How the Americans Won the War
The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt. Is this piece's full name but it is more commonly known as The Bloody Massacre[JH1] [JH2] [JH3] . The Bloody Massacre Was engraved by Paul Revere sometime around March, 28, 1770. Paul Revere gets the credit for creating this engraving but he copied the depiction from a man by the name of Henry Pelham.
The Bloody Massacre depicts a violent altercation between American citizens and British redcoats. The fight occurred on March, 5, 1770, approximately twenty-three days before it was drawn up. In the real-life altercation, the citizens threw stones and antagonized the British soldiers. However, in this picture the redcoats are depicted with greater animosity than the civilians.
The British soldiers are shown having apathetic faces, with a commander signaling them to fire, and the smoke of powder rifles. A few of the American civilians are shown dying on the ground and the rest are depicted either tying to help them or flee from the British as they continue to fire. The American civilians are given expressions of horror and anger on their faces as opposed to the British whom are apathetic.
The engraving demonstrates itself to be a historic piece of war propaganda. It shows the British as the hostile occupiers and the civilians as innocent cannon fodder. It is noted for bringing concern among the colonists about British rule and raising the question if it is truly for their benefit.
Source:
Revere, Paul. "The bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt." Library of Congress, Library of Congress, 28 Mar. 1770. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016.
Every American knows the revolutionary war was won by the patriots but very few know how it was won. Britain in the 1770's had one of the largest navy in the world and one of the most sophisticated ones. It begs the question: How did ordinary people, with little combat experience and supplies' defeat the largest military?
The first key to the patriot’s success was the use of Asymmetric warfare. Webster’s dictionary defines asymmetric warfare as: “Warfare that is between opposing forces which differ greatly in military power and that typically involves the use of unconventional weapons and tactics (such as those associated with guerrilla warfare and terrorist attacks) (Webster.com).” The patriots were ordinary citizens. They could hide in plain sight. Their British counterparts however wore bright red and actively patrolled in large groups. This gave the patriots a significant tactical advantage of the first shot.
Patriots tended to be brutal fighters. The British had strict rules of engagement that prevented them from matching the Patriots. A notable example is in October 1780, when a group of frontiersmen (not soldiers but citizens) surrounded a thousand loyalists, executed them and hung prisoners the British officers used as bargaining tools for escape (Pearfon, 353).
The British fought much like the roman empire did. They marched in long rows and fired at close range. Patriots were opportunistic fighters, relying on the tactical advantages terrain gave them in fights. A great example of this is the battle tactics used by Daniel Morgan in the Battle of Freeman's Farm. The British knew there was a rebel camp on the farm so they marched by the hundreds into the woods. Unbeknownst to them Morgan and his men had positioned themselves in the woods with rifles (Pearfon, 272). The British marked their officers with Braid Epaulets so when the British entered the forest the Americans knew exactly who to shoot to disrupt command (Pearfon, 272). When the enemy was in range of one another traditionally one would signal with a drum but Morgan used a turkey whistle to signal shots taking the British off guard (Pearfon, 272).
Instrumental to the patriot success was the support of France. In the beginning of the war the French court assisted Patriots through black market shipments of guns, ammunition and general war goods (Pearfon, 223). Most of the shipments were through a man called Jacques-Donatien Leray De Chaumont. He is described as “one of the single most important foreign suppliers of arms, saltpeter, clothing and other materials (Schaper, 156).” He was a friend of the leaders of the movement and even hid and sheltered them as detailed in a letter kept by John Adams:
“When, sir, I lent my house to Mr. Franklin and his colleages who wished to live with him, I explained that I did not want compensation because I felt that you needed all your resources to send aid toyoure country or to help your brothers escaping from the shackles of your enemy (Chaumount, 1778).”
In the end the Americans won because of their battle mannerisms and support from the French.