White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery, and Vengeance in Colonial America

by Stephen Brumwell

Book Overview

In America's first war, known as the French and Indian War, France and England-both in unholy alliance with warring Native American tribes-battled each other in a series of bloody conflicts and terrifying attacks on colonial settlements. No more brutal raid was carried out than the massacre of the settlers at Fort William Henry-an atrocity memorably depicted in James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans.Following the raid, Major Robert Rogers...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306813890
• ISBN13: 9780306813894
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Exciting Story of George Rogers and His Rangers

The author provides a terrific history of George Rogers and his Rangers along with a finite history of the French and Indian War. The author writes a very readable account of the French and Indian War primarily about Rogers and his Rangers who go well into the wilds behind enemy lines on raids and reconnaissance missions against the French and their Indian allies. These Ranger companies were virtually alone and totally unsupported in their forays risking not just capture but also violent deaths by the French's Indian allies, primarily the St. Francis Abenakis who at one time were the terror among the English settlements. While covering the overall campaign in America, the author covers in detail Roger's amazing exploits. Of particular note is Rogers and over 200 Rangers making a strike against the Abenakis' town over 100 miles from their landing point and then after being discovered having to change direction traveling over 200 miles over rough wilderness terrain while being pursued by the vengeful Abenakis and the French. Incredible hardships and an amazing story of survival and after this harrowing exploit, Rogers goes back into the wilderness to fight again. The War against the French and their Indian allies is violent particularly if their prisoners are not of value or if vengeance is preferred. Capture did not necessarily end up being better than a quick death in combat. The author includes a fascinating discussion of the alliances between the various tribes and the French and English. The first chapter of the book starts off with a thrilling description of the capture and imprisonment of the Johnson family of settlers and their experience traveling through the wilderness with their captors and their experience in captivity. The author describes Rogers as a man highly capable, a leader and motivator in war but literally without a business rudder in peace suffering financially and choosing the wrong side during the revolution due to pension and perhaps mistreatment by his countrymen after the French and Indian War. This is an engrossing book, fraught with adventure with some shocking detail on how the Rangers survive their most brutal campaign. This book is an immensely entertaining history where the truth goes beyond the legend. Spencer Tracey's 1940 classic movie, Northwest Passage, is the subject of Rogers' attack on the Abenakis and the harrowing journey of his Rangers to escape, a movie well worth seeing.

NICELY DONE - WELL WRITTEN

I was impressed with this work from the first page. I admit to being one of those who, while aware of this period in our history, actually knew little of it and the impact it had on future events. What little I have read tended to be "soap box" history, that is, work that tried to make either the English or French or Native Americans into either saints or complete animals. This book gives us a rather different slant and pretty well makes the point that "times were hard then." I feel this work goes far in making an attempt to show all sides of the issue, both the good and bad of all the participants. If you are looking for a politically correct, "gosh what animals they were," then this one is probably not your cup of tea. Actually the author has not made any one side look all that nice and civilized. There has never been a war where atrocities were not committed. Further more, there has never been a war where the atrocities were not committed by all sides, to one extent or another. This war was no different. The work is well written and is apprently quite well researched. It is very readable. Recommned this one for any history buff and in particular for those interested in the early history of this country. Recommend you purchase and add this one to your collection.

We Are All Savages - By Bill Dixon

"Nous sommes tours Sauvages." So opens Stephen Brumwell's well-written adventure saga of the French & Indian War. I initially read it with some trepidation ,as many recently written books of the period tended to be of the politically correct, revisionist genre. Brumwell pleasantly surprised me with a very readable and balanced story. His inclusion of new and revealing Abenaki and French sources gave me a fresh perspective of Robert Rogers and the Rangers from the adversarial side of that conflict. He presented Roger's ,warts and all, without undue condemnation of his considerable leadership qualities. While not as broad in scope as John Cuneo's earlier biography of Rogers, Brumwell's scholarship and inclusion of new material and fair assessments make this a "keeper". Indeed, Brumwell's gripping and detailed description of the infamous St. Francis Raid and its aftermath was a vivid page-turner. Anyone with an interest in the colonial period in general and the French & Indian War in particular, will enjoy this book immensely.

At Last ...

At last, a book written about Robert Rogers without the usual embellishment or hero-worship. Stephen Brumwell's "White Devil" tells the truth about Robert Rogers - his victories and defeats, his triumphs and tragedies, his accomplishments and failures - and does it all from a scholarly, un-biased viewpoint. I find it extremely refreshing that Brumwell impartially depicts the French, Canadians and their Indian allies as more than worth adversaries of Rogers and his Rangers. His unprejudicial accounts give the French forces the credit that is long overdue. Of all the books written about Robert Roggers and his Rangers, I would unhesitatingly recommend "White Devil" as the best of all. It deserves the rating of 5 stars.

War in the Woods

This book is a well-written overview of the contributions to warfare by Roger's Rangers and their attack on the Abenaki town of St. Francis in the fall of 1759. Brumwell explores the savage nature of the conflict between the English and the French and Indians, but underscores some of the ironic nature of this conflict: that due to kidnapping and tribal adoption, some St. Francis Indians were likely to have almost as many English ancestors as the frontiersmen they opposed. And that the English frontiersmen could be as "savage" as the Indians. Brumwell does very well dispelling the cliches and stereotypes that many have become accustomed to. He uses records of the St. Francis Indian oral tradition to give a voice to both sides. As an historian and former newspaperman, Dr. Brumwell writes very well and this is important because he creates both a well-researched historical work and a damn fine story. This is, after all, the story of Robert Rogers and is as good a biography of him as John Cuneo's older more traditional biography. As a result, this book can be read by both specialists and general readers alike and will carry the reader away 250 years where they can get lost in the woods.