"... Eventually, George gave up hope of subduing America by more armies. 'It was a joke,' he said, 'to think of keeping Pennsylvania.' There was no hope of ever recovering New England. But the King was determined 'never to acknowledge the independence of the Americans, and to punish their contumacy by the indefinite prolongation of a war which promised to be eternal.' ..."His plan was to keep the 30,000 men garrisoned in New York, Rhode Island, in Canada, and in Florida; other forces would attack the French and Spanish in the West Indies.
"To punish the Americans the King planned to destroy their coasting-trade, bombard their ports, sack and burn towns along the coast (like New London, Connecticut), and turn loose the Indians to attack civilians in frontier settlements.
"These operations, the King felt, would inspire the Loyalists; would splinter the Congress; and 'would keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse' and they would beg to return to his authority."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom
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