What were the British disadvantages in the American Revolutionary War?

Answer 1

1) Distance - troops and supplies had to be shipped across Atlantic. By the time orders issued from London arrived in the States, the strategic poop situation had usually changed.

2) Terrain - The British were unfamiliar with terrain and environment, especially the southern heat. Revolutionaries were able to use this to their advantage and negate higher British numbers.

3) The U.S. had no central area of strategic importance - in Europe, capturing a capital city usually meant the end of the war. In the States, which were not united before the war, when the British seized cities such as New York and Philadelphia, the war continued unabated.

4) Large size of the colonies - once an area was controlled by the British, they had to stay and occupy it or the revolutionaries would regain control. The British had enough troops to beat the Americans on the battlefield but not enough to simultaneously occupy the colonies.

5) Lack of domestic support in the UK and inconsistent Loyalist support in U.S.

6) The British soldiers fought for $money$ not from the heart.

Answer 2

The biggest advantage was communications. They didn't have to wait weeks for orders to come across the Atlantic. Certainly knowledge of the immediate area was valuable in the various attacks.

By the time new orders had set sail from Britain to America it was weeks before the orders made it to America and by that time the orders were pointless and out of date.

Also another big advantage was the French,they were crucial to America,they also did most of the work. Americas other allies were the Spanish and the Dutch.

Britain was fighting 3 other major wars at the same time as the Revolutionary War, Napolean and the French Empire,Mongol Empire,Japanese Empire, these 3 other wars had everything to lose and everything to gain for the British Empire, the Revolutionary War didnt have anything for the British Empire to gain as America was to young of a country, so Britain surrenderd, signed the peace treaty,then went on to fight its 3 other major wars,wich the British won.

Also helpfull was the land size of America,Britain had an extremely powerfull military the most powerfull in the world as they had taken over and ruled more of the world than anyone else in history but at the time was very small in man power, they captured and took control of all habours and everything near the water line with its vast Navy and just inside the water line, but they didnt have enough troops to leave there to take control of captured areas and move further inland to capture more land. as soon as they captured land further inland the American citerzens would just reclaim it once the British had moved on,making holding land in the middle of America more difficult.

Another big advantage for America was, in Europe when you captured a countries capital city the War was declared over, the British captured and took North America and New York ,Philadelphia etc etc, but the war just continued regardless.

Another disadvantage was Americas very first Army was set up during the Revolutionary War and it was trained and led by British troops who turned on there own country.

1. Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy American coastal cities, but control of the countryside largely eluded them because of the relatively small size of their land arm.

2. The French entered the war against the British, and supplied Americans with the tools they needed to defeat the British.

3. The Americans adopted guerrilla warfare in which they hid and shot at the British troops protected. The British were used to a more traditional style of war in which both sides openly fought, giving them a disadvantage.

Answer 3

it was very costly to send troops and supplies across the atlantis ocean