We'll Meet Again

[037771]

Wait for me,
And I’ll return
Only Wait very hard
Wait when you are filled with sorrow as you watch the yellow rain
Wait when the winds sweep the snowdrifts
Wait in the sweltering heat
Wait when others have stopped waiting,
Forgetting their yesterdays
Wait even from afar when no letters come to you
Wait even when my mother and son are tired of waiting,
And when friends sit around the fire drinking to my memory
Wait, and do not hurry to drink to my memory also
Wait, for I’ll return
Defying every death
And let those who do not wait say that I was lucky
They never will understand that in the midst of death
You with your waiting saved me
Only you and I will know how I survived
Its because you waited,
As no-one else did


Konstantin Simonov, 1941

Link to discussion thread

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…Why? What made the 19th and 20th Centuries, and particularly the eighty years from 1883 until 1963, so bloody? That this era was exceptionally violent may seem paradoxical; after all, the one hundred and fifty years after 1850 were a time of unparalleled progress. By the end of the 20th Century , thanks to myriad technological advances and improvements in knowledge, human beings on average lived longer and better lives. In a substantial proportion of the world, men succeeded in avoiding premature death, thanks to improved nutrition and the conquest of infectious diseases. Life expectancy in Great Britain in 1990 was eighty four years, compared with fifty two in 1890. Infant mortality was one twenty fifth of what it had been. These statistics are repeated across Europe, the Americas and the Subcontinent.

But man, often with whatever he could get his hands on continued to kill man in a series of devastating wars all over the world, motivated by ideas that in most cases predated the combatants very existence. Frequently the casualties inflicted in these huge conflagrations were of civilians- the word Genocide permeates historical descriptions of the last two centuries . Of the total deaths attributed to the Third World War, two thirds were that of the civilian. Sometimes they were victims of discrimination, as when people were selected for murder on the base of their nation, race or class. Sometimes they were the victims of indiscriminate violence, as when British and American bombers pounded whole cities to rubble. Sometimes they were murdered by foreign invaders, sometimes by their very own neighbours. Clearly then, any explanation for the sheer scale of the carnage needs to go beyond the realm of conventional military analysis. I intend to explain the extreme violence of the two centuries in this book, and the implications of such events for the future.

Extract from the introduction of “Age of Chaos” by Edward Ferguson (2001, Penguin)

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1754 - The Great War for Empire breaks out in America. Albany Conference. First widespread suggestion of a plan for colonial union -- the Albany Plan -- completely fails.

1755 - Sir William Johnson appointed the first Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department

1756 - The Great War for Empire breaks out in Europe. Sir Edmond Atkin appointed the first Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Department

1763 - The Great War for Empire ends, with a victory for Britain. Proclamation of 1763 signed by George III limiting settlement west of the Appalachians

1764 - In a re-organization of customs administration, a court is established at Halifax, Nova Scotia

1764 - Benjamin Franklin sent by Pennsylvania to London to act as that colonies' agents due to the dispute arising between the heirs of William Penn; War of Regulation begins in North Carolina (dispute between monied interests who controlled the colonial government and their opponents, called Regulators).

1765 - Stamp Act Congress convenes asserting the right of the Thirteen Colonies to tax themselves; Benjamin Franklin speaks out on the need to avoid provoking 'revolution'

1766 - Stamp Act Repealed; Declaratory Act passed

1767 - Townshend Revenue Acts passed by Parliament to raise revenue to support the colonial administration

1768 - Samuel Adams issued the Circular Letter calling for colonial assemblies to oppose taxation without representation; Lord Hillsborough, HM Sec State for the Colonies orders colonial governors to oppose the letter

1769 - Virginia Resolves oppose taxation without representation

1770 - Boston Massacre; Townshend Acts repealed

1771 - War of Regulation ends in North Carolina.

1772 - Samuel Adams calls a town meeting that endorses more radical proclamations; newly appointed Gov. Thomas Hutchinson writes Benjamin Franklin on the need to do something to oppose the Sons of Liberty. The Watuaga Association is formed south of the Cumberland Gap by refugees from the Regulator wars in North Carolina.
The Gaspee Affair occurs- HMS Gaspee runs aground while enforcing custom duties. Her crew is confronted by the Providence members of the 'Sons of Liberty' and the commanding officer is shot and wounded.

[POD: THE LETTERS NEVER ARRIVE. Franklin does not receive them nor does he send them back to Boston nor are they published nor are the Sons of Liberty in Boston confronted with potential tyranny in Boston itself nor is Hutchinson instantly confirmed in his opinion nor is his relationship with Franklin damaged nor is Franklin berated by the Privy Council.]

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Extract from "The Americas- a History" by Charles Cleveland, McKinley Publishing 1973
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The year 1773 was a busy one. In the wake of the Gaspee Incident the Colonies had been for the most part united against further British taxes imposed upon them, and had been communicating their thoughts among each other via the permanent Committee of Correspondence set up by Thomas Jefferson among others in Virginia. An extension of the custom duties would hardly endear the British to their erstwhile allies on the North American continent. But endearment was not what they were looking for.

The attitude continued to prevail in Parliament that since the Americans had participated in the First Great War so enthusiastically they should in part pay for their defence. In May 1773 the Tea Act was passed, granting the Honourable East India Company a monopoly on the commodity. Events followed as quickly as the organisation and communication of the time would allow- in April a demonstration against the Act in Philadelphia forced the local tea agents to resign. In Boston, where opposition was marginally greater the local legislature endorsed the move, but in doing so critically failed to repeat the action in their own city. Action was to be taken not by the Colony but instead the local Sons of Liberty, led by the radical Samuel Adams. Along with another local notable by the name of John Hancock he staged in November what has become known as the “Tea Party”. Sitting down at a table they had carried with them down to the portside edge, the group of men, numbering no more than fifteen appeared to be drinking vast amounts of tea, mocking high society by their mere manner. Upon closer inspection by passers by however it was revealed to be “Blackberry Ruminant”, the official substitute. Initial enthusiasm evaporated- the Ruminant tasted horrible and it was said that the “verie docks ran brown with the foul stuff”. News spread; Adams had wanted to arrange a further public meeting and perhaps another Tea Party later in the month but descriptions of the taste were enough to put most of the city off.

It was upon which that Governor Hutchinson hit upon his own scheme. Bolstered by a letter from Benjamin Franklin that urged the prevention of any damage coming to HEIC wares, he took out a loan on his Milton estate and set his own “Royal Party” for Christmas Day. The money he got from the loan paid for the whole contents of the tea still in its boxes in port. Mild scuffles still continued throughout Boston, signs that Samuel Adams had not been humbled by his action the previous month. The Royal Party took place, a large number of the townsfolk attending. Hutchinson was due to give a small speech on thanking them for turning up when Adams and his “Sons of Liberty” dressed as Mohicans burst in and effectively wrecked proceedings. They overturned tables, smashed tea boxes and in the ensuing chaos consigned Hutchinson and his wife to injury; she sustained a twisted ankle and he a broken arm falling down from the stand (from which he was to give his speech- some sources say that in being pushed he accidentally caused his wife’s injury). The Sons fled when they heard gunshots from the approaching militia, perhaps knowing what the consequence of their deed was- the Loyalists or Tories now had the perfect standard for law and order in the colonies, against the “Sons of Violence” as they styled Adams’ boys.

In Virginia, despite the creation of the Committee of Correspondence the focus was on the “Indian Question” to their west. The problem had been simmering since 1769, when the Treaty of Fort Stanwix between the British Crown and the Iroquois Confederacy had land ceded to the British crown south of the Ohio River, little accounting for the Shawnee who hunted the lands. To enforce their claims the Shawnee had tried to create their own anti-British alliance; this failed miserably in 1774 when war started, thanks to diplomatic efforts by the Iroquois and the British to politically isolate them. In September 1773 a small party of explorers/settlers tried to set up a new settlement in Kentucky Country. The expedition leader Daniel Boone’s son along with other settlers, was captured on a foraging mission and tortured to death by a Shawnee-Delaware-Cherokee war party “to send a message of their opposition to settlement“. Such attacks on settlers, where the men were killed and the women and children forced into slavery, increased exponentially on the Virginian frontier.

The Shawnee-Ohio Indians quickly decided on all-out war with the settlers, and thus Virginia. Many settlers sought refuge in the border blockhouses and forts, among them Fort Pitt. In May Governor Lord Dunmore received word of the atrocities (not only conducted by the Indians- friendly Indians seeking a drink were massacred by settlers on suspicion the European child they had with them was captured from a raided settlement) and requested the funding and the manpower for an expedition to the frontier. After this had been granted and the men gathered the expedition set off some months later. The Battle of Point Pleasant was won on the 10th October. Beforehand the efforts of the Mohawk warrior Joseph Brant and the Superintendents William and Guy Johnson (William succeeded in the position upon his death by his nephew) had induced the Iroquois to press for peace between the Shawnee-Ohio Indians and Virginia. The Battle made certain factions in the Confederacy think ill of white expansion west, an attitude that would have an impact further down the line in American history.

The incidents in Boston had prompted Westminster in the mean time to pass a series of "Questionable" Acts intended to strengthen their own authority in America. From February to September the Government of Massachusetts Act (giving more power to the Governor to call for order), the Administration of Justice Act (allowed trials to be moved to Britain or another colony if it was perceived to be unfair in that colony), the Quartering Act (allowing British troops to billet in unoccupied buildings) and the Quebec Act (simply expanding the borders of Quebec) were passed one after the other. In September the “First Continental Congress” gathered together in Philadelphia to debate these “questionable acts”. Made up of delegates sent by the colonies, numbering close to fifty five only produced a letter of concern regarding the passing of the acts, forwarding it to their effective representative in London Benjamin Franklin. A debate on union was always forthcoming, and always unfruitful- coming down to a discussion on its overall form a plan similar to that of Albany failed once again. The letter sent to Franklin was accompanied by a petition, lest Westminster mistake the mood back in the Colonies- it was endorsed by the individual representatives at the Congress, in turn representing their own legislatures.
In London Franklin was truly at the thick of events, the eloquent voice of the Colonies. His position meant that when he received the correspondence he had the ear of a great Parliamentarian, William Pitt the Elder. The two exchanged letters with an increasing understanding of each others position on the American Question, forming a compromise bill based on the Galloway Plan that would eventually be issued to the Commons January 1775. The result was predictable- the vote was lost, although not with large enough margin to deny all hope.

Hope though was not a large commodity in North America. The Continental Association went into effect as the vote’s aftermath, attempting apply pressure by boycotting British trade. In turn Franklin presented his petition to the Prime Minister, the affable Lord North. The instinct of North was to reject it as badly formed, the request of malcontents upon the mother of Parliaments. He could not. Presenting to his friend and patron the King both agreed that something at least should be done to pacify the Colonies. In February arrived the North's solution- the Conciliatory Act. Passed easily via the Prime Minister and the King’s influence it proposed that, in return for the abolition of the “Questionable Acts” each Colony had to pay for its own common defence, its civil government and the administration of justice. It was a deft counterstroke to Pitt’s relinquishing of Westminster’s sovereignty and for the small part it worked. Upon hearing the news South Carolina immediately agreed, and in turn so did New Jersey. A Second Continental Congress was convened to discuss the British move, but it was largely made irrelevant by the Conciliatory Act. Almost- in return for all the colonies even tacit cooperation (the viewpoint taken by observers in Westminster) a petition was formulated out of the representatives that had turned up or hadn’t caused trouble; Georgia had failed to appear, the New Yorkers abstained throughout and the Virginian delegation was prone to trading places. It asked for confirmation of the Colonists rights as Englishmen.

What came of this wasn’t deemed historic by Lord North or Westminster at all. The “Olive Branch Act”, or officially the Act of Confirmation confirmed in law what the Colonists always wanted, and in turn the remaining colonies quietly assumed the responsibilities of the Conciliatory Act. It was manna from heaven to Whiggish opinion in London, now eagerly reading “Common Sense- Notes on the Infrequent Longevity of Empires” by Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin’s secretary, author of the praised “Case for the Officers of the Excise”. This previous work had not paid a great deal for Paine however, and his friend Franklin had granted him a job as his private secretary in order to pay off his many debts…..
[Events apart from the above-


William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, is retained as Colonial Secretary (a post created in 1768 and held until 1772 by Lord Hillsborough). War does not seem imminent so George Germain is not appointed in 1775. Likewise, the Duke of Grafton, Augustus FitzRoy, is retained as Lord Privy Seal.
Joseph Brant, brought to London by Guy Johnson, makes a splash in London society. He suggests that the Proclamation of 1763 is not a permanent solution to the settlement of North America
The Penmanite-Yankee War errupts in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania between Connecticut settlers and Pennsylvanian (or Penmanite) officials.
When the announcement of the Conciliatory Act leads to the disbandment of the Second Continental Congress, Robert Morris of Pennsylvania loses a buyer for the "supplies" he has smuggled into Philadelphia for the Committee of Safety of the Philadelphia Commitee of Correspondence. He avoids bankruptcy only by starting to speculate in western lands.
The Watuaga Association does not ask North Carolina to annex it: Lexington and Concord have not occurred and an armed Revolution does not seem imminent.
Richard Henderson (a North Carolina judge) purchases land between the Cumberland and Kentucky Rivers and the Cumberland Mountains from an assembly of Cherokee in the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals / Watuaga. Known as the "Transylvania Purchase“.]

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Extract from “The Economic History of America” by Edward Wolfe, Junius Publishing 1984
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….and thus in February 1776 the Colonial Office Act was passed- additional customs courts were inaugurated in addition to the one in Halifax in Philadelphia and Charleston. Moreover a new post was created, that of Inspector-General of His Majesty's American Colonies, to oversee the distribution of funds from the Conciliatory Act…..

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Extract from “America- A History” by Charles Cleveland, McKinley Publishing 1973
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It must be fundamental to the reader to understand the stance of the American Colonies at this time. It was not like today, where there is a semblance of order in Federation, far from it. Although this is a gross simplification, it is better to understand Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York etc as separate quasi-countries. Yes, they had common interests hammered out at the Congresses and later in London and Philadelphia but then they still had their own worries to contend with, like that of westward expansion and trade (to a lesser extent for some) . The former was the reason why Virginia annexed the Transylvania Purchase- expansion was the name of the game, and each colony would do its utmost (if it could) to further its power, like any other nation of the time. They sent militia forces there, ostensibly to protect against Indian attacks as had happened in Kentucky Country. This reason was confirmed though when the Chickamauga, an anti-white portion of the Cherokee torched settlements there. Now Virginia called for an end to the Declaration of 1763 and a revision of the Quebec Act- done so in the March this would confirm their westward expansion and permit unrestricted aggrandisement for their colony even further that way. Named the “Kentucky Resolves”, North Carolina strongly agreed; they too shared a border with Crown territory. Virginia called for a new Continental Congress to be held in Williamsburg, although enthusiasm for this was at best small- many of the Colonies didn’t have a border with the Indians and thus didn’t feel strong on the issue. The action of Virginia rankled though in London- they had violated the 1763 Declaration and therefore had endangered relations with the Indians to the west.

To the north, in the upcountry of New York lay Ethan Allen and his “Green Mountain Boys”. They did not have large separatist leanings like the Sons of Liberty, who envisioned independence for all British America; they were concerned primarily with retaining land (albeit at any cost) they bought under the jurisdiction of the colony of New Hampshire in the Vermont area, which was now legally owned by New York after the ownership of the land was disputed. The discontent of the “Boys“, most of whom were landowners disenfranchised by the arbitration of the Crown in favour of New York, was aimed specifically against the mentioned two; to see them as an extension of the “Sons” is an invalid assumption. Allen was defacto leader in the disputed area- he could do what he liked. They certainly did as they liked, causing trouble (beating officials and the like) in upcountry New York and raiding Iroquois settlements that had done nothing to them. Allen even sent envoys to the Watuaga Association, they unsure over their future in the wake of Indian raids inflicted on the settlements around them. Finally the raided Iroquois snapped- they themselves initiated raids on settlements in New York. The raids though were not sanctioned by the Six Nations- what we see from our objective position in the 20th Century is an internal power struggle inside the Haudenosaunee. The New York Militia, as well as trying to hunt down the Green Mountain Boys in Albany County were now tied down in repelling rogue Indian raids. The Colony joined the call for a new Continental Congress, one to be held specifically in New York rather than Williamsburg. This call was repeated by the Virginians at the end of the year, with the Shawnee renewing their raids upon the Virginia Militia. With such alarming reports coming back to him in London Franklin petitioned Lord North for an interview and pressed the Prime Minister for yet another Continental Congress- he was lukewarm to the idea, unconcerned with the differing views of each colony and believing that his Conciliatory Act was the solution, a solution that only two (so far) of the Colonies had signed up to.

Back in America the reaction against the Committees of Correspondence finally appeared. Governor William Franklin of New Jersey, Benjamin’s talented illegitimate son formed the “Loyal Association”. It would communicate support for the King and for Parliament; the formation of the Association wasn’t taken well by the people of New Jersey. Throughout the Spring of 1776 riots broke out against the proclamations, although whenever local militia turned up to disperse them the radical agitators had always mysteriously disappeared, perhaps down an alleyway or over a nearby field. But the idea caught on- the loyal Thomas Hutchinson, he having (as well as his unfortunate wife)experienced the brunt of separatist feeling in Boston formed a Massachusetts branch. His perennial nemesis Samuel Adams was incensed, even more so when Hutchinson took personal command of the relief effort in the smallpox epidemic some months later. He used his Loyal Association to inoculate colonists up and down Massachusetts, and thus comes another favourite resting ground of the Neo-Revisionist. Abigail Adams, wife of John who was cousin to Samuel was forced to call upon a Loyalist doctor to inoculate her children. John agreed with her decision, and many see this point as the beginning of John’s feelings for rather than against association with Britain. Samuel, upon meeting with his cousin questioned his commitment to the cause of “American Independence”, to which he and John had shifted in the previous months and year. This hardly endeared him to his cousin at all, and vice versa.


Better sentiment was arguably triggered by such an awful calamity. After Edmund Burke’s speech “On Conciliation with the Colonies” was published on both sides of the Atlantic (Franklin had sent it over to his son William who had it published by his Loyal Association; it contained some reference to the epidemic) and relief committees were set up in London among high society by HM Secretary for the Colonies the Earl of Dartmouth. They sent money, blankets, and other odds and ends (although this should not be interpreted, by Neo-Revisionists especially as a reaction from Burke’s speech; far from it). Governor Eden of Maryland (in what can actually be seen as a reaction to Burke’s speech) decided to call a new assembly to endorse the Conciliatory Act. The old assembly refused to dissolve itself, and 1776 became known in Annapolis as “The year of the two assemblies”. This internecine conflict was solved however- both assemblies agreed that the calls for independence made by the Sons of Liberty were at best idiotic; the old assembly gradually broke up as the year died.

By early 1777 the Watuaga Association was in dire straits. The Chickamauga now raided their settlements; the Watuagans appealed to North Carolina for help. Assenting to the Conciliatory Act ironically prevented this- the Colony was now very careful as to its expenditure, and moreover the legal state of the applicants was in doubt. North Carolina had its own trouble too in a simmering state between the Anti-Regulators and the Regulators. The issue was deadlocked in the state legislature, and Watuaga was sidelined.
The southern counterparts of North Carolina meanwhile were not riven with the same problems. In fact in June the innovation of the “Act of Credit” was born. Beforehand the colony didn’t have a ready supply of specie or a regular cash flow- the Act solved this. The government of South Carolina now printed their own banknotes, to be mimicked by the other Conciliated colonies by the years end.

Virginia was on the cusp of approving the Conciliatory Act when another force of Virginia militia was ambushed and massacred in Kentucky County. The Virginians interpreted this as abandonment by the British authorities- why should they sign up to such an initiative when the British regulars weren’t fighting off hostile tribes on the frontier? Did confirmation of their rights as Englishmen account for nothing? The House of Burgesses voted unanimously to send their most experienced military officer, the newly promoted Brigadier George Washington "to deal with the Indians" with a large force of volunteer militia; the call for a Third Continental Congress was repeated again. In reaction Pennsylvania sent its own militia to requisition Fort Pitt, their force mostly made up of drunken revellers motivated by a misguided sense of duty. The colony countered their southern rivals call for a Congress with their own, this way not having the focus of proceedings upon Virginia’s problems.

The problems of Massachusetts, while not paling the ones of Virginia were arguably greater. Here the issue was of political rivalry, that between Samuel Adams and Thomas Hutchinson- whoever prevailed would determine the fate of the colony for sure and perhaps the whole of British America. Since the start of the Smallpox epidemic Hutchinson had been ordering the re-disposition of military supplies throughout Massachusetts, this way making more room for medical supplies in easily accessible places. Hutchinson had no ulterior motive, and Adams knew this. Samuel though portrayed the movements as a wholly different thing, the supposed beginnings of a coup d’etat by which Hutchinson would rule by tyranny. In pamphlets distributed all over Boston, one preserved famously in the Philadelphia Museum to this day, Adams told of the “Great Gunpowder Plot” orchestrated against the local colonists. He made little headway- historians now mock this merely as the “Little Gunpowder Plot”. Nevertheless Adams convened a town meeting in Boston, where he demanded an explanation of the Governor’s actions. The Massachusetts General Court convened in response to debate the assumptions made by Adams- only the Sons of Liberty made very sure that the conclusions would be favourable. The “Rump Legislature”, made up only of men either favourable to Adams or intimidated into being so passed a motion against Hutchinson, calling for the “Provisional Congress to consider the best course for the right government of the colony”. The proclamation reeked of illegality, and it began what was known as the “Massachusetts Disturbances”, although in fact the beginning of this trouble can be traced further back. A similar meeting was convened in New Jersey by the Sons of Liberty, but Governor Franklin, on hand and in control of the militia prevented any such manipulation of the processes, allowing the loyal members to debate as was their right.

The standoff between Adams and Hutchinson continued toward the start of winter. In October Adams made his move- using his most trusted henchmen he attempted to arrest the Governor in accordance with the proclamation. They tried to creep into Hutchinson’s residence but bungled the entrance, crashing in and assaulting Hutchinson’s startled servants. Half of Boston was awoken by pistol shots as he desperately tried to fend his attackers off- his wife Louisa, seemingly always the victim of Adams’ shenanigans was wounded. The next day the fuming Hutchinson marched into the General Court and, with a detachment of Regulars to back him up, demanded the arrest of Samuel Adams. The court was naturally averse to this, the members jeering the governor- John Adams stood and said in no uncertain terms that the Governor “must respect the fundamental liberties of a British legislature at work”. Hutchinson, realising that what he was now doing was eerily similar to Charles I’s entry into the Commons to arrest the MP’s, proclaimed in turn “So long as the members of this Legislature respect the fundamental rights of the Crown and of the Crown's Loyal Servants!”. He presented the chamber letters taken from the thugs who had invaded his home and left. The General Court went into closed session immediately after- if they didn’t give up Adams, who had been living in the Chamber to escape any sort of justice outside, they risked giving Hutchinson the ammunition to declare Massachusetts in rebellion. Many members remembered the hideous conflict they had fought in the forests of the north against the French twenty odd years ago. Adams was convinced his plan would work, that Massachusetts would be the place where rebellion would be sparked- the consequences were somewhat different. He was confronted by his cousin John, who gave a speech that endorsed giving up Samuel- “If Massachusetts can offer fair trial to British soldiers accused of murder, Massachusetts can offer fair trial to one of its own accused of less!”. In New York after the arrest of Samuel Adams the local Sons of Liberty branch published a pamphlet entitled “A Declaration in Support of Massachusetts”. In brief, anyone who sided with Hutchinson was said to be an enemy of liberty. Before, the branch had said this about the tea agents, and the New York assembly had allowed it- this time, emboldened by what they saw as growing support the Loyalists in the city obtained an injunction against them. A mild street war, consisting mainly of gratuitous vandalism erupted, gaining the attention of Ethan Allen; he would do all he could to help the Sons in New York.

In January the trial of Adams began. The jury, like that in the trial of the accused soldiers in Boston years previously, was selected from outside of Boston, one or two members from outside even the colony. Hutchinson was poised to move the trial from Boston as was his right, but in the end felt he needn’t. To ensure that the trial appeared fair to all, John Adams was appointed to prosecute his cousin, Robert Treat Paine defending. Adams and his men were accused of a variety of crimes, including burglary and incitement to violence, but the two perpetrators caught were only sentenced successfully to the former. Samuel Adams was convicted only of breaking the peace, the punishment a humiliating weeks stay in the town stocks.

Lord North, pressed constantly by Benjamin Franklin and Pitt to hold another Colonial Conference, finally assented to considering thinking about it. Events, which now increased in impact like a snowball running down a frosty hill (as the American phrase goes) convinced him to act more decisively. In November 1777 the Connecticut the election for Governor was too tight to call, between Thomas Fitch and Jonathon Trumbull. As was inevitable this led to infighting between the two contenders, known locally as “The Year of Two Governors”. Watuaga petitioned for help from the South Carolinians, who were only too happy to comply, their financial situation alleviated somewhat by their Credit Act. Only this time North Carolina protested the action to London and Charleston. Ethan Allen still made merry in the wilds of northern New York and Vermont, the latter actually declaring their independence as a republic in March 1778. The people on the ground tried desperately to solve the problems- the Iroquois admirably offered assistance to the New York militia to help capture Allen with the help of Guy Johnson, acting as a very effective liaison. The Virginian Militia under Washington finally pinned down the Shawnee in Ohio County and defeated them in battle; the subsequent treaty granted Virginia the lands claimed by Pennsylvania, only to find the Pennsylvania Militia there anyway. Known as the “Susquehana Standoff”, even though it occurred in the Allegheny Mountains it portrays clearly to the amateur historian the frictions between colonies (something many Neo-Revisionists disregard when talking about a successful “American Rebellion“). This confrontation made the Pennsylvania Dutch uneasy as to Colony intervention or control in their affairs, driving many into the arms of more independent minded settlers who resisted actions of Philadelphia officials. Both Colony’s finally recalled their militias, leaving a mild land scramble as well as land speculation, a form of business becoming more and more common during the time.

In all this Lord North finally relented calling a Colonial Conference- in London. This was on the advice of Pitt, who wanted to avoid the petty rivalries and dissent that would come in favouring one Colonial capital over the other in putting the conference there. The former "Great Commoner" collapsed onto the floor of the Lords exhorting the Colonies to attend....

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Extract from "America-A History" by Charles Cleveland, McKinley Publishing 1973
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..........In February 1779, with all the delegates assembled, including among them John Adams, George Washington, Elbridge Gerry, Josiah Bartlett, Roger Sherman, Edward Rutledge, John Dickinson, Henry Lee and of course Benjamin Franklin, the Congress discussed with Lord North, Pitt and others to what extent the problems of the Colonies be solved. Among the delegates Franklin also played host to Joseph Brant (the de facto leader of the Mohawks), Alexander McGillivray (who conveniently doubled up as the representative for Georgia) and envoys of the Haudenosaunee and Cherokee. The consequences of this special conference would be the Act of Settlement, passed officially in 1780 and better known as the “Colonial Bill of Rights”. It was thus-

o The confirmation of the provisions of the Conciliatory Act of 1775
o The creation of a Colonial Cabinet, as a sub-committee of the Privy Council and to supersede the Board of Trade, comprised of delegates (holding one vote per colony) from each colony assenting to the Conciliatory Act, to meet at least once every seven years in London; this body would have two main functions, to advise and confer with Parliament and the King's Ministers about the amount of revenue to be raised under the Conciliatory Act and to offer for the selection of His Majesty one of its members as HM Secretary of State for the Colonies
o The creation of a Royal Council for North America, comprising a Governor-General, Inspector-General, and Postmaster-General (as well as other such ministers as approved later on). This council would have jurisdiction over the Customs Service for North America, the Indian Superintendancies, and any disputes over colonial boundaries
o The creation of a Continental Congress to advise the Council and to meet in Philadelphia, which was "to be the seat of His Majesty's Government in North America"
o The explicit protection of a number of colonial concerns, including prohibitions against the quartering of soldiers save with the consent of a colonial legislature and the right of a local jury trial, the rest being recitations of previous Bills of Rights in British legal tradition, though specifically incorporated for the colonies
o Subsequent tradition would further attribute to this act the system of distinction between types of British colonies: provinces, with full rights under the Conciliatory and Settlement Acts and delegations at Philadelphia's Congress and London's Colonial Cabinet; Charter Colonies, with legislative assemblies and certain charter rights but who for various reasons did not wish or were not allowed delegations at Philadelphia or London (and implicitly had less taxation); colonies avec les droigts Quebecois, with special charter rights modelled on the Quebec Act of 1775; and Crown Colonies, under the direct rule (more or less) of London (such as the West Indies, Bermuda, and the Bahamas).


Benjamin Franklin was selected by King George III on the advice of the Conference as the first American member of the Cabinet, as HM Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Earl of Dartmouth in turn became Lord Privy Seal, with George Germain sent to India, replacing Warren Hastings. The remaining grievances, such as outstanding border disputes and Indian affairs, were intended to be settled at the first official Continental Congress. Franklin pressed that the King make one other appointment, this time to the Royal Council- Edmund Burke, seen to be a moderate champion of British America and well known on both sides of the Atlantic for his “On Conciliation with the Colonies” was appointed the first Governor-General of the Americas. It was also handy for Lord North, since it effectively disembowelled parliamentary opposition to his government. Jeffrey Amherst moreover was sent to the Colonies as Commander-in-Chief there to replace General Howe. Parliament passed in turn the “Packet Service Act” and the “Indian Act”, the former formalising the Packet service from Britain to North America and the later bestowing a privileged status on the Iroquois, the Cherokee, the Creek and so on.

Most of the representatives had returned by 1780, stories abounding in the Colonial press of London, its glamour, its size, its dark side. The Act of Settlement itself was passed on New Years Day, with many celebrating in the streets; Hutchinson ordered that the song “The World Turned Upside Down” be played in Boston. Meanwhile the new Governor-General Burke arrived in Philadelphia, to great acclamation. His first act was to confirm the inauguration of the First (or third, given the last two unofficial) Continental Congress for mid-Autumn, specifically late September. This of course allowed the Colonies to debate the reforms made. In the meantime Burke had to deal with the supposed “Republic of Vermont”. He issued a notice entitled “A Public Notice to the people of the Upper Connecticut Valley”; his choice of words was somewhat ridiculed there, but it was a pointed attempt to avoid acknowledging in any way the Republic. The notice did have a large effect in the colony, many transferring their allegiance vaguely from the Republic to the Crown. Many, but not all. Burke turned to the military option, specifically to George Washington, as said the most experienced Colonial military officer. The Governor-General asked if he would attend on the situation, to which Washington responded that he was perfectly willing, but not on his word alone. Burke admitted the political nature of a mission of this sort, in turn issuing a circular letter asking for authorization for an “A Joint-Expedition of Peaceful Intent”. Many were suspicious, men like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. But Virginia had no such qualms, and eager to promote one of their own they attached a small body of troops to the expedition. Delaware, New Jersey and Connecticut also complied but Burke went to great lengths to restrain Pennsylvania not to act; he didn’t want Vermont to turn into a “privileged extension of the King himself” by Pennsylvania annexing any of it. He also put a regiment of Redcoats under the command of Washington, setting a pattern that would continue in differing forms up to today.

Protected by their new allies the Cherokee, the Watuaga Association began to increase its numbers. It was seen as safer than before, relatively unmolested by Indian raids now. The Watuagan trade connections helped the Cherokee enormously- a flow of muskets enabled them to subdue their enemies outside the view of Philadelphia and London. It also made them a larger player in talks with the whites to the east; here wasn’t an “uncivilised” group of Native Americans but an armed nation, a friendly one but one to negotiate with, rather than order around. The First (Official) Continental Congress was convened on the 28th September. It didn’t have at this time any power to make legislation, but like the Roman Senate, being made up of the notables of all the Colonies, it had the power to make sweeping recommendations and confirm appointments (or acting members) of the Royal Council. A few Indian representatives were also present, although Burke given the sentiment of the time, especially among the frontier colonies was careful to give them only a voice, not a vote. Its first task was to appoint the remaining members of the council- the Inspector-General was Robert Sherman of Connecticut, the Postmaster-General Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Thus the conclusions the Congress came to in addressing the last major problems of the Colonies:


The most pressing issue next was that of western settlement. The compromise that ensued had immense effects on the history of British North America; the essence of the settlement was to divorce ownership of the land and the right to grant title to land from the claim to amalgamate that land into existing colonies. The Congress sought to settle the borders of the existing colonies and to grant (or ask the legislatures and Parliament to grant) the Council power over "Continental lands held in trust by the Crown”; this was to be accorded to George Washington as “Head of the Land Office“, while still holding his position as “Head of the Joint Militia“. In addition to all these jobs he was in his capacity in both occupations appointed head of a commission to settle land disputes in Vermont. From this it was agreed that Pennsylvania, as the seat of government give up much of its claims west of the 1763 line. Virginia also gave up her claims around land bordering the Ohio River in return for ratification of its “Transylvania Purchase”. This land thus became the 14th Colony, “Chatham” in honour of William Pitt the Elder who had died peacefully a year earlier. Ohio County was to be removed from the Province of Quebec to Royal Council jurisdiction, with special provision to retain the Lieutenant-Governors of the various forts throughout the province. The Congress also strongly recommended checks be instituted in Provinces as to the capacity of militias to leave their Province’s borders, to avoid a repeat of the Susquehanna Standoff. Moreover the Vermont Republic, now largely under the occupation of Washington was to be partitioned between New Hampshire and New York at a line 20 miles west of the Connecticut River.
John Adams was to be appointed “Secretary of the Council”, charged with drafting legislation based upon the Congressional recommendations.

Thomas Hutchinson, to which so much trouble had been accorded, died happy after passing away in his sleep soon after hearing all of the above. He was succeeded by Lt. Governor Thomas Oliver, a nobody who had been appointed on the supposition that he was related to his dead predecessor Andrew Oliver. This was not the case. Oliver from the start had a rough time- the radicals in the General Court demanded that Massachusetts adopt the practice of electing its governor rather than he being appointed by the Crown. Maryland and North Carolina issued similar calls too. A compromise was reached- Burke in January 1781 agreed to appoint whomever the General Court or relevant legislature recommended, enough to appease the radicals.


In New York the Haudenosaunee began talks on reaching a lasting peace deal with the Province- with the now celebrated advocacy of Joseph Brant conceding that the Six Nations might be interested in selling some Mohawk land that verged on the Hudson Rivers watershed. Out of all of the talks came the edict that out of the Six Nations, not one could make a separate treaty with the Colonists or the British- this became the newest addition to the “Great Law of Peace”. And in all this negotiating and law making Robert Morris, a little known Pennsylvanian businessman formed “The North American Land Company”- later known as the West America Company. That name is however for another chapter; the former contends with this one.

In 1781 the officials of the Colonies set down to work and truly it is from this year that we can chart many precedents. Secretary John Adams penned his famous “Thoughts on Responsible Government”. He concluded that the end of all government is to the happiness of all of those governed, and while he would have advocated a separatist republican government he stated:

“There is no good government but what is responsible to the happiness of the people. That the only valuable part of the British constitution is so- because the very definition of a responsible commonwealth is being “an empire of laws, not of men””

He had tempered his views, but obviously not a great deal. It is credited as the first work reflecting on the virtues of Parliamentary Democracy, widely read across British America and the salons of France. Louis XVI, vaguely interested in this new pamphlet so popular among his people drew from it that he would make an empire of laws- to the absolutist Bourbons, even the question of parliamentary democracy would have to come later. Postmaster-General Jefferson too published his own pamphlet, though it was far from the philosophical musings of Adams; entitled “Thoughts on the Distribution of Frontier Lands”, it advocated adopting a decimalised system of settlement, to create a succession of square counties to which would be accorded above it responsible government. Burke sharply rebuked Jefferson for stepping outside of his portfolio, for advocating “government by arithmetic” but his ideas remained; the theory that the frontier in time should be carved up into organised colonies, akin to Chatham would be far reaching. Jefferson later left his post of Postmaster-General (to be replaced by Gouvernor Morris, who consulted with Washington over plans to integrate a postal system into the existing forts on the frontier) to return to his seat in the Virginia House of Burgesses. There he passed the landmark legislation that would create the University of Virginia. He took up the project enthusiastically, his seat being taken by a James Madison. Jefferson drew up the University charter, which expounded universal and fundamental rights for all. The University was the first in the British Empire to separate theological and secular curricula, and would go on to become one of the top places of learning in the world (at the time of print third behind Cambridge and Karachi).

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Extract from "America-A History" by Charles Cleveland, McKinley Publishing 1973
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In 1781 we also see the root of the Land Crises that would result in further unwanted unrest and economic collapse. The government of Georgia, in accordance with the land recommendations made by Congress decided to settle the land inbetween the 1763 line and the Pensacola River, aided by issuing bills under their Act of Credit. The North American Land Company (led my Robert Morris) bought up some of this land, forming there the Pensacola Company. Morris had to take out a loan to achieve this, fortunately supplied to him by Dutch creditors. In Massachusetts Elbridge Gerry won the ballot for governor, narrowly beating the radical (and suspected smuggler) John Hancock. Gerry too wanted to make money- he sold tithe to land in the Massachusetts portion of Chatham colony. The Pennsylvania government did the same, but in their eagerness sold the same land. The colony of Chatham at this time was embryonic in development- its Assembly first met in December 1782, one of the issues discussed being the rate of inflation, markedly up since the use of Credit Bills. In Pensacola County the Georgia Militia moved in, only to encounter forces of rogue Creek and Seminole Indians eager to stop “encroachment”. The militia lost a higher number of men than would be expected in such small, scattered engagements- the Cherokee had sold them muskets bought by them from the Watuagans.

In early 1783, hearing in bits given the state of communication over the Atlantic at that time, of the difficulties encountered by the Georgian Militia, Morris’ creditors recalled their loan. This act is widely thought to be the trigger that burst the speculative land bubble, known today famously among economists as the “Pensacola Plague”. The value of the bills issued under the Credit Acts plummeted, their value secured by loans on western lands. The double selling, known forever after as “gerrymandering” that went on in the Ohio County and Chatham caused further repercussions. Investments in the NALC were worth pennies to the pound; Maryland, New York and North Carolina compounded the problem when the governors issued writs demanding that only specie be used for paying taxes, causing a string of panics. Because of the inflation of the past decade, the collapse also caused a collapse in the price of many agricultural commodities, which wreaked havoc on the average colonial farmer.

By autumn, the financial collapse had caused serious grumblings in the City and in Parliament. Some members talked of increasing taxes on the American colonies immediately (in excess of the level agreed to at the Colonial Conference). Colonial Secretary Franklin managed to avert any such moves, and thus prevent any breach of the Act of Settlement, by promising that the colonies' existing taxes be paid in full. He apprised Governor Burke and the Council of the seriousness of the situation. The Governor-General summoned the Continental Congress back into session to deal with the crisis. But delegates had to travel over country, business had to be formulated etc. While the Congress was attempting to convene riots broke out in New York and Boston, the agitators blaming their own legislatures for bringing about the crisis. Any notion of complaining about the revenues raised in conjunction with the Conciliatory Act was oddly silenced- British Regulars were the only barrier between the assemblies and a lynching. Most of the Provinces and Colonies instituted and raised sweeping excise taxes to cover the shortfall, in order that the cost of defence and thus their very lives be maintained. Anarchy erupted across the countryside of most provinces. In Massachusetts a Daniel Shay led a group of farmers who wanted to burn the governor’s house- only cooperation between the local militia (paid by desperate citizens) and the Regulars broke up the crowd. North Carolina saw the Regulators, re-formed and better organised actually succeed in seizing the Assembly House. In his haste to leave an Edward Caruthers abandoned his plantation, along with most of his slaves; they escaped into the countryside to form their own quasi-militia. In Georgia the militia in Pensacola Country who blundered into Indian raids mutinied. Virginia saw local farmers gather together in Kentucky country and declare themselves independent. In Pennsylvania true chaos erupted- a small army of farmers marched on Philadelphia, only to find the way barred by George Washington and Jeffrey Amherst, backed up by several regiments of regulars. Washington imposed order on the rabble with a powerful speech, only to be portrayed in Burke’s subsequent “Reflections on the American Disturbances” as rather a stentorian figure. These disturbances though were not the concerted actions like that of Samuel Adams- far from it, they were a cry to revolution, not to separatism. The consequences of these riots were far reaching- mercantile and class interests began to rear their ugly heads in America.

Nearly twelve months overdue, given the disturbances and delegates running back to their provinces to restore a semblance of order, the Continental Congress convened finally in 1785, with a quorum. Some present argued for the necessity of reforming the Congress and the council so as to form a truly continental government, of the scale and power to prevent any repetition of the previous years' debacle. However, no one could agree as to the form of any such organization and many saw such a government as the completion of a nefarious plot to rob the individual provinces of all their rights, liberties, and self-government. Nevertheless, effective leadership from the Council resulted in a solution of far more import than any exercise in political philosophy. The result was the Continental Land Ordinance, designed to prevent Western settlement from becoming a political contest amongst the respective colonies and between the inhabitants of individual colonies, portrayed thus:




The Continental Land Office was to have exclusive right to issue title to crown lands; each colony would be granted a share of the total lands in accordance with previous settlements, but titles were to originate with the Land Office. The principle of responsible self-government was made to be to govern all continental lands. This resulted in the issuance of charters of self-government to the colonies of East and West colonies, formerly under military rule. The borders of the colonies were confirmed at their present extents, with the following changes:

 The colony of Wyoming was to be created from territory in North-eastern Pennsylvania, including some of the discontented towns in South-western New York
 the Watuaga Association was to receive a charter confirming it as a colony, including some of the far western counties of North Carolina.
 Georgia was to receive part of its claimed "Pensacola County"
 Kentucky County was to receive a charter, whether or not the dissident farmers agreed.
 All further claims were made forfeit to the Crown, to be compensated by the receipt of a fixed amount of titles issued by the Land Office. Unlike previous grants which were to be made en bloc the land office was to grant non-contiguous titles to the colonies to discourage future speculation. [1] (Hence vindicating Thomas Jefferson's theory of settlement).

Upon consultation with the legislatures of all the Provinces, the Congress also petitioned Westminster to create the “Royal Continental Constabulary”, under the command of George Washington. This and the Land Ordinance was quickly confirmed by Act of Parliament by August 1785, and in turn by all of the Provincial Assemblies. In New York, events were coming to a close between they and the Six Nations. In the ensuing months, the Haudenosaunee had negotiated what became known as "The Final Treaty" to the people of the Six Nations: New York settled its western boundary with the Haudenosaunee. Joseph Brant won eternal fame for securing title to land which the Mohawk had previously committed to cede in the Treaty of Stanwix.

John Adams, now the frequent writer published his avocation of Colonial Union- far reaching for its time, it proposed a loose federal union of the colonies. Outside New England the pamphlet didn’t receive a great deal of attention, but in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire it caused somewhat of a stir. In reply John’s now estranged cousin Samuel penned “On the cause of New England”, which raised the possibility of the resurrection of the “Confederation of New England” as a reaction against full continental union. Samuel’s original idea is seen now by historians as another bid to launch an independence movement, but like so many of his schemes the result was markedly different to that in which he had hoped. When delegates were sent to the Colonial Cabinet in London, the word on all their lips was “Confederation”.

In Virginia debate raged as to the adoption of the Land Ordinance. The other provinces had quickly passed it, and by November Virginia did also. But out of the debate was born another, this time on the governance of Virginia. James Madison in turn laid out his and his friend members plan for a new system, labelled the “Virginia Plan”. Subject to a vote of freeholders in the Province, it proposed that Virginia be divided into six autonomous regions. These regions would a number of delegates to a lower house, who would in turn elect a council who would choose the candidate for Virginian governor. It was intended in part that to provide a way for Virginia to retain control of her western counties. Despite the example of Virginia, North Carolina did not adopt a similar approach with respect to Watuaga, mostly because many in planter society unfairly blamed the Watuagans for what was becoming a nightmare: slaves up in arms in the countryside of North Carolina. This was compounded by the fact that the North Carolinians fear of a slave revolt vastly exceeded the extent of the problem: the slaves had fled to the coast islands and had not lingered to mount a general insurrection.

The Colonial Cabinet met in February 1786 after all delegates had arrived (one of the Georgian ones having been blown off course in a storm and landed accidentally in France). They met a Lord North vexed by the financial crisis in America and asked firmly that the Provinces raise more taxes, although still less than those in Britain. The Cabinet assented in return for confirmation by Act of Parliament of the Virginia Plan, the Land Ordinance and the proposed “Confederation of New England”. North also signed up to Burke’s “Connecticut Compromise” in which the Governor-General chose the Provincial candidate elected by popular demand. This of course theoretically meant that Congress had more power to delay legislation; the Cabinet agreed to give the Royal Council more power to act without always being subject to the whims of Congress. The result of this was the Council and Confederation Act of 1786. In a bid to solve the financial crisis and restore confidence to the markets North and the Cabinent formulated the “Bank of North America Act”. The Bank of North America was to be a subsidiary of the Bank of England, managing the currency of British America in Pound Stirling, as opposed to the hodgepodge of currencies used beforehand. The mercantile classes were pleased, especially Gouverneur Morris. Because of the resentment of some factions in Congress, the Bank was to be based in New York, where it remains to this day.

In recognition for his service Benjamin Franklin received a knighthood and a new post, that of Governor-General; Burke returned home to be greeted with a knighthood as well as the post of Lord Privy Seal. John Adams, recommended by Cabinet ostensibly for his delegating abilities but more because he was out of step with the rest of the legislature, was to be HM Secretary of State for the Colonies. Adams urged the Provinces to retain one member of their delegation in London- only Pennsylvania, Massachusetts (by default), Virginia and South Carolina did so, acting as quasi-ambassadors for their provinces. Intrigues though in London weakened one mans political position, that of Lord North. North was wrongly blamed by many for the eruption of the financial scandal in the first place, and manipulations of Burke’s account of his time in America, entitled “Reflections on governance in America” added fuel to the fire. North was elevated to the Lords where he became little more than a cipher, the official Prime Minister. William Pitt the Younger, with the support of the King took his place in the Commons and when North fully retired took up the reins of power.

With confirmation from London and the Act only needing to be passed on signal from Virginia, the referendum ended up endorsing the Virginia Plan. Henceforth the province would be known as “The Royal Commonwealth of Virginia”. Kentucky country in June 1787, only weeks after the vote became the first to reject a charter- it stayed in Virginia, with the province accepting the responsibility of supporting commerce down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. To the north in New England the Hartford Convention met- the plan that emerged was more of an economic than of a political union in the example of Virginia. There was no common legislative body, rather a Grand Council with three delegates from each province who would decide on matters concerning the whole. At first the Confederation of New England was made up of only Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut. In December 1788 New York finally joined as an “Associated Member”, in a revision to the Articles of Confederation, allowing the province to opt out of certain provisions. A standing offer was made to Nova Scotia and Rhode Island, the latter rejecting it out of hand. Other concerted attempts were made to confederate- Alexander Hamilton, later to be made famous as Governor of Peru and John Jay tried formulating the “Confederation of New York”, inviting New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wyoming, Delaware, Maryland and Chatham to form a union similar to that of Virginia’s. The proposal is a boon to Neo-Revisionists, but unfortunately for Hamilton the delegates from Wyoming, Chatham, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware didn’t turn up. Other imitations as we may call them were far more successful- North and South Carolina and Georgia confederated in July 1788 as “The Confederacy of Carolina”. This union was part Virginia, part New England, in that it was most definitely an economic union and had a Grand Council but was determined to act as one in “suppressing threats from the frontier”, a well known euphemism for slave rebellion. It was slavery that would become the stable of “Carolina” over time, leading to trouble that will be recounted in further chapters. An offer to join with East and West Florida (which had only just seen settlers arrive in big numbers) was accepted with enthusiasm, although blame for the “slave disturbances” laid on the Watuagans made any chance of an offer to their colony slim indeed. That charter colony was named “Franklin”, in honour of Benjamin Franklin who assented two years before his death. In New Jersey a differing sort of Confederation was inaugurated, the “Continental Transportation Company”. It was to build and manage roads in New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Chatham, Delaware and stunningly in Haudenosaunee lands and was funded by these associate provinces/nations. Its portfolio would soon extend to rail and sea travel, in a powerful monopoly that would shape the course of North American history......

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file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/MIKENO%7E1/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-5.jpg
Extract from “The Forgotten Statesmen; France and her Leaders” by R.M Brant, 1985 Lyon Press
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Louis XVI “The Unfortunate”: 1774-1807

…The King is dead, long live the King as the phrase goes. Almost immediately upon ascending to the throne he broke with the past and sacked or transferred most of his grandfather's ministers. Here though, the historian has to be careful- the son of “The Unfortunate”, “The Last” hated his father enough to alter the history books documenting his reign- only letters and the observations of foreigners give us a disjointed view of events. Some aspects of his fathers reign we may never know.

But we know that the Sixteenth monarch to bear the name of Louis wasn’t stupid- he knew his limitations enough to appoint the experienced statesman the Comte de Maurepas to the post of Chief Minister, ousting his grandfathers man Maupoeu, who was transferred to the Chancery. Until his death, with some exceptions Maurepas would dutifully carry out the King’s business. The limitations of Louis that prompted the appointment of Maurepas as a counterbalance were far reaching; he was according to some a manic depressive (a diagnosis made by 20th Century doctors based upon the sparse foreign observations we have of the man), notoriously indecisive at times (an actual given, mentioned both by the letters and his son) and indifferent to most of the day to day business of government. But the new King wanted the best for his country, one that had lost its greatness to Britain in the last Great War and was racked by a huge debt from that very same war. He wanted to restore that standing, ergo the title of the “Unfortunate”- the Second Great War he led France into was (in the views of most Frenchmen) only lost via twists of fate. Moreover, it was due to no action of his that his reputation was blackened by his son.

But as said, Louis had a short attention span. To him, the workings of government were overtly stifling, reminiscent of managing something akin to a large business than the direction of a country. It is not surprising that he reached this conclusion- he was liable to sit at no less than five different councils of state, if he so wished (which he didn’t, three being the minimum and the minimum he reputedly could stand). This was vastly different to the British mode of governance- Louis noticed that his counterpart George III attended only the Privy Council and the opening of Parliament (not knowing of the energy George poured into governing his country in-between and completely doing away in his mind the role of Parliament). No wonder the "Unfortunate" was more interested in eating and hunting than in governance- but reform was a dirty word in Court circles until 1780. In 1776, a mere year after being crowned Louis dismissed his financial Minister Turgot for instituting changes that not only alienated the First Estate but the also the Third, a mean feat for one man. But matters of financial importance diminished by the coming of the eighties- Jean Jacques Necker, a Swiss born Huguenot did away with the bulk of the war debt by an intricate system of loans to complicated to describe to merit a short history. He was forced to resign in turn by court intrigues (on the part of Queen Marie Antoinette) but his successor Charles Alexandre Calonne followed his policy and limited the debt to manageable proportions.

The full impetus of reform in the Ancien Regime unfortunately came later than was healthy, that is starting fully in 1782. This is attributed to many reasons, partly due to the King‘s desire to completely do away with the intricate and traditional multi-council system, but primarily the example of the British American colonies expounded at court. Louis looked with bemusement upon the disturbances on the North American continent. The King, for in talking of France we must always reference its heart, had been viewing the reforms in America with some, if vague interest. Many in his country were lauding the colonies and legislatures in America as the future of governance (and thus contrasting it with France in discreet court whisperings) and the common denominator the King came to in his own observation was law, not the upholding of individual freedoms; Bourbon absolutism abhorred anything that differed from their hard won centralisation of the country. This theory lingered in the King’s mind until it fully flowered under the tutelage of his “Keeper of the Seals” (effective Minister for Justice at the time, the disgraced Maupeou holding the Chancellor’s office) the Marquis de Miromesnil.

Much of Miromesnil’s early life has been altered and warped by the work of Louis XVII- he is painted as a mediocre man subject to whims of fancy and unworkable “social ideas”. This we know is untrue, and descriptions survive of him from the letters of Adam Ferguson, on a rare visit to France inspired by his friend Voltaire. Ferguson described him as “a patently good man- supremely kind to his servants and utterly loyal to the crown”. He noted that he had been appointed Keeper of the Seals in 1774 and was one of the exiled parliamentarians of Maupeou beforehand. The two were courteous acquaintances as much as they could be in conversing together, Maupoeu being his nominal boss. This would grow though in the seventies, to the point where the Chancellor was convincing his official inferior of the logic in his “abolition of the parlements” (p167). In 1776 though he suppressed the journals of Elie Catherine Freron, the French critic. Doing so probably hastened his death and this haunted (according to Ferguson) Miromesnil in the latter stages of his life.

Being “utterly loyal to the Crown” Miromesnil latched onto the idea of reforming the French legal system, and he alone was the most qualified to do so- the King, upon inspection of France’s many legal customs found it impenetrable to say the least. The Keeper of the Seals thus (enter the Neo-Revisionists) approached the King with a proposition. He would reform French Law for him, making him the guarantor of the “French Liberty” (a term manipulated by the rulers of France thereon in as we shall see) and in turn grant him even more power than he had. This was to good to pass up for Louis- a latter day Solomon, he thought he could outshine his namesake the Fourteenth. Miromesnil was granted his mandate; he set to work.

The French legal system in the 1780’s and for the past few centuries beforehand had been needlessly complicated and mired in irrelevant tradition. It was subject to regional differences, the fault of the Kings, both Valois and Bourbon who had expanded their kingdom but kept the tiny administrations intact to appease the locals. In short, under the supervision of both the Chancellor and the local Lieutenant-Generals the country was divided up into tribunal Baillaiges (Bailiwicks) or in the south Senechausees. Some Baillaiges were given extended powers, named “Presidiaux”. These Baillaiges were divided into further tribunals depending on the region into either Prevotes (overseen by Provosts), Vicomtes (overseen by the Vicomte, who could be a member of the Third Estate), Chatelaines (overseen by the Chatelain, again open to the Third Estate) or simple Baylies (overseen by the Bayle), all with the same basic functions differing region to region. The Commoners of French society were dealt with by the Provosts (or the relevant law officer) who sat alone but could choose to consult with the advocates implicitly chosen by them. Appeals went to the Baillaiges, the larger tribunals. Nobles sat their first cases here, unlike the Commoners who had to make use with the Prevotes, although big national cases were first tried here (like murders, treason etc). Appeals from here went straight to the regional Parlement, who again divided into tribunals relevant to the nature of the case, I.e. a chamber of Monies, a chamber of non-tarrif paying or a simple financial chamber. The problems with this system were easy to see- it made no account of the Commoners “ natural rights” as advocated by the philosophers of the day, it was needlessly bureaucratic, it was confusing and above all it was unfair.

Miromesnil proverbially “tidied it all up”. The “Baillages” were unified into single “Baylies”, unlike the hotchpotch of jurisdictions that prevailed beforehand, and a collection of four “Baillages” was supervised by the “Presidaux”, again supervised by the Intendant. The Intendant was a post akin to a mini-dictator in his given region, having jurisdiction over not just the courts but the police, education, Protestant, local budgets ect. Miromesnil made sure that to counterbalance the power of the nobility, who were reluctant to give up their extensive tax liberties, the Intendants were always from the Third Estate (a practice already starting to shape itself). They were the Kings men, although ideas for their elections (intended to be rigged to the Royal favour) were passed over, an idea to be famously resurrected only two decades later. Large appeals for cases now bypassed the Parlements and went toward the King- Louis relished acting the part of supreme judge. The Parlements, to the chagrin of the Chief Minister Maurepas were to be the most of the King’s men, paid by the King to act for the King, the legacy of Maupoeu. The “Lettres de Cachet”, decrees to arrest without charge issued by the King however were not scrapped, although any given arrest ordered by the King would easily be endorsed by the sitting Parlements. “The Death of the Parlements”, of course being plural, came in 1789- the regional Parlements were broken up forcibly by troops in favour of the Paris one, sitting pretty in the King’s pocket (a reference to the famous cartoon by Gillray). “Death” though is misleading- the regional Parlements were dissolved but their members simply moved to the capital. Animosity still lingered in the provinces, where men of “stature” had been single-handedly deprived of their political privileges.

The heart of France was Paris, and its brain was now Miromesnil. He was truly far sighted, and began to supersede the role of the Financial Minister as the man to whom we look back as the workings of French Royalist government (unlike Colbert for instance). The French legal system became over the decade more and more like that of English Common Law, although markedly different in several ways. “Le Code Bourbon” was issued in 1790, codifying all the laws of France which, like much of its administration had before been perceived as confused and archaic. With revenue no longer a real issue and the investment in sugar plantations made by Calonne a few years back bringing in huge dividends, the “Epices”, or fees to the law courts were quietly abolished, allowing the poor to have their legal cases heard. This can be linked to Miromesnil’s vision of provincialism- his will famously left his cook as his executor to make sure his servants were not ill treated. Miromesnil in later life accorded to a hierarchical philosophy in later life- the Third Estate was to be subordinate to the Second and First, but fairness must be accorded on all levels. In other words the peasantry must by all means have their justice, but in turn must be completely subordinate to the Nobility and above all else their sovereign. This was a destructive idea, one that would impact upon “The Unfortunates” son’s reign, but for the moment the abolition of the Epices increased the popularity of the King and his Ministers in the eyes of the Third Estate. It also created a bureaucratic nightmare; thousands of disputes flooded into the law offices demanding restitution for so-and-so's dead cattle, or M. Generic wanting to guarantee the borders for his field. Most importantly (for Louis) a reformation of the Council System was inaugurated in 1787. With no financial worries any longer the King had the Paris Parlement approve that he only sit in the High Council, and others if he may so choose. Additional sittings were of course far from the mind of Louis. The other Councils, in a move now seen as a counterbalance to the reform of the legal system, would chair themselves entirely- enlarged ministries would be accorded to men like Miromesnil (to be appointed Chief Minister for all his hard work on the death of Maurepas), Sartine (the naval minister) and Vergennes (the foreign minister).

The Army too saw its structure changed- Marshall Segur (Minister of War), at the time seen as quintessentially aristocratic in interest made the drastic but in his mind necessary decision to downgrade limit the qualification of nobility to become an officer to 1/8th- the men who would shape the war effort of France, men like Bonaparte (himself of minor Corsican aristocracy) received the attention of superiors easily; men like Jourdan and Hoche (both of whom lied about his qualification, Hoche even producing a fabricated family tree to volunteer; others were not so lucky) rose very quickly in the ranks after the measure was passed. Commisions could, like in the British Army now be legally purchased. In 1783 he created the permanent General Staff, and passed numerous regulations as Minister of War in regard to barracks and military hospitals. The French Navy, love of Louis and bane of the British Royal Navy was expanded under Minister Sartine to become the equal of its dreaded rival; neo-revisionists continue to speculate as to an arms race if the Second Great War had not ever started. France by its entry was through deft reforms really only achievable through a balance of its budget (although by the end of the decade this was expanding violently again) more centralised, more absolutist and ironically to the Third Estate marginally more at liberty. But these reforms had for the large part only been achieved via coercion by the loyal Army- the Nobility began to see their “rights” diminished in favour of royalty. But unrest would have to wait, and the aftermath of the Second Great War would determine a France wholly different from the dreams of Miromesnil…..

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The Second Great War for Empire: A Guide
(Markus Johansson (translated from Nynorsk) , 1999)
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Prologue

The Second Great War for Empire is viewed by all historians as a pivotal conflict for both the history of Europe and the world itself. It ripped apart Central and Eastern Europe, Ireland and South America. It crushed the balance of power in Europe, handing true dominance at first to three nations and then turning the whole continent into a geopolitical paradox, with the defeated claiming their own once more. Great names were made on both sides; a whole Empires were lost and gained, expanded and retracted. Thousands died over the issue of territorial integrity and indeed their very survival- thousands more died ignominiously from disease and wounds. The very fabric of the world was changed, dyed with the blood of the dead from this very war; this was a turning point.

Chapter I: Overreaction and Continuance

The Bear has made his swipe at the Lion; let us hope that the Lion will hold its own!
Charles James Fox, 1790

The Russian Empire in 1790 was embroiled in an expansionist struggle against the Ottoman Empire, a struggle that Empress Catherine II believed would increase both her power in Europe and the prestige of her nation still viewed as relatively backward and weak. In 1788 this had led Prince Potemkin, the Chief Minister, Commander in Chief of the Russian Armies and Queen Catherine’s erstwhile lover to the great fortress of Ochakov, on the mouth of the Dnieper and Bug rivers. Here, 15,000 Russian conscripts faced 10,000 Turkish soldiers. What happened next was a veritable massacre. The Turks were packed densely into the fortress- killing them meant they would fall in huge piles, to which flowed literal rivers of blood. The Comte de Damas, a French adventurer records how in fighting through the fortress he had to step from corpse to corpse, until his very leg became red with Turkish blood and he slipped into a whole heap of gore. The bodies were so much that they could not be buried all in one go, and in the cold not reasonably burned either. Tossed onto carts, they were dumped upon the ice of the River Liman, where they “froze into blackened pyramids”. This sight would remain all winter until the melt came, a testament to raw Russian might in the region. At Ismail under General Suvorov much the same occurred- the Russian troops were overcome with bloodlust at their enemy, eager to seize as much booty as they possibly could. In October 1790, William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland looked on, both in horror at the carnage and this sudden and strong Russian push south. He had in the previous few weeks scored a minor diplomatic success in seizing a Spanish ship, and was flushed with victory over the incident. Urged on by the Prussians who feared Russian expansion, by a Foreign Office eager to rein in the Russian “Bear” as the British press likened the nation and also faced with the consequences of a Russian trade dominance in the Black Sea in Timber and Naval Supplies, Pitt demanded the Russians return Ochakov to the Russians. What happened next doomed thousands if not millions more to death from war and pestilence, the like which Europe had only a small foretaste. Pitt, backed to the hilt by the Prussians and a Royal Navy squadron of thirty six warships in the Baltic delivered the ultimatum to the Russian government. Potemkin and Catherine II argued like an old man and wife over the ultimatum- Potemkin uttered the famous phrase thus:

My god, how can our recruits fight Englishmen? [1]

It was France and Louis that indeed tipped the balance for Catherine, who seriously considered declaring war as a response. In a correspondence only very recently unearthed by the Russian State Archive, Louis urged his counterpart in St Petersburg to:

Stand up to such threats! Russian arms have proved themselves against the Turk, and in fighting England who can only strike as a gnat against a lion you cannot possibly lose, neither against the Prussians nor the Poles! Hold, and hold fast against such rhetoric, and Russia, indeed the world may be all the better for it.

It is questioned whether Louis himself ever did write the letters himself, the language seemingly coming from a more forthright man (perhaps Chief Minister Miromesnil, but this is unlikely). It is perhaps more reasonable to assume this was the sentiment of the King, a legacy of the views of his deceased foreign minister Vergennes, but not the voice. This is though lost to history. On the 5th December Russia, in light of British and Prussian aggression declared war upon the two countries. Shock reigned in London, less so in Berlin; to the normal Englishman, Ochakov was a place he had never heard of in his life, and preferred the Christian Russian immeasurably over the “heathen” Turk. Nevertheless his country was at war- Pitt made a well publicised speech to the Commons denouncing Russian aggression and using masses of hyperbole to great effect.

In waded Great Britain, that confident, powerful country into a conflict into which for the most part it knew almost nothing about and didn’t want to be in anyway. Russia was in a state of war with two nations already, the Turks and the Swedes (the Swedes having resumed hostilities upon the Russian declaration, thinking British assistance would help them gain more than they got out of the August peace treaty) . Almost immediately the Swedish front became the main threat to Russian power, Potemkin fully expecting a concerted attack from there. December passed into January and thus into a new year, with no real progression in the war. Russia was in a state of supreme alert on all fronts, fully believing that with British intervention the gains of what was previously named the “Russo-Turkish War” would be rolled back to the status quo perhaps a hundred years prior. The conscription drive of the Russian soldier, frequently a peasant and chained up come their induction into the Imperial Army increased. In January, a sizeable British expeditionary force landed in the Baltic, off Parnu in the modern day province of “Estonia”. The young, bumbling Frederick, Duke of York, King George III’s favourite son led this force of around 10,000 men. The origin of the nursery rhyme, the “Grand Old Duke of York” originates from this deployment, which in the eyes of Pitt (who in utmost fairness had frankly no idea of military affairs) was disastrous. Ill supplied, ill organised and ill positioned, the Duke of York struggled on to strike against the city of Pskov. Many of his men died of frostbite from the cruel Russian winter, many more from starvation as the logistics train became stuck in the mud tracks in the rear of the army. A whole month later, Frederick and his men arrived at Pskov and began a siege.

In the preceding inactive months, a British Foreign Office still in shock at the fact that they were actually at war with Russia began seeking the active help of the rest of Europe in the struggle. Given that the new Austrian Emperor Leopold II was seen to be keen on upholding his alliance with Russia and thus continuing the poor Austrian performance against the Ottoman Turks, the angle of many German statelet’s foreign policy was definitively anti-Austrian, and thus by proxy anti-Russian. This was especially true of Prussia, who at the last moment had refrained from committing large amounts of men to the fight in surprising hesitation, much to the chagrin of the British. Prussia, looking south at practical Austrian dominance over southern Germany desperately wanted to break this influence, with other German statelets like Hesse and Saxony seeking aggrandisement at the expense of Austria. Weeks after crushing the Hungarian rebellion he had inherited from his brother, Leopold II announced to Europe his intention to commit Austria to a state of armed neutrality, and his intention to fully uphold the Russian alliance and commitment against the Turks. On the 7th January Pitt in response, and with a now loyal, unified country at his back declared war on Austria too. Even this failed to budge the north German stance away from peace and into war.

In Poland however, events started to move in favour of the British side of the fence. With the immense help of extensive British subsidies, the now Polish Commonwealth (the same essential state with a federal character) was reforming its army- to Pitt this revealed only one intention. Polish reforms were also directed at ridding the country of its tendency to outright political anarchy; the a new Constitution [2] was passed successfully, rendering Poland a hereditary monarchy with many more liberal reforms. Yet still for Britain this was rapidly turning out to be a difficult war to fight. The siege of Pskov ended abruptly come August, when at the battle of the same name the Duke of York was mauled by the expert General Suvorov of the Russian Army. An ignominious evacuation took place, the Royal Navy ferrying back a broken army depleted heavily not by war but starvation and disease. Britain had only the hope of a Central Europe at war to attain victory…

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Chapter II: First Blood

We can hope neither for war, nor peace
William Pitt the Younger, 1792

All was quiet on the eastern front. The British, reinforced by more men from Hanover had landed again up the coast near Tallinn, but the Duke of York refused to give battle in the face of Suvorov’s outstanding war of manoeuvre; it is testament to the skill of the Duke of York that the British Army in Estonia was not totally routed. This game of cat and mouse continued well into 1792, where Britain, two years into real war began to feel the cost of the conflict. Like his father, Pitt utilised the greatest weapon Britain had, that being her huge warchest. This to the leader of the opposition Whigs, Charles James Fox seemed wasted, most of it being directed at bribing Prussia, Saxony and Poland into full scale war. Fox was proved wrong in his wasteful hypothesis come the middle of the year, when on he 16th July in perfect unison Prussia, Poland and Saxony declared war first on Austria and then on Russia as their enemies ally. Little known to the outside world bar Poland, the two German states had been secretly preparing for war since the British declaration. Prussia in her war plan allocated the bulk of her army toward fighting the Austrians, while the rest (still a sizeable proportion) marched off to hold off the Russians in Poland. Poland, with Prince Poniatowski and her army advanced on Brest, to which they would use as a supply base to attack further into the Russian heartlands. Against their whole European border apart from the small Austrian one, Russia was facing defeat in small but decisive skirmishes; this though did not instantly translate into military catastrophe. The Turks, at great cost won Chisinau, in scenes that instantly recalled the massacre at Ochakov. The campaigning season ended in 1792 come a particularly harsh winter, which in effect stopped all movement of armies in the war zones. The disappearance of winter in January 1793 revealed to the great statesmen of the war that in such a supposedly huge conflagration, not a great deal had actually been achieved. Suvorov changed this in March; pouncing upon the ill-prepared British army, he gave battle at Tapa. In a half hearted engagement he forced another British evacuation of Estonia, this time of a permanent nature. The Duke of York, upon returning to Britain was praised for his long holding of the front; the government under pressure at court granted him the position of “Commander in Chief of the British Army”. Commentators at the time mocked the imposition of the Prince in a role in which he looked hopelessly out of his depth. His employment was though one of the lasting British achievements of the war.

While Poniatowski rested in Brest, Suvorov was busy enough. Transferred to the Polish Front from his previous position in northern Estonia he struck south from the old city of Riga with what he called his “ragtime army”. This was no joke- the Russian Army, while superbly led was for all intents and purposes made up of Serfs, who could not hope of affording the rifle or ammunition they were carrying in a hundred years of work. They were extremely patriotic, beset by sadistic officers and brutal, a trait seen all too much on the Turkish front. On the 18th March he took without resistance the city of Wilno. Suvorov was lauded by the Empress herself for such a victory, and at such a low cost too. This praise evaporated come the end of March- Poniatowski was already moving north at breakneck speed, and a small Prussian Army was moving from the German lands to the west. The speed of Poniatowski and his projected direction meant that Suvorov could not hope to engage the smaller Prussian army before engaging the Polish one. He thus retreated again, burning Wilno to the ground and moved south toward Minsk. Minsk was not the same as Wilno, and resisted for the required time to make Suvorov worry about Poniatowski once more, his army getting more and more inflated by picking up peasant conscripts in the Lithuanian hinterland. The Russian Army was forced marched but in marching was far from idle- a propaganda victory was won by St Petersburg; The Times reported that-

The Russian Army moves at virtual will through the land of Poland; Tacitus’s remark on Roman peace may be apt in this regard.
Suvorov followed the Berezina river, his engineer corps blowing bridges upstream to prevent Poniatowski from engaging. By sheer force of his will he reached Kiev. The main supply base, another army was in the process of being assembled at the city; Poniatowski now felt far too weak to engage, his army being much the same structure. He retreated to Zytomierz and waited for his own reinforcements.

The Austrian war view was not directed at Germany but at the empire to its south, the Ottoman dominions. Here the Austrians made their move, and an awful one is was too; an attempt on Belgrade ended up being halted by a hastily assembled Turkish army at Subotica. Yet the Austrians had not forsaken the German front- a concerted attempt by the Austrian Army to end the war by taking Berlin. The Prussian’s, occupied in East Prussia as they were, were prepared; the cautious, slow Duke of Brunswick inflicted a heavy defeat on the Austrians under General Mack von Lieberich just outside Leipzig. In any other hands this would have been deemed a huge victory, but the military apparatchiks in Berlin knew better; although Brunswick moved on Vienna in a massive counter-swipe he only reached Plauen at the end of April, by which the Austrians under Archduke Charles had already assembled a formidable host. Brunswick’s intentions shifted attitudes elsewhere in Europe. The Paris salons gossiped on the conflagration in Europe and the fate of the Hapsburgs- would they be forced to flee? How would the Queen, Marie Antoinette react? The answer was remarkably simple- pressuring her weak willed husband to come to the aid of her relatives, who in fact were in no real danger cooped up in the Schönbrunn Palace. Louis saw his chance and took it, and one cant blame him for doing so. Britain, beset by Russia, her army broken and her treasury emptying by the day looked weak- France could regain her place as a world power, lost in the First Great War for Empire. The conflict spread- this was now well and truly a “Great War”, a worldwide one- France and her empire now duelled with Britain and her empire. The Royal Navy was immediately surprised by French warships in the Channel- seven ships of the line were damaged irreparably in the first few days.

It was in her navy that Britain placed the most pride; this was true of France too. In the Channel the mini arms race between the two powers had been the most perceptible- the British Channel fleet had 30 ships of the line, 22 Frigates and 8 fireships, the French slightly more so. In the Mediterranean too France and Britain vied for naval superiority- 23 ships of the line and 29 Frigates on either side, with many more support ships. The British were mainly based out of Portsmouth, Dover, Gibraltar, and Charleston, the French Brest, Rochefort, Boulogne and Toulon. Life aboard the British ships was a microcosm reflection of the lives of many Englishmen themselves. The officers and the Midshipmen found themselves in their own quarters, far from the comfort of land but spacious enough and copiously lit by candles. Animals were frequently stored aboard for meat, children as young as six too found across the ship, learning the ropes and playing with others of their age. Prostitutes were frequently allowed on board when in port. Flogging was common as a punishment, but not greatly enforced- a captain who flogged his crew constantly was liable to mutiny. Order and routine were paramount on the confines of the ship, whether it be a massive ship of the line or a humble sloop; breakfast was at 8am, divisions 9:30, drilling at 10:00. Both navy’s tactics were the same- aim for the mast and disable the rigging, as to disable the ship and then board at will. This tactic was intrinsically French- the British hadn’t adopted the now famous tactic of raking the gunners until further on in the war, by which time the talent of Toulon and Nelson were already making their presence felt. This was due, unlike the army to the allowing of ability as a factor in promotion- the army still was dominated by incompetent nobles willing to buy commissions. But in 1793 the Navy was still subject to the “Permanent Instructions”. This were a set of rules on the engagement of an enemy fleet, by which the ships had to engage the main body until surrender always and at the side the wind was blowing from- so the cannonshot ended up frequently in the water and the other ship could escape. The first Anglo-French engagements proved the folly of following these instructions almost instantaneously, proved by the amount of Royal Navy ships sunk. By September though the Admiralty had made an about turn- Lord Howe, Admiral of the Channel Fleet allowed far greater flexibility. Nevertheless the engagements for much of the year and the next remained thoroughly equal....

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Chapter III: Annus Horribilis

Fight, fight and die for your country! For this is no war of land or prestige- we fight for the right to survive, and for our families to survive! If we do not hold fast here, Poland dies…
Prince Poniatowski, 1794

The French declaration was followed in three weeks by a Spanish declaration. Spain, under the tutelage of the monumentally incompetent Manuel de Godoy had no interest in Ochakov, nor of the Austrian ambitions in the east and Germany. They had as the saying used to go, “their own score to settle”. The Nootka Sound dispute had already erupted and settled, but feelings in Spain still ran strong. Centred around the local Spanish governors legal impounding of British vessels in the Nootka Sound, Pitt had bullied the country with threats of war if trading rights were not relinquished on the western coast of North America, rights defended by Spain so much so that British ships had been impounded prior. Spain eventually backed down over Royal Navy superiority against their own weak, crumbling warships. Since then, Britain had seen more and more of her navy absorbed into the newly created Baltic Fleet, and with the French declaration had been entirely occupied. Now, saw Godoy, was the time for revenge. Even back in 1791 the rights of the Spanish in limiting foreign trade on the west coast of America had been restituted, but the court of Madrid had essentially misread the situation.

Until now the British Tory Party, I.e. the government had viewed the conflagration that they themselves had started as a patriotic endeavour- the aim was to lay low the Russians and restore British prestige in Europe. Now the French had gotten involved too- the more melodramatic interpreted their intervention as a sign that the war would become a fight for survival. With Spain’s entry, an old tendency of the Tory Party re-emerged; the focus was now on preying on the weak Spanish Empire across the Atlantic. The motivation is easy to fathom; Spanish America represented a vast domain, to which Britain could add to her empire as another market for her increasing export market. The breaking of the Spanish slave monopoly could also be achieved, and there in transporting Africans lay millions of pounds worth of profit. Much could be made; the City rejoiced. The merchants of Philadelphia and Boston celebrated too. Since even the Stuarts, the theory of Mercantilism had pervaded, the mother country really the only nation that could trade with the colonies. This of course led in due time to a disparity- British America as a whole had a large trade deficit. Only numerous Acts of Parliament prevented any resentment spilling over into unrest among the penniless businessmen. But as in the City the merchants of British America viewed outright conquest of Spanish America as entirely needed. The vast numbers of American volunteers needed somewhere to go- the French funded Indian rising in late 1793 (a remarkable feat by the French secret service, sending a small body of agents across the Atlantic, avoiding the numerous British naval squadrons to land in New Orleans and make a tiring trek through hostile country)in Ohio had proved their worth in the field, and stagnating in militias was thought by many even in London to be a supreme waste of a large pool of men. The opportunity was there, but Pitt was nevertheless haunted by the other British attempt on Spanish America, one which defeated Admiral Vernon at Cartagena in the War of Jenkins Ear. But in taking action he could appease so many blocs in Britain and America, eliminating for the time being any further disputes and providing a needed distraction for the increasingly difficult war in the east. To avoid the rainy season, a large force under the capable hands of General Sir Ralph Abercrombie set out in the last week of August, escorted by the Irish squadron under Admiral Hood. Among the passengers was a young colonel, John Moore, and a Venezuelan rogue in the form of Francisco de Miranda. These two men would make history; they however had to contend with the rough seas of the Atlantic before even starting.

The war in Europe in this time had not stalled- far from it. In the east, the Swedes, roused by the Polish defence and the British subsidy support finally made their move into Finland. Sweden, at war even before the British declaration had been timid in their prosecution of the conflict- their absolutist King Gustav III had started fighting Russia way back in 1788. Before the British intervention Swedish action had been indecisive; nobles switched sides, whole armies were misdirected into the wilds of Russian held Finland and troops frequently mutinied. Since then the British had entered, to general acclaim in Stockholm- upon a meeting with the British ambassador, Gustav was seen to be both joyous and concerned. Realising the state of his army he allowed British training sergeants to bolster his ranks, and an untold discipline crept back into the Swedish Army, an army that had before defeated the Russians under Charles XII. By early 1794 the Swedes were ready, and under the personal command of King Gustav they landed outside Helsinki. The city was quickly taken, and the King even won a small victory against a Russian relief force at Kerava. Of course from the Russian perspective this was not going to last. The situation on the Polish front, where the Poles were still reforming their army in the manner of the Swedes, was deemed stable enough to move Suvorov to command the Finnish front. “I am tossed around fronts like a rag doll”, Suvorov wryly quipped, careful that the Empress’ representatives would not overhear. The decision made was completely justified-on the 18th February Suvorov met Gustav at Lahti. The Battle of Lahti lasted two hours, and by the end the Swedes were in total rout. Only half of their army made it back to the ships at Helsinki; the rest were gathered up and piled into the same macabre pyramids seen at Ochakov. Upon reaching Stockholm Gustav III attempted suicide, such was his utter despair; he decided upon staying in the war only when he heard of the Swedish Navy’s victory over the remnants of the Russian Baltic fleet off Vyborg. British subsidies of course helped too, now only reaching the status of mere bribes.

Truly, this was an Annus Horibilus for the Allies. The Turks, cautious as they were and of course wary of sudden Austrian attempts on Belgrade, made an attempt on Khotyn. General Ivan Gudovich was waiting for them with 12,000 men- the Turks were massacred. Gudovich now made for the Danube, and the Turks could do next to nothing to stop him. The Royal Navy, blockading Bordeaux as per the Admiralty’s strategic plan were defeated by the emerging French fleet. In fact, the French Navy lost more ships damaged and sunk (although this was rare, attributable more to fire and poor repair than enemy action) than the British- nevertheless the battered fleet had to retreat to Rochefort while the French made merry in the Atlantic merchant raiding and threatening the Spanish blockade.
The Poles suffered another invasion, this time aimed at Vilnius. The Poles under Poniatowski easily defeated the approaching Russian army under General Barclay de Tolly; medium sized, it was not the host that they had seen under Suvorov. In April Poniatowski moved the bulk of his army back to threaten Kiev, thickly held by the enemy, leaving his able newly promoted subordinate Thaddeus Kosciusko to hold Vilnius.

In September Abercrombie and Moore landed at Charleston, southern Carolina to be met by Lord Amherst, hero of the last Great War. Eager to join the pair in Charleston, Amherst was to be transferred from his post in British America to command the army in Hanover, lest it be overrun by the French once more. Also joining the host were the thousands of cheering American volunteers, incorporated for the most part in the Royal Marines. Amherst in a letter to his friend George Washington said this of the pair at dinner-

The man Abercrombie was slow in eating, but accordingly polite in conversation. His deputy Moore was entirely different from what I had prepared for. Impatient in demeanour he ate quickly and talked to the point.
Moore had risen in the ranks very quickly. He was a Major at Pskov, and while that battle was a defeat for British arms he had held off wave after wave of attacks by being in the thick of the action. He was decisive, brave and above all held a killer instinct, all of which endeared him to the Duke of York. He was the perfect balance to the cautious Abercrombie, the career soldier eager for some glory.

By mid September the army set off according to plan- they thus landed in the Leeward Islands, overcoming the French and Spanish garrisons and accidentally storming a neutral Dutch one. Guadeloupe, unwisely returned to the French at the Treaty of Paris was retaken- St Lucia, Martinique, Dominica and Barbados were secured. However, to Abercrombie and Hood this was not the prime threat to British action in the Caribbean. New Orleans, capital of Louisiana was a Spanish city on the southern coast of North America, populated by French settlers. Now the two powers were allied, and the taking of this obstacle to British American colonial expansion and potential naval base was of paramount priority. Risking the hurricane season, the British force under Abercrombie and aided in their action by the timely and helpful intervention of the Creek Confederacy surprised the Coalition garrison. New Orleans was British- the fate of Louisiana was now a foregone conclusion. Already in 1794 the Tory hopes had exceeded all reasonable expectations.

Amherst arrived in Bremen on the sloop HMS Franklin- he was just in time. The French, preparing their armies for battle had always been expected to strike into Germany and directly threaten the Prussians. The First Great War had seen Prussia almost succumb to this with their three front war- the British Army was now in place to stop such things. The French Army under the brilliant Marshall Dumouriez defeated the hasty Amherst at Osnabruck. Both sides were mauled until the French forced the British right flank- thereon in, the retreat to Hannover was inevitable. Dumouriez, wary of British reinforcements did not advance further. The French advance into central Germany seemed to do little at first- the status quo was largely the same. Yet in Amsterdam the merchants and nobles of the United Provinces looked on in anger. The campaigns of Louis XIV were only a few generations back- there the French had tried so hard to crush the Dutch nation into nothing but a vassal. The Stadtholder William V of Orange, encouraged by the entreaties of the British ambassador and the fears of the mercantile class of encirclement toyed with the possibility of reviving the spirit of those last wars. To the surprise of many in France as well as in England on the 8th December 1794 the United Provinces declared war on all members of the Coalition. And then came news from Poland….

Suvorov with his victory in Finland wanted to consolidate Russian power in the region- his hopes of doing so were dashed instantly. He was once again ordered to command the Army on the Polish front, operating from Kiev. Here was a formidable host, comprising near 34,000 men keen for a fight. Suvorov obliged- he saw the city of Brest as the key to the whole of Poland and advanced straight for the town. Poniatowski too had spotted the danger; from there the Russian Army if not stopped could strike at Warsaw, link up with the Austrians at Lvov or drive into Prussia. Brest was the key, and he had fortified it with everything the Polish state and army could supply. But Poniatowski hadn’t expected to see such a large army- his forces only amounted to near 23,000 men. Experienced though they were, Poniatowski feared another Lahti and practised a scorched earth policy. Suvorov was careful in this regard also- he utilised the River Pripyat to ferry supplies down to the city along with the Russian Army moving on either bank. Suvorov found the city on the 7th October defiant and garrisoned to the hilt. The majority of the populace had been evacuated- now this was a fortress able to strike at the Russians almost at will. The great general surrounded Poniatowski inside the city and made his siege preparations.
The ensuing three month siege of Brest has entered Polish folk legend as an example of the highest bravery and valour of their nation. Poniatowski, flawed as the man was is now painted in the country as the epitome of these values- even in the British domains the man and the siege have been portrayed in countless historical works, fictions and films. They keep faithfully to his biography prior- military envoy to the courts of Europe, womaniser, raconteur and loved by his men. But they all have the same dark ending- only the newest pieces are revisionist in their portrayal of Suvorov.


The city found by the Russian general was immense in military preparation. Poniatowski had managed to erect three separate walls, each with covering firing positions and thick enough to resist prolonged bombardment. Mines littered the fields around the city, with enough gunpowder in each to blow whole regiments into the sky. Even inside Brest itself walls had been built on certain streets to create a maze to which the Russian soldier would be trapped and inevitably shot down. Poniatowski was confident that the scale of Russian casualties would prompt their retreat, since this was the only hope of a Polish Army mostly in Brest itself. Kosciusko to the north struggled to recruit more and more of the local peasantry and train them too.

The Russian assault began on the 12th October. The cannon pounded for seven hours until the first wall was breached, by which time Suvorov had very little shot left to force another opening. The first Russian assault was a disaster-

…..and they charged toward us like wild animals and we shot them all down in turn. The explosions from the mines threw hundreds in the air, their bodies like rag dolls flying across the sky. Of course the closer the Russian soldier was to the explosion, the less of him was left….
The mines claimed hundreds of victims, Polish fire on the walls and in the breach even more. The assault ended when Poniatowski brought up several cannon supplied by the British onto the breach and literally blasted his enemy away. Russian casualties were heavy- up to 8000 men lay staining the fields red. It took another four weeks to assemble enough powder and shot again to attempt another assault, to take place in early November. This time it worked- Suvorov risked a third of his army, forcing the Poles after a nine hour fight from the breach and into the second wall, which was almost immediately brought tumbling down by cannon-shot from batteries aptly moved by the Russians. From their new position outside the outer walls, the Russians began to indiscriminately bombard the town itself, setting many buildings alight and in some cases unwittingly demolishing the street walls. Poniatowski had nothing to rebuild them with but the small citadel in the very centre of Brest, and he wasn’t going to risk that last line of defence. On the 21st November the Russians forced the new breach, and were repulsed with heavy loss once more. This time the gore of Ismail was repeated on the Russian side- the Poles used the bodies of their erstwhile enemy to partially refill the breach itself. This new defence was found to be woefully inadequate when the corpses failed to freeze solid as expected and the Russian artillery thus blew apart their own former comrades remorselessly. Inside Brest, supplies were quickly running out, so much so that Poniatowski now instituted death as the punishment for pilfering bread; horse became the meat of choice, the rats having fled when the fires started. Numerous sallies by the Polish cavalry, in some cases personally led by Poniatowski (who was very nearly captured on several occasions) spiked some of Suvorov’s cannons but only served to delay the inevitable. The work of the Polish sappers in countering the efforts of their Russian adversaries was also fruitful, but the inevitable finally arrived on the 9th December. The Russian Artillery had forced open another breach at the third wall, to the rear of the current breach in the second- now the Russians had a clear path into Brest itself. Suvorov flung two thirds of the sieging army into the attack- the Polish defenders raked them with fire, inflicting disproportionate casualties before having to retire (before being overwhelmed) to the second bridge. Again, the Russians were assailed by fire before charging the Polish line and engaging in fierce hand to hand fighting. Ladders on the walls either side of the Poles spread the fighting to virtually all of the second wall- the Russian accounts tell of dozens of sword fights on these walls between Russian and Polish officers, the losers frequently being physically thrown off the ramparts. It was here that Prince Poniatowski decided to die, having given his famous speech to the garrison beforehand. He, according to accounts given on both sides leapt down from the second wall sword in hand and cleaved several Russian officers before succumbing to several musket shots. The Polish resistance did not falter- despite the loss of their leader they fought on, against all the odds. The fighting dragged on into the night, reaching the last defensive post, the Citadel. By now barely 300 Poles were left, the rest of their comrades lying dead at the breaches and in the streets of the town. On the 10th still they fought, until Suvorov set a parley to which the 21 Poles left in the building were led silently out, watched by the Russian Army, tired and angry at the lack of loot. A Danish observer noted that General Suvorov was ashen faced throughout and literally exhausted as a result of his endeavours- upon seeing the town burn after he ordered his withdrawal he went back into his tent and wept. The Siege of Brest had sacrificed the flower of Polish manhood and had cost them one of their best strategic minds- yet in all it had blunted a serious Russian advance which could have cost them their very survival. The Russian Army there was now a shadow of what it once was- out of 34,000 barely 9,200 returned to Kiev, now harried by elements of Kosciusko’s cavalry squadrons. Stalemate reigned in Poland….

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Chapter IV: Surprises and Conquest

We come to free Galicia!
Thaddeus Kosciusko, 1795

Crush them! Crush them as if they were insects!
Admiral John Jervis, signalling to his ships at the Battle of Toulon 1795

Suvorov limped back to Kiev with battered laurels and only remnants of his “ragtime army”. In the eyes of the Empress Catherine the general was still useful, and could be deployed easily on the Ottoman front to the south. But now the Russian Imperial Army saw Poland as the last front on their huge European border- dig in now, and bring all to bear when the time is right was the dictum. To many historians this was the paramount mistake of the Russian Empire- in Poland the war could be won or lost, and only the depression of Suvorov prevented another battle further into the country. Many military historians, including the Polish ones believe that with the meagre forces available Kosciusko could have done little to stop him. But south Suvorov went, and out of his malaise came victory after victory. At Braila, at Galati Suvorov smashed the weak Ottoman army, commanded by obscure pashas and staffed by undisciplined officers. Finally at Razgrad Suvorov pushed his army to the limit, force marching south and routing the Turkish army guarding the approaches to Constantinople. In September the Turks were forced to the table- the terms were harsh enough. At first a truce, the conflict between the two vast empires now secured land right up to the Danube and a small foothold in Transylvania.

The Polish Army had been reforming since 1788, but in the view of the war this change had been sped up. Under Kosciusko in 1795 the Army was finally ready to strike, totally apart from the spearhead of Poniatowski. Kosciusko, unable to join the army until 1788 but rising rapidly due to his noble status and sheer skill had gathered together what appeared to be the Commonwealth army of old. The Noble officer corps in and around the whole country had been called up, as well as a large proportion of the “Piechota lanowa”, serf infantry. The cavalry, the pride to Poland as the Navy was to Britain was strong- under the tutelage of General Dabrowski the Pacerni (akin to Dragoons)and the Cossacks (light cavalry) had been raised. In all Kosciusko had raised 32,000 men, too late to save his good friend and superior Poniatowski but enough, in light of the Russian retreat to strike into Galicia. This region, taken by Austria in the “First Partition”, seemed essential to the Sejm’s war effort. Kosciusko struck straight at occupied Lvov- the ease of its capture and much of Galicia is due mostly to local help and Austrian neglect of the front. Despite Polish seizure of what Vienna viewed as their own territory, Austria only moved an army of equal size to the pre-Partition border. Polish blood was up- a move into occupied Galicia would be opposed tooth and nail. Example of this had already been provided at the siege of Brest.

General Kosciusko knowing Austrian strength and the presence of reinforcements didn’t strike south- he knew the prime threat would come from Russia, and leaving a small garrison in Lvov moved into central Lithuania. With the victory of Suvorov against the Turks to the south, it was inevitable that there was going to be another invasion., This came in the January of 1796...

In the New World Tory aspirations were proceeding exactly to plan. From New Orleans two expeditions sprang forth- to the south ventured Abercrombie and Moore, destined for Puerto Rico, while to the north along the Mississippi came the old general George Washington, his lieutenant Henry Clinton in tow [1]. Both old men, the War Office had assigned them glory but no real task- the seizure of St. Louis. Clinton in fact died come September 17th, leaving Washington himself to combat the comparably tiny Coalition [2] army outside the settlement. The Battle of St. Louis was hardly worth the name, much of the Coalition troops eager to surrender, knowing they were surrounded by British country and Indians to the west, unknown as to whether they were hostile or not. The battle though had repercussions; in London upon hearing the news the profile of the British American soldier overnight became markedly higher- the rhetoric of Samuel Johnson toward these men of New York, Philadelphia and Charleston was diminished. The War Office under the highly progressive Duke of York sanctioned unofficial transfers of British American militia troops into the Royal Marines; in reality these “men of valour”, as would become known in later British history were used as normal combat troops later by Moore. Moreover, the sense that the British American was no less British than the Briton started to pervade; they were “one and the same, borne of the same island and the same stock”- yet this is beyond the scope of this short history.

The seizure of Puerto Rico was quintessentially textbook in nature- Abercrombie simply sieged the coastal forts of San Juan, Isabela and Hormigueros and the planter society surrendered en masse to the new occupiers. There really wasn’t the scope for resistance among this small slaver island- the Royal Navy ruled the Caribbean waves and the Atlantic, so relief from Spain was seen to be ludicrous. Even in Spanish America the Royalist forces were at best scanty; this would be a great advantage to the British Army in the forthcoming campaigns. The next island of call would be Hispaniola. This larger land was divided into two- the French speaking west called “Haiti” and the Spanish speaking “West”, merely Santo Domingo, later “Dominicas”. The Spanish side was ill-populated- society here had declined, bypassed by commerce and neglected by the civil bureaucracy found to be so effective in South America. The French territory was richer than its counterpart, thriving on the slave trade and its plantation based sugar economy. This was a valuable territory for France- Pitt was damned if he was going to let it remain unmolested by his forces in the Caribbean. Abercrombie and Moore, with a force of 7,600 men (a large proportion Americans, many dying of yellow fever in Puerto Rico) landed at Santo Domingo port. As in Puerto Rico resistance was non-existent; what Spanish planters there were, unconcerned by protestations of friendship and action by their French Coalition allies, wanted British protection from the slave uprising that had started in Haiti. In 1791, a large minority of slaves had revolted from the French planters, making the interior of the country their home and haven. They sought however no great division from their French enemies in terms of culture or language- they were free, yet still quasi-French in character. Santo Domingo had fallen easily to the British- Haiti would be far harder. In an unnatural, perhaps even unaware alliance, the French planters and the slave guerrillas put up a fight against the British invaders; Les Cayes was taken at cost, and armed planters gathered together at Sant Marc to form a rudimentary army. Larger than the invaders, it wasn’t however any more professional. It was though brave, and at Sant Marc (after Abercrombie had driven northwards from the south coast to take an abandoned Port au Prince) the two forces engaged. It was a hard fight- the planters shot to kill, not simply raking their enemy with fire as the British were used to doing. The American volunteers on the flanks though proved their worth- they turned the planters flanks, surrounding half the army and killing the French general/governor. The battle was almost complete- Abercrombie rode up to inspect the situation on his glorious right flank. It was his mistake- the slave guerrillas, led by the mythical figure of Toussaint L’Overture charged out of long grass into the surprised Americans, shooting Abercrombie in the chest. He died before he hit the ground- it was now up to Moore to finish the conflagration. He risked his whole army by turning it around and surrounding the slaves, all the while the retreating French army could have had the chance to return and finish the British off. It was not to be- the slaves fought to the death, and resistance in Haiti was finished. A third of the small army was gone- Moore sieged a defiant Cap-Haitien before sending off for new reinforcements and an evaluation of his unique position in the Caribbean.

The Dutch made merry in the Austrian Netherlands while the French dithered in Germany. Their navy tipped the balance in the German Sea and the Channel, surprising the French ships of the line as they had surprised the British. Amsterdam rejoiced at so many new prizes; the Dutch Army in turn thrust south into the almost unprotected Austrian Netherlands. The main force quickly took Turnhout, before making the slog down the River Nethe. A smaller force landed by the Dutch navy sieged Bruges quick enough. Pamphleteers were optimistic in The Hague, the majority predicting quick victory for Dutch arms and a new golden age. An early “Counterfactual History” by a non-entity named Willem van Barneveldt predicted Dutch aspirations stretching into northern France, Germany and even a Dutch Japan. Such was the mood in the United Provinces. The French hoped to countermand this with a naval victory; they had by the end of 1795 be content with a few marvellous ship to ship actions, one with a small sloop led by the future Admiral du Chayla against a far larger frigate. This was no use- beating the Dutch would have to give rise to a revision of military strategy.

This was in clear contrast to the British. Royal Naval historians have pinpointed 1795 as the full flowering of the force, and the Battle of Toulon its inspiration. Clearly leadership still mattered- the forces engaged were comparative, but on each side the aspect of leadership differed. The French were led by an Admiral of no consequence, who indeed shot himself after the fight, the British by Sir John Jervis. Here he implemented the New Rules, ordering his captains to aim for the cannoneers instead of the rigging and (with favourable winds it has to be said) sailing into the French line instead of to the side of the fleet attempting to escape the blockade. Jervis was awarded instantly with a peerage, becoming Baron Jervis of Toulon, or simply Lord Toulon. The aspect of leadership is very important in this instant, for to the north and early in the next year (1796) Admiral Lord Howe was defeated by the more competent Compte de Brueys, who on his own initiative escaped across the Atlantic to the Caribbean to harass Hood…


[1]-The legacy of the American troubles here- the Briton is subordinated to the American
[2]-France, Austria, Russia= Coalition. Britain, America, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden etc= Alliance

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Chapter V: See the winds change

We have new brilliance under our wing- be careful though, as such geniuses can prove to be utterly subversive…..
General Kellerman on his young Artillery Lieutenant Bonaparte

Idiocy, but by God useful idiocy
William Pitt the Younger, on the Elector Charles Theodore’s decision to drag Bavaria into the Alliance and thus war

The death of Abercrombie left Moore in charge of the command of the Caribbean, a huge responsibility thrust upon a man no more than 35 years of age. He had however proved his military acumen on the plains of Sant Marc- the War Office took this into its consideration. In promoting Moore Major-General of the Army of the Caribbean they had little alternative- of the seasoned commanders, Amherst was old and needed in Germany, Abercrombie and Clinton were dead and the others were either sitting pretty in the House of Lords (men like old Banastre Tarleton) or American (despite their increasing reputation the Caribbean theatre was seen as an intrinsically British theatre). In the subordinate position however the Duke of York could promote who he pleased, and it fell to a capable yet unproven military talent in the form of Benedict Arnold to assume the responsibility. The campaign stalled for the moment- Arnold had to arrive ,as did reinforcements scraped from garrisons in Ireland and America. In late July, with all gathered Moore set sail for Cuba, an important prize and one gained and lost in the Treaty of Paris in years past. The key to the place was Havana, the main city and Arsenal of the Spanish Navy. Havana was overcome in a surprise night bombardment by Hood and a landing at dawn by the Royal Marines- in two days through savage house to house, hand to hand fighting the city was taken. Half of it burned in the August sun, painted in such detail by the deft hand of Turner in the next century. The Arsenal wasn’t burned but preserved by Moore on the advice of Hood- the end of the year saw British ships being launched instead of Spanish, at high demand. The interior of Cuba succumbed quickly- fearing another slave uprising on the island the planters looked to the British garrison for security and with the example of British America to the north better governance too.


Brueys arrived in the first week of August- his first port of call was Fort-Royal, Martinique being his base for a counter-stroke against Alliance ambitions. The move was stupid in extremis- Brueys didn’t count for the weather at all, and the French Marines he brought with him, while good enough to force the British surrender of Martinique were no match for the men of Moore. Hood moved upon the large fleet in port, and in a stunning victory bombarded the French in port. Brueys watched aghast while ship after ship raised colours of surrender- he too, after two hours did the same. A Captain Nelson here made his name at Fort-Royal, now of course Fort Hood- boarding Brueys’ flagship with his smaller frigate HMS Agamemnon (and entirely surprising both Hood and Brueys) he fought fiercely for his prize, bemused to see the French Admiral hand over his sword personally to him in shock. The prize money was worth less than the fame- he was promoted Vice Admiral.
In the Americas the Alliance ran supreme, in Europe the Coalition. The Spanish, impotent in the Americas due to British blockade seized their chance in the Mediterranean, seizing the British Port Mahon in a victory that shocked London high (and low) society. The next target was obviously Gibraltar, bastion of British might in the middle sea and fortress extraordinaire. The Rock was reinforced by a Royal Naval fleet, harried at all times by a pursuing French one, active since the breaking of Howe at Quiberon. Now Coalition ambitions focused on the little fort, “gallant little Gibraltar”- a huge Spanish Army, reinforced by French elite regiments and under the whole command of the French Duc de Crillon. The siege was to go the same way as Brest- it would occupy Coalition forces for three whole years, defy great assaults and exhibit the height of comradeship, but succumbs ultimately to the offending host.

Modern Bavaria is now but a region inside a country barely recognised by the rest of the world. Back in 1796 it was a thriving Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, technically in fief to the Hapsburgs but in reality a Kingdom in all but name- it was this aspiration that drove Charles Theodore I in his endeavours. Generally unpopular ruling from Munich, he had been previously opposed by Prussia and Saxony in recognising Austrian territorial expansion in return for recognising his illegitimate progeny as legitimate issue. In the subsequent “War of the Bavarian Succession”, or the “Kartoffelkrieg” (both sides had tried to cut off each others food supplies) Charles Theodore was confirmed but only due to a lack of pure Prussian aggression. Austria had to march out of her lands and Charles had to deliver an indemnity to the next claimant, the Elector of Saxony. Charles learnt much from his experience, but he learnt the wrong things. He thought he saw Prussia as the greater power than Austria, despite the glaring fact that the Hapsburg Empire was right next to Bavaria. The Elector though still held out for Austrian entreaties, something to truly expand his domains in a war he thought would really only end in a few territorial shuffles at the peace conference. A secret offer to push the Bavarian Army on Austria’s side in exchange for the Austrian Netherlands was a blunt attempt at aggrandisement- Austria merely complained it could not give the territory with it being occupied by Dutch troops. The reviled old man turned back to his ideas of Prussian power- backed up by the arguably greater power of Britain and a host of German principalities, the Alliance ambassadors promised whatever Charles Theodore wanted to hear. In March, in an attempt to rally his country and boost his own reputation inside the troubled Electorate, the man led the flower of Bavarian manhood straight into Austria. At the Battle of Rosenheim the young military genius Archduke Charles routed the Bavarians. With such a crushing victory and its isolation from its allies Austria could bide its time, like an kestrel hovering over its prey….

The Alliance saw reverses in this year once more in Europe, though at the time not viewed as catastrophic as before. It was a start. The Battle of the Yvoriv Plains saw the confident Kosciusko defeated by a transferred (once more) Suvorov. Kosciusko and his army were far from broken in the aftermath- proportionally they inflicted far more casualties on their Russian foes. In consternation the Russian peasant army started to raid Polish villages; Kosciusko responded with hit and run attacks by the cavalry against the much prized forage parties. Come February the Dutch had reached Bruges and was well into sieging it when the French under General Houchard arrived. In an impromptu engagement the Dutch were forced to retreat haphazardly to Antwerp. Houchard though was no Moore or Suvorov- he only reached Antwerp by mid-August from a Bruges only taken in July. By this time the Dutch to their credit were ready- the port was well supplied and fortified. Houchard, while directing the position of his artillery batteries had his life taken by a spent ball, to be replaced by the gifted General Kellerman. Among the artillery officers of the Army of the Low Countries was a young Corsican by the name of Bonaparte. The two men at first hated each other, but the Royalist army was packed with officers that “only deserved the attribute of mediocrity”. Kellerman conferred with Bonaparte over the position of the batteries, badly placed by the personal intervention of Houchard into Bonaparte’s field of expertise. Since the Dutch had retreated into the city the Royal and UP Navies had been supplying the defenders with impunity- now the Corsican put paid to their “arrogance”. On the 1st October HMS Junius saw plumes of water straight on in its approach line- 6 minutes later as the French Army Official Records state HMS Junius exploded, heated shot hitting its powder store. The North Sea fleet immediately refrained from action inside the perimeter- the UP Navy continued as long as it could, losing four further ships damaged. The Dutch, under no real unified command decided to break out for Eindhoven, where they perhaps could attack the French Army from a stronger position. Kellerman, observing from the nearby heights saw the port-shore explode as the Dutch blew up any facilities that would be of use to the French Navy. Most of the Anglo-Dutch garrison (at Sluis Houchard had forced a small British column to retreat with the Dutch) escaped to Eindhoven during the night, the French cavalry distracted on the other side of the city by the release of the ports livestock into the nearby fields (with lights on their necks, reminiscent of Hannibal). General Dumouriez, his task officially to subdue the Bavarians with the help of the Austrians heard of this from an insistent Kellerman. Swinging north, he swept into the Netherlands and surrounded Eindhoven, Marlborough in reverse. Kellerman had barely dislodged his battery positions when he heard of the surrender of Eindhoven. The United Provinces Army was scattered or in captivity- Amsterdam trembled.

Suvorov had remained in Poland, not having retreated as he wanted to really do back to Kiev. Instead he was forced by his Emperor Paul to strike for a killer blow- with a crippling lack of self confidence since Yvoriv Suvorov only reluctantly moved. In hindsight he couldn’t have gone for the Polish jugular even if he wanted too; following the advice of his sovereign was his worst mistake. The Russian Alexander advanced his army to Bialystok, not to take it but to out-manoeuvre Kosciusko and force him to engage; there he would count on his superior battlefield acumen. Kosciusko was quicker; he forced Suvorov off his pre-planned route and into the surrounding hinterland in what is called the “Battle” of Bialystok (November 11th). To the Polish it was a victory, and although tactically it was a draw strategically it was- Suvorov got his wish and retreated back roughshod to Kiev. The Emperor Paul dismissed his best general in a rage, thinking his choice would accomplish the defeat of Poland.

Germany was alight with war. The Austrians had assembled another host to finish Prussia, and under Archduke Charles they were ably led. The campaign of 1796 though only led to two major engagements- to the reader this may not sound like a great deal, but this was by all means a war of manoeuvre. In a duel both of troops and will the famed Austrian general and the Prussian Duke of Brunswick crossed rivers, stormed towns, attacked each other in small detachments yet inflicting huge casualties. From August until the end of November the two German nations clawed at each other, Charles victorious at Chemnitz but Brunswick at Naumberg. This warfare would become the staple of German fighting; the question was whether which power would it bleed dry.

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Chapter VI: Victory in the wrong place, defeat in the right

I told you so
Gustav III to his ministers, commenting on Swedish victory in Finland

You all have gained all that my great, great-grandfather wanted- now for the reckoning
King Louis XVI of France to his Royal Guard on French victories

The Governor’s Palace in Havana housed Moore and Arnold in huge comfort, with the rest of their men billeted across the fields outside the city, lest they offend the locals. It was in the palace that they made their plans, such that intended to break Spanish power in South America. The result achieved was however contrary to their initial expectations. There was a third general in the Havana palace, and it was to his theories of independence for Spanish America that they conformed to. Francisco de Miranda was from the region we now know as Venezuela, a Creole who had joined the Spanish Army. In 1783 he had been convicted of embezzlement, although the truth of the charge is in doubt since Miranda personally destroyed the relevant documents when in power. He escaped though, which attests to something at least; he travelled British America, marvelling at the power struggles and the will of the ordinary British American to persuade the Briton that he was the same. He tried to join the British Army in 1787, but failed. Miranda though was not disheartened, sailing to London and making himself well known among high society and the prime minister, William Pitt. The two men did not have a rapport, but Pitt with his intrinsic Tory instincts grew toward Miranda’s notion of a Spanish America independent of Spain. Gradually his ideas watered down, from a monarchical empire with its capital of Cuzco to smaller “Protectorates”, encompassing select areas of the Empire and placing them under the nominal protection of the British government. Protection should be taken literally- these new states were intended to run their own affairs but let the greater power that was Britain handle defence and general foreign policy.

Venezuela was to be the first target for “Protection”, Miranda assuring them that the presence of a British Army on South American soil would be enough to place the whole country in rebellion against the hated “Peninsulares”. Such was his fantasy. But Moore had two things that the Spanish lacked- time and men. He could afford to split his army, with Colonel Picton to be landed at Veracruz in the March and a new expedition of solely American troops to be gathered at Charleston. It was intended for New Spain (now the Mexican Confederation) to be split into two parts- the namesake could do next to nothing to resist, from the safety of Madrid watching impotently as their claim to much of North America evaporated. The main force, under the personal command of General Moore would land at Punto Fijo; here a bridgehead would be established. This force of 17,000 landed in June, taking the local fortress with sublime ease and renaming it “Fort St. Andrew”, for Moore’s Scottish heritage. Miranda did not accompany him, he having to lead a separate expedition of Venezuelan radical exiles- this was to give the air of legitimacy to British claims of “Protection”. The plan was ruined by Moore- with no large opposing Spanish army in the area he made for Maracaibo, a city he knew that was already seething with discontent toward the Spanish officials. The British army’s march tipped this mood into outright unrest, the Spanish mayor literally thrown out of the city and the British welcomed in open arms. There were less than expected- Yellow Fever had claimed hundreds on the march south. The “Protectorate of Venezuela” was declared at Maracaibo, in contravention of Miranda’s ambitions. Historians still argue as to whether more or less legitimacy would have been gained from a declaration by Miranda- Moore’s was backed by a professional army. Many more historians speculate as to what the consequences would be if Moore turned out intransigent in his specification for the Protectorate; the Scotch general allowed almost all the Creole classes grievances and requests to be granted, and to those he could bribe with his war chest or concessions he simply lied to. Miranda, destined to land near Caracas instead travelled to Maracaibo to be acclaimed interim leader, later Caudillo of Venezuela. The constitution was not to be finalised until the end of the conflict.

Moore was eager to “get on with the job”- after the rainy season he marched on Barquisimento, Caracas and San Cristobal, all falling quickly in the face of advance. At San Cristobal however Moore encountered the Spanish. His first major engagement largely on his own, he showed the military flair that would make him a legend. The Pass of Cucuta saw the Spanish under Juan Manuel Cajigal routed back into New Grenada (now the region of Confederal Colombia), a large portion defecting to Venezuela. Cajigal, distinct on his white charger fled into the Llaneros. This wasn’t wise- his horse was almost instantly stolen by guides, and traipsing into Achaguas he was found by the local leader to be a half starved wreck. The local leader was Jose Tomas Boves, and it was to he that Cajigal related his tale. Local legend ascribes Boves’ initial disbelief, before realising that his own white charger could in fact have been stolen from the incoherent general. Boves on Cajigal’s pleadings took up the Spanish cause- it is debatable that he actually wanted to restore Spanish power, given the Peninsulares’ implicit racism toward the Mestizo Llaneros, cow herders from birth with a considerable chip on all shoulders. To the Communards he is the “King-Anarchist”, to the Democrats the “Barbarian epitome”. His actions after raising the Spanish flag conform with both interpretations of his character; he led his 13,000 strong army of horsemen and infantry (armed with what they could find, frequently sharpened stakes) straight into pro-British villages and towns in and around San Cristobal. The Battle of El Pinar marked this not as insurgency but mere rebellion- September 28th saw Boves’ disorganised savage rabble attack Moore head on. The Llanero cavalry, while manoeuvrable were hardly led by any officer and attacked the British squares with impunity. They were massacred, the infantry doing hardly better against the trained Anglo-American regiments placed in the centre. ¾ of the Llanero army was annihilated, but incredibly at San Juan Boves struck again. This time the aim was not to destroy the army but Moore himself- the Llanero Caudillo himself charged at the general. Looking on ready to defend himself, Moore watched as Boves’ horse stumble, forcing him onto his own stake. The Scotchman was shocked to say the least- he immediately requested reinforcements from Horse Guards and Philadelphia. His apprehension lay in the fact that a broken army had fought fiercely despite the odds and despite the way of retreat laying open. The Llanero cause though was dead for the next twenty years.

In November Picton landed at Veracruz- he immediately struck inland at Puebla de los Angeles and took it without resistance. Picton, unlike Moore was hardly malleable to the locals wishes; when they requested information as to the status of the British Army in Mexico Picton responded with a withering statement of British right of conquest. He was a hard man, used to dealing with inferior officers with the utmost severity. Seeing a vocal town meeting in the Plaza Mayor he ordered his men to fire at will. Miraculously only eight out of five hundred died; there were to be no more questions, especially in a country so large and sparsely populated. To the north the Charleston expedition landed in December, 7,000 enthusiastic Americans under the command of Sir Christopher Carleton. Unlike his counterpart to the south, Carleton moved with speed- news in the Times from January 1798 report his progress as far as Torreon, having landed at El Rabon and Monterrey surrendering to him.

Sweden since 1794 had been licking her wounds- since the debacle outside Helsinki efforts had been poor in trying to retake Finland. Now, with their army retrained into the dynamic force it would stay for the next century and funded by British “subsidies” (little more than bribes- some houses in Stockholm grew far more lavish overnight) they landed again outside Helsinki, again under the personal command of King Gustav III, his confidence restored. Holding Finland for Russia was General Ivan Gudovich, hero of the Turkish wars and competent enough to hold off any Swedish incursion- if he had enough men. Complications in recruitment back east and the huge losses incurred both by long winter marches and the Polish resistance had cut down general Russian troops numbers. The Swdes, with 28,000 men easily forced a retreat, while a more concrete victory was gained by the navy off Saarema, crippling the Russian Baltic fleet. The pamphleteers ran riot back in the capital, spouting fiercely nationalistic language aimed at demonising the Russian as the savage who can only be stopped by war. Gustav with his chief of staff Charles John Adlercreutz planned a war winning capture of St. Petersburg, aided by the victorious navy. As yet they were unready to move- the Russians however made sure that no attack would come near the capital. In heady July Gudovich made a spectacular return, the Russian Army invading Finland yet again and defeating the Swedes under Adlercreutz at Mikkeli. The victory as at Brest was pyrrhic- Gudovich lost half his men while the Swedes adopted Polish tactics, harrying the Russians out of Finland with dragoons in hit and run attacks.

Russian power was being rolled up all across their numerous fronts. The Poles under General Kilinski took Riga in early March; Kosciusko Sluck in a brief, ultraviolent siege. All of this was both to the detriment of Russian power in Europe and the reputation of Paul I- he was blamed now by the court nobility for most of the ills of the nation, from the sacking of Suvorov (undeniably true) to the recruitment crisis (undeniably false). He faced a dangerous opponent in his own son Alexander, who in September finally acted in the interests of his state and his supporters, stabbing to death his own father in a palace corridor. As Paul bled on the marble floor of the Winter Palace his son was proclaimed Emperor; a servant had to finish off the former autocrat. The new Emperor Alexander still had hope of a final victory against his enemies; he recalled Suvorov to work with General Kutuzov in ending Poland once and for all.

The fall of the Netherlands occurred in 1797- since the fall of Antwerp it was inevitable. From Eindhoven the Anglo-Dutch army withdrew in fear to defend Amsterdam, while General’s Jourdan and Kellerman advanced at will. In a truly desperate move the dams were breached, flooding the surrounding plains and providing enough obstacle to halt the French for the moment. Yet the northern Netherlands were undefended; General Lazare Hoche repeated the move of the famed Dumouriez (Hoche being his replacement, the old warhorse being cut to ribbons by a Bavarian Hussar) from central Germany and forced the surrender of all Holland bar Amsterdam. The States-General, contrary to the wishes of Stadtholder William V and the remnants of the Dutch Army sued for peace. William acquiesced sullenly- the Royal Navy during the night of 16th November silently evacuated the Stadtholder and his men to Gravesend. The next day Kellerman and Hoche dined in his palace.

But Hoche’s place was the centre front, facing the Prussians to the north and the tiny German Alliance statelets to the east. Back in February 1797 from Strasbourg his army marched deep into Germany proper. At the Battle of Herkules he attracted the attention of the crown, with his outnumbered and exhausted men fighting off a large Prussian army under Brunswick with superior cavalry and artillery. Colonel Bonaparte, transferred from Holland under the express orders of Hoche raked the Prussians with shot as soon as they marched anywhere near the French. Brunswick himself was almost killed, shot in the arm and knocked off his horse. Colonel Michel Ney rode round the Prussian right flank, separating a third of the opposing army from the rest of the force. Herkules would make the careers of these three men, in Germany, in Holland, in Africa and in Ireland.

Bavaria, like Holland too succumbed in 1797. This was not just inevitable, but imminent- the Bavarian Army had been broken for some time, Charles Theodore prey to Austrian will whenever they chose. Rebuffing offers of armistice, it was clear the Austrians wanted only one thing- outright annexation. When Archduke Charles, in what he likened to a holiday from the Prussian front marched on Munich panic ensued. The British and Prussian ambassadors ran for their lives (unnecessarily)- Charles Theodore was packed off to a quiet exile in Hungary. “Bavaria is Austrian- we need have no fear of delinquents on our western border” wrote Charles back to his brother the Emperor Francis II.

In this year of 1797 the Royal Navy finally saw its definitive turning point. The Battle of Toulon was balanced in victory by the conduct of the fleet at Quiberon- now the star of Admiral Lord Nelson rose with that of the whole nations navy. Off Marseilles the indecisive, elderly Admiral d’Estaing sought battle with Nelson’s blockading force, a grave mistake for the French Navy in the Mediterranean. Nelson had the wind behind him and thus far more manoeuvrability than his opposing counterpart, cutting through d’Estaing’s line of battle and pouring shot straight into the sides of every French ship. D’Estaing retreated in disarray, to be sacked by the French Admiralty. Transferred to the newly created Biscay command Nelson repeated his triumph off Santiago de Compostela, routing a creaking old Spanish fleet eager to run the blockade and deliver whatever support they could to South America. They could not- Port Mahon could not be repeated. The Spanish spirit sunk a great deal more at this new loss than the other sparse news they had heard, not knowing of Moore’s progress in Venezuela and Colombia. The bourgeoisie looked to the source of all power in Spain, the King to deliver answers; they were not forthcoming.

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Chapter VII: 1798

We are saved!
Kosciusko on the end of the Battle of Jagonlis and Wolfe Tone on the landing of Bonaparte

Moore, residing in the former Mayor’s residence in Maracaibo had by now achieved what the Elizabethans only dare dream of and the ambitions of the Tory party back home. His army had cut Mexico in three, had seized Louisiana (thus solving an intrinsic settlement problem in North America) and had taken Venezuela, now the successful albeit shaky Protectorate in which Francisco de Miranda had assumed leadership. A reward for all of this was forthcoming- Moore was created Viscount Bearsden in the first few days of the new year. The early part of 1798 had seen thousands more volunteers bolster Picton’s small force that was waiting to conduct a lightning strike to take Mexico City and then march to the coast. Carleton waited in the north to repeat Picton’s strategy and thus claim Spanish North America. The men under the Scotch general, the Commander in Chief of the Caribbean were a mix of Americans, Irish and English volunteers, all now veterans of a successful war and eager to continue into the South American interior.

Moore’s strategy was simple enough for the coming year. He sent Colonel Isaac Brock with a force of 3,000 “Lobsters” as the veteran Redcoats were known among the populace to conquer Panama. Here a small raiding expedition had met its demise from Spanish musketry and disease at Colon when Moore and Abercrombie had first arrived in the region- this invasion was however not for revenge but differing reasons. The Royal Navy blockade conducted under Admiral Hood had been very effective, but in the last year three Spanish treasure ships had not succumbed to the devastating cannon of “His Majesty’s Ships”. Ironically this was fortuitous, as news of Moore’s progress in the Spanish Empire had increased discontent on the Peninsular, but from the point of the General it had to be stopped- he was put there by Tory amibitions and although such beliefs did contravene his, it was his job to retain as much of Spanish trade as possible. Besides, Moore comforted himself with the fact that a seizure of the Isthmus would be militarily sound; the Royal Navy from there could support the operations of his subordinates Carleton and Picton. They could even sail south and completely cut off the whole continent from contact with the Peninsula, Moore ignorant of the difficulty of sailing a ship through Tierra del Fuego. It was cheaper to befuddle Hood.

By May any resistance to the British landing, conducted the previous month had evaporated. So had many of the numbers- the small army had been reduced by a few hundred through Malaria. Carleton had no such problems- according to plan he continued his march across the north of Mexico, and at the Battle of Ramon Corona saw Spanish militias and what few loyal regulars there were in New Spain be decimated by the accurate fire of the “Lobsters”. Carleton at the end of what is considered little more than a skirmish personally tended the wounded, both Spanish and British; this was a definite break with the past, when any injured were usually bayoneted as at Culloden. But the Colonel was not a soft touch- any Regular caught looting was summarily hanged immediately by the Provosts. The men respected Carleton, but didn’t love him as they did Moore. Picton to the south achieved his orders, but only by June did he take Mexico City, harried by a hostile local population more numerous than in the north and not easily cowed by the harshness of Picton’s imposition of British rule. Hundreds more locals died in the siege of Mexico City, conducted by the worst of the volunteers from America in the sweltering heat of a normal Mexican summers day. Back in Horse Guards dispatches were seriously persuading the Duke of York to put Picton in a subordinate role.

August saw Carleton with the small force he had at his disposal reach the Pacific Ocean, having left numerous well armed garrisons in Monterrey, Culiacan and Ramon Corona. Seeing little need to secure a northern New Spain sparsely populated and of little interest of yet to Horse Guards drove south instead in an epic march to link up with Picton. The interior of New Spain was much the same, and in September Carleton wintered in San Luis Potosi, seizing the local Gold and Silver mines. Picton emulated the man in his strategy also, striking south with a small force to secure Coatzacoalcos. Brock, in his capacity as interim Governor of Panama dragged five of Hood’s warships over the isthmus and set them sail in the Pacific in order to in any way help Moore in his march south. Such ingenuity would commend him all the way to Horse Guards.

Moore had indeed begun a march south to take Santa Fe de Bogota and thus secure New Granada for Britain. The march south was a slog, testing the Lobsters to the very limits of their endurance- many were claimed by avalanches and mudslides as Moore followed the mountain path to the city. At Paipa an equivalent Spanish Army under Colonel Jose Maria Barreiro resisted the unrelenting advance, but was annihilated in turn like so many other Spanish Royal Armies. In the face of so many privations Moore took Bogota in late December- half the city was burnt to the ground.

Its intention was to be the last, decisive Russian invasion of Poland, one that would once and for all subjugate this defiant commonwealth and remove the prime threat to Russian power in the west. It was not to be. Suvorov supported ably by Kutuzov advanced deep into Polish held territory, ensuring they brought along with them a strong Cossack cavalry and enough supplies to weather a lengthy siege of a Polish city without having to venture into the countryside. The Poles were ready, and on the Plains of Jagelonis the two sides met. Dabrowski faced Kutuzov, Kosciusko Suvorov. Further up the plain Dabrowski with his 40,000 men repulsed Russian column attacks time after time, and in the midst of the heavy gun smoke and musket fire wheeled his entire cavalry onto Kutuzov’s right flank. The whole command structure of his army collapsed when Kutuzov was shot in the back by a Polish Hussar- Dabrowski moved his whole infantry into the attack and massacred a Russian enemy who would not budge from their hastily dug entrenchments. Kosciusko on the other plain was not so lucky, resisting with all his might Suvorov’s intricate attacks. The cannon pounded ferociously either side- much of the fighting centred around a small farmhouse on Kosciusko’s right, to which Suvorov poured over a third of his army into the attack. It was in half an hour that the Battle of the Twin Plains was decided- Suvorov finally took the farmhouse only to see Dabrowski’s cavalry bearing down on his rear, the battered Polish infantry advancing in turn. But this time no orderly retreat back to Russia- the peasants ran for their lives in what turned into a veritable rout. Suvorov on the fastest horse galloped away, his self confidence for the last time shattered. Casualties on both sides were immense- Dabrowski lost well over two thirds of his infantry and most of his cavalry in cutting down the fleeing Russians. To the Emperor Alexander it was a sign that Russia could no longer have a position in the west- in March, a few weeks after the battle he began peace negotiations with the Sejm. The Treaty of Riga ultimately served as a Russian concession to Polish independence. Russia, in a bid to avoid a Polish march on St. Petersburg and Kiev, ceded all annexed territories in the last partition and their border region with the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Helsinki conducted with Sweden confirmed the Swedish ownership of Finland, leaving a nation who was to exploit her position awarded there as much as possible after the war ended.

Germany was now the main front, and France relied much on the skills and tactics of General Lazare Hoche as Britain did on General Sir John Moore. The “French Fox” as styled by The Times led his men into the heart of Germany, bypassing the garrisons held by the British and Prussians in the south of Hanover to engage the Saxons in conjunction with the Austrians. With the Archduke Charles Hoche delivered two devastating blows to them at Jena and Weimar, but upon (with Austrian General Wermecek) sieging Leipzig was forced to withdraw by the Prussian Prince Hohenlohe with a huge army of 40,000. From June to August Hoche and Hohenlohe engaged in what had by know become a staple of the war against Prussia, that of supreme manoeuvre. Hoche immediately saw its costs- in petty engagements with the Prussians when the French Army frequently was moving in little more than circles he lost close to 7,000 men. Late August though saw him return to his previous high form- eluding Hohenlohe he forced his troops north and, exhausted as they were served their general well in defeating a larger Anglo-Prussian Army under Sir Hew Dalrymple. The minutes of the meetings to which the Duke of York express huge concerns on the situation in Germany- Prussia could fall and the French in the wake of Paderborn could prove to be masters of the region, enough to force a peace that at least in Europe would prove to be extremely unfavourable. They also express his rage when Dalrymple evacuated most of his men to Bremen. The King himself demanded the general’s head upon hearing the news, and even to objective observers today the decision is little more than cowardly of Dalrymple. All stood upon a knife edge, and not just in Germany.

Months back a threat to the very integrity of the Kingdom of Great Britain had appeared. The United Irishmen were a small society based in southern Ireland comprised mainly of Protestant Irish unusually eager to force Catholic Emancipation and increase their liberty to which they had been denied since the reformation. Pitt’s passing of the act in 1796 had pre-empted any notion in concurrence with such grievances in order to smooth the tracks as it were for Moore’s conquests. It would seem that this would have eliminated their very reason to exist as a society, but for the militant tendencies of the leadership. The UI shifted from calling for emancipation to actual inclusion of Catholic members in the Dublin Parliament. This had not been acted upon, upsetting many of the Catholic ranks in the society and endangering the Protestant hierarchy of the UI. There had already been instances of notable UI leaders being elected to the corrupt and moribund institution that was the Dublin Parliament- the Society was on the verge of being dissolved by internecine discontent. At this very point the French intervened. Eagerness to reduce British power was one of the reasons France entered the Great War; forcing Ireland from the British Crown would be a fine achievement indeed. Seeing a new opportunity and having now the French muskets and monies to achieve it, in April 1798 the United Irishmen rose up across Ireland calling for independence and support for France in the war. Almost immediately they were driven into the hills by the Loyalist Irish prevalent in the towns and the British Army, afraid of being surrounded and cut off from Britain. Another verge was reached. The UI Rebellion could now only succeed with direct French intervention and France amazingly obliged. It was the pet project of King Louis to intervene, and unlike the former invasions of the British Isles, which had either never got off the ground or had been little more than raids, it was to be entirely professional and led by the rising star of the French Army, Napoleon Bonaparte. An expert in manoeuvre from the war in Germany, only he in the eyes of the King could “emancipate” Ireland from British rule. It helped Bonaparte to know that the King kept tabs on his field actions from the very start of his service; to Louis Bonaparte was a boy’s own hero. Equipped with 20,000 of the best men France could scrape from the German front Bonaparte was briefed in Versailles by the King himself and landed off Bantry at the end of May. In one of those cruel twists of fate the French Navy landing Bonaparte eluded the small Irish squadron in a storm, and withdrew incognito as quickly as it arrived. The elderly and respected Lord Cornwallis, residing in his London townhouse was made Lord Lieutenant as quickly as possible. This is testament to the fact that all Britain’s best men were in South America- they could only resort to sending an old man to fend off the French Tiger in Cork. Bonaparte moved quickly, as did his opponents- he conscripted with the help of UI as many Irishmen as he dared from the surrounding towns and villages, using Bantry as a supply dump. Cornwallis landed at the end of the month, and with an army more used to garrison duty engaged Bonaparte at Drimoleage. This ground was of French choosing, and it showed. Cornwallis marched straight into the French artillery’s field of fire with cannon on the surrounding hills, but compensated enough to place batteries on his own hills. The British Infantry moved forward to exchange fire with their French enemy- within twenty minutes the expert sniping of French sharpshooters was shown, and the British divisions were in almost a rout. This was not all- Lieutenant General Ney in the confusion had spiked with his cavalry most of the British guns. Panic stricken, Cornwallis retreated to Kinsale. The Battle of Drimoleage shocked Britain to its core; Prime Minister Addington promptly had a heart attack upon hearing of the news and Pitt, in the wilderness for so long was the King’s choice for leading the country in this difficult time. When Bonaparte moved again, Cornwallis retreated once more, in order to secure Tipperary. The Tiger moved instead to Cork, taking it and placed guns on the town castle to fire at the transferred Lord Toulon’s blockading fleet. Waterford resisted Bonaparte stubbornly, thwarting any attempt by the French to encircle Cornwallis in Tipperary. In any case he was stuck there- emboldened by French successes in the field and new weaponry the UI practically controlled the countryside in the very south of Ireland and sought by any means necessary to kill British troops. The Duke of York, the spider at the very centre of the web that was the British Army took the decision he had been dreading since the invasion- in November he sent dispatches to Moore ordering him to return forthwith to help in Ireland. For the moment the Duke didn’t move, but he knew if Moore in any way failed to arrive he the Commander in Chief would have to intervene personally. And Frederick knew his limitations as a general.

Britain and Germany were in crisis- only Poland had any freedom of choice. The Sejm, reformed in the fires of war to eliminate the Liberum Veto and abolish serfdom in order to streamline the war effort, voted to continue the war effort. This was as much to do with territorial desire than traditional Polish honour; the Austrians had partitioned Poland before, and now was the time for revenge. Of course action like this would be approved by the other members of the Alliance, given Austrian and French successes in Germany. The Royal Cabinet appointed newly promoted Marshall Kosciusko and his army of veterans to lead the campaign into Austria, while Marshall Dabrowski marched to support the British and Prussians in Germany. At Sena the Polish defeated a large Austrian army under Prince Schwarzenburg, a shock to Vienna who promptly posted Archduke Charles onto the Hungarian front. In November the Poles took Kassa at some cost. The Poles would struggle as much on new fronts as they did on the old ones…

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