Military Strategies in American Revolutionary War

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William Anthony Hay, The War for New York; By controlling the Hudson River Valley during the Revolutionary War, Britain hoped to sever New England from the states farther south. Wall Street Journal, Aug 11, 2016
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-war-for-new-york-1470869310
(book review on George C Daughan, Revolution on the Hudson

Note:
(1) The book under review "approaches the struggle for American independence from this vantage point [ie military strategy], showing how both sides, almost to the point of obsession, fought over a geographical zone that they considered the key to North America.  Geography itself explains much of the obsession. New York's harbor stayed mostly ice-free through even the hardest winters * * * Seagoing ships could navigate the Hudson River to Albany, NY. From there, the route up the Hudson to Lake Champlain and then to the St Lawrence River provided a transit corridor through the mountains and dense forest"
(a)
(i) Hudson River has two sources. See the map in
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River
(ii) Champlain Canal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champlain_Canal
(a 60-mile (97 km) canal; opened in 1823; view map)
(iii) Lake Champlain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Champlain
(map)
flows north and empties into the St Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec -- northeast and downstream of Montreal.
(b) Albany, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany,_New_York
(Roughly 150 miles (240 km) north of New York City, Albany developed on the west bank of the Hudson River, about 10 miles (16 km) south of its confluence with the Mohawk River; was the first European settlement in the state [in 1614 by Dutch fur traders; before Manhattan (1624 by Dutch fur traders)]

Quote: "When New Netherland was captured by the English in 1664, they changed the name * * * to Albany, in honor of the [then] Duke of Albany (later James II of England and James VII of Scotland [reign 1685-1688 (overthrown in Glorious Revolution)] ). Duke of Albany was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots [The equivalent in England was, and in UK is, Duke of York 00 which is currently held by Prince Andrew, younger brother of Charles, Prince of Wales]. The name is ultimately derived from Alba, the Gaelic name for Scotland.

(2) "By controlling this corridor during the Revolutionary War, Britain hoped to sever New England from the states further south. Almost as important, it hoped to exploit the fact that New York state was home to more loyalists than New England. * * * The number of loyalists proved to be less than the British had counted on but enough to make the fighting in Westchester County and nearby districts akin to a civil war."

Westchester County, New York
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westchester_County,_New_York
(table: "Named for: [City of] Chester, [Cheshire,] England")

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3) "Mr Daughan, a naval historian, stresses how much the British aimed at 'seizing the Hudson River Valley as a fast way to end the conflict' and how much their 'fascination' with this strategy persisted even as their efforts in 1776 and 1777 failed. He believes that, in fact, they pursued an impossible goal.  Commanding the Hudson River, it turned out, required larger forces than Britain could deploy. * * * The failure to impose a tight blockade on Atlantic harbors [held by colonists or Patriots] allowed the colonists to import much-needed stores * * * Naval superiority certainly gave British forces advantages [See (4)(a)(ii) below] * * * but not enough to win the war or even the Hudson."
(a) "George C Daughan received a PhD in American history and government from Harvard University," then taught at Air Force Academy (in master program of international affairs) and Connecticut College (private; founded in 1911 to educate women).
(b) store (n): "plural :  articles (as of food) accumulated for some specific object and drawn upon as needed : STOCK, SUPPLIES"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/store

(4) "More than we realize, sea power and inland navigation shaped the war, as Mr Daughan shows. Both armies transported supplies by water * * * Massachusetts fishermen in the Continental Army manned their boats to evacuate Brooklyn Heights in August 1776 and later repeatedly crossed the Delaware in an effort to recover lost ground. On the other side, Gen William Howe's 1776 campaign marked a triumph of amphibious warfare, nearly trapping Washingtons army at Brooklyn and then Manhattan before forcing it to retreat across New Jersey. By contrast, the failure of Britain to dominate Lake Champlain that year halted an advance that might have enabled British troops in Canada to aid in Howe’s operations in the south."
(a)
(i) Battle of Long Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island
(Aug 27, 1776; n terms of troop deployment [for strength and casualties, see table] and [intensity of] fighting, it was the largest battle of the entire war; Result  British victory; section 3 Aftermath, section 3.1 Retreat to Manhattan: Aug 29-30: "Colonel John Glover's regiment from Marblehead, Massachusetts * * * At 23:00, Glover and his Massachusetts men, who were sailors and fishermen, began to evacuate the troops")

Click "Brooklyn Heights," view map to know where it is within Brooklyn.
(ii) United States Navy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy
(1775- ; section 2 History, section 2.1 Origins: "In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own navy." What about national navy?)

(b) "later repeatedly crossed the Delaware [River; first to retreat into Pennsylvania and back to invaded New Jersey] in an effort to recover lost ground"

George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge ... _the_Delaware_River
(Night of December 25–26, 1776; Outcome Battle of Trenton [Dec 26, 1776; decisive American victory[; section 1 Background)
(c) "the failure of Britain to dominate Lake Champlain that year"
(i) Battle of Valcour Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valcour_Island
(Oct 11, 1776; Result  Tactical British victory, Strategic American victory)
(ii) Valcour Island
www.dictionary.com/browse/valcour-island
(pronunciation)

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(5) "Another problem [for Britons] came in 1777, when Howe went by sea to Philadelphia to force Washington into battle. By leaving New York instead of pushing north in a coordinated operation as originally planned, he exposed Gen John Burgoyne to American regulars and militia in upstate New York without support, and Burgoyne ended up advancing beyond hope of easy retreat. Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga canceled any advantage that Howe had gained in Pennsylvania."
(a) Philadelphia campaign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_campaign
(1777–1778; General Howe "landed them at the northern end of Chesapeake Bay [click to view maps]. From there, he advanced northward toward Philadelphia")
(b) Saratoga campaign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga_campaign
(June 14 – Oct 17, 1777; view table for "Strength": US overwhelmed; section 1.2 Burgoyne's plan to capture Albany: He moved from Quebec [click the first 'Quebec in introduction makes it clear it means Quebec province, not Quebec City] southward; section 2 American strategy; section 3 International interest)

(6) British General Henry "Clinton still thought that speed and tactical skill could win key crossings on the Hudson. His hopes inspired overtures that led to one of history’s great betrayals—when Benedict Arnold promised West Point to the British, only to be discovered, his plan thwarted.

Benedict Arnold
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold
(1741 – 1801)

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(7) "Washington sought French naval help to trap the British there [in NYC], but the French Gen Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau deftly raised another possibility. He observed that the British army under Lord Cornwallis had marched from the Carolinas to Virginia and presented an easier target along Chesapeake.  Soon enough, boats had conveyed American and French troops to the head of the Chesapeake Bay even as a French fleet won a crucial victory that closed the bay to British ships [Battle of the Chesapeake; Sept 5, 1781]. Clinton remained fixated on defending New York until it was too late. Before a rescue expedition could reach the Chesapeake, he had news that Cornwallis had surrendered."
(a) Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clinton_(British_Army_officer,_born_1730)
(1730 – 1795; from 1778 to 1782 he was the British Commander-in-Chief in North Americal section 2.4 Commander in Chief: paragraph 3: Philadelphia to New York City by land + a strike force tp Georgia while Clinton stayed in NYC pthat was when Corwallis surrendered])
(b)
(i) Siege of Yorktown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown
(introduction: Cornwallis's surrender resulted in capture of more than 7,000 British soldiers)

Quote (showing ARMY strength on both sides):

A couple of days before May 24, 1781: "With the arrival of Cornwallis [at Yorktown] and after more reinforcements from New York, the British Army numbered 7,200 men.[3] Cornwallis wanted to push Lafayette, whose force now numbered 3,000 men with the arrival of Virginia militia.

Then Washington's and French soldiers marched from Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia: "section 3 March to Virginia: * * * 4,000 French and 3,000 American soldiers began the march in Newport, Rhode Island

(ii) History of the Siege. National Park Service (NPS), undated.
https://www.nps.gov/york/learn/h ... ry-of-the-siege.htm
(iii) Yorktown campaign
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorktown_campaign
("British naval forces in North America and the West Indies were weaker than the combined fleets of France and Spain * * * de Grasse's last minute decision [at Santo Domingo in present-day Dominican Republic; see (7)(b)(i) at introduction] to take his entire fleet to North America, thus ensuring a French superiority of three to two in battleship strength")
(A) Recall UK maintained uninterrupted naval superiority after Horatio Nelson's 1805 Battle of Trafalgar (against, again, both France and Spain)
(B) There is no need to read the rest of this Wiki page.
(c) "boats had conveyed American and French troops to the head of the Chesapeake Bay"

What does this mean?  Washington's and French soldiers marched from Newport, Rhode Island, on land for the most part, yet the last legs on boats via Chesapeake Bay southbound.
(i) NPS website does not have the map any more, which is very helpful to visualize the last legs on boats. The following Wiki page reproduces the map.

Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington–Rochambeau_Revolutionary_Route
(map caption: "NPS map of the W3R Route" (Wikipedia adds "NPS" to the original caption "Map of the W3R Route.")

ON the map is the wording: "Routes of Washington and Rochambeau in 1781"
(ii) Washington and Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, NPS, undated.
https://www.nps.gov/waro/learn/h ... lutionary-route.htm

Quote:

"Though large as far as American armies [led by George Washington at Rhode Island] were concerned, Rochambeau's forces were quite small by European standards. Under his immediate command were about 4,250 officers and men.

"On September 6-8, 1781, the allied armies camped just south of the Hollingsworth Tavern in Elkton, Maryland [read the content, which is too long to reproduce] The French considered these craft not seaworthy and continued their land march on September 17. That evening baron de Vioménil, who commanded French forces in the absence of Rochambeau, received word of the arrival of a French fleet in Annapolis and immediately changed direction. In the morning of September 18, the French columns reached Annapolis and over the next few days the infantry with their baggage and tents as well as the field artillery embarked on 15 vessels sent by de Grasse.