Throughout the war the British came to rely almost solely on the use of bayonets. Even from the first major battle of the war, at Bunker Hill, British troops were ordered not to fire at the entrenched rebels, but to drive them off using their bayonets.The reason the initial attacks on the hill failed was down to the fact that the regulars, less experienced soldiers than the American militia, panicked and refused to charge, but blazed away ineffectively with their muskets. The Patriots certainly made excellent use of both terrain and artificial defences throughout the war, but this did not confound British generals, in fact the reverse is true. Traditionally it has been said that the ability of British regulars to fire three shots a minute was the primary reason for their European battlefield victories, but they were unable to combat the colonists in their native woodlands. When the Revolution began it already had dedicated light infantry companies, marksman training and combined arms units. The British Army had already experienced the difficulties of irregular warfare in the colonies two decades earlier. The problem with such a narrative is that it simply isn’t true. The American Revolution saw rifle-armed frontiersmen go up against the ruthless redcoats, sniping officers and decimating the densely packed red ranks, which swiftly fell into mindless confusion, were routed and, thus, eternally humbled. The image is a well-known one, reinforced by centuries of bad history and nationalistic nation-building.
BRITISH ARMY COMBAT DOCTRINE DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION - MYTH AND REALITY
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