The Revolutionary War

1
The Revolutionary War

• Teaching American History, Lecture 8

2
Why did the British lose the war?

• Greatest imperial power in the world
• Powerful, experienced, well-trained, fully
  equipped army and navy
• Strong central government with winning record
  against major European rivals
• Fighting an untrained, poorly equipped,
  undisciplined, poorly funded colonial force
• Why did Britain lose?

3
American Disadvantages

• Confederation government
• Relatively weak and decentralized
• No power to tax
• Did not trust professional army, politicized it,
  undermined it
• Militia was poorly trained, undisciplined,
  unreliable, with spotty record against regulars
• Continental Army took time to train and equip,
  hampered by morale problems
• At least one-fifth of population opposed
  independence, perhaps half remained neutral

4
British Disadvantages

• Fighting on foreign soil
• Colonial territory too vast to effectively occupy
• Strategic and public relations problems
• Scorched earth strategy would hurt their image as
  a liberating force, alienating people
• But too much leniency would encourage and sustain
  resistance movement

5
Why the British Lost Ambivalence at New York,
1776

• Background
• Successful American siege at Boston forced Howe
  to withdraw and regroup
• Americans held off invasion at Charleston, SC,
  June 1776
• New British strategy invade down Hudson from
  Canada, up from New York, seal off New England,
  end rebellion in one campaign

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Why the British Lost Ambivalence at New York,
1776

• August 1776 British have 29,000 troops, 70
  ships, 13,000 sailors
• Washington routed at Long Island, narrowly
  escaped from Manhattan
• But Howe brothers failed to deal decisive blow,
  hoping for show of force and settlement instead
• Washington survived

7
Why the British Lost Trenton and Princeton,
1776-77

• Continental army on the run, demoralized,
  deserting field
• Washington turns tables, attacks Trenton on
  Christmas Eve, 1776, Princeton soon thereafter
• Strategically meaningless battles, but huge
  morale booster
• Keeps army in the field, can now take time to
  train

8
Why the British Lost The Tide Turns at Saratoga,
1777

• Britains bungled campaign
• Burgoynes plan
• Howes plan
• Arnolds victory at Fr. Stanwix and Saratoga
• Consequences
• Stalemate in the north
• The French alliance

9
Attrition in the South the Southern Campaign

• Stalemate in north leads British to adopt
  southern strategy
• Offer freedom to slaves who escape to British
  lines
• Invade coast, march into interior with conquering
  force, loyalist supporters will rise up and help
  occupy conquered territory
• Early victories in Georgia and South Carolina,
  but . . .
• Loyalist militia commits atrocities, sparks
  vicious inland civil war
• Guerilla resistance weakens occupying forces
• British suffer heavy losses at Cowpens, Kings
  Mountain
• Nathaniel Greenes Continental forces prove adapt
  at running away, wear Cornwallis down
• Cornwallis goes to Yorktown to resupply

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The Battle of Yorktown, October 1782

• A joint operation
• Washington moves troops south to lay siege to
  Yorktown
• French navy blockades harbor, prevents resupply
• Cornwallis surrenders after prolonged siege
  engineered by French generals
• Washingtons finest moment thanks to the French
• The Treaty of Paris (1783)

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Summary Why the British lost

• Despite superior military force
• Despite Americas divided population
• British lost because
• Ambivalence, arrogance, blunders
• Key American victories at Trenton and Saratoga
• The Americans bought time with defensive warfare
• They failed to win hearts and minds of the people
• They could not effectively occupy so much
  territory
• The French