The events of the American Revolution signified by Lexington, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Saratoga, and Yorktown are familiar to American readers. This title views the American Revolution from the standpoint of the British government and the British military leaders as they attempted to execute an overseas war of great complexity. Introduction to the Bison Book Edition xiii Preface: The Servants of Kronos xxiii Office-holders in the Cabinet, 1775-83 xxix List of Abbreviations xxx Introduction: A Government at War 1(26) And Great Bellona Smiles A War of the Ancien Regime `John will wallow in preferment' The Blueprint of the War Machine The Machine in Motion `One Great Director' PART ONE: THE CITADELS OF REBELLION 1775-7 Lord Dartmouth's War 27(19) The Watching Enemy The Rebels Conscience and Policy The Decision to Fight Damming the Flood A Winter Offensive The Coming of Germain 46(15) The Third Secretary A Man with a Past The First Weeks in Office The Strategy of Reconquest The Great Concentration 61(12) The Timetable Shipping the Supplies A Bid for Decision The Arrested Offensive 73(30) These Noble Heroes The Winter at Quebec and Boston The Concentration off New York The Clearing of New York The Arrested Offensive Gains and Losses: The Failure of the Blockade The Planning of Saratoga 103(18) A Need for Victory Germain and the Generals Howe's Plans of Campaign The Plan for Canada Supplies and Reinforcements PART TWO: THE WORLD WAR 1778 Philadelphia and Saratoga 121(26) Howe and Burgoyne Delays in the South The Campaign of Philadelphia The Advance from Canada The Fatal Decision The Last Scenes on the Hudson Conclusion The Morrow of Saratoga 147(15) Resignation of the Commanders-in-Chief A Distracted Leader A Strategic Re-appraisal The Breach with France The Naval Mobilisation 162(18) Sandwich and the Admiralty The Peacetime Fleet The State of Readiness Mobilisation War Plans and Preparations 180(10) Lord Amherst The Redeployment The Peace Commission The Command of the Seas 190(22) The French Initiative The British Riposte Byron sails for America Keppel and the Channel Fleet The Campaign in the Channel Crisis in America 212(13) Sir Henry Clinton The Evacuation of Philadelphia The Crisis Weathered Failure of a Mission A Provisioning Crisis The Southern Offensives 225(12) The West Indian Theatre St Lucia The Reconquest of Georgia PART THREE: THE BOURBON ALLIANCE 1778-9 The Cracks in the Foundations 237(12) The Keppel Affair General and Admirals The Disintegration of North The Strategy of 1779 249(18) The Autumn Deployment A Fresh Start in America Erosion of the Plan In the Teeth of Spain The Western Atlantic: the Design Miscarries 267(12) The Rebel Colonies The Loss of Maritime Command Disintegration of the Western Theatres The Defence of England 279(22) The Invasion Plan The British Fleet Suspense in the Channel The Plymouth Panic The End of the Affair PART FOUR: THE EDGE OF THE KNIFE 1779-80 Towards the Caribbean 301(18) Lord North and the People A Case for Boldness The Rodney Expedition Pressure on Spain The Loss of the Initiative 319(19) Admiral Rodney The Relief of Gibraltar Loss of the Initiative Rodney in the Leeward Islands The Jamaican Sphere Gain and Loss in America 338(15) Clinton and the King's Peace Cornwallis in the Carolinas The French Established Treason among the Rebels The Home Front, 1780 353(14) The Command of the Channel Fleet The Channel Operations Repulse of the Opposition PART FIVE: CATASTROPHE 1780-I The Shadows Gather 367(21) The Strain on Resources The South Sea Enterprise The Gathering Storm The End of the Initiative Two Sides of the Hill The Defence of the East Atlantic 388(13) Gibraltar and the Cape The Cost of Gibraltar The Defence of Trade Return of the Combined Fleet `Cornwallis led a country dance' 401(12) Germain and Clinton Bankruptcy of the Southern Offensive The March to Yorktown The Anatomy of Disaster 413(20) Clinton and Washington Rodney and de Grasse The Fight for the Chesapeake The World Turned Upside Down Conclusion PART SIX: AN EMPIRE SALVAGED Saving the Ship 433(13) The News of Yorktown The Loss of Minorca The Work of Salvage The Reinforcement Race The Ship Afloat 446(14) Rodney Away The Race is Won Victory The Anatomy of Victory The End of the Ministry 460(11) The Departure of Germain The Fall of the Ministry The New Brooms 471(16) The Sack of the Fortress The Order of Withdrawal The Fleet in Home Waters The Third Relief of Gibraltar The Comptroller Compares The Sky Suspended 487(18) The Last Autumn Final Operations in the Western Atlantic Hyder and Suffren The Last Battles Conclusion 505(18) The Peace Reflections on a Lost War The Aftermath The Fates of Men Appendix: The British Army 523(5) Bibliography 528(11) Index 539