Author Lecture: Abductions in the American Revolution by Christian McBurney

The tactic of kidnapping enemy leaders, used in recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, dates to the American Revolution. George Washington, who called such efforts “honorable,” supported attempts to kidnap the British commander-in-chief (twice), Benedict Arnold (after he turned traitor), and Prince William Henry (a future king of Great Britain). Washington in turn was targeted at his Morristown winter headquarters by British dragoons who crossed the frozen Hudson River. This book covers more than thirty major attempted and successful abductions of military and civilian leaders from 1775 to 1783, from Maine to Georgia, and including two in Great Britain.