Lt Gen Thomas Gage was the British Commander in Boston at the start of the AWI. The walk to Lexington and Concord which ended in disaster happened on his watch. That was bad enough but his big mistake was to allow the frontal attack on Breed's Hill (Howe's idea). Sir Henry Clinton's suggeston was to go by boat and close off the neck and put all the rebels in a bag without firing a shot. Gage as commander could have followed Sir Henry's idea. Each of these mistakes gave heart to the rebels and cost the British a lot of casualties. FWI, Gage, as a Lt Col, commanded Gen Braddock's advance party(F & I war). He contributed more than anyone else to the defeat of that campaign. Your thoughts? YMH & OS, Ben Newton God Save King George! fourthbnra@hotmail.com
Ben, I think you're right on. I realize that it was honorable to assault the enemy straight on, and I likewise understand that nobody expected the rebels to stand and fight, but it was foolhardy for Gage to order that direct assault at Breed's Hill. Eric
Gage did not do well in the Braddock defeat by failing to secure the high ground once the ambush was sprung; however, this kind of fighting was new to even the combat-experienced British officers. Needless to say, the performance of the French forces (French, Canadians, and Indians) was the major reason for Braddock's defeat. The most significant contributing factor to the rout was the early casualties among the British officers, which left the poorly-trained rank-and-file up the proverbial creek. Another obvious contributing factor was a lack of effective advance and flank scouts, probably neglected because of British overconfidence. One further note on Gage: in 1758, he pioneered the concept of light infantry in the British army, establishing the 8oth regiment which was designed to take the place of the various ranger detachments (such as the famous Roger's Rangers) which had proved useful earlier in the war, but rangers were expensive (pay was higher than the regulars) to maintain and pure terrors when it came to discipline. He had learned from his Braddock experience.
Gentlemen This is an attempt to see if the picture of MG William Phillips(Lt Col RA) has been entered on my page. YMH & OS, Ben fourthbnra@hotmail.com
