It is the author's purpose to trace the role of the loyalists in British military policy throughout the war. He has also given careful consideration to the impact of politics on strategy relating to the loyalists. The subject is varied and somewhat diffuse; the ambivalence of the British attitude toward the loyalists easily obscures their role. The North ministry was at once eager to use them and unwilling to make the concessions and detailed preparations required to weld them in to an efficient force. Moreover, administration policy was influenced by narrow political and financial considerations as well as by the loyalists' potential support.

A decade of controversy, 1763-74 -- The loyalists in early British military policy, 1774-76 -- Subordination of the loyalists : the campaign of 1776 -- Emergence of the loyalists : the campaign of 1777 -- The loyalists in arms -- Antecedents of the Southern Campaign, 1778 -- The war in the Southern colonies, 1779 -- The loyalists in the Southern Campaign, 1780-81 -- The collapse of the Southern Campaign, 1781-82 -- The hazards of limited warfare.