At the outset of the war the enemy was unduly despised both by ministers at home and soldiers in the field. As the British general in command at Belmont is said to have rejected a proposal for turning the Boers' position, declaring that he would "put the fear of God into them," so Howe at Bunker hill delivered a frontal attack on the enemy's entrenchments which cost him over 1,000 men. Then he went to the opposite extreme of over-caution. It is needless to recapitulate the occasions on which either from over-caution or supineness he allowed great opportunities to slip, as notably on Long Island. He, indeed, in a greater degree than any one else is responsible for the British failure to bring the war to an end. Every month improved the fighting qualities of the Americans, under the judicious handling of Washington, and at last France and the other enemies of England saw that they might take them seriously and might turn the war to their own profit.[134]
FOOTNOTES:
[112] Johnston, Campaign of 1776, p. 125.
[113] Mr. Johnston contends that the American casualties were about 1,000 (op. cit., pp. 202-6); they were probably about double that number (Fortescue, History of the British Army, iii., 185).
[114] Howe, Narrative of Conduct, pp. 4-5.
[115] Johnston, Campaign of 1776, Documents, p. 117.
[116] Carleton to Douglas, Oct. 14, 1776, Add. MS. 21,699 (Haldimand Papers), ff. 52-53.
[117] Examination of Joseph Galloway, p. 14.
[118] Washington, Works, iv., 203, 223, 231.
[119] State Trials, xx., 1365.