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The American Revolutionary War, while beginning in the Thirteen Colonies, quickly became a far ranging war fought across the globe and eventually involved France and Spain. The war spilled into the areas west of the Thirteen Colonies and along the Mississippi River, and the resulting battles and attacks impacted the future development and expansion of the United States. The western areas also contained a rather unique collection of diverse groups and interest.

These interests included French-heritage inhabitants living along the Mississippi River, the new Spanish owners of the Louisiana Territory, the British masters of the east side of the Mississippi River, the Americans who conquered much of the east side of the Mississippi River from the British, the Native Americans who were often (but not exclusively) allied with the British and were involved in almost every military action in the west, and both free and enslaved Blacks who participated in several conflicts (sometimes voluntarily and often involuntarily). Stephen L. Kling, Jr, co-author of The Battle of St. Louis, the Attack on Cahokia, and the American Revolution in the West and editor of the two-volume Great Northern War Compendium has brought together a diverse group of scholars and experts for a book covering the war in the west enriched with maps and artwork that will be useful and engaging to a wide audience of history lovers, military enthusiasts, students, teachers and scholars.

 

 

Book Purchase: https://www.amazon.com/dp/099645571X

 

About the Author: Stephen L Kling, Jr.

Steve Kling is a practicing attorney who has a MS in finance and a JD from St. Louis University. He has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for over 2 decades and has published many articles in his areas of expertise. Kling is also an active military history researcher with an avid and long-standing interest in the Great Northern War. In 2015, with 44 other authors and experts from Europe, he published the two-volume Great Northern War Compendium.

For the past decade, Kling’s historical interests have primarily turned toward the American Revolution in the West. In 2017, using years of research, Kling published The Battle of St. Louis, the Attack on Cahokia and the American Revolution in the West which he co-authored with Kristine Sjostrom from Seville, Spain providing groundbreaking coverage of the Spanish efforts in the Upper Louisiana Territory.  HEC Media made a historical documentary on the book which won the St. Louis Filmmakers award and a Mid-American Emmy for best historical documentary.

 Cavalry in the Wilderness was released in 2021 about the use of cavalry by the Americans, British and Spanish on the frontiers in the colonial period. In 2022, The American Revolutionary War in the West, a book he co-authored with several other authors from the US and Spain, was released in connection with an extensive museum exhibit based on the book. Besides revisiting the Battle of St. Louis, Kling, aided by Sjostrom, wrote an extensive chapter on Gálvez’s Mississippi River campaign using mostly new source material. In the same year, Kling published a series of shorter books in connection with the museum exhibit opening, including a biography of James Colbert during the American Revolutionary War using Spanish and British sources, entitled James Colbert and His Chickasaw Legacy.

In late 2025/early 2026 Kling and Sjostrom will release a full length book on Gálvez’s Mississippi campaign written almost exclusively from Spanish, British and German (Waldeck) sources greatly expanding on the extremely limited historical analysis of this important event.

Prior to forming his own company, Mr. Kling was engaged to do development work and consulting for other historical game companies. He has also designed games for museums in connection with special exhibits. His games designs are meant to be low to moderate complexity with lots of historical theming and playable in 90 minutes or less.  The intent is to allow players to explore and learn about tactics, problem solving and history. Most games provide both players with equal chances of winning. The games always contain a further reading section to hopefully stimulate interest in the underlying history.