I'm looking for pointers to fill in gaps in my knowledge.
I'm trying to figure out what the British would be doing in 1782 if the Battle of the Chesapeake ended with a British strategic victory and Cornwallis was able to extricate himself from Yorktown before being bottled up by the arrival of Washington's main army.
For purposes of discussion assume that the British ended the open ocean manoeuvering early and got back to the mouth of the Chesapeake before the French did.
As I understand it, Lord North was preparing for a parliamentary vote on the military budget for 1782 when the news of Yorktown arrived.
Can anybody tell me what were the British war plans for 1782 before the news of Yorktown?
Had the North Ministry decided that the American Theatre was effectively lost and were they prepared to just sit still in North America? Was Cornwallis going to continue to march around the South causing destruction? Was there any plans to pull his forces from the field and redeploy them elsewhere?
Thanks in advance,
David
I'm trying to figure out what the British would be doing in 1782 if the Battle of the Chesapeake ended with a British strategic victory and Cornwallis was able to extricate himself from Yorktown before being bottled up by the arrival of Washington's main army.
For purposes of discussion assume that the British ended the open ocean manoeuvering early and got back to the mouth of the Chesapeake before the French did.
As I understand it, Lord North was preparing for a parliamentary vote on the military budget for 1782 when the news of Yorktown arrived.
Can anybody tell me what were the British war plans for 1782 before the news of Yorktown?
Had the North Ministry decided that the American Theatre was effectively lost and were they prepared to just sit still in North America? Was Cornwallis going to continue to march around the South causing destruction? Was there any plans to pull his forces from the field and redeploy them elsewhere?
Thanks in advance,
David