It probably took some effort for William to admit that the command being offered him in 1775 was of “greater Compass than he feels himself able to direct.” We do not have his own words, only those chosen on his behalf by Richard. As Germain’s biographer noted, “The Howes were as proud in their way as Lord George was in his, and both brothers must have suffered in making this confession, particularly to a man they disliked.”66 But William was not alone in identifying the need for a director general of operations in America. General Burgoyne, who was with him at Boston, made the same proposal of a viceroy to Germain, writing: “There is no possibility of carrying on a war so complicated as this will be, at the distance we are from the fountain head, without these full powers being at hand.”67
It is easy to see why the two British generals wanted a supreme commander on the spot to take overall responsibility. The logistics of coordinating a land war in the American colonies would be immense, and the perils of awaiting decisions made at a distance of thousands of miles were obvious. During the Seven Years’ War, William had experienced firsthand the innumerable pitfalls of conducting a war an ocean away from Britain in an age of very slow and uncertain communications. British forces in America had ultimately prevailed against France only after several alarming false starts; they had been facing a European adversary with logistical problems identical to their own, but with an inferior fleet to protect its communications and transport.
The warning from two serving generals in America just months into the war appears to have been ignored in London. With the benefit of hindsight, this was a mistake in a conflict in which poor communications are always cited as a significant factor in Britain’s defeat. But the reservations expressed by William may have produced results, for one historian has suggested that the idea of appointing Admiral Richard Howe as joint commander was partly intended to give General Howe the support he felt he lacked. Certainly it was around this time that Germain began to wish the other Howe “to have the Command of the Fleet” in America.68 After all, “two brothers certainly have a more thorough knowledge of each other, & consequently a confidence that they cannot have in anyone else.”
These enthusiastic words were Caroline’s. She had written them back in 1762, when she learned that George Keppel, in command of the land forces on the Havana expedition, would not be able to have his brother Augustus alongside him as commander in chief of the navy. “I am amazed the higher powers did not contrive it so, as being the likeliest way to ensure the success of the undertaking,” she pronounced.69 Now, thirteen years later, she would see her strong ideas on the virtues of sibling solidarity put into practice. What could be more natural?
There is every reason to believe that Caroline used her own influence to install Richard as joint commander in chief and peace commissioner with William. Her social connections put her close to the men who were involved in the decision-making. In early September 1775, she visited Phyllis Court in Oxfordshire, where she remained for the rest of the month. This was the family seat of Lord Hyde, who had been privy to the secret negotiations in Grafton Street. While she was there, Richard kept Caroline abreast of the latest news from William.70 She would have talked openly to her friends about William’s ideas, including his proposal of a viceroy. In the same month, Lord Hyde began to push the idea that Richard should go to America in the dual role of peace commissioner and naval commander in chief.71
Caroline could also exert her personal influence on Germain, for she had a better footing in the Germain household than her brother the admiral had. Although the Howe men openly disliked Lord George, Caroline regularly played cards with Lady Diana Germain.72 A pleasant, popular woman, Lady Germain had no great fortune, and she was not known as a beauty. But she was a good match for her husband, offsetting his social shortcomings and drawing polite society into her orbit with kindly manners and good breeding. Lady Germain had played a key role in rehabilitating Germain in social circles after his disgrace at Minden, and she was a significant conduit to her rather unapproachable husband.73 Thus, Caroline could venture into the home where her brothers could not.
But in September 1775, Richard’s appointment in America was still only an idea. The great business of government was prosecuting the war. Bunker Hill had exposed the unpleasant reality that Britain faced more than just the suppression of a local uprising. Lord North wrote to the king that “the war is now grown to such a height, that it must be treated as a foreign war, and that every expedient which would be used in the latter case should be applied to the former.” George III did not flinch in his reply, saying, “I am clear as to one point, that we must persist and not be dismayed by any difficulties that may arise on either side of the Atlantic.”74
Ministers intended to have a twenty-thousand-man army in America by the spring of 1776. As in the Seven Years’ War, Britain would hire foreign troops to augment its armed forces. To that end, negotiations were opened with the German states of Brunswick and Hesse-Cassel.75 The Prohibitory Act in November 1775 established a general blockade of all thirteen rebellious colonies, thereby cutting off all trade between Britain and America. It was to be war, both by land and by sea.
Yet in the midst of these hawkish measures, the King’s Speech opening the new session of Parliament on October 26, 1775, asserted that authority would be given to designated persons to grant pardons and restore peace in the colonies. This led to some confusion and speculation. Perhaps the ministers, daunted by the prospect of full-scale war in America, “began to be alarmed, and wished to treat.” Hopeful opposition MPs speculated that the ministers were finally considering negotiating directly with the Congress.76
The government was considering no such thing. Lord North may have been trying discreetly to reach out to moderates in the American Continental Congress, but, by the opening of the new session of Parliament in October, he believed that the foremost leaders of the rebellion in America were aiming for total independence, whatever they pretended. They would therefore have to be convinced through the grim medium of the sword that they were unable to shake off British rule before talks could be productive. He wrote privately, “Till the provinces have made some submission, it will be vain to hope that they will come into any reasonable terms.”77 Yet he also realized that hostilities would have to come to an end eventually and a lasting solution to the Anglo-American conflict hammered out. A commissioner would be required for the highly sensitive task, one who could be trusted not to compromise the rights and sovereignty of Parliament while still reassuring colonials that their liberties would be safeguarded.
Lord George Germain was seen as the most trusted man for the job, but in early October he declined going to America.78 Instead, on November 11, 1775, he became American Secretary of State, the post formerly held by Lord Dartmouth. It was around this time that Richard was finally appointed as peace commissioner. Lords Hyde and Dartmouth had been pushing for it behind the scenes throughout the early autumn.79 Although the news would not become official until May 1776, rumors quickly leaked out in the small, aristocratic circles of Caroline and her friends. At the same time, news of the earlier meetings with Benjamin Franklin, so carefully concealed, were becoming an open secret, and “Mrs. Howe’s Interest with Dr. Franklin” was spoken of.80
In late 1775, Howe prestige was in no way diminished by the family’s involvement in the controversial American war. Caroline was enjoying herself. She triumphed over Horace Walpole when she played cards at the home of Lady Hertford. “Mr Walpole lost forty guineas & Mrs Howe won them,” recorded Lady Mary Coke. “Mr Walpole was of the party aiming at wit all the night but in my opinion never succeeding. He is certainly less entertaining than he was, others think so as well as myself.”81 The Howe star was rising, whether Walpole liked it or not. Caroline was engaged in a round of seasonal parties.82 She spent the Christmas holiday at Althorp, where the entire Spencer family, including the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, had gathered in the majestic Spencer country palace; the usual indoor diversions of e
ating, drinking, cards, billiards, and music spilled over onto the extensive grounds with skating, foxhunting, and riding.83
The Earl of Huntingdon, a friend of the Howes, described the mood in London as “very gay, and not in the least concerned about what is passing on the other side the Atlantic.” The nation had confidence in the North administration’s handling of the American crisis, he reported. “Whilst my Christmas party was with me,” he added, the army at Boston and General Howe “were commemorated in the first glass after dinner.” Caroline must have been gratified to hear William pronounced “in fashion” that winter.84
IN THE BELEAGUERED TOWN of Boston, William was facing a very different Christmas. On December 14, he wrote to London, advising that his army had only enough fuel for three weeks; when that ran out, he was planning to start hacking up the wharves. Provisions were growing scarce, and the capture by the rebels of a ship laden with military stores a few weeks earlier had alarmed him. The threat of being cut off by sea was serious, he wrote, more serious than the siege of the town from landward.
Five days later, the anticipated provision ships finally arrived, but the livestock had suffered badly during the voyage. Salted food supplies were depleted, so William sent an armed transport to St. Eustatia, a Caribbean island, where the markets were rumored to be “glutted with provision.” Two transports, convoyed by a man-of-war and two armed schooners, had been ordered to Georgia for a cargo of rice. For good measure, the captain of the man-of-war had orders to seize any rice cargoes he might intercept during the voyage.85
Boston had been fortified with earthen walls, floating batteries, and sharp wood abatis, but as the cold set in, and ice began forming, the rebels could attack across the marshes and mudflats. And they did, launching a fiery raid on the houses left standing on the Charlestown Peninsula and leaving them in ruins, no longer useful for firewood or shelter for the British soldiers stationed on Bunker Hill.86
William had been stationed on that hill before his promotion in late September moved him into headquarters in Boston. Over the summer, his little outpost had engaged in sporadic fighting with the rebel Americans who sought to nibble away at the British encampment.87 Now he found himself and his army hemmed in on the Boston Peninsula. The plight in December 1775 was reminiscent of the winter William spent in Quebec sixteen years earlier, when the garrison of victorious but subsequently besieged British soldiers stacked their frozen dead, surviving on starvation rations and waiting for spring and the sight of a British ship on the St. Lawrence.
William was also aware of another conflict from still earlier in the century: Scotland’s 1745 rebellion, when Scottish clans rose in support of Bonnie Prince Charlie. William knew all about both its violent suppression by “Butcher Cumberland” and the lasting damage done to the Duke of Cumberland’s reputation in its wake. Now he was faced with direct orders from London to deal with yet another uprising on the peripheries of the empire. The Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23, 1775, had laid the entire thirteen colonies open to military repression “by fire & Sword.” William, however, did not relish the prospect of becoming “Butcher Howe.”
But Admiral Samuel Graves, still in command of the fleet at Boston, embraced the new British government policy on October 18, when he directed the bombardment and burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Maine), leaving two-thirds of it in ruins. The utter destruction of more than four hundred houses, a church, and customs buildings was followed by three days of driving rain, leaving entire families exposed to the elements. Graves was following the directive to get tough with the rebellion, but the shock in Britain at news of what was widely regarded as a barbaric act led to his recall—and provoked the Americans to authorize a privateer navy that would harass British shipping.88
Twice over Christmastide, William confided to General Clinton his uneasiness over this act of aggression, worrying “he shoud be blamed about Falmouth.” “[T]o which I did not answer a word,” recalled Clinton, then reassured his commander in chief with the helpful rejoinder, “[I]f he was blamed for burning he woud be blamed for C[harles] Town,” the town set ablaze during the Battle of Bunker Hill. But “we all had our little share in it,” Clinton quickly added.89 Both men knew, however (and Clinton took care to stress), that it had been done under William Howe’s orders.
Henry Clinton would be happy to look good at William’s expense. Competition was rife in the British army’s officer class. Clinton was one of a clique of army men who had served in Europe during the last war, and who prided themselves on having training and experience superior to that of officers like William, whose service had been in America. Only the fighting in Germany had “made men” in the last war, ran the thinking; an officer friend of Clinton’s dismissed William Howe’s soldiering abilities as “great Bravery without a ray of conduct__a Soldier__no officer__.”90 This sort of verbal attack would accelerate as the war continued.
But Clinton would soon find himself mired in the same sort of transatlantic verbal squabbling. When he finally got a crack at an amphibious expedition in South Carolina in June 1776, it was a disaster. The Royal Navy was bombarding a fort on Sullivan’s Island, guarding the entrance to Charleston. Clinton, directed to support the naval operation, landed his troops on nearby Long Island, intending to wade across the inlet separating them. It turned out to be seven feet deep, and he could only watch while the naval bombardment was repulsed. Clinton would spend several years explaining away this instance of ineptitude to his critics at home.
THAT CHRISTMAS, while Caroline gambled at Althorp and William scoured British America for provisions, Richard was embroiled in a row with Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser over a lucrative position that had just become available. It quickly escalated into a grab for posts and positions that ultimately involved four admirals.
It began in December with the newly vacated sinecure of lieutenant general of the marines. Embarrassed ministers discovered that it had been inadvertently promised to both Richard Lord Howe and Sir Hugh Palliser. Attempts by Lord North to keep everyone happy only spread the problem, as two more admirals were drawn into the dispute and refused to give way to one another in the round of prizes and honors proffered by nervous ministers. The predicament was resolved for Richard with his formal appointment on February 5, 1776, as commander in chief of the squadron in America. Vice Admiral Keppel was promised command of the Channel Fleet if the French entered the war.
Walpole told the story of the quarrel among the admirals as evidence that Richard’s appointment had been pure chance, the result of ministerial incompetence and mismanagement.91 But Walpole was not as much in the know as he thought—Lord Howe had been in the sights of ministers for the American station for some months.
Unfortunately, Admiral Molyneux Shuldham had just been installed as commander in chief on the coast of North America on September 29, 1775. Barely in his post before he was superseded by Richard, Shuldham was consoled with an Irish peerage.92 The awkwardness of the situation was deepened by the fact that Shuldham had been the choice of John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich and First Lord of the Admiralty.
Sandwich is best known to posterity as the father of the handheld repast of the same name, for he liked to eat while working or gambling. In public, he was a dedicated professional; in private, he was a famous libertine. His marriage of twenty years having disintegrated under the strain of his wife’s mental illness, starting in 1761 he lived openly with his mistress, Martha Ray, a milliner’s apprentice who was twenty-six years his junior and shared his love of music.93
Sandwich of course knew the Howes. He had played cricket with George; he knew Caroline as well through her husband’s membership in the Society of Dilettanti. But he disliked Richard Howe, and the feeling was mutual. Sandwich believed that a partnership of siblings directing the naval and land wars across the Atlantic was a bad idea: “[W]ho does not know that when two Brothers are partners in deep play as whist they are not an over match for two rustics who have never played any at Games beyond Putt or Loo.�
�� In plain terms, he was apprehensive that the brothers would prove to be too clever by half, as the old saying goes, in dealing with the malcontent colonists. Perhaps his rather cryptic comment was informed by his impression of the notable insularity and secretiveness of the Howe family.
A contemporary remarked, “Lord Sandwich did not chuse to give [Howe] the Command of the Fleet but all the other Ministers having set upon him he at last give way.” Lord Howe was taking a risk serving under a hostile first lord.94 Military operations needed to run smoothly, and internecine strife within the service could be disastrous.
The sinuous process by which Richard was appointed both commander in chief of the navy in America and peace commissioner reveals the striking lack of consensus among cabinet ministers over their precise objectives as they embarked on a war against their colonies. In sharp contrast to his fellow cabinet member Lord Sandwich, Lord George Germain was happy to appoint Richard as naval commander in chief, but he mistrusted him as a peace commissioner. Germain tried to appoint a crony of his own as a fellow commissioner to keep tabs on Richard, in order to prevent him from making unacceptable concessions to the rebellious colonists. Richard resisted, pointing out that he “had been promised to go alone.” In the end, it was agreed that General Howe would act as the second peace commissioner. Richard affirmed his willingness to adhere closely to his instructions. Now there only remained the matter of hammering out those instructions, which, recalled an undersecretary in a classic understatement, “[I]t was foreseen would be very difficult to settle.”95
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