Meet British General Sir William Howe. In April 1776, General William Howe officially became Commander in Chief of the British Army in the 13 colonies. With his superb tactical skills , he led his forces to a series of victories over Washington in 1776, but he was often slow to take full advantage of his battlefield successes. And Washington's army escaped disaster repeatedly. General Howe was a veteran commander of war in North America but liked Americans who had fought side by side with him in the French and Indian War. Howe tried to end the rebellion with minimal bloodshed to his own troops as well as to the Americans. The Royal Navy was under command of his older brother, Admiral Lord Richard Howe.
In the aftermath of Trenton and Princeton, General Howe sought revenge and believed he could end the war in spring 1777 by capturing the rebel capital. From his headquarters in New York City, General Howe wrote to the Secretary for the American Colonies , Lord George Germain, in London to approve his plan to take Philadelphia. But since it took 4 to 6 weeks or more for a letter to get across the Atlantic, time and distance worked against a unified British plan.
.jpg)