The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2019 | Page 115

and Scroll
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the American colonies. 26 Britain already
had this naval problem to contend with
when France entered the war. The focus
thus shifted to protecting the home islands
first and foremost.
Once France entered the conflict,
many of the politicians at Whitehall
proposed to fight the war the way
they had during the Seven Years’ War,
with a European focus that blockaded
the French in their homeports, while
British squadrons raided the West Indies.
27 This plan was also unfeasible,
for the British were alone in this war,
the alliance with Prussia was gone
and the Netherlands remained neutral
for the time being. Great Britain was
diplomatically alone, and with no distractions
on the continent, the French
could focus on the naval war. 28 The idea
of fighting this war the same way as the
last was abandoned. Instead, a strategy
emerged from Lord North, George
Germain, Lord Jeffery Amherst, and
Lord Sandwich that focused on fighting
the French at sea and subduing the rebellion
in the American colonies. 29
The British faced the stark reality
that they could lose their various colonies
and still survive, but if they were
defeated in the Channel, they would be
open to invasion. 30 Thus, British strategy
evolved to protecting the Channel
first, then reinforcing the Mediterranean
and West Indies squadrons. In so
doing, they also recalled twenty ships
from duty in the American colonies. 31
The British clearly placed the American
colonies as a lower priority in this
scenario, even though the strategy
mentioned above called for subduing