You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. Hello and

thank you for joining the American Revolution.

Today, episode 164, forts Clinton and Montgomery. I realized we seem to be jumping from place to place over the last few

episodes but there's just too many things going on in too many parts of the country all at the same time.

In the fall of 1777, the British had four separate large commands in North America. General William Howe, who had just

settled into Philadelphia. General Burgoyne, who was trying to move south through the

Upper Hudson Valley of New York.

General Guy Carleton commanded a force in Canada,

mostly around Quebec and Montreal.

And General Henry Clinton commanded the base of operations out of New York City.

There were some smaller detachments also in Rhode Island, Florida, and elsewhere,

but the bulk of the troops were in these four places.

At the beginning of the year, the ministry in London seemed focused on Burgoyne's campaign

being the primary effort for the year and thought that the other three armies would support

Berghoy. The other three commanders were all more senior to Berghoy and although they would not admit it publicly, were pretty irritated that this more junior officer had gone back to London and essentially told the king in the ministry that he was the only one up to the job and that the other generals were too

timid to make the daring march through the Hudson Valley to cut off New England from the

rest of the colonies.

General Howe, pretty much on his own, decided to attack Philadelphia from the South.

Earlier in the year, the London Secretary of State Lord Germain seemed to think that Howe would march his army across New Jersey and threaten Philadelphia from that direction.

Doing this would have drawn continental troops away from Burgoyne's army to the north.

Germain also said he thought Howe would wrap up the campaign rather quickly and be in a position by mid to late summer to move some of his

forces north to assist General Berghoyne.

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