At the signing of the Versailles treaty of 1783 the British formally accepted their defeat and recognized the independence of the thirteen United States of America. The indisputable triumph of the patriots in the American war of Independence is well documented, and popular impressions of the victory of the American David over the formidable British Goliath are widespread. But was the American success against Britain really so remarkable? Was the British army in fact so “formidable” at the end of the eighteenth century? As H.T Dickinson points out “numberless books have been written about how the war was won, but far fewer about how it was lost ” When considering the reasons why Britain lost the American War of Independence it is perhaps more important to consider not the strength of the Patriots, although this must of course be taken in to account, but the weaknesses of the British, allegedly one of the strongest military powers in the world. The British defeat was above all caused not by the force of the rebels but by their own limitations; ineffectual military and political leaders, weak military strategy, a failure to win popular support and polit

The British lacked clear leadership not only from their military generals in the colonies but from their political leaders at home. The American war came during the reign of George III, who is popularized in history for two reasons; for losing the American colonies and for suffering from porphyria, a maddening disease which disrupted his reign as early as 1765. The King’s strategic planner Lord George Germain was by his nature quarrelsome and alienated many British commanders and members of the cabinet, preventing coordination between departments that is so important in times of war. Lord North, the war time Prime Minister was well aware that he lacked the qualities to carry on a war with the colonies but when he offered his resignation to George III, the King was absolutely unwilling to accept it. But the direct responsibility of the British defeat cannot be given to political leaders at Westminster, as although many ruined their careers as a result of the war, very few major decisions were made in London, and the role of the military generals was much more significant than that of politicians in determining British policy in the colonies.

A major weakness of the British cause was their lack of a clear strategy or objective. The Patriots were transparent in their aims; the quest for independence was without compromise or negotiation, the American rebels had everything to win by victory and everything to loose by defeat, where as the British could survive with or without the exploitation of the colonies. There was also an underlying confusion amongst the British prior to 1778 as to whether their strategy to regain the colonies was to conciliate with the colonial inhabitants or to conquer and subjugate them to the will of the crown. British attempts to unify political reconciliation with warfare were misplaced and inhibited military operations. Part of the cause of this conflict of aims was a failure to understand the nature of the revolutionary cause; the rebel leaders were by principle determined to prevent reconciliation with the British. Lt Colonel Harcourt stated the truth on May 31st when he wrote that America was never to be regained without making an absolute conquest of her. The failure of British generals to understand this at the beginning of the conflict meant that they had insufficient troops and resources at their disposal and this certainly contributed to British defeat. Indecision and unclear strategy also had a damaging affect on morale, lack of confidence in the British cause spread to the highest ranks; Captain James Murray wrote in a letter home on September 1777 that he sincerely wished it was all over; “a barbarous business in a barbarous country ” and if Lord Montgomery’s theory that morale is the single greatest factor in war is to be believed, these sorts of feelings amongst the troops and officers were of serious concern. The American rebels on the other hands insp

Some topics in this essay:
George Washington, William Irvine, Robert Jackson, War Independence, Valley Forge, III King, York Town, British Strategy, Colonel Harcourt, Lord Montgomery’s, american war, british troops, war independence, american war independence, failure british, british generals, british defeat, political leaders, french fleet, popular support, strategic planner lord, revolutionary cause, planner lord george, lord george germain, support french fleet,