Why the British Lost the American Revolution
Surrender of Cornwallis . Print of Cornwallis handing his sword to Washington . The American troops stand on the left , the British on the right . The French fleet and the wall of the fort at Yorktown are in the background . In the right foreground are a cannon and a drum . Harry T . Peters “ America on Stone ” Lithography Collection , National Museum of American History . 2
The problem in North America was complex , and British disadvantages plentiful , with London ’ s errors only exacerbating the situation . Acclaimed historian Robert Middlekauff captured the British dilemma well . He writes , “ The British faced problems in the war unlike any they had ever faced , and as rich as their past was , it furnished only limited guidance . . . The war was a civil war against a people in thirteen colonies who gained determination as they fought and sacrificed .” 3 Lord North and the American Secretary of State for America , Lord George Germain , attempted to fight a traditional eighteenth-century war as they did in previous wars in Europe , though they discovered that
North America was very different . It is true that several British officers fought on the continent earlier during the Seven Years ’ War ( 1754-1763 ), though most retained their European conventions of warfare . General George Washington , along with most Continental generals , sought to engage the British conventionally , though the real struggle was in rural areas and backcountry , where irregular partisan militia harassed and wore down the British army . This type of engagement , petite guerre , or literally “ small war ,” was elusive and transient , as small guerrilla units appeared and disappeared quickly and unpredictably concentrating on small guerrilla units that would appear , and then disappear
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