Editing Asymmetric warfare (section)

===American Revolutionary War===
From its initiation, the [[American Revolutionary War]] was, necessarily, a showcase for asymmetric techniques. In the 1920s, Harold Murdock of [[Boston]] attempted to solve the puzzle of the first shots fired on [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Lexington Green]] and came to the suspicion that the few score militiamen who gathered before sunrise to await the arrival of hundreds of well-prepared British soldiers were sent to provoke an incident which could be used for Patriot [[propaganda]] purposes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/harold-murdock%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9C-nineteenth-april-1775%E2%80%9D|title=Harold Murdock's "The Nineteenth Of April 1775"|access-date=2015-08-05}}</ref> The return of the British force to Boston following the search operations at [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Concord]] was subject to constant [[Skirmisher|skirmishing]] by Patriot forces gathered from communities all along the route, making maximum use of the terrain (particularly, trees and stone field walls) to overcome the limitations of their weapons – [[musket]]s with an effective range of only about 50–70 meters. Throughout the war, skirmishing tactics against British troops on the move continued to be a key factor in the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots']] success; particularly in the [[Western theater of the American Revolutionary War]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Ted Franklin|last=Belue|title=Crawford's Sandusky Expedition|encyclopedia=The American Revolution, 1775–1783: An Encyclopedia|volume=1|pages=416–420|editor-first=Richard L.|editor-last=Blanco|location=New York|publisher=Garland|year=1993|isbn=0-8240-5623-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Colin G.|last=Calloway|author-link=Colin G. Calloway|title=Captain Pipe|editor-first=John A.|editor-last=Garraty|editor-link=John A. Garraty|editor-first2=Mark C.|editor-last2=Carnes|encyclopedia=American National Biography|volume=4|pages=368–369|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-19-512783-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=James A.|last=Clifton|title=Dunquat|editor-first=John A.|editor-last=Garraty|editor-link=John A. Garraty|editor-first2=Mark C.|editor-last2=Carnes|encyclopedia=American National Biography|volume=7|pages=105–107|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-19-512786-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Milo M.|last=Quaife|author-link=Milo M. Quaife|title=The Ohio Campaigns of 1782|journal=Mississippi Valley Historical Review|volume=17|issue=4|date=March 1, 1931|pages=515–529|doi=10.2307/1916389 |jstor=1916389 }}</ref>

Another feature of the long march from Concord was the urban warfare technique of using buildings along the route as additional cover for [[sniper]]s. When revolutionary forces forced their way into [[Norfolk, Virginia]] and used waterfront buildings as cover for shots at British vessels out in the river, the response of destruction of those buildings was ingeniously used to the advantage of the rebels, who encouraged the spread of fire throughout the largely [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] town and spread propaganda blaming it on the British. Shortly afterwards, they destroyed the remaining houses because they might provide cover for British soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|first=Louis L. Jr.|last=Guy|url=http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/insights/2001_spring/nightmare.html|title=Norfolk's Worst Nightmare|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629224630/http://www.norfolkhistorical.org/insights/2001_spring/nightmare.html|archive-date=2018-06-29|website=Norfolk Historical Society|date=Spring 2001|access-date=2008-01-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=H.J.|last=Eckenrode|url=http://www.newrivernotes.com/va/varev3.htm|title=The Revolution in Virginia (chap. III: The Struggle for Norfolk)|location=Boston MA|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1916|website=newrivernotes.com|access-date=2008-01-03}}</ref><ref>Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts: records of Commissioners to examine claims in Norfolk, 1777–1836. (Library of Virginia archives, ref. APA 235)</ref>

The rebels also adopted a form of asymmetric [[sea warfare]] by using small, fast vessels to avoid the [[Royal Navy]] and capturing or sinking large numbers of merchant ships; however [[the Crown]] responded by issuing [[letter of marque|letters of marque]] permitting [[Privateer|private armed vessels]] to undertake similar attacks on Patriot shipping. [[John Paul Jones]] became notorious in [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] for his expedition from France in the sloop of war ''[[USS Ranger (1777)|Ranger]]'' in April 1778, during which, in addition to his attacks on merchant shipping, he made two landings on British soil.<ref name="Bicheno2003">{{cite book|last=Bicheno|first=Hugh|title=Rebels & Redcoats|year=2003|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London|isbn=978-0-007-15625-2}}</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2014}} The effect of these raids, particularly when coupled with his capture of the Royal Navy's {{HMS|Drake|1777|6}} – the first such success in British waters, but not Jones' last – was to force the British government to increase resources for coastal defense, and to create a climate of fear among the British public which was subsequently fed by press reports of his preparations for the 1779 ''[[USS Bonhomme Richard (1765)|Bonhomme Richard]]'' mission.<ref name="Bicheno2003"/>{{page needed|date=October 2014}}

From 1776, the conflict turned increasingly into a proxy war on behalf of [[France in the American Revolutionary War|France]], following a strategy proposed in the 1760s but initially resisted by the idealistic young [[King Louis XVI]], who came to the throne at the age of 19 a few months before Lexington. France ultimately drove Great Britain to the brink of defeat by [[Anglo-French War (1778–83)|entering the war(s) directly]] on several fronts throughout the world.<ref name="Bicheno2003"/>{{page needed|date=October 2014}}