European Theatre from November 1, 1775, to January 31, 1776
Summary
Thwarted in its efforts to obtain 20,000 men from the Empress of Russia, the British Ministry had turned, in the summer of 1775, to the numerous petty princes within the German empire for troops to assist in subduing the American rebels. The need was great. England's standing army numbered less than 19,000 men, and recruiting efforts had been unsuccessful. Three of these German princelings had made overtures to King George shortly after the news of Bunker Hill had reached Europe. All of them were related to the British monarch either by blood or marriage, and all were avaricious, mercenary and poor. In late August, a minister plenipotentiary in the person of an English army officer who had seen service in Germany during the last war, was sent to negotiate with them. Meanwhile, acting in his dual capacity as King of England and Elector of Hanover, George III had ordered five battalions of Hanoverians to relieve the British garrisons in Minorca and Gibraltar, thus releasing more British troops to serve in America. These Hanoverian battalions, through lack of shipping, did not sail for the Mediterranean until October.
The King had addressed Parliament that same month and had voiced the government's policy toward America with the announcement that "it has now become the part of wisdom, and, in its effects, of clemency, to put a speedy end to these disorders by the most decisive exertions." He proposed, as his instance of clemency, sending commissioners to treat with any province that might be disposed to return to its allegiance. In almost the same breath, he remarked about the "friendly offers of foreign assistance" he had received; a reference to the hirelings being negotiated for in Germany.
His first "decisive exertions" were to order more ships to reinforce the fleet in American waters, and more ships to be put into commission, which, in the "run down" state of the British navy was a task of no mean magnitude.
Of all this the French Court was well aware through the reports of the volatile author of "Figaro." Caron de Beaumarchais, after presenting his memorial to the Count de Vergennes and Louis XVI in September, had returned to London "well informed of the King's intentions and your own," as he advised the Foreign Minister. What said intentions were the playwright-diplomat left to the interpretation his superiors might place upon them. He had been supplied with secret service money and a strong injunction given him not to compromise any one in authority in France by his activities. His duty was to observe and note down all British attitudes and activities. By the end of October he had his dossier fairly well filled, preparatory to a return to Paris.
Elsewhere on the European continent, little of moment was underway. Catherine of Russia, seeking to mollify George III for her earlier refusal to supply troops, expressed a desire to continue in his good will, and hoped the American War might be ended through peaceful negotiations. Spain, still reeling from the shock of defeat at the hands of the Barbary powers, was slow to indicate any in terest in the war. She knew her own weakness and did not wish to imperil any of her far-flung colonies in the Western Hemisphere by espousing the American cause.
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