Much of 1775 was spent in sort of a 'Sitzkreig' with the American and British armies sitting around in and outside of Boston. The culmination of the 1775 campaign was the British abandoning Boston for Halifax Nova Scotia so they could wait for reinforcements from Britain and the Germans. The British campaign of 1776 was a very different story from 1775.

The campaign of 1776 nearly spelled out the ruin of the American army and thus the American revolutionary cause. The British government was at first busy trying to determine what the strategy was going to be for the war. Once the British decided that they were going to crush the rebellion and try to return the Americans into the British empire (as well as tax the Americans) they started to figure out the strategy to do this. In spite of the British treasury being 'in a difficult position', the crown negotiated with several German princes to provide troops to fight the Americans. These so-called Hessian troops were NOT in fact mercenaries. The Hessian troops were conscripted peasants with extraordinary leadership and discipline.

The 1776 strategy was for the combined British/Hessian forces to take New York and then move towards Philadelphia if necessary. The thought was to have 1 big campaign (or battle) that would destroy the American army and end the war quickly by the end of 1776. The strategy was decided upon before July 2nd when congress was presented with the Declaration of Independence (which as we know was adopted by Congress on July 4th, 1776). After the British left Boston, Washington headed off to New York because he felt that that was the next logical stop by the British. The Americans set New York up to be defended. There were many problems at this time for the American army in that many of the men that held the seige around Boston (which peaked at over 23,000 men) left and went home. Much of the 'new' American army were 15 and 16 year old boys that just joined and had never fought a battle. This would turn into a huge problem for the Americans.

The combined British and Hessian forces began to arrive in New York (on Staten Island) throughout June and July. The British landed over 300 warships with 1200 cannon, 30,000 soldiers, 10,000 sailors and 300 supply ships under the joint command of General William Howe and his brother Admiral Lord Richard Howe. General Washington faced this army with an army of 20,000 men. Washington confounded his own problems by being indecisive and dividing his forces between Long and Manhattan Islands. The first battle of the campaign began in late August when the British landed 22,000 men (including 9,000 Hessians) on Long Island (in what is now Brooklyn). The Battle of Long Island took place on August 27, 1776, which turned into a complete disaster with the British flanking the Americans along a completely unguarded and unpatrolled road. This flanking maneuver forced the Americans back into their defenses on Brooklyn Heights. The army was saved by a nighttime 'withdrawal' back to Manhattan island under cover of a deep fog which kept this retreat covered. The work of a Massachussets fisherman [Colonel Glover] and his men rowed all night and into the next morning to save the army.

The British seemed to be in no real rush to capitalize on their success on Long Island. It wasn't until September 15th that the British landed 12,000 men on Manhattan Island. On the 16th the British headed north towards the American lines at Harlem Heights. A force of Americans were out on patrol and came across a small force of British soldiers and ran for their lives, most not even firing off a shot. The Americans rallied at their position on the heights and held their ground. Again, the British did not push their cause and waited until October to try to circle the Americans again who withdrew north to White Plains. Late in October (the 28th), the battle of White Plains was fought. A now familiar problem with the American army is that the British were again able to flank the weak American side which was prepared for a frontal assault. The Americans began a long retreat across New Jersey. The British on the other hand were in no rush to pursue the Americans. A major mistake that the Americans made was leaving Forts Washington and Lee manned [which were on opposite sides of the Hudson River]. The Americans mistakenly felt that these forts would hold against the British -- in spite of the fact that the British controlled the river with their huge ships-of-the-line. The British decided to take Forts Washington and Lee, which was an incredible blow to the Americans. The Hessians under von Knyphausen were on the verge of salughtering the American defenders who were quickly falling back to their forts. The Americans had over 3,000 defenders captured plus virtually all of the supplies for the entire army. Washington was now in the middle of a retreat across New Jersey with no tents, no shovels, no shoes and less than 2,000 troops.

One of the most controversial moves in the campaign began to occur as the Americans were retreating across New Jersey. General Howe began to prepare the British forces for garrison duty and go into winter quarters. The British were going to establish a chain of occupied towns all the way across the state and prepare to march into Philadelphia in the spring. In the meantime, Washington sent a force ahead of the rest of the army to grab every boat on the Delaware river (and destroy the ones they couldn't use). This would at least prevent the British from reaching Philadelphia until the Delaware River froze over.

As was typical for the American army, many enlistments were up at the end of the year and many of the soldiers would be going home. The spirit of the Americans was extremely low, so the Americans decided to go on the offensive. After completing a retreat across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, the Americans crossed back into New Jersey to attack the Hessians that were stationed at Trenton. Washington surprised the Hessians and captured the town, the defenders and more importantly, their supplies. British General Cornwalis marched a force from Princeton to retake the town of Trenton, but Washington was very clever and outmaneuvered Cornwalis to successfully defeat the British rearguard at Princeton on January 3, 1777. After the battle (and before Cornwalis could get back to Princeton), Washington brought his troops into winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey. Washingtons actions retook most of New Jersey from the British and more importantly restored some morale into the troops and Congress' faith in him.


See Also, the Battles of the Campaign:

Battle of Long Island
Battle for the Harlem Heights
Battle of White Plains
Forts Washington and Lee
Trenton
Princeton