Britain's Plan to END America in One Campaign | On This Day... 1776

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:05](dramatic music) - Following the evacuation of Boston, it is clear that a new military strategy must be employed in our American colonies.

[00:00:21]After discussions with His Majesty, it has been determined that only a campaign of the utmost force of our kingdom will shock the rebels into realizing the futility of their cause.

[00:00:31](explosion booming) (metal rattling) To abet our forces, we have entered into an arrangement with the Bavarians to employ auxiliaries from Hessa-Kassel.

[00:00:44]These are their most-prized soldiers, known for their precision and fierceness in battle.

[00:00:51]All told a force composed of 427 ships equipped with 1,200 cannons, along with 32,000 soldiers will be delivered to General Howe at his current position in Halifax.

[00:01:05]Once fully assembled, he will unleash the full might of our forces against the agreed upon target of New York.

[00:01:14](suspenseful music) (footsteps clicking) (indistinct voices in background) (pigs grunting) - I already miss Boston.

[00:01:25]Half the town here wants us to lose.

[00:01:33]Not the place I'd pick for a fight.

[00:01:35]Deep navigable rivers on both sides.

[00:01:37]He who controls the water controls the city, and we don't have a navy.

[00:01:42]- We will not just hand over New York.

[00:01:44]Congress has tasked us with its defense.

[00:01:47]If we lose Manhattan, the war is lost.

[00:01:53](tense music) - Gentlemen, New York is but the first step of a larger strategy.

[00:02:04]Once New York is secured, we will send our ships up the Hudson thus bisecting colonial forces.

[00:02:11]We will isolate and subdue the radical factions located in the New England colonies.

[00:02:17]Our victory will be swift and final.

[00:02:21]- Redoubts connected by trench now line the southern and western shores of Manhattan Island.

[00:02:26](explosion booms) (tense music continues) (voices shouting in background) Artillery atop Brooklyn Heights commands any approach to the harbor.

[00:02:34](explosion booming) We've even scuttled ships to create barriers and block attacks along either river.

[00:02:41]When they come, we will give them hell.

[00:02:43](tense music continues) - There's still time to pull back, draw them into the wilderness where their ships will do them no good.

[00:02:56]- We make our stand here.

[00:02:58](dog pants and whines) (dramatic music) (gun clicks) (hands scratching) (soldiers exhaling) (dramatic music continues) (wind rumbling) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music fades) (no audio)