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Chapter 6: Southron Smoke (Redcoats..., Part 2)
However, this British disdain of Lord North reached its boiling point in the Transylvania Crisis. It began with a request by the Colony of Transylvania for a detachment of British troops, citing a multitude of Cherokee raids into settlements, often leading to brutal massacres or the burning of these settlements. A British general, hearing this request, sent letters of permission to the then-Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Thomas Thynne. In response, the Marquess of Bath responded with the following letter:
"...It is, frankly & Truly, of absolute No Concern to me the State & Affairs of those Impoverished Souls in the Colony of Transylvania. The Consensus here in Britain is that the Cheroke [sic], being far more Affluent and additionally, as Indians, far more At Peace with other peoples Akin to them, are more Important to us Brittons [sic] than any Transylvanian Colonist."
However, much to the detriment of both Thynne and North (whose ministry hosted Thynne as the Secretary for the Southern Department), this letter was leaked. How it got leaked is still a subject of debate among scholars, but the common consensus was that, somewhere along the chain of letter delivery, there was a Patriot spy who leaked the letter to incentivise revolutionary behavior in the Transylvania Colony. Regardless of how the letter came to public attention, it caused an eruption in the colony. Several weeks after the affair, on May 2nd, 1777, the Colony of Transylvania declared itself independent of the United Kingdom, and sent representative John Sevier to the Continental Congress. Sevier had been sympathetic to the Revolution, but upon the de facto annexation of the Watauga Association (an autonomous community formed in 1772) into the Colony of Transylvania, Sevier saw it more fit to try to hold neutrality for the sake of the colony. Now that the colony had severed itself from the Crown, he saw to it that he would try to take charge of Transylvanian affairs.
John Sevier
The creation of this new "Free State of Transylvania" saw with it cries of outrage from the British. The Parliament, the heart of this outrage, pushed for a motion of no-confidence on Lord North. On September 15th, 1777, it was voted, overwhelmingly (298-151), that the House did not have confidence in both Lord North and his ministry. As a result, the Government was disbanded. This disbandment, though, served as a poor decision for the British in the long run.
Upon the realization that the North Ministry had been dissolved, and while King George III chose who would form the next government, the British military in the Thirteen (now Fourteen) Colonies rejoiced. For some, such as Henry Clinton, the resignation of the North Ministry saw with it a window of opportunity, and after a day of festivities, his soldiers partook in what was called "Clinton's March" - a series of violent attacks on important coastal cities in the Southern colonies. The most violent of these attacks were in Virginia, who saw many of her coastal cities ravaged and burnt.
The Burning of Suffolk, 1777
However, a majority of Clinton's men (including Clinton himself), were killed before they could successfully attack Williamsburg, Virginia. Several miles outside of the city, Major General Lee intercepted the troops with his own army, and were successful in their mission to kill or otherwise disrupt as much of Clinton's army as possible. Furthermore, Lee and his men were invigorated by their victory, and planned their next choices of action:
The American Revolution was headed southward, far after much of the North was secured.
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A/N: Finally out! Was feeling some burnout, but hopefully it wasn't too bad!! There are a couple of... well... convenient things that are going to go well in America's favor in the coming chapters (but hopefully not too many!), including an early trashing of the Articles of Confederation. That will probably be within the next couple chapters. Beyond that, I should gladly welcome another real quote! Been awhile without one. Added a few more pictures to this one, too.
Chapter 6:
Southron Smoke: AKA, Redcoats on the Red Clay Soils, Part 2
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"[Lord North is] the blundering pilot who has brought the nation into its present difficulties ... Lord Chatham, the King of Prussia, nay, Alexander the Great, never gained more in one campaign than the noble lord has lost—he has lost a whole continent."
- Charles James Fox
It was mid-September, 1777. This was, for better or worse, an intense period of the American Revolution. For the British, Lord North was an embarrassment - a man who, previous to the American Revolution, showed himself to be a masterful diplomat. Despite this, however, it appeared that he severely underestimated the stubbornness of American patriots. He had figured that, giving the colonists a few months of little interference up north, that they would eventually come to realize the error of their ways, and mild significantly; or, otherwise, fall into significant infighting. However, as the war continued to progress over the course of years, North's visions failed to occur: he had lost New England to the revolutionary cause, as well as not insignificant chunks of the Middle Colonies (including the Chesapeake Colonies). Though his platform of "secure the spice" had died down by the end of winter in 1777, his new offensive maneuvers, though certainly both laudable and an improvement on earlier policy, were neither enough to win major battles against the colonists, nor enough to regain the trust of his peers.Southron Smoke: AKA, Redcoats on the Red Clay Soils, Part 2
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"[Lord North is] the blundering pilot who has brought the nation into its present difficulties ... Lord Chatham, the King of Prussia, nay, Alexander the Great, never gained more in one campaign than the noble lord has lost—he has lost a whole continent."
- Charles James Fox
However, this British disdain of Lord North reached its boiling point in the Transylvania Crisis. It began with a request by the Colony of Transylvania for a detachment of British troops, citing a multitude of Cherokee raids into settlements, often leading to brutal massacres or the burning of these settlements. A British general, hearing this request, sent letters of permission to the then-Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Thomas Thynne. In response, the Marquess of Bath responded with the following letter:
"...It is, frankly & Truly, of absolute No Concern to me the State & Affairs of those Impoverished Souls in the Colony of Transylvania. The Consensus here in Britain is that the Cheroke [sic], being far more Affluent and additionally, as Indians, far more At Peace with other peoples Akin to them, are more Important to us Brittons [sic] than any Transylvanian Colonist."
However, much to the detriment of both Thynne and North (whose ministry hosted Thynne as the Secretary for the Southern Department), this letter was leaked. How it got leaked is still a subject of debate among scholars, but the common consensus was that, somewhere along the chain of letter delivery, there was a Patriot spy who leaked the letter to incentivise revolutionary behavior in the Transylvania Colony. Regardless of how the letter came to public attention, it caused an eruption in the colony. Several weeks after the affair, on May 2nd, 1777, the Colony of Transylvania declared itself independent of the United Kingdom, and sent representative John Sevier to the Continental Congress. Sevier had been sympathetic to the Revolution, but upon the de facto annexation of the Watauga Association (an autonomous community formed in 1772) into the Colony of Transylvania, Sevier saw it more fit to try to hold neutrality for the sake of the colony. Now that the colony had severed itself from the Crown, he saw to it that he would try to take charge of Transylvanian affairs.
John Sevier
Upon the realization that the North Ministry had been dissolved, and while King George III chose who would form the next government, the British military in the Thirteen (now Fourteen) Colonies rejoiced. For some, such as Henry Clinton, the resignation of the North Ministry saw with it a window of opportunity, and after a day of festivities, his soldiers partook in what was called "Clinton's March" - a series of violent attacks on important coastal cities in the Southern colonies. The most violent of these attacks were in Virginia, who saw many of her coastal cities ravaged and burnt.
The Burning of Suffolk, 1777
The American Revolution was headed southward, far after much of the North was secured.
---
A/N: Finally out! Was feeling some burnout, but hopefully it wasn't too bad!! There are a couple of... well... convenient things that are going to go well in America's favor in the coming chapters (but hopefully not too many!), including an early trashing of the Articles of Confederation. That will probably be within the next couple chapters. Beyond that, I should gladly welcome another real quote! Been awhile without one. Added a few more pictures to this one, too.
- Oliveia
- Word Count: 910