The British regular army

The British regular army

The British regular army didn’t faith in the colonial militia winning in the wars due to its belief that the selection was poorly constituted with recruits being picked from all walks of life with little consideration on quality and competence (Schecter, 2002). This belief was necessitated by the fact that the British regular army recruits were from the lowest social classes with composition of petty criminals, beggars, laborers and farmers hence believing that the colonial militia was a replica of their recruitment strategy (Anderson). Recruitment inefficiency led to the adoption of the forced recruitment strategy into the militia a practice which was abandoned almost immediately due to the noticeable negative impact the strategy had brought into the militia having lost the battles of Saratoga.

The British soldiers kept on changing their war strategies due to the unexpected number of obstacles which faced them. In the beginning, they had planned to hold the American Revolution within the Massachusetts. However, the casualty levels on the British soldiers at the battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775 during the Boston siege forced the British to flee from Boston to Scotia. They then decided to capture New York City. This plan was executed successfully and this became their new operation base.  They then planned a marc to isolate New England from other colonies and move south and defeat the southern colonies using three British armies at the same time from three different points. Unfortunately, this strategy backfired because the execution deviated from the original plan. This battle claimed a big number of the British soldiers forcing them to revisit the plan and focus on the loyalists in Georgia leading to a number of success battles. These battles cost them a lot financially incurring debts and experiencing challenges in ferrying supplies prompting parliament to end the war (Tovy)

One Mr. George Clark, an American militia officer, and who ranked the highest patriot during the American Revolutionary War victoriously led them into capturing Kaskaskia and Vincennes a victory which highly weakened the British impact in those parts. These two captures earned Clerk celebrity status with history terming him as the conqueror of the Old Northwest territory. His success in battles was attributed to his surveyor background as he had entered the two regions earlier, surveyed the geographical structure as well as making himself aware of the cultural ways of the people there. At the time of his raid, he was entering known land making it very easy for him and his military to function.

What instigated the wars for the Empire and the start of the American Civil War? By the time the wars for Empire were ending, territorial boundaries had been established with leaderships, kingdoms and empires being established. This meant that different territories were free to decide what to do without the interference by other territories. Governance laws were set with Abraham Lincoln being inaugurated as the president of the United States. However, some states did not embrace the constitutions as they pushed for special rights to continue with slavery. Since the constitution was against slavery, this did not get the support of Loyalists of the Union of the North. This resistance and disagreements led to some states pushing for geographical secession to allow them to continue with their practices. The emergence of Loyalists and secessionist groups. This rebellion and difference in what the different parties advocated for led to the start of the American Civil War

Carl Von Clausewitz’s guidelines on war and approach methods explained two concepts which to him, needed to be major areas of understanding and planning for any military which anticipated victory is its invasions. His theory advises any group not to understate their enemies but instead carry out a calculated approach in their daily operations. He insists that before approaching an enemy, a group should study and understand the enemy’s strengths and weaknesses. He uses the term centre of gravity to denote an enemy’s strong points which need to be approached and dismantled to weaken the enemy’s harm. However, he insists that such a move to weaken an enemy by interfering with it from its strongest point is not an easy process as fierce retaliation is expected which he refers to as friction.  He insists that when an enemy’s strength is weakened, the expected friction thereafter is less and defeating the enemy will be an easier process

The three wars; The American Revolution, war of 1812 and the war with Mexico were no different from the rest of the wars which had taken place before. However, with most wars being characterised by big distances between the warring groups, technology advancement and improvement of war weapons meant this distance could be covered easier and with much ease and success. The shift from using swords, machetes and other traditional weapons to using new inventions like Rifles and canons in both offense and defence during wars meant attack to enemies possible. Then the war cannons, mortar and howitzer weapons which could shoot up to two miles long. Invading and destabilizing enemies could be carried out without having to come any close to the enemy. This intensified the battles increasing the rates of killings and greatly reducing the mission accomplishment timelines.

Schecter, Barnet (October 2002). The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8027-1374-2.

Tovy, Tal. “George Washington’s Military Genius by Dave R. Palmer.” Michigan War Studies Review, 3 Dec. 2012, www.miwsr.com/2012-070.aspx