Great Britain's War Dead Policy During American Revolutionary War?

[Naadah]

Yes, when ever near a community, the dead were buried in community or church cemeteries, on account of the fact that in that era, it was considered most appropriate to give even the "enemy" a "Christian burial".

"Christian burial" even up into the early part of the 20th century meant the body was put into a designated cemetery. If you walk through any cemetery that was designated prior to the 20th century, you will also find that orientation of all the graves is east to west, so if you were to stand the bodies up out of the graves they would all be facing east. This practice comes from the Scripture verse that says "As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." Cemeteries were orientated this way so that when the bodies rose from the dead they would all be facing Christ upon His return.

Also, it was not uncommon in the American Revolution that soldiers of both sides were buried next to each other in these church and community cemeteries. These graves would often be marked and subsequently replaced over the centuries by headstones that would simply say "Revolutionary War soldier". This simple type head stone does not necessarily mean the person's identity has been "lost to time", since Americans, if identified and claimed by families, were moved to family plots. They were often marked this way because they would not necessarily be distinguished by who's army they were in. This was the case because the dead were not always solely buried by "military burying crews" but also by town's folks, church groups and farmers, all of whom had no real stake in who won the war.

This is one of the anomalies of the American Revolution and that things were often done this way because of the impact of (what was called at the time) "the Great Awakening" had on the culture. The "Great Awakening" (or rather first great awakening) was a religious revival, the bulk of which was driven by the Methodist movement (which would later become the Methodist church). This religious revival spanned both the colonies, and Great Britain, as well as her army and had a profound impact on this war in particular. It was likely the sole factor that made the American Revolution the most civil "civil war" in human history. Not only did it impact the behavior of both armies, (The vast majority of "war crimes" committed in the American Revolution were not committed by either army, but rather by colonial civilians' families' "revenge" against other colonial civilians.) it impacted how the civilian population interacted with these armies as well as how the dead were buried.

As per the question of what did the British call this war at the time?
I once got a book out of my city's library that had been a memoir of General Clinton. He'd entitled it "The American Rebellion". That, "colonial rebellion" and "war in America" are the most common British period phrases I've seen. It is also commonly referred to as "America's first civil war" by British historians. "American Revolution", "American War for Independence" or "American Revolutionary War", were not commonly used in Britain until post 1861 Civil War, seeing how both Britain and France were waiting to see whether or not the United States would survive that war. I'd venture to guess that "American Revolution" did not become used in common British terms until after WWII, and even more likely until after the 1976 Bicentennial.

[Brave New World]

Originally Posted by kevxu

I have lived amongst many English ex-pats for the past twelve years, and my impression is that most of them see it as yet another one of an interminable number of wars their country waged that they were expected to know at least a handful of facts about in order to successfully complete school. I do remember a dinner a couple of years ago where something about U.S. patriotism or history came up, and my friend's 50-something brother-in-law closed his eyes, and quickly recited, "George Washington, 1776, Treaty of Paris...have I remembered it right?" Everyone, but myself, was English and they all laughed, so it was probably a familiar exercise for passing a test.

For we Americans, it is our beginning; but for the British, with their long history and far-flung empire, I can understand that it was yet another of their history's wars.

It was important in my mother's family as they were Canadians, and their great-grandfather and his spouse and in-laws had walked to Ontario and settled in the wilderness there after the American Revolution. So, for her and her sisters it was also the The Beginning, but it was called the American Rebellion, as I recall from her old textbooks, which dated from the early 1920's.

The American Revolutionary War is only a small part of British History, you are right it's just something you learn a few facts about and move on. The British are even by and large quite happy to raise the Stars and Stripes on the 4th July at places such as Washington Old Hall or other places linked with the US.

National Trust, Washington Old Hall | Art UK Art UK | Visit Venues National Trust, Washington Old Hall

The Drifters help mark US Independence Day in the North-East (From The Northern Echo)

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by Naadah

Yes, when ever near a community, the dead were buried in community or church cemeteries, on account of the fact that in that era, it was considered most appropriate to give even the "enemy" a "Christian burial".

"Burying the dead" is one of the Corporal Acts of Mercy which were important not only for Catholics but for Anglican/Methodists. The "Great Awakening" of the 1740s started out as an Anglican reform movement which later grew into the Methodist Church, so the time period fits.

On a side note, either on this site or elsewhere, a poll of Britons was conducted asking what was the greatest strategic defeat in British history. The most popular answer wasn't Hastings, Castillon, the Somme, Dunkirk, or Singapore, it was Yorktown.

[Naadah]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

"Burying the dead" is one of the Corporal Acts of Mercy which were important not only for Catholics but for Anglican/Methodists. The "Great Awakening" of the 1740s started out as an Anglican reform movement which later grew into the Methodist Church, so the time period fits.

You are correct. The Methodists were not the start of the awakening and at the time the "Methodist movement" was not independent of already established churches. Wesley's predecessors Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards (colonies) were primarily the sparks that began the fire. Methodists were not entirely Anglican either. Many of the churches in the colonies and ones in say Scotland were primarily Presbyterian in flavor. Many other groups such as the Quakers, Mennonites and predecessor groups that would become the Pennsylvania Dutch / Amish as well as those who were referred at the time as "Anabaptist" (they did not believe in infant baptism and would later become "the baptists") also took part in this awakening.

Much of the philanthropic aide that was rendered to the Continental army (who unlike the British had no money to pay for supplies) was provided by Quakers. This was not because the Quakers agreed with the revolution, ("doctrinally speaking" they would have been more loyalist) but more because they felt it their duty to God and man to not let these people starve and freeze to death out in the middle of nowhere. So thus religious groups and "conscientious objectors" who refused to participate in the fighting and often provided assistance to both sides, were tolerated better as "people of conscience" at the end of the war.

It actually became more common as the war got closer, that congregations who may have been "patriot" at one point would move to a more neutral position. Because this religious revival also had quite an impact on the British army itself, many of the objectors did so on the standing that it was a greater sin in the eyes of God to potentially kill a brother in the Lord, than to fight over who was our earthly king. It's interesting today that I find many Americans don't really understand why there were non loyalist colonists who had real conscientious issues with killing British soldiers. It was not just an issue of "we really are part of the same early empire, as we do generally still consider ourselves to be British subjects, but even more so, we are brethren in a Kingdom that is not of this world." There were also British soldiers who were "encouraged to desert" by their officers for the same reasons.