william howe was the commander-in-chief of british land forces in america in october 1775.
william howe was the commander-in-chief of british land forces in america in october 1775.
who was the commander-in-chief of british land forces in america in october 1775?
william howe
on 11 october 1775, general gage sailed for england, and howe took over as commander-in-chief of the british army in america. british military planners in london had, with the outbreak of hostilities, begun planning a massive reinforcement of the troops in north america. their plans, made with recommendations from howe, called for the abandonment of boston and the establishment of bases in new york and newport, rhode island in an attempt to isolate the rebellion to new england. when orders arrived in november to execute these plans, howe opted to remain in boston for the winter and begin the campaign in 1776. as a result, the remainder of the siege of boston was largely a stalemate. howe never attempted a major engagement with the continental army, which had come under the command of major general george washington. he did, however, spend a fair amount of time at the gambling tables, and allegedly established a relationship with elizabeth lloyd loring, the wife of loyalist joshua loring, jr. loring apparently acquiesced to this arrangement, and was rewarded by howe with the position of commissary of prisoners. contemporaries and historians have criticised howe for both his gambling and the amount of time he supposedly spent with mrs. loring, with some going so far as to level accusations that this behaviour interfered with his military activities; historian john alden does not give these ideas credence. the alleged relationship is also mentioned in "the battle of the kegs", an american propaganda ballad written by francis hopkinson. in january 1776 howe's role as commander in chief was cemented with a promotion to full general in north america.
william howe, 5th viscount howe
he was appointed commander of british land forces in the persian gulf on 30 april 1969 in which role he re-organised the trucial oman scouts and laid the foundations for what is now the sultan of oman's land forces. appointed a knight commander of the order of the bath in the new year honours 1972, he became commander of 1st (british) corps with the rank of lieutenant general on 14 january 1972 and commander-in-chief, uk land forces with the rank of full general on 1 april 1974. advanced to knight grand cross of the order of the bath in the queen's birthday honours 1976 and having become adc general to the queen on 25 june 1976, he became chief of the general staff on 15 july 1976. in this capacity he had to deal with the challenges of recruitment and retention in the army at a time of high inflation. he was promoted to field marshal on 13 july 1979 on his retirement from the british army.
roland gibbs