| |
| author |
Vincent Peter Costa
| | title |
"Here We Have a Special Way of Waging War" British Military Adaptions to War in North America, 1775-1783
| | abstract |
The historiography of the American War for Independence (1775-1783) has
traditionally laid much of the blame for the British loss of North America on the military.
The typical narrative states that British soldiers were trained in a European fashion,
emphasizing compact formations and rigid unthinking discipline. When faced with the
unique conditions of North American warfare, so the narrative goes, such a manner of
fighting was wholly unsuitable. A thorough reexamination of the primary source material
reveals this narrative to be a complete misconception. During the Revolution, British
commanders, learning hard lessons from the early engagements centered around Boston,
actively sought to retrain their troops to be an effective fighting force in the colonies.
They emphasized a doctrine of open formations, maneuverability, shock, and the
independence of junior officers. Innovations in artillery design likewise added extra
mobile firepower to their regularly outnumbered formations. All of these adaptions were
in response to the unique North American conditions they found themselves placed in.
These included manpower and supply shortages, a lack of cavalry, no clear political
center of the rebel regime, political control of the interior by the rebels, and a need to
bring out loyalist support. It is clear that the British were able to tactically adapt to, but
were at a loss for any overarching strategy outside of attempting to rally loyalist support.
By 1780, Britain found itself fighting in a global war for survival in every part of their
empire. Threatened with a greater loss than just their thirteen North American colonies,
the global nature of the conflict, rather than tactical ineptitude, accounts for the greater
reason the British were not able to successfully subdue the Rebel regime.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2020)
|
| advisor |
Dr. Wyatt Evans
|
| full text | VPCosta.pdf |
| |
