William howe family

Born August 10, 1729
London, England
Died July 12, 1814
Plymouth, England

Commander-in-chief of the British army in North America

William Howe was the British general given credit not for losing the war against the American rebels, but for failing to win it. Howe was an excellent soldier but a less-than-adequate commander-in-chief. On many occasions he won battles against the Americans but failed to suppress the rebellion early in the war when he did not pursue and decisively defeat the army of General George Washingtonsee entry.

William Howe was born on August 10, 1729, in London to Emanuel Scrope Howe and his wife, Mary Sophia, the eldest daughter of Baron Kielmansegge. William was their third son, and they had at least one daughter, Caroline, who was a famous letter writer.

Although the Howes lived in England, the oldest son of the family held an Irish aristocratic title, viscount (pronounced VY-count) Howe. William's father was the second viscount Howe. William's oldest brother, George Augustus, inherited the title to become the third viscount Howe. (The Howes proved an unfortunate family in respect to this title. George died as a young man, leaving the second son, Richard, to become the fourth viscount Howe. Richard also held an Engish title, earl Howe. When Richard died, William became the fifth viscount Howe and, as he died without children, the Irish title of viscount Howe lapsed.)

The Howe family was believed to be of royal blood. William's grandmother had been a mistress (lover, not a wife) of King George I and bore him a child, from whom William and his brothers and sisters were descended. This made William, Richard, and George Howe the uncles of King George III (1738–1820; see entry), who held the British throne at the time of the American Revolutionary War (1775–83). In later years, when Richard was made an admiral in the navy and William a general in the army, some of their critics claimed that they received their positions as a result of the king's favor.

As a child, William Howe was tutored at home and then attended Eton, an exclusive private school. While at school, he met and became friends with many of the men who would run the British government and military during the war with the American colonies.

Joins the army

As a younger son, William Howe needed a profession to support himself. He chose the army, and soon proved that he was a talented soldier. His family purchased a commission for him (they bought a military rank and regiment for him to serve in, a common practice at the time). In 1746, at the age of seventeen, he entered the army as a cornet (a low-ranking officer). He was a dragoon, an infantry or foot soldier who also fought on horseback. By the time he was twenty-nine, Howe had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel and was serving in Ireland. Along the way, he became friends with James Wolfe, a brilliant young major in his regiment.

Service in French and Indian War

In 1760 Howe and his regiment left Ireland for America to support the colonists in the French and Indian War (1754–63). This war was part of a larger European struggle called the Seven Years War (1756–63). This struggle, mainly between England and France, spilled over into their colonial possessions, and many English regiments were sent to Canada and the American colonies to answer the French threat there. (In the Americas, the French enlisted the aid of their Native American allies; from that came the name French and Indian War.)

Howe gained a reputation for bravery during the battle to take the Canadian city of Quebec, in September 1759. His commanding officer was his old friend, James Wolfe, now a successful general. Howe led a small force of twenty-four men who helped clear a path for the British army to move across the Heights of Abraham, the plain overlooking Quebec. This daring act put the British in a position to take the city from the French. In 1760 the British army swept into Montreal, completing the defeat of the French in Canada. During this action, Howe commanded a brigade (a fighting unit of both foot and horse soldiers).

Howe returned briefly to England, to help in the war effort there. He commanded a brigade at the siege of Belle Isle, off the coast of Brittany, France, in 1761. By 1762 he was back across the ocean in time to serve with the British army in their conquest of Havana, on the island of Cuba off the Florida coast.

Holds seat in Parliament

At the end of the Seven Years War, Howe's military future looked very promising. Upon returning home, he was first made colonel of a regiment stationed in Ireland. In 1765 he married Frances Conolly, the fourth daughter of William Conolly and his wife, Lady Anne Wentworth. Frances and her family lived in Castletown, in county Kildare, where Howe's regiment was stationed. Howe may have loved Frances Conolly when they married, but he would prove himself incapable of remaining a faithful husband. He loved going to parties, flirting with beautiful women, and dining well. His officers loved him and he proved his bravery on the battlefield many times. Both friends and critics described Howe as a tall, stout man with a dark complexion. He seems to have been good tempered, but when angered would explode.

Although Howe stayed in the military, the lack of fighting gave him a chance to pursue a political career. He was named governor of the Isle of Wight in 1768. A seat in Parliament (Great Britain's lawmaking body) in the House of Commons (similar to the U.S. House of Representatives) became vacant when Howe's brother, George Augustus, also a British officer serving in the French and Indian War, died in a battle in 1758. William Howe was elected to his brother's seat in 1759, and continued to sit in Parliament until 1780. When he stood to address Parliament, his subject was often the harsh measures Britain was using to subdue its rebellious citizens in America. Howe had served in America and liked the people there.

But politics did not absorb all of Howe's time. In 1772 he was promoted to major general, another step on the way to becoming a full general. In 1774 he was put in charge of training army units in a new style of fighting called light infantry drill. Then, in February 1775, Howe received orders that would take him to America and the coming revolution there. Howe had said publicly that he liked Americans, and had no interest in fighting them. However, as a soldier, Howe felt he had to obey the orders sending him to Boston to help General Thomas Gagesee entry.

Battle of Bunker Hill

Howe sailed on the Cerebus, along with two other generals who would gain fame in the Revolution, General Henry Clinton and General John Burgoynesee entry. Howe and his companions arrived in Boston Harbor on May 25. By mid-June, he had assessed the military situation, and he took command at the urging of Gage, Britain's military governor in Boston. After clashing with the American militia (the Minutemen) at Concord, the British had retreated into Boston. George Washington, in charge of the American (or Continental) army, had camped around the city to keep the British contained.

Howe advised that the British army leave Boston to assault (charge) the American positions on Bunker and Breed's hills, just outside the city. This was the first major battle of the American Revolution. It took three assaults, but the British finally broke through the American lines. The cost was staggering, with the British losing almost half their attack force. The sight of the wounded and dead left a huge impact on Howe, and made him more thoughtful in risking his men's lives.

In October 1776 Howe assumed total control of the British army in the American colonies. From then on his title was "His Excellency, General William Howe, the commanderin-chief of His Britannic Majesty's expeditionary forces in America." One of Howe's first moves as commander-in-chief was to determine that it was unprofitable to the British to try to hold on to Boston. In March 1776 he evacuated (left) Boston, along with his army and many Loyalists (Tories or Americans loyal to Britain), for Halifax, Nova Scotia. This Canadian city was still a British stronghold. One of the Loyalists to leave Boston in General Howe's evacuation fleet was Elizabeth Loring, the wife of Joshua Loring. Howe fell in love with Mrs. Loring, and their open love affair fueled criticism of both Howe and his lover. She was nicknamed "lovely Lizzie Loring," and poems that made fun of her and the general would appear in American newspapers until Howe left the country. Her husband, Joshua, was left behind in New York City, but Howe consoled him by making him commissary of prisoners (person in charge of the store that sold goods to prisoners).

Takes New York City

From Halifax, Howe took his army of thirty-two thousand soldiers and camped around New York City in June 1776. His goal was to capture this important port city and break the American resistance. Aiding Howe in this goal was his brother, Richard, now an admiral and in charge of the British fleet in America. After a series of battles, including British army victories at White Plains and Long Island, the Howes succeeded in taking New York in November 1776, and occupied the city that winter. That same year, William Howe was knighted for his service to the British crown, becoming General Sir William Howe. He and Richard were also named peace commissioners by the king, and urged to try to find a peaceful solution to the rebellion (the king wanted the American rebels to surrender).

Throughout the winter, both William and Richard Howe tried to negotiate with the rebels, but their peace overtures were not accepted. Instead, the Americans published their Declaration of Independence, which would gain them European allies with whom to continue their fight against Britain. William Howe realized then that his strategy was not working (he was trying to show the Americans the strength of the British army in the hopes that the rebels would back down). In fact, the Americans surprised Howe by winning battles at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, in December 1776 and January 1777. Then Washington went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, in Pennsylvania. Howe again had a chance to smash Washington's smaller and weaker army, but he stayed in New York.

Captures American capital of Philadelphia

Howe now decided that he would need to break Washington's army in order to end the rebellion. He requested thousands of British and Loyalist reinforcements. He would use these soldiers to hold New York while he went south to take the American capital of Philadelphia. The reinforcements never came but Howe was committed to taking Philadelphia. He packed up most of his army and sailed into Chesapeake Bay in August of 1777. He left behind General Henry Clinton and a skeleton force to hold New York City. His move southward also left General John Burgoynesee entry without support as he tried to invade upstate New York from Canada. (This lack of support would earn Howe much criticism, as Burgoyne eventually lost the Battle of Saratoga and surrendered his army to the Americans.)

On his march into Philadelphia, Howe defeated Washington at Brandywine Creek, where the Continental army tried to stop the British advance. By September, Howe had taken Philadelphia. Many in Philadelphia welcomed the British with open arms, especially the Loyalists, who were glad to have the British in their city. Others in the city remained indifferent to the American struggle for independence. An even smaller group actively worked to oust the British first from Philadelphia and then from America itself. This group of patriots continually spied on Howe and his staff, and even on Mrs. Loring. But Howe had a hard time believing that the friendly American faces around him were really those of his enemies. After a time, even his own officers began to question his judgment about Americans.

In October 1778 Howe defeated an American attempt to retake Philadelphia at the Battle of Germantown. Then Howe once again went into winter quarters, taking the best house in Philadelphia for his headquarters. He spent the winter taking Lizzie Loring to parties, and only occasionally made war on the American-held forts along the Delaware River that blocked the British fleet from supplying Philadelphia. Howe also responded to criticism about how he was running the war by offering to quit. That fall, he submitted his letter of resignation.

Resigns and returns to England

In April 1778 Howe learned that his resignation had been accepted, and that he and Richard Howe were to return to England. When word of Howe's departure spread through his staff, many were disappointed to lose such a popular commander. One of his favorite aides, Major John André, organized a huge farewell party called a mischianza, which is Italian for medley or mix of entertainment. The officers dressed up as knights and fought a tournament on horseback. The party also included an elaborate dinner, fireworks, and dancing. Many who criticized Howe's love of luxury pointed to this party as an example of how he wasted time and money when he should have been waging war. General Henry Clinton arrived in May 1778 to officially take over the British command from Howe.

When Howe arrived in England in July 1778, he found that many in Parliament and throughout the British upper classes were openly questioning how he and his brother Richard had organized the war effort in America. By early 1778, the Howe brothers demanded that Parliament open a public inquiry into how the war in America was being conducted. The hearing was held, and included evidence both supporting and criticizing the Howes. One critic was Henry Clinton, who wrote bitterly that Howe had failed in his mission to put down the American rebellion. The hearing closed in 1779 without finding the Howe brothers either guilty or innocent. William Howe responded in 1780 by publishing a pamphlet in his own defense called Narrative of Sir William Howe before a Committee of the House of Commons. Responding to critics who said that his military strategy in America had not been bold enough, Howe wrote, "As my opinion has always been, that the defeat of the rebel regular army is the surest road to peace, I invariably pursued the most profitable means of forcing its commander to action under circumstances least hazardous to the royal army."

Serves in war against France

While the Howes' reputation may have suffered, the setback was temporary and both men's careers soon were back on track. Some believe that the Howes survived the storm of criticism because the king intervened on his uncles' behalf. Whatever the reason, beginning in 1782, William Howe was promoted several times and in 1793 he became a full general, in charge of England's northern defense in 1795 when war broke out with France. In 1795, Howe was named governor of Berwick-on-Tweed, an English city.

When his brother Richard died in 1799 without children, William Howe inherited the Irish title and became the fifth viscount Howe. By 1803, Howe's health was so bad that he resigned his military post and took up residence in the port city of Plymouth. He was made governor of the city in 1805. Howe was also named a privy councillor, one of a group of personal advisers to the king. He died in Plymouth on July 12, 1814, after a long illness.

For More Information

Anderson, Troyer Steele. The Command of the Howe Brothers during the American Revolution. Temecula, CA: Reprint Services Corp., 1993.

Cornwell, Bernard. Redcoat. New York: HarperPaperbacks, 1987.

Cullen, Joseph P. "Brandywine Creek." American History Illustrated. Vol. 15, August 1980, pp. 8–18.

Galloway, Joseph. A Reply to the Observations of Lieut. Gen. Sir William Howe, on a Pamphlet, Entitled Letters to a Nobleman. New York: Irvington Publishers, 1972.

Gruber, Ira D. The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution. New York: W. W. Norton, 1972.

Inguanzo, Anthony P. "Howe, William" in The American Revolution, 1775–1783: An Encyclopedia, vol. 1: A–L. Richard L. Blanco, editor. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993, pp. 785–88.

Leckie, Robert. George Washington's War: The Saga of the American Revolution. New York: HarperCollins, 1992, pp. 463–66.

MacGregor, Bruce. "A Failure to Communicate: the British and Saratoga." American History Illustrated. Vol. 20, October 1985, pp. 12–20.

Purcell, L. Edward. "William Howe" in Who Was Who in the American Revolution. New York: Facts on File, 1993, pp. 239–40.

Did General Howe Lose the War?

Critics for more than two hundred years have charged that William Howe's lack of aggression cost Britain its richest possession, the American colonies. Howe proved himself an able commander, defeating George Washington's army time and again. However, many wonder why Howe did not pursue the fleeing rebels and destroy their army.

Why did Howe hesitate? Some historians believe that Howe was a good soldier but did not have the necessary skills to be commander-in-chief. They say that Howe could plot a single battle but could not develop a strategy (long-term plan) for winning the war.

Other historians cite Howe's fondness for the American people. It is true that Howe was moved when the people of Massachusetts raised money for a monument in honor of his brother, George, who was killed in the French and Indian War defending the colonists. It is true that Howe was publicly in love with an American woman, Elizabeth Loring. It is true that he argued in Parliament for a peaceful settlement of the quarrel with America.

However, Howe was first and foremost an English aristocrat and a soldier. He was bred, educated, and trained to serve Great Britain and to defend his country and its possessions. It is unlikely that Howe would put these claims aside, however much he may have liked the Americans. A more likely explanation is Howe's apparent inability to trounce the rebels. Armies were hard to raise and expensive to provide for, and few military leaders were willing to take on the risks unless a victory was assured. Howe had to preserve his army, because few replacements were coming out from England. The Loyalists whom Howe had expected to flock to his aid had turned out in disappointingly small numbers. And then Howe had to make his supplies and ammunition last, because his supply line stretched back across the Atlantic Ocean to England.

Geography also played a part. It was impossible for Howe to capture a major city, leave it controlled by his soldiers, and then go on to take another city. America was simply too big and he had too few soldiers. Given these problems, it is unlikely that any British commander could have avoided losing the war in America.

Howe, however, could have broken the American resistance early in the war had he pursued and smashed the Continental army. Why he chose not to do so, on repeated occasions, remains one of the most perplexing questions of American Revolutionary War history.