The British Army in the Revolution

as seen by Sir David Dundas

“Our very thin and extended order to make more show; an effected extreme of quickness on all occasion… the forming and breaking on the move, the easier to cover and conceal lost distances and accidental lines, which otherwise would be apparent [i.e. the lines are neither well dressed at all times, nor are the movements cohesive] …the different and false composition of columns…

…All idea of solidity seems lost…”

Cited in Fit For Service, J.A. Houlding, Clarendon Press, 1981 p. 240; quoted from Sir David Dundas Principles of Military Movements.

This quote shows just how loose and fast the British Army was as it emerged from America.


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