Northern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War
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Several different military strategies emerged from both British and American rebel perspectives at the outset of our American War for Independence. Attempts by the British to crush the rebellion by securing major colonial ports, protecting Canada, supporting those who were loyal to the Mother Country, and dividing the New England colonies from the other rebel havens were key objectives in 1776. That overall British approach continued into 1777 while the new Continental Army under the command of General George Washington developed its own strategy of "living to fight another day" and winning surprise victories at Trenton and Princeton. Meanwhile, the Continental Army and American Militia also won a key military victory at Saratoga due to the heroics of General Benedict Arnold. Why did the British, with overwhelming troop numbers and military firepower, fail to crush the rebellion? How did George Washington hold his ragtag Continental army together to establish an eventual stalemate in the northern and mid-Atlantic colonies?
Randolph Flood
Randy Flood is a historian and co-founder of The Real American Revolution, a nonprofit organization established to educate citizens about the American Revolution. Randy began his professional career by serving on the staff of the United States Senate and has taught courses about politics and the legislative processes at numerous colleges in the Washington DC area. Currently, he resides in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is working on the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association to educate teachers, students and communities about the national historic trail where Lord Cornwallis and his British Army at Yorktown were entrapped..