CAUSES. For a century and a half, colonial America enjoyed a minimum of interference from British rule in the development of its society, economy, and government. After the French and Indian War (1754-1763), George III and his ministers reversed the old policy of “salutary neglect,” tightening restrictive laws on colonial trade and attempting to levy direct taxes on the colonists. The British Government not unreasonably expected the colonists to share in the costs of stationing British garrisons on the frontiers to keep the Indians in check. But the colonists, with the French threat removed, felt capable of defending themselves and viewed the British soldiers as instruments of suppression rather than protection. They protested that only their own assemblies had the right to levy taxes on them, and they particularly objected to the procedure, long accepted in England, of quartering troops on private property. George III and his ministers stubbornly persisted in a policy of using military coercion to enforce tax laws, with the result that the colonists, who at first attempted only to secure recognition of their rights within the British Empire, finally determined to achieve complete freedom. Thus, the immediate causes of the American Revolution were taxation and the quartering of troops; but underlying these issues

democratic ideals, generated by conditions peculiar to the colonial period, which provided an ideological basis for the decision “to dissolve the political bonds" with the mother country.

The immediate chain of events leading to armed conflict began in Massachusetts with the Boston Tea Party (16 December 1773) and similar demonstrations in other colonies. In reprisal the British closed the port of Boston, placed Massachusetts under military rule, and imposed various repressive measures known collectively as the “Intolerable Acts." The colonies, in turn, took steps to form revolutionary governments and convened the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on 5 September 1774. The revolutionary governments also established control over the militia in each colony and began collecting arms and ammunition. A major depot for military stores was established at Concord, setting the stage for the opening of hostilities.

TROOPS INVOLVED. American Forces. The number of Americans who served on the American side is not known. Estimates range from 184,038 (including the navy) to 250,000. About 395,000 Continentals and militiamen were furnished, but this figure includes duplications for the many individuals who served two or more times. The peak strength of American forces in the field at any one time was approximately 35,000 (in November 1778). The number of casualties is also unknown. Dr. James Thatcher, a surgeon in the Continental Army, estimated total deaths on the American side at 70,000, a great majority of which were due to disease. The number of battle deaths accounted for in available records is 4,044, but the number was undoubtedly much greater. The various state militias fought many battles and often provided the margin of superiority without which the Americans could not have won; but in general militia stayed in service only long enough to conduct a local summer campaign. Partisans carried out effective guerrilla operations, particularly in the South, but provided no sustained military effort. The Continental Army, established by Congress on 14 June 1775, gave the American cause the continued sustenance that only a well-trained, disciplined force in being can provide. Even this organization had difficulty in maintaining a continuous existence, and suffered chronically from manpower shortages because of recruiting difficulties, short-term enlistments, desertions, and casualties. At one time (December 1776) Congress authorized as many as 110 regiments. In 1781 it reduced the number to 59 regiments50 of infantry, 4 each of cavalry and artillery, and 1 of artillery artificersor about 40,000 men. This strength was never realized at any one time.

French Forces. French troops participating in the war generally stayed with their feet, landing for specific operations and then re-embarking, although a French garrison was maintained at Newport, R. I., for a time late in the war. Approximately 3,500 French Regulars assisted in the siege of Savannah (1779) and 7,800 in the siege of Yorktown (1781).

British Forces. As in the case of the American forces, neither the total number serving on the British side during the war nor the number of casualties can be determined accurately. Two of the 24 cavalry regiments and 52 of the 70 infantry regiments (which usually had less than their authorized strength of 477 men) of the English and Irish Establishments served at one time or another in America during the Revolution. About 30,000 Germans (Hessians) also served, but there were never that many present at any one time. Of the colonial population (about 2,500,000) perhaps a fourth remained loyal to the Crown; and an unknown number of members of this group (Tories) served in Provincial regiments or conducted partisan warfare. In Canada the predominantly French population

largely neutral; however, there were a few Canadian militia units in the field, and two battalions of Royal Highland Emigrants, recruited in Canada, served throughout the war. Several Indian tribes allied themselves with the British. About 1,500 Indians participated in the British campaigns in northern New York in 1777, and other hundreds conducted raids along the frontier from time to time, but the total number cannot be determined.

The total strengths of British forces in America at specific times have been compiled from British records. In 1775, at the beginning of the war, 8,580 British infantrymen were stationed here. In August 1776, General Howe assembled about 32,000 British and Germans (backed by a large British fleet) for the attack on New York. In May 1778 the forces in the United States totalled 33,756 (18,174 British, 11,007 Germans, and 4,575 Provincials) and those in Canada totaled 5,800 (4,000 British, 1,800 Germans) plus various Provincial detachments. In September 1781, shortly before Yorktown, a total of 27,765 troops (13,169 British, 10,872 Germans, 3,724 Provincials) were stationed in the United States, most of them being in New York and Virginia.

OVERALL STRATEGY. At first the British were mainly concerned with suppressing the uprising in Massachusetts, but rebellion quickly spread throughout the colonies. Thereupon the British adopted a plan which would permit them to take maximum advantage of their naval power. To this end, parts of Rhode Island and New York City were secured as naval bases to insure easy command of the entire coast. The British then planned to split the colonies by gaining control of the Champlain-Hudson Valley, after which the other areas could be dealt with in detail. This plan failed with Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga (October 1777).

French naval power became a crucial factor in the war after France sided with the Americans (February 1778). The British then transferred the seat of the war to the South in an attempt to detach South Carolina and Georgia from the union. This met with initial success, but subsequent reverses caused them to abandon the plan in favor of a pin

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cers movement on Pennsylvania, the northern arm being the British forces in New York and the southern a force assembled at Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown (October 1781) upset this plan and resulted in the overthrow of the British Cabinet; the new government was willing to concede victory to the United States.

The Americans were at first concerned only with securing redress of wrong. Gradually, however, opinion changed in favor of complete separation. With the Declaration of Independence, they committed themselves to an attempt either to drive out the British or to make the war so difficult and costly that Great Britain would be willing to concede victory. Although they could about match British manpower in the field, their army was untrained and poorly equipped, and they lacked industrial and financial resources needed to arm and maintain a military force. They therefore sought outside help; mean

while they adopted a defensive strategy, harassing and opposing the enemy but avoiding complete defeat. France was eventually persuaded to side openly with the Americans, and French aid in the form of supplies, troops, and naval power provided the necessary margin of strength for victory.

MAJOR BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS.1 Campaigns of 1775-1777. Open hostilities began at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775. Maj. Gen. Thomas Gage, Military Governor of Masschusetts, secretly dispatched more than 700 British troops under Lt. Col. Francis Smith from Boston to seize rebel military stores at Concord. At dawn, 19 April, the British column dispersed a small force of Minutemen at Lexington, killing 8 and wounding 10 at a cost of 2 killed and 6 captured. After seizing what stores they found at Concord the British began their return march, but the local militia forced them to run a gantlet of fire all the way back to