Figure 1.-- |
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The American colonists won the Revolutionary War by the slimmest of margins against the most powerful country in the world. The War began with the British effort from Boston to seize military supplies at Lexington and Concord (1775). It was there the shot heard round the world was fired. Cannon seized by backwoods Patriots from Fort Ticondaroga bottled the British up in Boston. King George III orders a massive new army dispatched to quickly subdue the Colonists. The untrained American militias were unable to resist the British regulars who quickly smash Washington's Army on Long Island and occupy New York and Philadelphia (1776). Few armies were as close to defeat and survived as George Washington's Continentals in the Winter of 1776. Throughout the War, it was the British who largely controlled the conduct of the fighting, taking advantage of the mobility afforded by the Royal Navy and command of the sea. The British launched most of the offensives and the Colonists were left to defend as best they could. The most significant American victory was at Saratoga (1777) in the American hinterland where
the Royal Navy could not offer support and the population most supportive of the Patriot cause. The British defeat was instrumental in finally bringing the French into the War--acritical development. The overwhelming naval and military superiority of the British allowed the British to control the conduct of the War and made it virtually impossible for the Patriots to force the British to surrender--as long as they could fall back on a port for reinforcement and resupply. The one successful American offensive was the siege of Yorktown (1881) in Virginia, a siege made possible by the French defeat of a British naval squadron in the Battle of the Cape--a rare French naval victory.
The American colonists won the Revolutionary War by the slimmest of margins against the most powerful country in the world. The British seemed to have all the advantages. The had a competently led, superbly trained, and well armed professional army supported by the world's preinent navy. The colonists had no army and in fact a fear of creating a standing army. The colonists had a poorly trained, inexpeienced, and poorly armed collection of militia. Their commander George Washington had only limited military experience yet it was Washington that would prove to be the pivotal leader in the War as he was in the founding of the American republic after the War.
The War began with the British effort from Boston to seize military supplies at Lexington and Concord (1775). It was there the shot heard round the world was fired. The militia then managed to bottle the British up in Boston. The Continental Congress chose George Washington to take command of the militia force gathering around Boston. In part this was the work of John Adams who saw the need to draw Virginia into the conflict. Washington was agast at what he saw when he reached the militia fotces outdide of Boston. They were disorganized and undisciplined. John Knox seized Fort Ticondaroga to the north and managed to transport the cannon to Washington. The cannon made the British position in Boston untenable and they were eventually forced to withdraw.
King George III orders a massive new army dispatched to quickly subdue the Colonists. The British offensive was launched to seize the ket city of New York (Summer 1776). The British ammassed a massive army of 33,000 British and German professional soldiers supported by 70 modern warships. The American militiamen under Washington were a much smaller force, untrained and poorly armed. The result was predictable. The militiamen were unable to resist the British regulars led by General Howe who quickly smashed Washington's Army on Long Island (August). Washington managed to extradite his Army to the mainland and suffered another defeat at White Plains (October). Washington then abandoned New York and fell back, crossing the Hudson to New Jersey (November). The British followed, seizing Forts Washington and Lee and then proceeded to persue Washington south through New Jersey. As the British moved south, many colonists in New Jersey signed loyalty oaths to the Crown. As they moved south, the British seized Philadelphia, seen at the time as a kind of capital as the Continebntal Congress met there. With New York and Philadelphia in British hands and Washington's army desimated, it look to many as if the British had destroyed the Revolution. Washington at this point was in despair. [Fischer] Few armies were as close to defeat and survived as George Washington's Continentals in the Winter of 1776.
The Battle of Trenton was the pivotal battle of the War and has to be seen as one of the principal battles in American history. (We would include New Orleans (1815), Antitem (1862), Meuse-Argon (1918), and D-Day (1944) on that list.) Washington managed to get his Army accross the Deleware River just hours ahead of he persuing British. He had lost New York, Philadelphia was being abandoned and all of New Jersey. Most of his Army had been killed, wounded, captured by the British or deserted. The enlistments of much of his Army was due to expre. Rivals criticized his leadership, especially Gates. Some argue that the Conyinental cause was almost lost. This is probably overly bleak. Howe with his army of 34,000 after a year of campaigning had only managed to seize New York City and New Jersey. The Continentals controlled all the other colonies. Hoew's problem was the more of the Colonies he conquered, the more of his army he would have to disipate for garison duty. Howe's problem was that in contrast to Europe where large armies fought in limited geographic areas, in the Colonies small armies fought over an enormous land area. After Washington succeeded in crossing the Deleware, some new recruits arrived. Tom Paine's "The American Crisis" helped ralley sypport. While the militia could not stand in a conventional engagement with the British professionals, militia men in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were causing considerable problems to the British Army, forcing them to garisson towns and protect supply lines. This had weakened Howe's army as he moved south through New Jersey persuing Washington's retreating Army. Assuming that Washington's Army was essentially destroyed, the Hessians in Trenton enjoyed their Christmas dinner and took almost no defensive precautions. That night Washington recrossed the Deleware and scored a stunning success against some of the most disciplined troops in Howe's army, a unit of Hessians.
Following his victory at Trenton, Washington retired to his winter quarters at Morristown. That Winter the militias attacked small groups of British soldiers attempting to obtain fodder for their horses and other supplies. Here in small unit ebgagements on their home ground, the militiamen were a match for the British. Lossess forced Howe to concentrate ytheir forces. This mean that they had to abandon many loyalist supporters. Howe by the Spring had lost more than half of his command and found himself on the defensive. [Fischer] Back in London doubt began to appear about the War.
Washington saw clearly from the defeats of 1776 that the British could not be defeated with out a professional army. Militia men had their farms and families to support. They were effective in short localized campaigns near home, but could not be relied upon for sustained campaigns. Nor did they have the training and discipline to stand up to the Nritish professionals. Washington demanded whay he referred to as a "respectable" army. Although there was considerable ressistance, Washington convinced Congress to allow him to recruit a professional, the Continental Army. They were offered higher pay than the militia and they were subjected to more severe military discipline. The recruits for Washington's Continentals came disportinately from the poor. [Fischer]
Benedict Army led an American army north to Canada. His bravery and endence was phenomenal.
The major Revolutionary battles were fought east of the Appalachins. There were, however, important engagements in the unsettled land west of the Appalachins. Many but not all of the Native Americas sided with the English. Just before the War, Daniel Boone led settlers into Kentucky. Settlers there fought off Native Americans supported by the British who besieged Boonesville. While the western camaigns were relatively limited in terms of number of combatants or influence on the outcome of the War, they were of emense significance in the peace negotiations. The success of the Amerians enabled them to claim a huge swath of unsettled land west to the Mississippi.
The British strategy was to split the colonies in two. An Army under Johnny Burgoyne was to drive south down from Canada while Howe would move up the Hudson. A third smaller force with Indian allies was to move east along the Mohawk. The three prongs were to meet at Albany, effectiveky spliting the Colonies. British commander Barry St. Leger and Native americans moving east beseiged Fort Stanwix, but withdrew to Canada when Benedict Arnold releaved the fort. The loyalty of the Native americans had been weakened because they were unwilling to participate in the set peace battles preferred by the British. Burgoyne seized Fort Ticondraga, but suffered significan casualties as he moved south, especially at Benington. Horatio Gates' army defending Albany stopped him near Saratoga Springs. There he consolidated his forces, assuming that Howe would move north and releave him. Inexplically, Howe never came. Burgoyne's supplies running low, he attempted to break out at Freeman's Farm and Bemis Heights. Again Benedit Arnold played a key role in the fighting. Burgoune was finally forced to surrender (October 17, 1777). Saratoga was the most significant American victory of the War at Saratoga (1777). The problem with the British strategy was it put a British Army in the American hinterland where the Royal Navy could not offer support and the population most supportive of the Patriot cause. The victory was achieved by the new Conitental Army and the militias. The surrender of a British army was almost unconceivable at the time. (The only other time this happened Corwallis' army at Yorktown (1781) and Percival's army at Singapore (1942).) The ramifications were enormous. The Americans not only defeated an entire British army, but the American victory and Franklin's brilliant diplomacy convinced the French to enter the War.
Benjamin Franklin's diplomacy layed the grund work for a French alliance. The French were still bitter about their defeat in the French and Indian War and loss of Canada. They were sympathetic to the American cause, but doubted America had any chance of defeating the British. French diplomats were willing to wage another costly war with the British if it would mean another defeat. The American victory at Saratoga was instrumental in finally bringing the French into the War--a critical development.
The British replaced Howe with Sir Henry Clinton (Spring 1778). The entry of the Frencgh into the War and the loss of an entire field army at Saratoga changed the strastegic ballance.
Clinton received reports of a French fleet and decided to withdraw from Philadelphia to a more defensible position around New York city. Clinto began the evacuation (June 18). He believed the French fleet would seize control of the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River. At the time , rivers were more effective communication and supply lines than roads. Clinton gave fearful loyalists the opportunity to leave by ships that sailed down the Deleware. Most of the British Army began to move northeast toward New York on foot. Soon a long line of British soldiers and supply waggons snaked through New Jersey in a column stretching out 10 miles. This presented an opportunity for Washington to test his Continentals. His intention was to attack the British rear guard and gain a small victory, primarily for public opinion. Charles Lee who led the attack soon found himself engaging the main British force. Accounts vary. Washington displeased with Lee's conduct seized command. The resultng battle was fought on an extrodnarily hot day. Casualties were high. The legend of Molly Pitcher emerged from the battle. The two armies fought the battle to a standstill. This was, however, a huge victory for Washington. It proved that the Continental Army now could fight a set piece battle and face the British regulars. Historians debate the results of the battle. The lesson was not, however, loss on Clinton. Monmouth Court House was the last major battle fought by the British army in the north. The British instead conceived of a southern strategy to take advantage of what they preceived of greater loyalist sympathies.
Checked in the North, the British decided on a southern campaign where they believed they would find more local support. The British seized Savanah (1778). The southern strategy was put into operation with an assault on Charles Town. After a siege the British took the city. At first the British were sucessful, taking control of much of South Carolina. The British defeated the Colonist's Southern Army Horatio Gates. Gradually a bruising guerilla campaign organized by Francis Marion weakened the British. A disastrous engaement at Cownpens destroyed an entire Scottish regiment commanded
The overwhelming naval and military superiority of the British allowed the British to control the conduct of the War and made it virtually impossible for the Patriots to force the British to surrender--as long as they could fall back on a port for reinforcement and resupply. The one successful American offensive was the siege of Yorktown (1881) in Virginia, a siege made possible by the French defeat of a British naval squadron in the Battle of the Cape--a rare French naval victory. Washington left a small force to decoy Howe and rushed the Coninental Army south. Cut off by the French fleet, Cornwallis' army was then defeated in a classic siege srategy by Washington's Continentals and the French Army. The French provided the technical advise in siefe warfare. The last redoubt defending the British position was taken by a force commanded by Alexander Hamilton. The British were forced to surrender. A lone drummer boy and a British officee with a white flag appeared at the British lines. The British had lost another army which meant the end of the war, although a peace treaty was not signed until 2 years later (1783).
Bailyn, Bernard. To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders (Knopf: 2002), 185p.
Caridine
Fischer, David Hackett. Washington's Crossing (Oxford University Press, 2004), 564p.
Green, James A. William Henry Harrison: His Life and Times (Garrett and Massie: Richmond, Virginia, 1941), 536p.
Thomas, Evan. John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy (Simon & Schuster, 2003), 383p.
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