The American Revolutionary War

“Revolution” seems a bit of a misnomer: we had to fight a war for independence and then set up our own form of government after that.  War is a better word.  This is an early post, with July 4 coming up close at hand.

The whole thing began in New England in April 1775 with the battles in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, followed by the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.  Rebel militia, if not defeating British Redcoat regulars, at least inflicted punishing losses.  Over the winter of 1775 the sides were stalemated, until March 1776 when the rebels brought up cannon, forcing the British to evacuate Boston.

Our own invasion of Canada – a campaign lasting from September 1775 to June 1776 – failed.  Blame Canada.

The British, remarkably enough, did not have conscription or a draft (except for limited press-ganging for the Royal Navy).  They relied on volunteers and when those fell short, German mercenaries, most of which were from Hesse, thus “Hessian”.   They also expected Loyalists (Americans loyal to the King) to help in bigger numbers, but consistently overestimated that help.  A substantial number of Americans actually stayed neutral, and Loyalists, in addition to being less numerous than expected, were also of little assistance unless substantial British regulars were nearby to protect their families back at home from harassment by rebel sympathizers.  That is, the Brits could only recruit Loyalist troops from areas under their control (e.g. New York and other coastal areas). 

NY & NJ.  The next phase took place mostly in New York and New Jersey.  In addition to Newport, Rhode Island, the British took Staten Island without a fight.  They swept Long Island until Brooklyn, at which point rebel resistance stiffened.  However, for some reason General Howe refused to finish off the rebels in Brooklyn – like Hitler’s mysterious halt at Dunkirk – and as at Dunkirk, the good guys managed to slip away to safety, in this case Manhattan.  The Brits chased Washington out of Manhattan, into New Jersey, where Washington managed to keep his army alive, conducting a fighting retreat, similar to Rommel in North Africa from October 1942 to May 1943.  At various points Howe had the opportunity to crush Washington’s army, but held off on doing so, even to Washington’s surprise. 

In December 1776 Washington crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania, but came back later that month to surprise the Hessians at Trenton, and stayed for the winter at Morristown, New Jersey.

1777 opened with the Brits taking two separate – and uncoordinated – campaigns.  Down south, Howe took Philadelphia – without a fight – but did not coordinate with Burgoyne coming down from Canada to attack Albany.  Without Howe’s help, Burgoyne was defeated near Albany in September and October, a climactic battle at Saratoga.  This put an end to Burgoyne’s campaign and essentially defeated half of the British army in America.  That left it up to the other half to get things done.

For the winter of 1777, Washington camped at Valley Forge, just outside Philadelphia.  In addition to nurturing his battered army, Washington got Baron von Steuben to give it a crash course in military training:  meaning the US Army which emerged from Valley Forge in 1778 was a disciplined, trained regular army for once, although Washington never had enough regulars to avoid relying on militias and guerillas for the rest of the war.

In 1778, the French, Spanish, and Dutch entered the war.  The French were willing to do so openly, while the Spanish and Dutch preferred to keep their assistance “under the radar”.   The timid and mostly ineffective General Howe was replaced in May 1778 with General Clinton, who abandoned Philadelphia to defend NYC.  Washington then marched back up to White Plains, but the British held on to Staten Island, Manhattan, and Long Island for the remainder of the war.

The British were also hampered in their war efforts in America by the need to defend their overseas possessions elsewhere, in the West Indies and in India.  A US attack on Newport in August 1778 failed, but by October 1779 the British had abandoned Newport anyway.  Over the winter of 1779 Washington’s army was again weakened, but British attempts to wipe it out were defeated by NJ militias.  Benedict Arnold defected in September 1780, but his last major act of any significance for the British was a failed attack on New London, CT in September 1781.

Their campaigns in PA, NJ, NY and MA failing, the Brits then attempted to gain some success down further south.  While they managed to take Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC, attempts further inland consistently failed.   Horatio Gates took over US forces, later to be replaced by Nathaniel Greene; Cornwallis commanded the British forces in this campaign.  He won several battles, but at costs which severely depleted his armies and forced him to retreat back to Wilmington, NC.   Thus by late 1780, only the coastal regions were securely in British control.

In early 1781 Cornwallis went up to Yorktown and established a base there, joined up by Arnold who had been raiding Virginia and received reinforcements from New York.  Washington sent Lafayette and Wayne down to oppose him.  The French sent a huge fleet to the Chesapeake – far larger than the British imagined or expected, effectively blockading Cornwallis from the sea.  With Washington facing him on land and the French blocking him from the sea, Cornwallis was trapped.  By October 19, 1781, he was forced to surrender.  In terms of active hostilities on land, the war ended at this point.

North’s Tory government in the UK resigned in March 1782, and the Whigs took over.  Initial peace treaties were signed in November 1782, with the Treaty of Paris in September 1783 finally ending the war and establishing American independence once and for all. 

Washington’s role is hard to overestimate.  He had to not merely command troops in battle, but also keep his army intact during retreats AND deal with a rudimentary government which had little power to assist him in anything.  America’s Fifth Column, its diplomatic efforts – e.g. Benjamin Franklin – also deserve immense credit.  Without help from Von Steuben in reforming the US Army, and direct (and indirect) help from the French, Spanish, and Dutch in keeping the Brits busy elsewhere and directly opposing them at Yorktown, the British may have been able to defeat the Americans.  Some credit also goes to Howe for being so timid in attacking US forces, basically the McClellan of this war. 

As an aside, check out A Transatlantic Tunnel! Hurrah!, an alternate history story by Harry Harrison (best known for The Stainless Steel Rat and Deathworld) in which the British won the Revolutionary War, and a descendent of Washington helps design – guess what – a transatlantic tunnel from the UK to America, very much in a steampunk vein.  Enjoy.