The Cutting-Off Way
Indigenous Warfare in Eastern North America, 1500–1800
By Wayne E. Lee
300 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 2 drawings, 10 halftones, 9 maps
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-7378-3
Published: August 2023 -
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-7377-6
Published: August 2023 -
E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-1-4696-7379-0
Published: August 2023 -
E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-6356-0
Published: August 2023
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Indigenous people lacked deep reserves of population or systems of coercive military recruitment and as such were wary of heavy casualties. Instead, Indigenous warriors sought to surprise their targets, and the size of the target varied with the size of the attacking force. A small war party might "cut off" individuals found getting water, wood, or out hunting, while a larger party might attempt to attack a whole town. Once revealed by its attack, the invading war party would flee before the defenders' reinforcements from nearby towns could organize. Sieges or battles were rare and fought mainly to save face or reputation. After discussing the COWW paradigm, including a deep look at Native logistics and their associated strategic flexibility, Lee demonstrates how the system worked and evolved in five subsequent chapters that detail intra-tribal and Indigenous-colonial warfare from pre-contact through the American Revolution.
About the Author
Wayne E. Lee is the Bruce W. Carney Distinguished Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Reviews
"An ambitious and thoughtful reassessment of Native American war-making before and after permanent European settlement in the early 17th century...Lee draws upon extensive new evidence to engage with existing scholarship and investigate previously unexplored territory."—Wall Street Journal
"One of the benefits of studying the military histories of non-European groups is that it reminds us that there are very different means of waging war, as well as reasons for doing so. In The Cutting-Off Way, Wayne E. Lee argues that the fluid, Native American style of war was quite alien to the European soldiers who encountered it . . . . The aims of their wars were also different, argues Lee."—New York Times Book Review
“This book is remarkable. . . . It is poised to become an instant classic.”—Journal of Southern History
“A concise, lucid summary of Native American military operations, the product of a lifetime’s study of the violence in eastern colonial North America. For any scholar eager to quickly and effectively summarize the dynamics of how Native Americans waged war, this is an essential text.”—North Carolina Historical Review
“The Cutting-Off Way is thought provoking, deeply researched, and very well written. It should prove a valuable addition to the shelves of early American, Native American, and military history scholars alike.”—H-AmIndian
“Undoubtedly, this book is a masterful explanation of different methods and consequences of waging war between different civilizations. The Cutting-Off Way will enrich anyone with the most basic familiarity with military affairs.”—H-War