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It has always been a truism that historians cannot effectively explain major military events without taking into consideration the "geographic influence." When you consider that all human events are caught up in both time and space, it is imperative that teachers give equal classroom time to the spatial realm. D. W. Meinig in his path-breaking book, The Shaping of America: A Geographic Perspective on 500 Years of History, argues that the American Revolution, and with it British Imperial strategy moved through three distinct periods, related to three distinct geographic phases. The first period was a regional revolt, centered in the New England area of the American colonies. Next came the "Continental Phase" when Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, thus forcing King George III and Parliament to plan for military actions in all thirteen colonies. Finally, with the entrance of France on the American side of the war, Britain found itself engulfed in a much wider military geographic commitment, the entire North Atlantic. The implications are clear, the expanding geographic theatre of war increasingly stretched Britain's military resources to the point where they could no longer continue an effective war effort.
Many British military and political leaders believed from the beginning of hostilities in 1775 that the American Revolt was nothing more than a regional uprising, centered in the colony of Massachusetts. More precisely, they saw Boston as the key to quelling the upstart rebels. As early as 1770, British troops resided in Boston, provoking an emotional response from local citizens that climaxed in the famous Boston Massacre during March of that year. Between 1770 and 1775 more and more British troops were sent to the uneasy colonial seaport.
It was no surprise that a significant military incident occurred in April of 1775 when General Thomas Gage, commander of British troops in Boston, ordered Colonel Smith to march out of the city and into the countryside in search of the rebel leaders and stored weapons. The resulting Battles of Lexington and Concord initiated a true regional conflict. After British forces scattered the "minutemen" at Lexington, word spread quickly throughout the area and American militia units gathered in large numbers near the town of Concord. Colonel Smith ordered a general "retirement" from Concord and his troops...