Benedict Arnold succeeds in surrendering West Point

I would think this would be a very cliche POD(maybe it is) but I haven't been able to find any discussions and/or timelines about it. So what happens if Andre isn't intercepted and Arnold succeeds in surrendering West Point to the British.
 
I hate bumping something that got no responses, but please, I'm curious to know what might have happened.
Its always embarrasing when no one responds:D.
 

NomadicSky

Banned
I'd like to know myself. I'm sure this would really help the loyalist cause the rebs might have a harder time gaining new troops after this.

Maybe the revolutiuon would end we don't get independence Benjamin Franklin becomes known openly for playing both sides. Washinton is hung for treason. The American colonies gain a continental parliament. The idea of british commonwealth comes into play sooner.
 
Well, according to the unchallengeable Wikipedia:D, even with Cornwallis's surrender, the British still had 30 000 men in New York city and Charleston, and that George Washington removed men from New York state to fill up his ranks for his seige. So what would happen if Arnold surrenders West Point as Washington begins his siege of Yorktown. It would give the British the ability to seize most of New York state via the Hudson river, cutting the colonies in half.

If Arnold surrenders West Point while Washington begins his siege, would there be enough time for the news to reach Yorktown, either prolonging the seige, or forcing Washington to depart.

If Washington stayed, he'd deliver a crushing blow to the British.

Part of the deal with Arnold was that he'd be made Brig. General. Would that be of a high enough rank for him to assume command of the British forces in New York?

Imagine, Arnold gets a few more British reinforcements, sets out from New York, and meets Washington in battle.

Benedict Arnold vs George Washington?:rolleyes: Who'd win?
 
You'd likely see those men in New York relieve the siege at Yorktown in this scenario, if Washington is able to escape the north at all.

But Arnold vs Washington would probably go down in American history as the all time grudge match even more than Hamilton vs Burr.

This event along probably would turn the war. The next generation of rebels would likely be headed up by a fellow named Jackson. Even a self governing commonwealth wouldn't appease that man.
 
i see it differently.. Arnold didnt want to betray the rebellion.. IIRC

so the new troops he is in command of, move north to take Canada
 
Arnold must be one hell of a persuasive guy to convince British regulars to turn on their Empire. :p

Sad thing is, even with victory Arnold ends up a desolate pariah in British society. Really, who's gonna trust the man?
 
You'd likely see those men in New York relieve the siege at Yorktown in this scenario...


Yeah, because it's just a short drive down I-95 right? :rolleyes:

Washington led his army out of it's positions near New York on August 19th and left Williamsburg to begin the seige at Yorktown on September 28th. It took him nearly six weeks of marching through friendly territory which also provided him with supplies to reach Yorktown. A British relief column from New York could have not made the same march in the same time, if at all.

A British column would be forced to either carry or forage for most of it's food supplies. That column would be marching through hostile territory and would be shadowed by portions of the Franco-American forces still watching New York. Unlike the Franco-American forces whose seige train was delivered by the French fleet, the British relief column would have to bring along it's artillery train for all or most of it's march. The Royal Navy will not be able to "deliver" the artillery to any point within Chesapeake Bay so the nearest delivery point to Yorktown would be somewhere along the Delaware coast near Philadelphia.

Finally, any British relief column would have to be large enough to deal with the roughly 18,000 troops in Franco-American force at Yorktown without also weakening the defenses of New York, the primary British military and naval base in the colonies.

The British did begin planning a seaborne relief column after their naval defeat in the Battle of the Chesapeake, but shelved those plans when news of Cornwallis' surrender arrived. An overland relief column was never seriously considered for the reasons I outlined and others.

If the British had taken West Point the situation hardly changes at all. They would have been able to raid further up and along the Hudson but the lines of communication with Canada would still be severed by Ticonderoga and other American forts. Supplying the West Point garrisons would be difficult as it would have to rely wholly on river transport. The Americans would still be able to cross the river whenever British ships weren't present, which is what was occurring already.

Extending the British NYC defensive perimeter as far up the Hudson as West Point may have turned out to be more of a failure than a success.


Bill
 
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