"5 Strangest Common Misconceptions" Topic

You were asked – TMP link

And in the final round, the results were:

14% of the vote: "Americans beat the British because they hid behind trees and rocks with their rifles"

11%: "People in the past were vastly more stupid and ignorant than people today"

9%: "hand grenades explode in a huge, greasy ball of flame"

8% (tie): "An entire generation of generals were universally incompetent from 1914 and 1918" AND "Napoleonic cannon balls explode on impact"

I'm going to suggest that if the Americans had never hidden behind rocks and trees (and their own defences made of same) they would have had a much harder time of it.

And there I was, thinking it was because they hid behind the French.

> And there I was, thinking it was because they hid behind the French.

Not safe to do, they surrender on you and then you have trouble. (another misconception that should have made the top of the list)

Last Hussar for the win

Some misconceptions come not from knowing what is wrong, but from not knowing "the rest of the story". In my country (Yes it is listed) we were taught that our independence was won at the Siege of Yorktown. Americans do not teach (and I suspect neither do the British) that our independence was made possible by a rare victory of a French fleet (under Admiral de Grasse) over the RN at the Battle of the Chesapeake.
So, yeah, thank you French.

The American Revolution is not taught in Britain at all. You have to want to know about it to find anything out.

"The American Revolution is not taught in Britain at all" not that different from here in the US. It is mentioned but I don't know about taught. :)