| Abstrakt: |
British strategy for ending the American rebellion in 1777 required placing the army in a location where a generally friendly civilian population would provide the supplies, recruits, and intelligence it needed. General Sir William Howe was driven to capture Philadelphia because of the supposed pervasive Loyalism in that area. However, the slow movement of the British army to that objective from July to September 1777, caused civilians in the region to behave in ways that frustrated General Howe's plans for distinguishing friend from foe. The already well-known penchant for his soldiers' indiscriminate plundering of civilian property regardless of their owners' political persuasion created conditions that caused many civilians to flee the British approach despite Howe's promises of protection and security for those who remained peaceably at home. The remaining population's political, economic, and gender composition was ill-designed to satisfy British military requirements making the capture of Philadelphia a strategic failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
