<P> The British army was dramatically reduced again in peacetime . Morale and discipline became extremely poor, and troops levels fell . When the wars with France commenced again in 1793 its total strength stood at 40,000 men . In idleness the army again became riddled with corruption and inefficiency . </P> <P> Many British officers returned from America with the belief in the superiority of the firearm and formations adapted with a greater frontage of firepower . However officers who had not served in America, questioned if the irregular and loose system of fighting which had become prevalent in America was suitable for future campaigns against European powers . In 1788 the British army was reformed by General David Dundas, an officer who had not served in America . Dundas wrote many training manuals which were adopted by the army, the first of which was the Principles of Military Movements . He chose to ignore the light infantry and flank battalions the British army had come to rely on in North America, instead after witnessing Prussian army maneuvers in Silesia in 1784, he pushed for drilled battalions of heavy infantry . He also pushed for uniformity in training, eliminating the ability of colonels to develop their own systems of training for their own regiments . Charles Cornwallis an experienced "American" officer who witnessed the same maneuvers in Prussia wrote disparagingly; "their maneuvers were such as the worst general in England would be hooted at for practicing; two lines coming up within six yards of one another and firing until they had no ammunition left, nothing could be more ridiculous". The failure to formally absorb the tactical lessons of the American War of Independence contributed to the early difficulties experienced by the British army during the French Revolutionary Wars . </P>

The british general who led the war effort in the south