Why Britain Lost the Revolutionary War
False Assumptions, Blunders, and Command Structures Caused Defeat
The failures of Great Britain during the American Revolution are many, including blunders, lack of coordination between commands, the inability and unwillingness of the navy to fully support the army, and mistrust and jealousy between top commanders. Additionally, the British frequently failed to adapt to colonial warfare and entered the conflict with the erroneous perception that the rebels constituted an ignorant provincial force easily swept away by highly trained British regulars.
Impressions of Colonial Militia from the French and Indian War
British officers serving in North America during the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) returned to England with a low regard for colonial militia. The colonials were viewed as undependable, prone to mass desertion, and unruly. Such impressions tended to minimize the colonial threat when hostilities finally broke out in Boston in 1775.
There was some truth to this observation, a fact George Washington was forced to confront in the early years of the war. Not until a force of “Continentals” was trained by foreign military experts like the Baron von Steuben at Valley Forge did Washington possess a force that could meet British Regulars on an equal basis.
Even at the very end of the war, it was these Continentals that made a significant difference, such as at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 1781 when the colonial third line (comprised of Continentals) inflicted heavy casualties on the army of Lord Cornwallis.
Lack of Coordination
The first significant colonial victory, often called the “turning point” of the war, took place at Saratoga in 1777. Colonial forces under General Horatio Gates and General Benedict Arnold (whose actions, though against orders, won the battle) defeated a British army commanded by General John Burgoyne.
Burgoyne had been left to flounder, never receiving the assistance of General St. Leger or General William Howe. The ill-conceived plan to link the three armies at Albany failed as Howe, who never bothered to inform Burgoyne, consolidated his position in Philadelphia.
Yorktown, the final major battle of the war, can also be deemed a British defeat by virtue of utter lack of command coordination. Lord Cornwallis received conflicting orders from the new overall commander in America, Sir Henry Clinton. Clinton, jealous of his one-time friend Cornwallis, waited too long to send much needed naval support.
A Different Kind of Warfare
Although key battles were won by colonial forces because of military discipline and the ability to face British forces on an equal basis (continental warfare), guerrilla warfare, particularly in the Southern campaign, helped to substantially weaken British forces. This kind of resistance can be traced back to Lexington and Concord when British troops were shot by Minutemen from behind trees as they limped back into Boston.
Role of the Atlantic Ocean
British grand strategy was controlled by the military elites in London. Often unaware of important theater changes, stalwarts held area commanders to goals that, in any practical sense, were tied to misguided presuppositions. Although commanders were given wide latitude of movement in the colonies, they were always subject to the overall strategies devised in England.
Because of the length of time it took for communications, field conditions frequently changed. Some commanders, like Lord Cornwallis, took matters into their own hands and followed strategies which they felt best suited immediate aims.
The British Could Have Won
As the battle of Yorktown drew to a close, Sir Henry Clinton still had 11,000 men under his command in New York. Throughout the war, the British had hard currency to pay for food supplies whether from Pennsylvania farmers or New Englanders selling beef and agricultural commodities to the British through Canada. It was war weariness and anti-war rhetoric in Parliament that ensured the birth of a new, independent nation.
Sources:
- Christopher Hibbert, Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes (New York: Avon Books, 1990)
- Page Smith, A New Age Now Begins: A People’s History of the American Revolution Volume One (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976)
- The American Revolution: Writings from the War of Independence, John Rhodehamel, Editor (New York: The Library of America, 2001)
- Barbara Tuchman, The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution (New York: Ballantine Books, 1988)
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