Celebrate America250: Ruining Lord Germain’s Career

Most often we analyze American wars from our own perspective. We look at the decisions that our commanders made or should have made. We ask why we won or lost a battle, a campaign, or a war. But there are two sides to a war, and the British made mistakes in the Revolutionary War that lost them the conflict and ruined many careers. Lord George Germain is one leader who often receives the lion's share of the blame for losing America.

George Germain was the Secretary of State for America from November 1775 to February 1782, and had primary responsibility for the conduct of the war during those years. He was a British army officer and a member of parliament from 1733. He became an ally of Frederick, Lord North, who was the First Lord of the Treasury and thus effectively prime minister from 1770 to 1782. As Secretary of State for America, Germain was responsible for planning strategy, assigning officers, and supplying men, ships, and supplies to the forces. He communicated these decisions from London to the commanders in North America by sending letters on ships, which took 6-8 weeks. So his decisions were slowly received, and he often did not understand the situation well.

For example, Germain designed the disastrous strategy of 1777 when Burgoyne was supposed to march south from Canada and William Howe was supposed to divide his forces and send troops north to support Burgoyne and to send troops south to capture Philadelphia. This would simultaneously cut off troublesome New England from the rest of the colonies and capture the rebel capital. But Germain did not send the troops that had been agreed on, so Howe did not have enough troops to send north to support Burgoyne. As a result, American Gen. Horatio Gates defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga, and the Continental Congress eluded Howe's forces attacking Philadelphia. In the end, neither British general accomplished his objectives. Worst of all, the British defeat at Saratoga convinced the French to enter the war. In effect, Germain's failure to send the agreed-upon troops resulted in a colonial rebellion becoming a global war with Britain's main European rival.

But was Germain really responsible for not supplying the necessary troops? Because of financial constraints from the cost of the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War), Britain had reduced the size of its navy and army. Although Britain still had the largest navy in the world, it did not have enough ships to control the American seacoast and to supply its army in North America. And it did not have sufficient troops to occupy all of the thirteen colonies. It could capture individual cities, but it could not hold all of the American colonies. Thus, Washington could always keep an army in the field. And the Continental Congress could always decamp to another city and continue governing the United States. Germain simply did not have the resources required.

But Germain's real fault lay in not designing a political and military strategy that took account of British limitations. He did not recognize that Britain lacked the naval and military forces for a successful conquest and occupation of America. He should have combined a political strategy to address some of the patriots' objections with a military strategy that took account of Britain's limited resources. By overpromising troops and then not delivering in the 1777 campaign, he left Britain open to defeat in America and made Britain vulnerable to its European enemies, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

As the war dragged on in the late 1770s and early 1780s, it became increasingly unpopular in Britain. King George III and the prime minister Lord North recognized the defeat at Yorktown in October 1781 as the final catastrophe. When the news of the defeat reached Lord North, he appointed the unfortunate Germain to take the news to the King. The King's speech from the throne two days later had to be hastily rewritten to take account of the defeat. The news of the defeat dismayed Lord North's party in parliament and galvanized the opposition. By February 1782, North had lost his majority in parliament and was forced to resign.

Germain only agreed to resign as Secretary of State in exchange for being made Baron Bolebrooke and appointed to the House of Lords. In an unusual move, some members of the Lords opposed his being made a peer, although he rallied support and was eventually appointed anyway. His health deteriorated, and he died in 1785. Although his defenders made efforts to rehabilitate his reputation, in Britain he was held primarily responsible for the defeat. But Germain was only one of many British political leaders and military commanders whose reputations were ruined by the defeat in the Revolutionary War.