Free Republic

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The heirs of the British general known for brutal attacks in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War are auctioning flags won in key battles. South Carolina is mounting an effort to bring home flags British Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton took from a bloody battlefield five miles south of the state line in South Carolina. It's a place that some say became an emotional turning point that fixed American hearts against the British enemy. Accounts of what happened on May 29, 1780, vary, but the commonly held view is that American Col. Abraham Buford thought his 350 Virginia...

Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H. W. Brands. Published by Doubleday, a division of Random House, New York. 2005, 560 pages. Part of gaining a deeper understanding of American history is reading presidential biographies. Each biography is not only a look at the person who occupied America's highest office but is a window on the events, individuals and decisions that shaped America's destiny and character. H. W. Brands is a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin and is best known for his biography of Benjamin Franklin "The First American," that was a finalist for the...