Virginia author Greg Eanes, of Crewe, received an honorable mention in The American Revolution Round Table-Richmond’s (ARRTR) 2015 book competition, according to Round Table President William Welsch.

Eanes was cited for “Tarleton’s Southside Raid and Peter Francisco’s Famous Fight” which focuses on a little known cavalry raid by British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton through southern Virginia in July 1781. Welsch said the book “was a strong finalist in the competition,” noting “the award committee was deeply impressed . . . it is a fine work and a genuine contribution to the literature of the American Revolution.”

“The nomination was unsolicited and that alone was a tremendous honor,” Eanes said.

The book has been recommended to the Virginia’s Retreat Consortium as the foundation for a historic Revolutionary War driving tour (similar to those maintained by the Virginia Civil War Trails) as a way to capitalize on the success of the Revolutionary War TV series “Turn” and generate tourism traffic between the Jamestown Ferry and Bedford.

“Tarleton’s Southside Raid” was a graduate paper Eanes wrote while attending American Military University. 

He later expanded his research and published what has become a defining work on a little known British special operations mission designed to destroy ammunition and food supplies destined for the American Army, divert Virginia militia from supporting Nathanael Greene in North Carolina and create psychological angst among Virginia’s population.  

Eanes, is a retired Air Force colonel and adjunct lecturer at Hampden-Sydney College.

He is also a member of the Society for Military History.