After serving in the War of the Austrian Succession , he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations against the French coast as part of Britain's policy of naval descents during the Seven Years' War. He also took part, as a naval captain, in the decisive British naval victory at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November In North America, Howe is best known for his service during the American War of Independence , when he acted as a naval commander and a peace commissioner with the American rebels; he also conducted a successful relief during the Great Siege of Gibraltar in the later stages of the War.
Promoted to commander on 5 November , Howe was commanding officer of the sloop HMS Baltimore in the North Sea during the Jacobite rising of and was severely wounded in the head while cooperating with a frigate in an engagement with two French privateers. At the beginning of the American War of Independence , Howe was known to be sympathetic to the colonists.
He had known Benjamin Franklin since late and was joined in a commission with his brother, General Sir William Howe , head of the land forces, to attempt a reconciliation. Howe was ordered to institute a naval blockade of the American coastline, but this proved to be ineffective. Howe claimed to have too few ships to successfully accomplish this, particularly as a number had to be detached to support operations by the British Army. As a result, large amounts of covert French supplies and munitions were smuggled to America.
It has been suggested that Howe's limited blockade at this point was driven by his sympathy with and desire for conciliation with the Americans. Howe complained to London that while his ships were able to successfully guard the southern colonies, the blockade of the northern colonies was still ineffective.
The strategy of the British in North America was to deploy a combination of operations aimed at capturing major cities and a blockade of the coast. Howe spent much of the remainder of the year concentrating on capturing Forts Mifflin and Mercer which controlled entry to the Delaware River without which ships could not reach Philadelphia.
