The Art of War

The American colonists had a very special relationship with England since many
of them originated from this country.

As the days were passing by, the colonists enjoyed a “salutary neglect.” They
were far from the English monarch who enjoyed in turn the bounties of his
colonies. The trade on which the colonists and the king relied was of benefit
to all of them. Not only did they feel free but also they were loyal to their
English king. By the mid 1760’s, the understanding between the American
colonies and the mother country was crumbling. The harmony which had existed
turned into discord when the English Parliament decided to tax the American
colonies because of the high cost of the French and Indian War (1754-1763),
and thus all the colonies were thrown into turmoil. The more the colonists
rose up against Britain, the more troops the British sent to enforce the laws.
From skirmishes to attempts to settle matters, the relations between the two
countries were so strained that they could break up at any time.
The war the Continental Congress intended to wage would require money, men and
the experience of soldiers skilled in the art form of warfare such as it was
waged in the 18th century. The American resistance to power got organized with
great difficulty but how could the American colonists hope to defeat the
English in the art of war?

Get a deeper understanding of the American war of Independence thanks to this
essay.

EXCERPT

A major problem for the American colonists was that one third of the people
remained loyal to the crown and another third did not know what to think about
the war. The various colonies which rejected the authority of a king did not
completely want to rely on the sole authority of a Continental Congress. The
only force in the colonies was that of the militias but they were not trained
for pitched battles even if they excelled in guerrilla warfare. The
Continental Congress realized that relying only on guerrilla warfare would not
allow the American colonists to take well populated cities and ports occupied
by the British army. In order to win the American War of Independence, they
had to demonstrate their ability to fight European types of battles. Then,
they would be able to rely on foreign support.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The author: at the master's level, Jean-Christophe Malevil chose to write his
thesis about the American War of Independence; in seeing Roland Emmerich's The
Patriot in 2000. He knew he would work on the art of war and to illustrate his
work, he of course decided to rely on this movie. This book is the result of
the findings of his investigations about war in the 18th century.