is one of the book’s most useful teaching points. In 1776, British coordination problems and American defensive resilience helped defeat the operation. In 1780, the British used a more deliberate approach, combining land and naval power, siege methods, and operational maneuver.

3. Joint and combined operations

The Charleston Campaign required coordination between army and naval forces. The book repeatedly highlights the importance of Army-Navy cooperation, amphibious movement, river and harbor control, and the relationship between tactical actions and operational design.

4. Tactical victory versus strategic success

The British capture of Charleston was a major battlefield success. However, the book shows that the British failed to turn that victory into lasting strategic control. Their pacification policy alienated many inhabitants, Loyalist forces were not protected effectively, and American resistance recovered under leaders such as Nathanael Greene.

5. Logistics, terrain, and sustainment

The campaign was shaped by roads, rivers, ferries, islands, marshes, harbor approaches, weather, heat, disease, and supply lines. The book makes clear that operations in the South were not just battles; they were contests of movement, sustainment, intelligence, and local control.

6. Leader development through terrain study

The handbook’s deepest purpose is leader development. It asks participants to evaluate decisions by Clinton, Lincoln, Cornwallis, Arbuthnot, Moultrie, Whipple, Tarleton, and others, then connect those decisions to modern questions of mission command, civil-military relations, and operational planning.

Visual Style and Evidence

The cover uses the image “Sergeant Jasper, Fort Moultrie,” visually connecting the book to the 1776 defense of Charleston. The image emphasizes the symbolic role of Fort Moultrie and the early American defense of the harbor.

The book contains a strong visual apparatus. Figure 1.1 shows the Siege of Charleston. Figure 2.1 maps operations in the Carolinas from 1779 to 1781. Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2 show the day-one and day-two staff ride stands. Figure 4.1 presents a Charleston Campaign analysis comparing American and British strategic goals, operational goals, tactical objectives, centers of gravity, lines of operation, decisive points, and culminating points. The appendices include detailed stand maps, operational overview maps, battlefield effects diagrams, and orders of battle.

One especially useful visual is Figure A.13, “The Siege of Charleston, March–May 1780,” because it shows how the British tightened the ring around Charleston through land, harbor, and outlying-position control. Another useful visual is Figure C.2, the British coalition order of battle, which shows the scale and multinational character of Clinton’s force.

Strengths

The first strength is practicality. This book is not only informative; it is usable. It gives facilitators locations, directions, stand structure, analysis questions, and integration guidance.

The second strength is its operational focus. Many Revolutionary War books focus on dramatic battles, but this handbook emphasizes campaign design, joint operations, logistics, terrain, and consolidation.

The third strength is the connection between history and modern military leadership. The book repeatedly encourages readers to ask what can be learned from old decisions for contemporary professional practice.

The fourth strength is the visual support. The maps, stand diagrams, orders of battle, and analytical figures make the campaign easier to understand and teach.

Weaknesses or Limits

The book is specialized. It is best suited to military education, staff ride preparation, and serious campaign study. A casual reader may find some logistical and instructional sections too practical or procedural.

Its depth is also geographically concentrated. The Charleston Campaign is placed in broader Southern Campaign context, but the field-study design is naturally focused on Charleston and nearby terrain.

Finally, the book works best when paired with maps, classroom preparation, or an actual terrain walk. Read alone, it is still useful, but its full value appears when used as a training guide.

Unusual or Distinctive Points

A distinctive feature is the attention to the integration phase. The book stresses that a staff ride is not just a battlefield tour. It is a training event whose value depends on reflection, discussion, and professional application.

Another distinctive feature is the balanced attention to strategic, operational, and tactical levels. The reader sees how harbor control, civil authority, militia loyalty, siege lines, communications, and personal leadership all interact.

What the Reader Actually Gains

The reader gains a structured understanding of the Charleston Campaign and a practical method for studying it. Military readers gain leader-development questions and terrain-based analysis. History readers gain a detailed explanation of why Charleston mattered, why Britain succeeded tactically, and why British strategy still failed in the South.

Final Judgment

A Long and Obstinate Resistance is a strong staff ride handbook and campaign study. It is highly recommended for military educators, staff ride facilitators, and readers who want to understand the Charleston Campaign as more than a battlefield episode. Its central value is showing how terrain, logistics, politics, command decisions, and civil-military relations can determine whether tactical victory becomes strategic success.

Command Palette