Why Did Britain Lose the American War of Independence?

Join Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe as he invites an online panel of experts to discuss the details behind Britain’s defeat in 18th-century America.

After eight long years of war, America finally won its independence from Great Britain in 1783. Though Britain’s soldiers had successfully adapted their tactics to the new terrain and performed relatively well on the battlefield, victory would not be theirs.

Hear from our international panel of experts as they analyse the tactical, geographical and geopolitical factors at play in the American War of Independence (1775-83). Together, they break down the British Army’s successes and failures to reveal how an empire was defeated by the combined efforts of its colonies.

This online discussion is part of the National Army Museum’s American Revolution series, marking the 250th anniversary of the start of the American War of Independence.

About the speakers

Dr Eamonn O’Keeffe is the National Army Museum Junior Research Fellow at Queens’ College, Cambridge. He completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford in 2022. Eamonn’s work has received the André Corvisier Prize, awarded by the International Commission for Military History, and the Pollard Prize, awarded by the Institute for Historical Research.

Mark Urban is a journalist, broadcaster and military historian. He covered international affairs for the BBC’s Newsnight programme for over 30 years and is the author of more than a dozen books, including ‘Fusiliers’, which tells the story of the British Army’s campaigns in Revolutionary America through the experiences of one regiment.

Kevin Weddle is a Distinguished Fellow at the US Army War College, the former Professor of Military Theory and Strategy, and the Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies. He is a retired US Army colonel and a veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and Operation Enduring Freedom. His second book, ‘The Compleat Victory’, has won the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award and the Society of the Cincinnati Prize.

Friederike Baer is Associate Professor of History and Division Head for Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, Abington College. Her research focuses on the experiences of German-speaking people in North America from the Revolutionary period to the late 19th century. Her most recent book, ‘Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War’, examines the experiences of the estimated 30,000 German soldiers who were hired by Britain to help put down the American rebellion.