Today’s featured speaker is Dave Dowdy. A retired engineer he has written and self published a four-part murder mystery series and in 2023 published his first historical fiction novel, “ Zebulon’s Oath: A novel of the Carolinas in the Revolutionary War during 1780-1781.” Dave actively promotes local Colonial and early nineteenth century history in Morganton where he is a member of Colonel Alexander Erwin Chapter of the NC Sons of the American Revolution and a board member of the Historic Burke Foundation.

Topic of conversation:: Rules by Which a Great Army May Lose a War: The Southern Department. He will talk about how the British found early, quick success in their Southern Strategy when they took Georgia and won large battles at Charleston and won large battles at Charleston and Camden, S.C. Then he will show how their march broke down in the upcountry of South Carolina and lower North Carolina. Due to their reliance on Loyalist and failure to understand frontier tactics and Continental strategy, the British left Guilford Courthouse weaker and doomed to fail.