Posting for my friend;
Sir William Howe, conversing with his staff and being distracted by Mrs Loring. Can there be a better command stand for my British army?
I have always liked Sir William, he is my favorite British General from the American Revolution. It is hard to tell why he captured my attention. Possibly after reading Thomas Fleming's book "Now We are Enemies" about Bunker Hill. His description of Howe standing all alone after the second attack with his battle plan wreaked and his staff all shot down around him has always stayed with me.
His abilities as a tactician is often forgotten. His Light Infantry discipline and school of instruction was a first of its kind. He also built his army into a powerful fighting force. That he often pulled his punches and allowed the American army to escape to fight another day is often pointed out. Could this be because of his sympathetic feelings toward the American Colonists? One things I do know is after Bunker hill he was very careful of the lives of his men and seldom threw them away in pointless actions.
When one reads of his going away party, the "Mischianza" it is hard to imagine the officers of Wellingtons army throwing him a similar one.
Very little is known about Elizabeth Loring. Not even a painting of her exists. But her presence was noticed and her effect on Howe commented on. As a contemporary wrote of them:
Sir William he,
Snug as a flea,
Lay all this time a snoring,
Not dreamed of harm
As he lay warm,
In bed with Mrs. Loring.
link
paints brigs for the British fleet.
