Hi gman66!!
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In order to find the reasons for why it was just for the americans to
fight in non-conventional tactics we must take a look to the relevant
events related and also to the economy and historical context.
The French Indian War (known in Europe as Seven Years War and in Asia
as the Third Carnatic War) was won at great cost and left the British
nation plunged into bankruptcy by fighting the War on three
continents.
The British people were already taxed very heavily, so Parliament
looked to the colonists for a source of revenue and in 1764, the
Parliament began to impose taxes on the colonists with the Sugar Act.
It was the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1765, with
its direct demand for revenue that roused a violent colonial outcry.
Some american leaders moved beyond rhetoric to counter force with
force. For instance, the Sons of Liberty emerged as a paramilitary
organization in direct response to British troop movements.
The threat of boycott and refusal to import English goods moved the
Parliament to repeal in 1766 the Stamp Act but passed an act formally
declaring its right to tax the colonies.
All of this carried to events like the Boston's Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.
"In retaliation the British passed what are now considered the
Intolerable or Coercive Acts to Bring the colonies to the heal of the
King:
-Quartering Act: Established March 24, 1765
This bill required that Colonial Authorities to furnish barracks and
supplies to British troops. In 1766, it was expanded to public houses
and unoccupied buildings, and was updated again June 2, 1774, to
include occupied buildings.
-Boston Port Bill: Effective June 1, 1774
This bill closed the port of Boston to all colonists until, the
damages from the Boston Tea Party were paid for.
Administration of Justice Act: Effective May 20, 1774
This bill stated that British Officials could not be tried in
provincial courts for capital crimes. They would be extradited back to
Britain and tried there. This effectively gave the British free reign
to do whatever they wished, because no justice would be served while
they were still in the colonies.
-Massachusetts Government Act: Effective May 20, 1774
This bill effectively annulled the charter of the colonies, giving the
British Governor complete control of the town meetings, and taking
control out of the hands of the colonialists.
-Quebec Act: Established May 20, 1774 This bill extended the Canadian
borders to cut off The western colonies of Conn. Mass. and Va."
From "The Intolerable or Coercive Acts" at Worcester Polytechnic
Institute (WPI) site:
http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/MilSci/BTSI/abs_coer.html
"The Intolerable Acts were enacted as punitive measures against the
rebellious colonists and to tighten Britain's control of the colonies.
These acts as well as all the other acts restricting expansion and
increasing taxation only served to further resentment of the British
Government and the king. It also served to strengthen their resolve
and unite them. Each act was met by increasing opposition and
violence. The Americans were about to go to war."
From "The American Revolution":
http://home.hiwaay.net/~jpkilpat/amerrev.htm
In response to the Intolerable Acts, American colonies except for
Georgia sent delegates to the First Continental Congress at
Philadelphia which met in September 1774. The Congress addressed
petitions to Parliament and king but also adopted some boycott
agreements (nonimportation and nonexportation agreements) in order to
coerce the British Government into repealing the Intolerable Acts.
"...committees were formed in almost every county, town, and city
throughout the colonies, and in each colony these committees soon
became the effective local authorities, the base of a pyramid of
revolutionary organizations with revolutionary assemblies, congresses,
or conventions, and committees of safety at the top. This loosely knit
combination of de facto governments superseded the constituted
authorities and established firm control over the whole country before
the British were in any position to oppose them. The de facto
governments took over control of the militia, and out of it began to
shape forces that, if the necessity arose, might oppose the British in
the field.
In Massachusetts, the seat of the crisis, the Provincial Congress,
eyeing Gage's force in Boston, directed the officers in each town to
enlist a third of their militia in minutemen organizations to be ready
to act at a moment's warning, and began to collect ammunition and
other military stores. It established a major depot for these stores
at Concord, about twenty miles northwest of Boston."
From "American Revolution - The Outbreak" at AmericanRevolution.com:
http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRevTheOutbreak.htm
"Lexington and Concord:
The British government commanded General Thomas Gage to enforce the
Intolerable Acts and shut down the Massachussetts legislature. Gage
also decided to confiscate a stockpile of colonial arms. On April 19,
Gage's troops marched to Concord. On the way, at the town of
Lexington, Americans warned by Paul Revere and others attempted to
stop the troops. No one knows exactly which side fired the first shot,
known as The Shot Heard 'Round the World, but this touched off a
battle on the Lexington Green between the British and the Minutemen.
Faced against British troops in an open field, the Minutemen were
unable to stop the British. Nonetheless, the colonists regrouped and
were able to launch guerrilla attacks on the British while they
marched to Concord, and also managed to amass a larger number of
troops at Concord to meet the weakened British. The colonists forced
the British to retreat without destroying the armory."
From "Wikibooks - US History:American Revolution":
http://wikibooks.org/wiki/US_History:American_Revolution
When the Second Congress did meet, the military hostilities had
already begun, and the issue of Independence, rather than a redress of
grievances, dominated the debates; and a Declaration Of The Causes And
Necessity Of Taking Up Arms was set (July 6, 1775).
The response of the King to Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill was a
determined effort to subdue the rebellious colonists by force.
As you can see there not appear to be a global strategy that lead the
colonies to this point. It is an history of actions and reactions, a
vicious circle that came in the time when the colonies had matured to
an extent that their interests and goals were different from those of
the mother country.
Despite of the Declaration Of The Causes And Necessity Of Taking Up
Arms the financing for war was difficulty and the Congress lacked of
authority to impose taxes. This meant that the american soldiers
cannot be proffesionals like the British. The American troops had not
the training that the British had, and in a conventional battle they
will be probably defeated, they learnt the lesson of Lexington and
Concord. Also volunteer troops and militia madea good use of the
popular support that the incipient New England Army had.
So the best way that the Americans could take was a mix of
conventional and guerrilla warfare at least for the first phase of the
war. The advantage of this was the British were not really prepared
for that type of war. Until after the battles of Saratoga (1777),
which results motivated France to assist Americans openly, the British
army had superiority.
At this point the following lecture will help you understand why
guerrilla was a good choice in this war:
"In December 1779, the British decided to invade the American South in
an effort to isolate the Southern Colonies and re-impose imperial
rule. Having failed to secure loyalty from the Northern and Middle
Colonies, the British thought that loyalty could be secured in the
South, where a sizable loyalist population remained. At first, it
seemed like an ingenious plan. The Southern colonies were a tinderbox
of factional conflicts between the landed gentry and new immigrants,
and between the black slaves and their masters. The British set out to
subdue patriot militias by arming colonists who were still loyal to
the crown.
As one might expect, things did not go as planned. The troops armed by
the British quickly set to work butchering women and children
suspected of being supporters of the revolution. Chaos ensued among
all sides and the British, realizing their failure, sent in their own
troops to restore order. In the end, however, the British efforts to
secure loyalty ended up turning most of their allies against them. In
December, General Washington dispatched Nathaniel Greened to establish
a military presence in the Southern colonies. Greene recognized
several important facts. He knew that the type of war he was fighting
did not require victory in battle to secure victory in the war. He
knew that the war would be won by securing the support of the
population.
Green set to work engaging the British forces in a number of fast and
mobile military operations. He would strike out at the British, and
disappear before the British could retaliate in any meaningful way.
For months, the British chased Greene and his forces around the South.
The Brits did not exist in a vacuum, of course. As they marched
through the countryside, the colonists gained a firsthand appreciation
of the arrogance and power of the British empire.
Since British troops could not tell the difference between friends and
enemies (and behaved accordingly), the British ended up making enemies
of virtually everyone they came in contact with. As historian Pauline
Maier has pointed out, the British army was the best friend the
revolutionaries had. Everywhere they went their arrogance and the
destruction they left turned friends into enemies and inspired the
native population ever more against the British cause. Greene?s
strategy worked brilliantly. His forces lost every major engagement
with the British, but military victory was not his goal. By the fall
of 1781, the British troops found themselves exhausted and isolated in
Yorktown, Virginia, where ultimate defeat awaited them."
From "Guerrilla Tactics" by Ryan McMaken:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/mcmaken/mcmaken51.html
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I strongly suggest you to read the following documents:
"American Revolution - Of Strategy":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRevOfStrategy.htm
"American Revolution - The Summing Up: Reasons, Lessons, and Meaning":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/SummingUp.htm
"American Revolution - Formation of the Continental Army":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRevFormArmy.htm
"American Revolution - Evolution of the Continental Army":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRevEvolArmy.htm
"Reader's Companion to Military History - The American Revolution":
http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/mil/html/ml_002000_theamericanr.htm
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Additional links:
"Paul Revere's Other Ride":
http://www.seacoastnh.com/history/rev/revere.html
"The Historic Paul Revere":
http://www.cvesd.k12.ca.us/finney/paulvm/h2_hist.html
"Declaration Of The Causes And Necessity Of Taking Up Arms":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/DeclarationOfTheCauses.htm
"American Revolution - The American Revolution: First Phase":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRev.htm
"The American Revolution":
http://www.americanrevolution.com/
"The American Revolution Home Page":
http://www.americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/INDEX2.HTM
"RANGERS IN COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY AMERICA":
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/documents/revwar/revra.htm
"THE CONTINENTAL ARMY" an online book by Robert K. Wright, Jr. :
http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/revwar/contarmy/ca-fm.htm
"CIA Publications - Intelligence in the War of Independence":
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/warindep/intro.shtml
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Search strategy:
American revolution war strategy
American revolution war guerrilla
Paul Revere
Sons of Liberty
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I hope this helps you.
Best regards.
livioflores-ga |
