People Numerous and Armed

Shys argument is that war changes society, that strategy and military policy are aspects
of politics, that the incidence of military service reflects and affects social structure, that the
events and patterns of armed struggle help to shape the way people think about themselves and
others, and so on through a catalogue of specific ways in which the impact of armed force may
be felt. However, I could not find this main argument in essays and it was very hard for me to
follow it.
Shy believes that the war was revolutionary because military service was voluntary and
popular in society. According to him, the colonists did not win the war, but rather they managed
to not lose it.
Shy explain British outlook in two essays. One is about Henry Ellis and Thomas Pownall.
Both of them governed in the colonies but have completely different viewpoints. While Ellis
believed that colonists had a weak military weakness of the colonists and the absurdity of their
grievances, Pownall believed that harmony of interest could be set up with economic
interdependency. Other is about Thomas Gage, commander in chief of the British Army. Gage
gave shape to the beginning of the Revolution. However, British policy was never able to amend
this bad beginning.
Shy argues Washington and Lees contradictory ideas concerning correct American
strategy. While Washington advocated a conventional and professional army, Lee favored militia
and guerilla tactics.