Britain and America Go to War: The Impact of War and Warfare in Anglo-America, 1754-1815 (review)

This collection of nine essays by mostly British scholars explores the broader Atlantic context of Anglo-American warfare and its consequences. Several of them are highly provocative and controversial; despite the editors' objectives, few really provide a trans-Atlantic focus; all seek to expand the "new military history" beyond operational analysis.

Perhaps the essay most encompassing the editors' intent is that by a dean of British imperial studies. In "The Thirteen Colonies and the Seven Years' War," Peter J. Marshall notes how British authorities ignored the colonial contributions to the triumph over the French: "British opinion was unwilling to accept the Americans as full partners in a common effort" (pp. 81–82). On the other hand, Julie Flavell's "British Perceptions of New England and the Decision for a Coercive Colonial Policy" describes how British policymakers presumed New Englanders were more militarily effective than other colonial Americans (certainly a consequence of previous experiences) and therefore concentrated their efforts there instead of exploiting the sectional divisions that might have enhanced their chances of success during the American revolt. In contrast, in the only truly operational essay, C. J. Bartlett and Gene A. Smith examine Admiral Alexander Cochrane's joint campaign in the Chesapeake during 1814 that sought such exploitation and in the end united Americans more than dividing them.

In a broader perspective, Bob Harris takes on Kathleen Wilson's recent scholarship regarding popular attitudes towards an "accumulationist" imperial outlook that lauded the expansion of trade, production, and consumption it brought rather than the more incidental and accidental expansion that was a consequence of the Anglo-French wars. Similar breadth appears in Eliga Gould's discussion of the emergence of an "Atlantic State System" between Jay's Treaty and the Monroe Doctrine. Despite the animosities of the War of 1812, Gould contends "the two English-speaking empires sought to erect an international regime that mimicked key features of the European state system—a community believed to be ordinarily at peace, animated by mutually beneficial trade and shared respect for the rule of law, and governed by treaties between states that recognized each other's legitimacy" (p. 242).

Many will be intrigued by the specialized studies examining divergent details of the Atlantic world. Peter Way describes the roles women played in British armed forces during the Seven Years' War; Margaret Stead explores the ways the British popular press destroyed the reputations of the Howe brothers; Stephen Conway looks at the British volunteer units that emerged during the "American War." In a controversial essay, Michael Bellesiles seems distraught that American soldiers in the War of 1812 found military service uninspiring and tedious. They complained about bad food, inadequate clothing, poor equipment, and inept commanders. In other words, Willie and Joe were present in early America! He totally ignores recent Canadian scholarship that finds the same attitudes to the north of the United States.

A short review cannot describe the detail and nuances of these papers. They collectively expand our understanding of the ways in which warfare affects the communities it touches far beyond operational details that dominate most studies.