British army inaccuracies

1. the uniforms.
the coats of the British regulars were a slightly darker shade of red, add the general wear and tear they would have been rusty color. They would not have uniforms as clean as those depicted in SoL. The Tricorne hat was already considered unsuitable for field work by 1775, in the field most Britsh regiments adopted leather caps or brimmed hats used by the east india company.

2. the marching.
In SoL everywhere the British go they march as though they are on a parade ground, this is nonsense and those scenes look ridiculous.

3. Lack of humor.
The British army was known for it's sardonic sense of humor, there would be a great deal of bantering between officers and men and people of Boston. Where is this personality?

4. John Pitcairn
Although not a member of the British army, the show got it right that he was heavily involved in the events in Boston from 1774-76. However there are numerous inaccuracies relating to Pitcairn. Firstly he had a strong Scottish accent. He was genial, and popular with the people of Boston, not the cold, surly character in SoL. During the battle of Bunker Hill he led his company of Marines on foot not horse back, he did not die on the ground ignored by his men, but fell back into the arms of his son who cried out “I have lost my father”, his men let out cries of grief.

5. Thomas Preston
For some reason Preston appears everywhere in the first episode at fictionalised events which had no relation to his whatsoever, and he was not present at the Boston Tea Party, nor were any member of the British army as it was a civil disturbance. During the Boston massacre scene they depict Preston stood close to his men, when in reality he was stood several meters in front of them amongst the crowd.

6. armed troops
The British soldiers are often seen walking around with muskets, in reality by 1774 British troops in Boston were largely forbidden from appearing in public places with their weapon. Sometimes they carried flinlocks, however they were to be unloaded and shown to still be unloaded upon return to the barracks.

7. Lexington skirmish
There is so much wrong with this I cant go into it all. However in SoL it depicts the British firing a volley, then for some reason charging without bayonets. In reality the British would rarely even load if they could help it. At lexington, they easily scattered the milita with one bayonet charge, its unlikely that any of the British regulars even fired. They didn't mutilate prisoners or wounded.

8. Officer attitudes before the battle of Bunker Hill
The show depicts British officers discussing the forthcoming assault of Breed's Hill seemingly knowing the heavy cost it would take to remove the colonial militia, and not caring about the cost to their men. This is completely inaccurate. Firstly the British army officers throughout the war constantly fretted over their casualties and based battle plans on limiting their losses, often at the expense of wider strategic success. It would be wrong to say the British expected an easy battle, however the tactical plan was deliberately simplistic because of the perceived limitations of the colonial militia. Henry Clinton proposed an elaborate flanking manoeuvre to surround the entire position, however this was rejected because it was believed the american miltia were not experienced enough to know they were being outflanked and surrounded. This sounds like arrogance, however it is based on cold military reasoning that if the enemy does not know he has lost the battle, he will continue to fight, therefore jeopardise a plan based on attacking over a wide area, piecemeal. The final plan, deliberately simplistic, instead was a direct frontal assault concentrated in two areas

8. Gage didn't remain in command
William Howe had effectively replaced Gage by the time British forces were preparing to take Breed's Hill. Gage had returned to England by the time of the Battle of Long Island.