|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|||||||||
|
17357 - LIGHT INFANTRY COMPANY, 40TH REGIMENT
OF FOOT, 1777 3pc Set
(Click here to go back) |
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Many believe that the British Army failed
to quell the American Revolution because it did not adapt to conditions
in the Thirteen Colonies. According to a long-cherished myth, the
Redcoats fought in fancy uniforms and closely-packed, linear formations.
Such pig-headed behavior made them easy marks for Patriot militia
and riflemen, who fired from behind cover.
In reality, the British Army learned some hard lessons about campaigning in North America during the French and Indian War, 1754-1763. British commanders had their Redcoats simplify their headgear, crop their hair, and adopt more practical uniforms. They formed ranger companies composed of American woodsmen who could scout and fight like Indian warriors. The King's generals also organized picked Redcoats into temporary light infantry units to fight in open order. Lieutenant Colonel William Howe commanded the light infantry battalion that helped capture Quebec in 1759, and he lobbied afterward to turn his tactical arm into a permanent part of the British Army. By 1772, every British line infantry regiment had been authorized to create its own light infantry Company. Howe, now a major general, composed a drill system to teach these companies to function as skirmishers. During the Revolution, light companies were detached from their parent regiments and massed together in elite battalions. As commander of the main British army in North America from 1775 to 1778, Howe relied heavily on his light infantry. In the autumn of 1777, the 2nd Battalion of Light Infantry distinguished itself in Howe's operations against the Patriot capital at Philadelphia. The battalion contained the light companies of the 37th, 40th, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 49th, 52nd, 54th, 55th, 57th, 63rd, 64th, and 71st Regiments of Foot. The battalion's personnel forsook their regulation leather caps, ornate regimental coats, breeches, stockings, and spatterdashes to campaign in broad-brimmed hats, plain red jackets, and gaitered trousers. On the night of September 20-21, 1777, the 2nd Light Infantry Battalion
screened the advance of the 1,400 Redcoats who crept up on two brigades
of Pennsylvania Continentals encamped near Paoli Tavern. When the
British attacked, the rattled Pennsylvanians disclosed their positions
by firing blindly into the darkness. Trusting to their unerring
bayonets, the cheering "Light Bobs" killed or wounded
up to 250 Patriots and stampeded the rest, proving those British
soldiers could practice stealth and surprise as well as their opponents.
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
