General Sir William Howe

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In 1774, General William Howe ran for a seat in the House of Commons as representative of the largely Whig constituency of Nottingham. He assured the electors, who would not have tolerated any other attitude, that he, like the more renowned General Jeffrey Amherst and Admiral Augustus Keppel, would refuse to serve in a war against England’s American colonies. But while publicly disapproving of military action against the colonists, Howe privately let the British ministry know that he was available.

Early in 1775, the General confounded the voters of Nottingham by accepting the position of second-in-command of British forces in America. ‘I cannot easily describe the discontent and disappointment which appears among a great number of your constituents here,’ a Nottingham grocer wrote to General Howe, ‘on account of your accepting a command in the expedition against our American brethren. . . . Judge, if you can, the confusion this occasions among your friends.’

The Nottingham voters were not the only ones puzzled by General Howe’s contradictory behaviour. For two centuries historians have tried conclusively to unravel the mysteries of Howe’s role in the American Revolution. Some believe that the General, an acknowledged advocate of a peaceful reconciliation with the colonies, agreed to serve in America so that he could personally guarantee that military force was applied with a delicate hand and diplomatic concessions were given a fair try. Others are equally sure that General Howe’s conciliatory stance was nothing more than pre-election posturing aimed at winning him a seat in Parliament.

William Howe was one of three brothers in a family that had played a major role in defending the liberties of the American colonies. During the Seven Years’ War the eldest brother, the 3rd Viscount George Augustus Howe, had died leading a combined force of British and American troops against the French fortress of Ticonderoga in northern New York. In recognition of his sacrifice, the grateful colony of Massachusetts had raised 250 to commission a memorial to the 3rd Viscount in Westminster Abbey.

William, the youngest brother, had also fought against the French in North America, leading the assault on the Heights of Abraham that had assured General James Wolfe of victory at Quebec.

Whether William, in 1775, saw himself primarily as warrior or a peacemaker, he clearly still considered himself a friend to most Americans. In response to the bewildered residents of Nottingham, who reminded him of the honour the colonies had paid his brother the Viscount, General Howe replied: ‘You are much deceived, if you suppose there are not many loyal and peaceable subjects in that country. I may safely assert that the insurgents are very few in comparison to the whole people. . . . With respect to the few, who I am told desire to separate themselves from the mother country, I trust, when they find they are not supported in their frantic ideas by the more moderate which I have described, they will fear of punishment and subside to the laws.’

Confident that most Americans would welcome him, General Howe arrived in Boston on 25th May, 1775. By then the first shots of the American Revolution had already been fired, and American militia besieged Boston. Outnumbered, the British commander-in-chief, General Thomas Gage, had waited patiently in the city for the arrival of the transports that were bringing Generals Howe, John Burgoyne, and Henry Clinton, with about 5,000 fresh troops from England.

The four generals conferred over plans to break the siege, but before they could act the rebel army occupied Breed’s Hill on Charlestown Peninsula. From their fortifications on the hill, the colonists presented a challenge that the British generals across the bay could not ignore.

The next morning, warships of the Royal Navy bombarded Breed’s Hill while General Gage and his subordinates debated their options. General Clinton favoured a landing behind the rebel fortifications to trap the colonial militia and force it to surrender.

Tags: 17th - 18th Century, American Revolutionary War, British Heritage, Historical Conflicts, Historical Figures

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