‘To bring the american army under strict discipline’: british army foraging policy in the south, 1780–81

• Autores: Gregory J.W. Urwin
• Localización: War in history, ISSN-e 1477-0385, ISSN 0968-3445, Vol. 26, Nº. 1, 2019, págs. 4-26
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Many British soldiers charged with suppressing the American Revolution embarked on their mission animated by anger. They expressed their fury most frequently through indiscriminate looting. Marauding undermined the discipline of the king’s troops and their commanders’ strategy by making enemies out of American moderates who had not yet rebelled, alienating Loyalists, and renewing Rebel resolve to continue fighting. In either 1778 or 1779, General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief in North America, commissioned two aides-de-camp, Major Patrick Ferguson and Captain John André, to formulate independent plans to enable British armies to operate in the interior without alienating hearts and minds. This article explores how Clinton, Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis, and other British commanders attempted to implement the André/Ferguson plan in the American South in 1780 and 1781.