A Napoleonic US Screw

So let's imagine that Napoleon dies in Russia. By accident, assassination, or maybe he just drops dead. A lot is up in the air in Europe and no doubt Britain will still have a lot of focus there.

But with less financial and military spending on the continent, what does Britain do during it's war with the US? Do they still half ass it? Or do they throw everything they've got at the fledgling nation? I don't suppose they can reconquer the US, but can they prevent it from dominating North America? Or will the Americans just come back stronger?
 
Doubtful that the US would still declare war under these circumstances. The Royal Navy probably wouldn't push nearly as hard to impress sailors if there's no war and the United States probably isn't going to declare war if it has to fight Great Britain alone.
 
According to Wikipedia the Russian invasion and Congress' declaration of war were almost simultaneous. By the time news of Napoleon's death reached anyone, the die would have well and truly been cast.
 
I would say this makes POD little difference (to the US). At a minimum it will take a year to transfer large numbers of british troops (of which there were never many to begin with) and this assumes that the Napoleonic wars end immediately. I would suggest they would not end much faster even if Napoloean had died in 1812 rather than being exiled in 1814. However, even assuming that France collapses in late 1812 and the bourbon King immediately returns in 1813 you are looking at 1814 before any significant increase in British troops occurs. It is possible that this leads to a slightly worse 1814 for the US than actually occurred (and remember 1814 was pretty terrible; burning of Washington etc). However, I think the far more likely outcome is that the US negotiators would have an incentive to negotiate something that looks like the Treaty of Ghent more quickly.
 
I would say this makes POD little difference (to the US). At a minimum it will take a year to transfer large numbers of british troops (of which there were never many to begin with) and this assumes that the Napoleonic wars end immediately.

Rot. The army in BNA and, far more importantly, the RN's North American Station were getting significant reinforcements within three months of Boney's defeat. Even if it takes until early 1813 to sort out the details, that still means that the serious reinforcements can be thrown in over a year earlier than OTL, at a point when the UK was doing a lot better in the western theatre. The forces are therefore available to shut down the US economy and force a prompt surrender at a point when the facts on the ground are strongly in the UK's favour rather when, Maine apart, the US had managed to claw the war on land back to an effective stalemate more or less along the pre-war border.
 
That makes sense. Is there a possibility that the TTL treaty of Ghent could be harsher, as the British will soon no longer be preoccupied with France?
 
Britain's main aims are going to be to ensure ownership of Oregon, and to prop up its Indian nation allies. This won't rule out future wars and rematches but should end the war in 1814 unless the US has a death wish

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
That makes sense. Is there a possibility that the TTL treaty of Ghent could be harsher, as the British will soon no longer be preoccupied with France?

Possibly. That said its important to remember that IOTL Napoleon abdicated on April 1, 1814. British, Spanish and Portuguese troops pushed into southeastern Spain in 1814. He did not come back until after the Treaty of Ghent. Therefore, it seems plausible that if the British had believed they would score some huge victory with all of their new military power, they would have held out for a stronger Treaty of Ghent IOTL (when no one knew Waterloo would occur).

I can certainly envision a scenario were France rapidly collapses in late 1812, the Bonaparte regime in Spain collapses and the British send the Duke of Wellington and portions of Peninsular army to North America, which in turn has a large impact. However, I assign a fairly low probability to this. Instead, I suggest there would be fairly minor differences for the war in North America.
 
Even a few hundred extra professional sailors would make a big difference in the war on the lakes. There will probably be a bigger push on the Chesapeake and maybe an earlier push against New Orleans in 1813.

The American economy is going to enter freefall faster with the RN tightening the blockade too.

This is almost the nightmare scenario for the USA.
 
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