The British Army in the American Colonies 1776-1781

The British Army in America 1776 to 1781

Tables produced from Colonial & War Office records, give a yearly snapshot of the numbers & distribution of British & Allied troops in American colonies during the main period of conflict of The Revolutionary War

State of the British Army in America on :- 17th March 1776


Force/Area	Fit for Duty	Miscellaneous	Prisoner	Sick	Wounded	TOTAL
Boston
British	8,150	419	31	236	358	9,194

Although the British had built up their presence in Boston they were forced out 3rd June 1776

State of the British Army in America on :- 24th Dec 1776


Force/Area	Fit for Duty	Killed/Missing	Prisoner	Died	Wounded	TOTAL
New York
British	7,536	83 - 3	0	5	112	7,741
Hessian	10,763	65 - 15	1	492	316	11,652

TOTALS	18,299	148 - 18	1	497	428	19,393

With most of their own troops and best commanders needed elsewhere, the British, if they
were to come to the aid of the Loyalists, had to ask Hanover for the additional men required
to take on Washington's army at Long Island. Although Hanover obliged, their men, mainly
Hessians were to suffer grievously from the bad water & diseases prevalent in America

The war was going badly for Washington until he struck at a British weak spot i.e. a Hessian forward outpost at Trenton not only already weakened by disease but by most of them still being drunk from their traditional Christmas celebrations. This reversed fortunes and put the British on the back foot for months.

State of the British Army in America on :- 7th July 1777


Force/Area	Fit for Duty	Died/Missing	Prisoner	Sick	Wounded	TOTAL
New York
British	12,270	541 - 31	47	157	38	13,084
Hessian	6,848	785 - 1038	986	8	61	9,726
Loyalist	2,949	17	5	2	14	2,987
Rhode Is
British	1,203	36	15	159		1,413
Hessian	1,586	416	0	124		2,126

TOTALS	24,856	2,864	1,053	450	113	29,336

With Loyalists constantly attacked by the rebels and no more Hessians being made available, the British were forced to cannibalize other theatres of operations for men, in order to punch a hole into the rebel's lair in Philadelphia, although the British knew they lacked the men to finish Washington off themselves, they were reasonably confident that the winter would do it for them, giving rise to the legend of Valley Forge.

State of the British Army in America on :- 23rd May 1778


Force/Area	Fit for Duty	Miscellaneous	Prisoner	Sick	Wounded	TOTAL
Philadelphia
British	12,050	645	814	1,504	*	15,013
Hessian	5,022	49	1,080	295	*	6,446
Loyalist	1,216	27	41	158	*	1,442
New York
British	1,727	42	129	349	*	2,234
Hessian	1,663	129	106	94	*	1,992
Loyalist	2,550	268	352	579	*	3,749
Rhode Is
British	1,425	31	13	135	*	1,617
Hessian	2,018	329	0	98	*	2,445
Loyalist	64	27	1	7	*	99

TOTALS	27,735	1,547	2,536	3,219	*	35,037

* Not given and seems to be in with other figures I've grouped under Miscellaneous.

With France entering the war and the British getting no where in the north, Archibald Campbell and 3500 men set sail for Georgia to rally the Loyalists there, who in turn drove the rebels from all but the furthest reaches of the back country (where most came from) and in doing so, denied France a valuable trading port.

State of the British Army in America on :- 1st Dec 1779

Force/Area

Fit for Duty

Killed/Missing

Prisoner

Sick

Wounded

TOTAL

New York

British 10,162 984 544 2,473 9 14,172

Hessian 7,923 442 137 1,638 39 10,179

Loyalist 2,758 562 359 545 19 4,243

Georgia

British 427 10 34 124 0 625

Hessian 152 3 11 42 0 208

Loyalist 2,437 52 179 663 0 3,331

Florida

British 1,264 206 7 170 0 1,647

TOTALS 25,123 2,259 1,271 5,655 67 34,375

The British hoped to repeat their Georgian success in the Carolinas but despite plenty of Loyalist support, they were ruthlessly suppressed by the rebels, tending to cause some of the bloodiest and sickening battles.

State of the British Army in America on :- 8th March 1780

Force/Area

Fit for Duty

Killed/Missing

Prisoner

Sick

Wounded

TOTAL

New York

British 6,311 933 469 1,101 314 9,128

Hessian 6,910 884 111 455 312 8,672

Loyalist 2,450 659 332 410 179 4,030

S Carolina

British 4,415 461 66 221 4 5,167

Hessian 2,604 116 34 169 1 2,924

Loyalist 70 25 8 7 0 110

Georgia

British 621 83 53 133 20 910

Hessian 713 0 49 99 13 874

Loyalist 1,778 127 192 202 4 2,303

E Flordia

British 450 34 0 55 0 539

W Florida

British 362 33 168 42 3 605

Hessian 262 2 242 59 0 565

Loyalist 269 29 1 42 0 341

TOTALS 27,215 3,386 1,725 2,995 847 36,168

Although Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown on 19th Oct 1781 was a military setback for the British, they were far from beaten as the table below indicates, however Loyalist confidence had been shaken and this tended to diminish their further support, also public opinion in Britain had then turned against the war.

State of the British Army in America on :- 15th Nov 1781

Force/Area

Fit for Duty

Killed/Missing

Prisoner

Sick

Wounded

TOTAL

New York

British 4,953 606 103 579 55 6,296

Hessian 7,609 184 267 1,335 10 9,405

Loyalist 1,468 136 331 306 25 2,266

Virginia**

British 3,573 152 358 1,220 262 5,565

Hessian 1,708 106 36 363 38 2,251

Loyalist 607 88 297 151 6 1,149

S Carolina

British 4,077 289 233 545 61 5,205

Hessian 1,444 16 48 137 16 1,661

Loyalist 2,393 254 272 357 36 3,312

Georgia

Hessian 288 29 0 181 0 498

Loyalist 413 44 45 91 14 607
E Flordia

British 514 12 22 24 0 572

W Florida*

British 42 26 253 8 3 332

Hessian 154 4 310 91 1 560

Loyalist 46 1 150 23 4 224

TOTALS 29,289 1,947 2,725 5,411 531 39,903

** The British had enough rebel prisoners to exchange for all those captured at Yorktown.
* The British lost West Florida on 9th May 1781 to the Spanish