Sorry for reposting this but the old thread name was so long it was pissing me off.
What if...
In March of 1760, a one-year-old girl named Margaret Shippen, a member of a wealthy family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, drowns while being bathed by the family servant. Butterflies over the next decade and a half are negligable. Then, things get interesting.
Eighteen years later, the commandant of Philadelphia following the British evacuation, a man by the name of Benedict Arnold does not meet a nineteen-year-old socialite (Margaret Shippen) and does not spend a year ensconsed in the extravagent lifestyle of the wealthy Loyalist families of Philadelphia.
Although still rather bitter from the lack of recognition he got for his involvement at the Battle of Saratoga, Arnold is not in need of money (to pay for his OTL social festivities) and, thus, never begins his correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton.
Come the spring of 1780, Horatio Gates, retired to his farm, is overlooked by George Washington for the new command of the Army of the South (AoS). Looking around, Washington selects a man regarded by Gates as a "pompous little fellow." The new commander of the AoS? None other than General Benedict Arnold.
Arnold is grateful for the well-deserved recognition and, happy for the first time in years, heads south to meet with his new army. When Washington died in a freak fall from his horse in July of 1780 and Nathanael Greene assumed command of Washington's Army of the North (AoN), things really became even more interesting for the young republic.....
Now what happens?
What if...
In March of 1760, a one-year-old girl named Margaret Shippen, a member of a wealthy family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, drowns while being bathed by the family servant. Butterflies over the next decade and a half are negligable. Then, things get interesting.
Eighteen years later, the commandant of Philadelphia following the British evacuation, a man by the name of Benedict Arnold does not meet a nineteen-year-old socialite (Margaret Shippen) and does not spend a year ensconsed in the extravagent lifestyle of the wealthy Loyalist families of Philadelphia.
Although still rather bitter from the lack of recognition he got for his involvement at the Battle of Saratoga, Arnold is not in need of money (to pay for his OTL social festivities) and, thus, never begins his correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton.
Come the spring of 1780, Horatio Gates, retired to his farm, is overlooked by George Washington for the new command of the Army of the South (AoS). Looking around, Washington selects a man regarded by Gates as a "pompous little fellow." The new commander of the AoS? None other than General Benedict Arnold.
Arnold is grateful for the well-deserved recognition and, happy for the first time in years, heads south to meet with his new army. When Washington died in a freak fall from his horse in July of 1780 and Nathanael Greene assumed command of Washington's Army of the North (AoN), things really became even more interesting for the young republic.....
Now what happens?
