Few issues would flummox the British more than how to move inland: waging war away from the coast and navigable rivers required transport for artillery, baggage, and supplies. Otherwise, the rebels could simply dance out of reach, stripping the land of provisions and leaving the regulars like “a cow catching a hare,” as a London newspaper indelicately observed. A brass 12-pounder and carriage weighing more than a ton and a half might require six horses to move down a country lane. Howe calculated that his grand army would need almost 4,000 horses and 277 wagons.
