Rebels and Redcoats by Hugh Bicheno

Author:Hugh Bicheno [Hugh Bicheno and Richard Holmes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780007390915
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2012-11-17T16:00:00+00:00

Although the protest came close to violence, once the commissariat provided rations it subsided, although the ease with which this was accomplished confirmed the soldiers’ suspicions that they were being cheated by their own officers. There were to be many further mutinies by Continentals, and even some among the generally better cared for Militia, but contrary to Clinton’s wishful thinking none was in any way pro-British. During the most serious, when 2400 Pennsylvanians complete with artillery set out towards Philadelphia after someone imprudently issued them with rum to celebrate the 1781 New Year, the mutineers arrested two emissaries sent by Clinton to encourage them to defect and handed them over to the civil authorities for hanging. Congress, with no right to tax, could offer nothing but paper money, the purchasing power of which by then was less than 1 per cent of its face value, but Governor Joseph Reed of Pennsylvania was able to pacify them with a little hard cash and the promise of a lot more. Needless to say, such promises were never kept.

Martin was not even paid in paper money after August 1777, but recalled one payment in coin before the march to Virginia in 1781, an exception to the rule made possible by the French, who provided Washington with the means to pay his army for what proved to be the final campaign of the war. Before that the American commander-in-chief was caught in a vicious circle of congressional demands for action, to encourage the individual states to pay the money they owed, without which he could not keep together an army large or dependable enough to undertake any significant military initiative. He was fortunate in his opponent. At a time when Washington was in despair because of the mutinous state of his army, Clinton wrote to Eden, ‘for God’s sake send us money, men, and provisions, or expect nothing but complaints. Send out another admiral or let me go home’. Rear Admiral Marriott Arbuthnot, Lord Howe’s successor and the incumbent Clinton wanted rid of, was indeed a thorn in his side, but in his study of the effect of logistics on the war Arthur Bowler concluded the British Army was never seriously hampered by lack of resources. Logistics were the excuse for, not the cause of, Clinton’s inactivity. Vice Admiral Sir George Rodney, in New York at this time, contrasted him very unfavourably with Arnold in a dispatch to Germain:

… you must not expect an end of the American war till you can find a general of active spirit, and who hates the Americans from principle. Such a man with the sword of war and justice on his side will do wonders, for in this war I am convinced the sword should cut deep … Believe me, my Lord, this man Arnold, with whom I have had many conferences, will do more towards suppressing the rebellion than all our generals put together [but jealousy], unless commands from home signifies His Majesty’s pleasure, will prevent [him] being employed to advantage.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.