1761 - December
New York
The North American Parliament would meet throughout the fall and winter of 1761, though it would accomplish few tangible benefits to the nation's defense. Pledges were made for "donations" from the various colonies but Benjamin Franklin had lived far, far too long to believe he could rely upon the colonies to merely provide what the Parliament of North America demanded in provisions and funds. The central Parliament must have its own revenue streams. In order to ease the transition to this new mode of thought, Franklin bypassed for now the idea of direct taxation. Instead, he proposed that all customs collections and those taxes previously imposed by Britain (direct or indirect) to the coffers of the central government. This was perhaps the fairest way to do it as most of these were fees on trade or excise taxes. If one decided one didn't want to pay any taxes, then one simply did not have to purchase any of these goods. No one could force a man to buy foreign goods, could they?
But all of this was still a mere proposal approved by the Parliament for the King's approval. Normally, this would have taken years of debate and the King would have been informed long before of the intent in order to gage his opinion. But, by 1761, George II and Prince George of Wales (possible George III if his grandfather predeceased him) were dead and "Good King Edward" had only recently been generally acknowledged to be a prisoner of the French.
George Howe, the Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in North America, similarly didn't know what to do. However, he was at least politically adroit enough to work WITH the new Parliament in North America as every predecessor of his had echoed the same complaints regarding the American provincial assemblies: they were impossible to deal with and often deliberately obstructed any appointed official whom offended them (which was most).
The new Parliament was Howe's best hope for sustaining his forces in North America for the immediate future. Granted, these forces were modest overall as most of the British regulars had been withdrawn from the mainland in order to invade Saint Domingue and Guadeloupe (where many more would die of disease or at the hands of the slaves than by French soldiers).
In the end, both Howe and Franklin could only manage as well they could.
And wait.
1761 - December
The English Channel
Though the weather in the English Channel would often by dangerous, the commanders of the Royal Navy dare not wait any longer. Several dozen warships had finally been accumulated from other ports in Britain and abroad and massed along western British ports and the sole remaining major harbor along the southern coast of Britain, Plymouth, was being encroached by the French army. Should Britain be expelled totally from this southern base, then it would become almost impossible to regain control over the Channel due to the harsh, prevailing easterly winds. Any British fleet would always have to tack into the wind and would have no avenue for shelter with the French controlling the lands on both sides of the Channel.
It was determined that, above all else the French supply line to the army occupying southern must be cut, no matter the cost, else so many French troops would be stationed in Britain that the Navy would cease to matter in the equation.
Though it took months to accomplish, over 45 warships from 1st Rate Ships of the Line to frigate class (and a few below that), would mass along the Irish Sea and sail past Cornwall.
Historians would argue what may have happened if that winter gale had not suddenly shot up in the Channel. But emerge it did. While over a hundred French, Spanish, Dutch and Danish warships huddled under cover, the assorted British Admirals doggedly attempted to rail against the winds in order to gain advantage of positioning.
The result, when the winds finally died, was the loss of 6 ships to the storms and severe damage to 9 others. The remainder of the fleet had been unable to stay united and, as the French and Spanish ships emerged from the harbors of Southern Britain or Northern France, they fell upon the exhausted and battered Royal Navy suppliers.
In the ensuing battle, another 8 British ships were sunk or taken (compared to 9 French and Spanish). Most of the remaining British ships sustained damage and were forced to retreat. The allies, though, could afford the loss. The British could not.
To make matters worse, a French army had marched west to Plymouth and seized the naval base from the shore. Most of the local fleet had already fled to rendezvous in the Irish Sea. But many of the Royal Naval vessels damaged in the gale and later in the battle had been forced to limp into Plymouth. Many of these ships were taken by the French army while several others looked on impotently from the harbor. These were later scuttled as the French fleet arrived in Plymouth to cut them off and complete the job.
The Channel had fallen.
By February, another 30,000 French, German and Danish troops had crossed the now secure Channel.