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The Failed American Revolts. Enduring Monarchy in North America.

1775 – 1780: First War of American Independence

POD: Changes in the distribution of courage, ingenuity, and intellect between American and British generals.

1776: For the glory of country, king, and the glorious British Empire, General Howe is relentless in pursuing the fragmented Continental Army in New York. Blessed with fair weather conditions, Howe's army defeats the majority of the Continental Army in Long Island. George Washington and some remnants escape, but are badly discouraged. British and Hessian troops reinforce Boston and take New York.

Faced with suck a defeat, George Washington falls into a melancholy. His vision and resolve waiver, and his compatriots are dismayed. The army continues to retreat, ceding New Jersey and New York to the British.

1777: A coordinated attack from Canada by John Burgoyne and General Howe push back the remaining Continental Army forces. The forces of George Washington are surrounded. Discouraged and dissolution, George Washington surrenders, and most of his men flee. The remainder are captured and sent to terrible prison camps and ships. Philadelphia is captured and the Continental Congress flees.

France watches the revolt with interest from a distance, but sees the disastrous early victories as a poor sign. They lend moral support, but wait before directly engaging Britain in an international conflict.

Guerilla war-fare by local revolutionary militias in New England is slowly overwhelmed by British forces. The encircled Continental Congress in York, Pennsylvania attempts to flee through Maryland to Virginia. A small Loyalist militia is tipped by an informer, and notifies nearby British forces. The troops rush to intercept the Congress, and miraculously capture all their members on July 7th, 1777. They are sent to reprehensible conditions on British prison ships in New York.

The Suffering of the Sevens becomes a underground legend in local folklore. It becomes a song set in minor key, with the following lyrics [in modern spelling]:

O rebel souls did rear their heads to toss against a king,
Declare their life, their love, the home, for all eternity.
But drawn like sheep until the fold, we weep again to see.
That when the Suffering Seven falls, so falls our liberty.

By the 1880s, children played a game known as Suffering Sevens, where a group on one side would be blindfolded, while a smaller group tried to flee. When found, the hunted would be forced to perform a humiliating act, to the amusement of the victors.

By 1780, an embolden British and Hessian force engages in a Southern Campaign. Although revolutionary sentiment is still dominant, Loyalist militias are somewhat stronger, and the combined forces are able to destroy the last substantial armies of the American Revolt. Scattered militia forces engage in guerillas warfare until 1782, when the last significant resistance is crushed in the Appalachian foothills by a joint force of Native American and British forces.

As British forces battle the remaining armies in rebellion in the southern colonies, African slaves are increasingly recruited into the conflict. John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore and colonial governor of Virginia had promised freedom in 1775 to all bondsmen, black or white, who join in their military campaign.

Lord Dunmore's "Ethiopian Regiment" fights in some small skirmishes in the northern campaign, with limited success. After the victory of General Howe in the north, a previously unknown soldier and former slave in this regiment, known only as "Captain" James is radically inspired by the victory of Loyalist forces. He holds no official military title, but becomes an evangelist for the Loyalist cause.

His irregular company volunteers for the the Southern campaign. The natural rhetorical skills of Captain James find an outlet he had never before experienced. Hundreds of escaped slaves are inspired to join the regiment, which splits into three separate companies. Their uniforms are inscribed with the words, "Liberty for Slave and Free."

As the Southern campaign of the British continues, of thousands slaves their masters, almost a third of the slave population of some colonies. Thousands join the Loyalist cause. Most never see battle, but serve as servants and supportive roles. The ranks of the Black Company of Captain James, nominally under the direction of British generals, swells to over a thousand. At a key point in one of the final battles of the Southern Campaign, the inspired (even fanatical) courage of the Black Company breaks a counter-attack of the American forces in rebellion. Captain James is wounded in the action, but ignores his wounds and presses the charge to victory.

The image of a bloody "Black Captain Jim" rallying the former slaves is an image that is burned into the memory of Loyalist forces.
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