Military Warfare During The Revolutionary War Essay

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War in the United States, was the prosperous military revolt against Great Britain of Thirteen American Colonies which joined together as the United States of America in July 1776. Originally constrained to fighting in those colonies, after 1778 it additionally became a world war between Britain and France, Netherlands, Spain, and Mysore.

Most people did not expect the colonists with their under trained militia to last long against the British superpower. The colonists did just that. In the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of 1200 troops under orders from Artemas Ward, and led by William Prescott was supposed to entrench themselves on the rise on Bunker Hill, but instead misunderstood the instructions and went to Breed’s Hill by mistake. The next morning, the British were shocked to see Americans threatening them. In the 18th century, British military custom urged that the British soldiers attack the American soldiers, even though the Americans were in a superior position. Major General William Howe, leader of the British forces could easily have surrounded the Americans with his ships, but chose to march his troops up the hill; to the Americans. Howe might have believed that the Americans would retreat in the face of a smashing, head-on attack. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how a person looks at it, William Howe was wrong. The Americans stood their ground, dug in their heels, and stood firm. In the first wave, the Americans waited until they were within forty meters, then opened fire. The British force retreated with their wounded for a second wave. The British rushed up yet again. Again they retreated, suffering a great number of casualties. By the time the

As the war began, it seemed that the British possessed a greater advantage over the unprepared American rebels. The population odds alone were about three British to every one American rebel with around 7.5 million British soldiers against around 2.5 million American colonists. When it came to wealth and military power, the British were in favor. In addition to having a much greater amount of soldiers, the British soldiers were professional trained when compared to the minute amount of poorly trained American militia. While numerous and highly trained, the British also had the necessary money to equip their soldiers with the necessary ammunition, clothes, training, etc. The American soldiers, on the other hand, suffered from lack of supplies, lack of money, no leadership, and the difficult weather conditions. Recruiting, supplying, training, equipping, and paying soldiers were monumental challenges, especially for a nation that was barely forming its first governments. Due to the lack of money, there was a lack of supplies for the soldiers who rarely received their pay

A sneaky, stealthy war tactic called Guerilla Warfare won the American Revolutionary War for the Patriots. Guerrilla warfare is a tactic that was practiced a lot in the revolutionary war and was without a doubt one of the few reasons the Patriots defeated the British. Guerrilla warfare helped the colonists win the Revolutionary war. This tactic was used successfully used in the Battle of Trenton, the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and was widely practiced by Francis Marion in the south.

This could possibly explain why the British were sure they would succeed in the Revolutionary War, as they clearly did not think much of the American military, or lack thereof.

The British enrolled about fifty thousand American Loyalists and enlisted the services of many Indians, who though unreliable, who fair-weather fighters, inflamed long stretches of the frontier”(135). This extra help from colonists, Loyalist, hessians, and the Indians only add to the army creating a bigger advantage towards the colonists. Even though they did not win it can said that the British seemed to have a bigger lead on the colonists. Colonists presented themselves as weak and disorganized, where one would presume that they wouldn’t win at all, “Yet the American rebels were badly organized for war. From the earliest days, they had been almost fatally lacking in unity, and a new nation lurched forward uncertainly like an uncoordinated centipede”(136). Organization is important for the colonists because they are competing against a well-developed and trained army.

The colonists, even though they were the underdogs won the war for america. They used guerilla tactics unlike the british to kill more

The British were over confident and made poor decisions, whereas George Washington carefully thought out his tactics. The colonists used Guerilla Warfare, and militia were quick and often popped out from behind trees to attack. Using this type of warfare was very beneficial to the Colonists, as it did not give the British enough time to shoot the colonists before they were killed. Guerrilla Warfare was known to “weaken the enemy” (McDougal,210). By focusing on winning small battles, in their own land, the colonists were able to keep enough supplies, food and men to eventually win the war. In the battle of Yorktown, “British general Cornwallis set up his base, located on a peninsula” (McDougal, 209), which was a bad move on their part. Washington saw the opportunity and made the smart decision to block the one land entrance, so that the British could no longer get any supplies that they needed. Washington’s plans along with the Colonists motivation were the were the reason they won the

In contrast to the non-violent Indian revolution the American Revolution was a violent struggle for independence from Britain. The British victory in the French and Indian War left Britain’s resources stretched thin due to the fact that its land holding had increased in size. The war was also expensive and drained the British coffers. In order to remedy this problem American colonist were forced to

The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence, started from 1775 and ended in 1783. This turning event in history was caused by Great Britain governing the 13 colonies and taxing goods without consent. After the French and Indian War, King George the 3rd needed to pay off war debt. His solution was to tax the colonies, which made them agitated and revolt against Great Britain and their soldiers called the redcoats. There were some people who wanted to stay loyal to Britain and were called Loyalists. On the other hand, colonists who fought for their freedom and supported independence from the British were called Patriots. The colonists and British both believed that the war would be over quickly.Unfortunantly, the colonists didn’t have an experienced and well-trained army unlike the British. Thanks to the France, Spain, and Netherlands, who affiliated with the American patriots the colonists were able to win the war against Britain. Gaining allies was a prominent event because the American colonies needed support from other countries in order

The American Revolutionary War took place from 1775 to 1783. The war made the thirteen colonies of the United States of America independent from Great Britain. One of the first major battles of the American Revolution was The Battle of Long Island. The Battle of Long Island was the first battle that took place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776. The battle took place in August 1776 and proved to both sides that the upcoming war would be long and arduous, not easily won by either side. The British Army was victorious in this battle and forced the Continental Army to retreat leaving the entire state of New York under British control. This paper will provide insight and valuable information into the reason behind the American Revolution, and The Battle of Long Island, specifically details concerning the Continental and British Armies, strategies employed during the battle, and an alternate outcome through addressing failures in the American strategy. An alternate outcome to the battle would have a significant impact on the American Revolutionary War.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors that contributed to the failure in the British Southern Campaign in the American Revolutionary war. This paper will examine British and American Southern Loyalist defeat in the Battle of Kings Mountain, and discuss assumptions the British made, including loyalists support, logistics, long rifle, and terrain advantage. It is important to study past military actions to identify mistakes and apply lessons learned to current U.S. military operations.

A motivating force behind the revolution was the American embrace of a political ideology called "republicanism", which was dominant in the colonies by 1775. The "country party" in Britain, whose critique of British government emphasized that corruption was to be feared, influenced American politicians. The commitment of most Americans to republican values and to their rights, helped bring about the American Revolution, as Britain was increasingly seen as hopelessly corrupt and hostile to American interests; it seemed to threaten to the established liberties that Americans enjoyed. The greatest threat to liberty was depicted as corruption. The colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited aristocracy, which they condemned.

The Revolutionary War started on April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord. America was very much unprepared with no central government or army. The congress stepped up as the government and began to organize an army. The Revolutionary War did not end until September 3, 1783 with the signing of the final peace treaty between America and Great Britain. The victory in the Revolution War led to the birth of a new independent nation.

During the beginning of Colonial America, there were many people who migrated from Europe to settle the new founded American Continent. They traveled from Europe to escape the laws, taxes, demands, and nobility brought upon them at the hands of King George III and Parliament. They wanted to be free from the tyranny of King George III. When the colonist arrived on the American Continent they felt freedoms that they had never before felt. After, feeling the freedom of being on this newly found continent King George once again started putting his demands on the Colonist. Eventually, the colonist saw their rights being taken away by the acts that were passed, the taxes that were implemented, and the Proclamation of 1763. The Tyranny of King