What mistaken assumption did British officials make about southern loyalists?
Those loyalists existed in far greater numbers than in the north. Once France formally entered the War for Independence in 1778 on the American side, the British had to concern themselves with protecting such vital holdings as their sugar islands in the Caribbean region. Needing to disperse their troop strength, the idea of the Southern strategy was to tap into a perceived reservoir of loyalist numbers in the southern colonies. Reduced British forces could employ these loyalists as troops in subduing the rebels and as civil officials in reestablishing royal governments. The plan failed for many reasons, including a shortfall of loyalist support and an inability to hold ground once conquered in places like South Carolina. Crown officials mistakenly assumed that, in the South, loyalists existed in far greater numbers than in the North. In a slight modification of the Hudson Highlands strategy, the idea was to employ the king’s friends, primarily as substitutes for depleted British forces
