"How the Americans defeated the British in the..." Topic

… Revolutionary War

"‘Oh God! It is all over,' Lord Frederick North, the British Prime Minister, exclaimed when informed that General Lord Cornwallis had surrendered to General George Washington following the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781. North said this news was ‘as he would have taken a ball in his breast'.

How in the world, after eight and a half years of fighting, had a rag-tag army of colonial rebels in a fragile new nation of only 2.5 million people defeated the greatest military power on the planet at the time?…"

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Armand

a forensic analysis of the American victory
November 10, 2021

"…the greatest military power on the planet."

"… unconventional tactics of the Americans… the set-piece tactics of the British."

"… mercenaries… The Hessians were the most notorious, gaining a reputation for brutality."

avoid it and hide behind a tree

"Greatest military power on the planet at the time"? Absolute bollox.

Britain might have been the greatest naval power, but always neglected the army. Our army was always tiny.

Why is this idea so common?

Glup!…

Armand

How? by convincing the French & Spanish to fight for us. India, Gibraltar, Minorca and the Carribbean Islands were much more important to England than our measly colony.

Britain might have been the greatest naval power, but always neglected the army. Our army was always tiny.

Why is this idea so common?

A David v. Goliath story reads so much better. It is like how the period from June 1940 to June 1941 is portrayed as little Britain standing alone against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, when in reality it was the British Empire and Commonwealth.

"little Britain standing alone against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy"

The Luftwaffe were not bombing the Commonwealth nightly, the Kriegsmarine cutting off food and fuel supplies to Imperial possessions, while Nazi occupation forces ranged along the coast of Europe from the North Cape to the Pyrennees. America, despite Roosevelt's support, was politically aloof and Stalin still observing a "non aggression pact" with Hitler. The counter myth is that the threat of that period wasn't serious.

They won because Continental Army learned how to fight toe to toe with British regulars. The sniping behind trees is all weel and good but if your main army cant stand in line of battle you will lose.

And learning to fight in open order and taking 'to tree,' is no use if your generals are at odds and pulling in different directions, while the government six weeks away across an ocen is run by incompetents.

Britain might have been the greatest naval power, but always neglected the army. Our army was always tiny.

I dont know that the British army was tiny, but it was certainly spread out across the globe. It was supplemented with Hessian mercenaries and it would've been interesting if the Russians had sent some additional mercenaries. Additionally, early in the war, they had access to large numbers of Tory volunteers but turned most of them away.

In any case, the British army was larger than the American one.

British grand strategy was bad, it's true. They had some very gifted generals and some horrendous ones. Even Saratoga boy, who came up with an exquisitely over complex campaign scheme, might have pulled it all off if supported by his colleagues.

After Yorktown, I love wondering what further campaigns would've looked like.

Thanks.

Armand

I think everyone believes Britain had the best army because the British had won the Seven Years War. This made them a world power. Ergo, people think the British must of had the best army.

"because the British had won the Seven Years War."

Well, Britain eventually defeated the French in Canada. As was usual policy, Britain contributed limited land forces to the fighting on the continent.

And don't forget Clive in Bengal!

I wouldn't say Clive & co were representative of "the Greatest military power on the planet at the time."

Perhaps not, insofar as Clive was an officer in the HEIC army, but his army included the 39th Regiment of Foot and a detachment of Royal Artillerymen, so his expedition must have had at least tacit government approval. Attacking the French in India using HEIC troops was not unlike using privateers at sea. The conquest of Bengal greatly benefited the HEIC and hence Britain, and was certainly part of Britain's success in the colonial wars with France that formed part of the Seven Years War.

Indeed, but his force was hardly an expression of military might.

Only one real answer. The most foul and foreign French, not to mention the Spanish and the Dutch.