By all accounts, William Howe seemed to be the perfect choice to lead the British Army in its quest to end the rebellion in British North America following the events outside of Boston in April Coming from a military family and rising within the officer ranks due to his experience in the field, Howe had distinguished himself as a capable general. As he sought to replace Gen. In the first year of his command, he certainly seemed to have the upper hand against the Continental Army.
However, several factors ultimately cost William Howe his chance of being a British war hero, the man who would restore peace to the colonies. Sophia was the recognized illegitimate half-sister to King George I, providing the family with a royal prestige that helped carry the Howe name far in British politics. Highly-respected, George was given honors within North America. Massachusetts helped fund a memorial in his name, something the remaining Howe brothers never forgot. All of these played into his nomination as commander in chief in They could issue pardons to rebels who renounced their war against the Crown, but they were forbidden to hold any sort of peace negotiations.
The reason for this latter arrangement was the British government did not want to recognize the Continental Congress and Continental army as legitimate entities. Having learned of Lexington and Concord , Howe set about trying to isolate the rebels by taking the high ground in and around Boston.
This would prevent any Americans from gaining a tactical advantage around the city. Overly confident that the superiority of the training and size of the British troops would scare off the rebels, Gage commanded Howe to proceed with a battle plan to land several craft on the eastern bank of the peninsula and march columns of soldiers to take the breastworks.
On June 17, as they did, the Americans, holding the high ground, held off two British attempts. The British had successfully taken the hill but lost over 1, soldiers in the process. The victory was severely costly to British morale, particularly to Howe, whose judgment and confidence were perhaps affected for the remainder of the war.
