Another mistake they made, was about the geography. The British were aliens in strange land. First of all 3,000 thousand miles lay between the Americans and Britain so sending resources was a hassle. A lot of time passed between getting more supplies from homeland, even though they may need those supplies immediately. Sometimes the ships carrying the supplies could crash and sink at sea. Because of the long travel time and also the crashing and sinking of ships, about eleven percent of the troops sent to America to fight, had died. The American wilderness was unfamiliar to the British troops. “…it was an article of faith on the part of many British military man that certain ruin lay in fighting an enemy on any large scale in that savage wilderness.” Duke of Richmond warned that they should “consult their geographies…” The British lived in fear and hunger while the Americans were able to live off the land and use it to their advantage. The Americans who were fighting could hide in towns, and pretend to be just regular townspeople and so it was hard for the British to distinguish between Loyalists and Patriots. The Americans could also use the geography to use their guerrilla tactics. One more advantage for the Americans and one more disadvantage for the British (Ketchum, 1971).
One more mistake that the British made were their failed strategies. One major failed strategy was when the British assigned Howe as a leader. Howe, from the beginning was a bad choice, thinking that he could “awe them [Americans] into submission (Brinkley,1995).” He had a very bad judgment on things which shows in his leadership in America. Firstly he abandoned the most important plan, that he himself put into action. He and Burgoyne were supposed to meet at Albany, Howe’s force coming from the south, and Burgoyne’s troops coming from the north (Canada). Howe abandoned this plan, that could’ve worked, and left Burgoyne alone to carry attack alone. Burgoyne faced many defeats, shortage material, and finally surrendered to Gates at the Battle of Saratoga. This victory was an important one for the Americans, which led to the alliance with France. Howe had also assaulted Philadelphia, on October 4 in hopes of discouraging Patriots, rallying loyalists, and winning the whole war. This he did instead of attacking the forces of Washington that were weak and vulnerable in the winter in Valley Forge. Also in the south, where he decided to fight, Howe refrained from moving in for final attack on the weakened Continental Army. “The British failure to win during this period, a period in which they had overwhelming advantages,” had resulted the British defeat.(Brinkley,1995) Another failed strategy of the British was when they decided to lean most of their hope on the Loyalists. Since the strongest Loyalist sentiment was in the south, the war effort of the British shifted to the south. British forces spent three years(from 1778 to 1781) moving to the South. The effort ended in failure and frustration. British badly overestimated the extent of Loyalist sentiment. There were more Patriots than Loyalists. The Loyalists remaining refused to help the British because they feared violent counter attack (on them) by Patriots. (Brinkley,1995) Innes said “… more probable you may find men to recruit your army in America” thinking that they could replace British regulars with Loyalists for awhile. The people actually thought that the Loyalists actually took up half or more of the population in America. Britain went wrong in thinking that loyalist strength would be an important factor. Especially as the war went on, as opinions hardened, and as the possibility increased that the new government in America might actually survive, it was a very difficult matter to retain one’s loyalty to the King. Also it proved almost impossible for the British command to satisfy the loyalists, who were bitterly angry over the persecution and physical violence and robbery they had to endure and who charged constantly that the British generals were too lax in their treatment of rebels. Not only that, many American soldiers could hide in towns, disguised as townspeople and so it was hard for British to distinguish them.(Ketchum, 1971) These were the reasons that helped bring the downfall of Britain in the American Revolution.
Finally this was ended with the defeat of Cornwallis’s army on October 17, 1781 in Yorktown, Pennsylvania (Ketchum, 1971). There were three major reasons for the defeat of the British during the American Revolution: Britain was mistaken when they already decided the winner, had failed to see the truth of the geography, and had several failed strategies. These three things brought upon the inevitable failure of the British. America got it’s independence and England received its just rewards after a long time of suffering the Americans.
Reference:
Brinkley, A. (1995). American History: A Survey (9th ed.). United States of America: McGraw Hill, Inc.
Ketchum, R. M. (1971, June). England’s Vietnam: The American Revolution. American Heritage, 22 (4), 7-11 and 81-83.