The situation in 1776

Number of people in Britain vs colonies

Britain - 8 million

Colonies - 2.5 million, of these nearly 500,000 enslaved people

British support for war + allies

• Most British people supported the war

• Most Native Americans supported Britain

• Support of at least 500,000 American loyalists

• 1775-6 hired 18,000 soldiers from several German principalities, including Hesse

• More Hessians hired in 1777 - trained troops who could immediately be sent to America

Strength of British Army

50,000-strong regular army

Royal Navy strength

• Over 300 ships 1775-6

• Naval superiority → Britain could reinforce and supply its forces, move men along the American seaboard, and blockade and attack American ports

• Useful as 75% Americans lived 120km of the sea

Britain - first lord of the Admiralty

Lord Sandwich - embarked on a major shipbuilding programme, ensured that Britain maintained command of sea even when France and Spain joined war

Britain - colonial secretary

Lord George Germain (replaced Dartmouth Nov. 1775) coordinated British war effort to good effect

Britain - bases close to 13 colonies

Canada, Newfoundland, Florida, West Indian islands - could launch attacks

Manufacturing and financial strength Britain vs Colonies

Britain had much greater financial and manufacturing strength

American colonies - unity?

Remained for the most part 13 separate states, each guarding its own interest

American colonies - army

• Had to build army from scratch in 1775

• States often slow to furnish quota of troops - filling ranks of Continental army problem

• Many troops enlisted for only a short time

• Never exceeded 20,000 men

• Most of time barely 5000 men

American colonies - militias

Less impressive than most Americans had hoped - militiamen usually enrolled for only a few weeks and often went home before terms expired

American colonies - navy?

• No navy worthy of the name

• Eventually some 50 vessels commissioned into Continental navy

• No ships of the line (great wooden battleships)

• Posed no real threat to Britain

• Congress appointed no overall naval commander

American colonies - national government?

• Colonies lacked an effective national government

• The Articles of Confederation (adopted by the Continental Congress 1777) conferred only limited powers to central government

• Lacked means to wage war effectively

American colonies - economy

• Disrupted by war - demands of various armies plus the British blockade meant shortage of many goods - troops often short of firearms, munitions, provisions and suitable clothing. Subsequent morale problems

• Congress unable to levy taxes → could finance war only by printing and issuing paper money, states did same. Quantity of paper money increased, its value declined, and prices rose (inflation).

American colonies (patriots) - strengths

• Most Americans committed to the ‘glorious cause’ - morale

• Militia turned out in large numbers where the fighting took place - despite fact that Washington distrusted them, militiamen played vital role; also fighting force, both in battle and in skirmishes

• Over 100,000 Americans served in militias at some time

• Congress and states commissioned around 2000 privateers (privately owned vessels granted permission by a government to capture enemy ships) → heavy damage on British merchant shipping

Britain - how far from home?

• 4800 km

• Took 2-3 months for reinforcements and supplies to cross Atlantic, didn’t arrive in time for situations

Britain - terrain

• Huge, unfriendly territory

• Coordinating land and sea operations difficult

• Terrain and supply issues → hard for British forces to go more than 24km from a navigable river or sea

Britain - army issues (real strength)

• Under-strength in 1775

• Real strength more like 36,000 (paper strength of 50,000)

• 1/4 infantry 1775 men with less than a year’s service

Britain - Royal Navy issues

• Had been allowed to decay since 1763 - Lord North reluctant to provoke French by a full-scale naval mobilisation

• Not until October 1776 after reports that France was increasing its naval forces did Britain start putting navy on war footing

Britain - alienating Americans

• Hessian troops - established reputation for excessive greed, this convinced many neutral colonists to support patriots

• Same went for Native Americans supporting Britain

• Also due to British martial law, requisitioning of supplies and seizure of property to accommodate troops

Britain - Lord North

Not especially inspired or inspiring war leader

Britain strategy option - seaboard strategy

• Meant focus on control of ports and blockade coast

• Would minimise problems of operating and fighting inland in difficult terrain

• However, policy would betray loyalists + lose their support

• Failed New England 1775

• Pressure in Britain for speedy and decisive victory - this strategy would be drawn out

British strategy option - totally destroy Continental army

• Military success - resumption of British rule

• Must achieve reconciliation with Americans - restoration of royal control would not work if discontented population → large army would be needed for order if discontented

British strategy option - fight until Americans ready to agree to political solution

• Contented population if British rule

• Not revolution - lasting peace

• War of unlimited destruction

• Weren’t going to find a political solution

American strategy option - guerrilla warfare alone

• British not used to this style of warfare

• But perhaps not strong enough to defeat well organised + armed British

American strategy option - ‘war of posts’ - tactical engagements designed to wear down enemy

• Acknowledged superiority of British troops

• Meant sacrificing New York, Philadelphia, and wherever British marched

• Lower morale + encourage loyalists

American strategy what Washington went with - offensive strategy, defeat British in traditional battles

• Increased morale, contempt for British pretensions of superiority

• Inferior number + experience, but Washington hoped that courage and rightness of the cause would compensate for this

proportions of American population (according to modern historians)

2/5 active rebels

1/5 active loyalists

2/5 neutral

Loyalists - who were they?

• All ranks of society

• Many - strong links with Britain, especially recent immigrants

• Minority groups often who had little in common with majority patriot population, e.g. southern backcountry farmers (who resented dominance of tidewater elite), Anglicans in New England, and Germans and Dutch people in New York

Loyalists - location

• Uneven generally

• More loyalists in southern and middle colonies than in New England

• New York (and a few other areas) majority

Loyalists - Black Americans

• Many Black Americans supported Britain - promises of freedom

• However, British leaders aware that large-scale recruitment of enslaved people would jeopardise White support

Loyalists - problems

• Varied backgrounds and motivations - no coherent opposition to Patriots

• Only knew that they stood against independence and republican self-government

• Often motivated by local concerns → unable to organise themselves on national level

• Relied on British to provide them with leadership and protection - significant loyalist activity required the presence of British forces, and once departed were very weak

• Tens of thousands of loyalists throughout war imprisoned, driven from homes, deprived of land and property, and sometimes killed by patriots

Features of the war

• Not dynastic war (waged for strip of territory) - political ideals of new republic

• 1781 200,000 American males engaged in some kind of military service - 1 in 3 of military age (+ essentially civilians)

• Many of officers rose in ranks

• Guerrilla warfare - militia forces (how successful this was though is unclear)

• Rifle - twice range of musket, although most Americans armed with musket

• By 1778 Britain involved in a world war

• 1 in 7 British of military age participated