General Sir William Howe

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In planning his offensive in New York, therefore, Howe ignored his own often-stated belief that the quickest way to end the war was to destroy the Continental Army. A bloody victory now would not serve his purpose. Instead, he adopted a strategy of conquering ground rather than killing colonists. His strategy was to discourage the rebels by mounting a steady, irresistible advance through their farms and fields and forcing them from New York in much the same way he had been compelled to leave Boston.

The campaign began on 22nd August, with British troops landing at Gravesend on Long Island. The American defences on the island consisted of a strong line of earthworks at Brooklyn, supported by a number of regiments that guarded the passes through a row of hills that lay between the principal British and American forces. For five days British regiments reconnoitered these positions and found that the easternmost pass through the hills was guarded by only a handful of scouts.

On 27th August, a British column marched unopposed past this weakly defended flank, while portions of the army made a diversionary frontal assault. Nearly 1,000 rebel troops were cut off from the relative safety of Brooklyn and forced to surrender. But rather than continuing his attack by storming the main American lines, General Howe satisfied himself with what he had already won.

Some of the General’s subordinate officers and some Members of Parliament later criticized Howe’s decision, believing that a timely assault might have ended the war. The General, however, had much to consider before launching such an attack. Many of his regiments were still weak from their recent voyage to America. Following a long march and heavy fighting, he sensed that they were exhausted. He also remembered the fight on Breed’s Hill the year before, when 3,000 rebels had so capably defended hastily erected earthworks against well-rested troops. Now he faced nearly 9,000 defenders in much more extensive entrenchments. When General Howe looked toward the rebels on Brooklyn Heights, he probably pictured the bloodbath he was determined to avoid.

Rather than risk the consequences, the General opted to lay siege to the colonists and force them to surrender. Time was an effective weapon to use against the rebel forces. In four months, Howe knew, most of the colonial troops’ enlistments would expire and General Washington’s army would most likely put down their weapons and go home. If he could prevent anything that might give new encouragement to the colonists, Howe had a chance to win the war without fighting another battle.

During the night of 29th August, however, the entire rebel army was able to escape under cover of fog across the East River to Manhattan. With the possibilities of a crushing military victory or a more subtle form of persuasion gone, Howe returned to his strategy of relentlessly pursuing the Continental Army wherever it went, hoping again to demonstrate the hopelessness of its cause. From Long Island, General Howe forced the rebels from Manhattan, across the Hudson, through New Jersey and to the banks of the Delaware River, not far from the colonial capital of Philadelphia. Here, General Washington’s foresight in taking all the boats on the river to the far side with his retreating army forced an end to the pursuit.

Despite numerous setbacks throughout the summer, William Howe was still close to victory. In December, General Washington wrote that the Continental Army, apart from the troops scheduled to leave for home on January 1, was ‘Reduced so much by sickness, fatigue, etc. as in the whole not to exceed, but fall short of, 1200 Men. Upon these and the Militia, is all our dependence, for you may as well attempt to stop the Winds from blowing, or the Sun in its diurnal, as the Regiments from going when their term is expired.’

General Howe made plans to return to England for the winter, hoping, perhaps, that by spring there would be no need to return. He had already been knighted for his victory on Long Island, and there was every reason to be hopeful that he would soon receive credit for having ended the rebellion without undo loss of life on either side.

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

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