Born in the Fire; The Story of the American Kingdom

The American Revolution Part Two

As General Thomas Gage cracked down on the people of Massachusetts he disbanded the militia of the colony and ordered all weapons to be turned over the crown. This did not set well with the colonists of Massachusetts and many refused Gage’s order to turn over their muskets to the his regular army units station in Boston. Many Patriots left Boston in 1774 and when about moving to the country side of Massachusetts. Loyalist in return made their way for Boston. By the winter of 1774/75 Boston was a town under siege. It was not a normal siege by stretch of the imagination as at this point it had not become a violent revolution. Indeed many believed on both sides that reason would win out and the other side would come to its senses. However no happy ending like that was at hand.

For Gage the first sign that things would not be easy came when he ordered what would be known as the Powder Raid. Gage had learned from a Loyalist of a large stash of gunpowder and two three pound cannons being held at Worcester. Knowing he couldn’t send a small unit to recover these supplies Gage ordered a battalion of infantry to siege the powder and cannons at Worcester. However the Patriot Militia had vowed to stop any British actions to take anything of military value. They had vowed they would be ready at a minute’s notice to stop any British actions and this is what gave rise to the famous Minutemen.

As news of the British Battalion marching on Worcester spread the Patriot Militia started to pour into the areas around Worcester to stop the British. At Framingham the Patriot Militia and British Regulars meet. For two hours both sides were eye ball to eye ball. Neither side gave ground till the commander of the Patriot Militia was given news that the supplies in Worcester had been moved. With that he ordered his militia to allow the British by. When the British reached Worcester they were booed and generally heckled by the people of the town as they searched for the Powder and cannons only not to find them. They would leave Worcester empty handed.

Gage was surprised by the colonists reactions. Before the Powder Raid he had truly believed that a large part of the colony was loyalist and only a select few being hot heads. However the numbers of Minutemen at Framingham and the town’s people reaction in Worcester told him otherwise. He vowed not to make the same mistake again if handed intelligence like he had that led to the Powder Raid.

He would have to wait till spring for another chance. In the meantime he had been reinforced making Boston the most heavily defended city in British North America. On learning of a stockpile at Concord Gage ordered an infantry regiment to Concord to seize the reported powder and a three pound cannon there. Like the Powder Raid back in the Fall of 1774 the Patriot Militia responded to the British Sally. This time the two sides met at Lexington. Both sides had larger numbers than when they had met at Framingham in August last year. Once again they were eye ball to eye ball. However this time someone blinked.

Both sides claimed the other fired first. In truth we will never know who fired first short of building a time machine to go back to Lexington to find out. However once the first shot rang out it was clear this wasn’t going to be the peaceful matter like it had been at Framingham. Within seconds of the first shot being fired both sides fired a fully volley at each other. The big different between two sides was the face the Patriots aimed where the British turned their faces away to keep from being burned by the powder flash. The different showed as more British fell in that volley than Patriots.

After the volley the Patriots fired they broke and ran. The militia hadn’t been trained to go volley for volley with regulars and they didn’t wanted to try it. The British with the militia breaking up and running they left their dead and wounded at Lexington with a few to guard them and made their way to Concord. However they believed they had won the day as the Patriots were running from the field, anything was farther from the truth.

Even through the Patriots at Lexington broke and ran more and more Patriot militia forces were pouring into the area. They decided to fight like Natives and refused to meet the British in the open field. They also had the audacity to aim at officers. This showed itself as the regiment returned to Boston the most senior and unwounded officer left was a senior captain. The British were slowed enough that the Patriots were able to remove the supplies from Concord. With the British still under fire they didn’t stay long at Concord and started to make their way back to Boston

By the end of the 19 of April 1775 the world would never be the same. 172 British soldiers and officers were dead with 347 wounded or missing. The Patriots suffered some 98 dead and 194 wounded or missing. The war was on at this point as there was no turning back no matter how the British tried. Blood had been spilled and there was a price to pay for that.
 
Hmmm, this sounds like an interesting timeline - an American Kingdom instead of a Republic! Going to keep tabs on this…

One question - at Lexington did the Patriots fire their volley directly at the British soldier's faces, or were they just facing the direction they fired? The wording is unclear...
 
Hmmm, this sounds like an interesting timeline - an American Kingdom instead of a Republic! Going to keep tabs on this…

One question - at Lexington did the Patriots fire their volley directly at the British soldier's faces, or were they just facing the direction they fired? The wording is unclear...

The Patriots aimed at Lexington where the British turned their faces. Sorry if the wording was unclear.
 
The American Revolution Part Three

Following the Battles of Lexington and Concord both the Patriots and British were in a state of shock. Neither side had truly believed that things would turn violent and with both sides pointing the finger for the bloodshed any chance at a peaceful ending had when away. Even now the calls for independent from the British were small and mostly in the radical sets only. However things wouldn’t say that way for long.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord forced the Continental Congress to reconvene earlier than they had planned. They had planned to reconvene in July after hearing back from massagers they had sent to London to plead their case in front of both King George and Parliament. To the surprise of many one of the most famous Americans in the world at that time was setting with them. This was Benjamin Franklin, who had just returned from London after being through humiliated in front of Parliament for his opening sending letters of former Governor Thomas Hutchinson who called for the members of the Son of Liberty to be tried for crimes of speaking their mind. The normally voices yet friendly Benjamin Franklin was very quiet as the Continental Congress started its meetings.

Even through many in Philadelphia were still hoping to repair relations with London in the spring and summer of 1775 they saw they had to take steps to defend themselves from further British attacks as they viewed the Battles of Lexington and Concords as British aggression. They needed to organize the efforts to defend themselves from British aggression. Before now it had been all down by ad hoc state militias with no unified command system. To stand a chance they had to organize an army and navy to defend themselves. For this task they tapped what many viewed as the greatest American who ever lived and one the two kings of the nation to be at Philadelphia in 1775.

This a course was George I, of George Washington as he was then known. George Washington was a gentlemen planter from Virginia who had served with the British Army in the French and Indian War. He was viewed as one of the best officers the colonies had to offer in 1775. However more importantly he was willing to take the job for no paycheck. In 1775 the Continental Congress for a lack of better words was skimp broke. To have an officer such as Washington willing to take the job put a lot of people at ease as he was viewed by many as the only officer who could unite the rag tag force into an army that could stand against the British. With his commission as a Lt General in hand Washington set out for Boston.

Even before Washington could reach the Boston area another major battle took place. This was the Battle of Bunker Hill. Following Lexington and Concord the British Army had totally withdraw into Boston and the Patriot militia took to besieging Boston to make sure they couldn’t sally out of the city again. They also moved on to the Charlestown Peninsula to cut the British off from reinforcements in early June when reinforcements from Rhode Island reached the Boston area. These troops were under the command of the then unknown Brigadier Nathanael Greene. Greene who was one of the youngest brigadiers in any militia in 1775 had risen from the rank of private to Brigadier within the span of a few months. Through family no doubt helped Greene his skill helped even more. He had never been in uniform before but had been a reader of many military histories and saw that with a few cannons on the Charlestown Peninsula could shut down Boston Harbor. He pointed this out to the overall commander of the Boston area Major General Israel Putnam. Putnam agreed and moved forces to cut the British off.

For the British this was something they couldn’t allow. After a meeting between General Gage and Admiral Graves commander of the British Royal Navy’s North American Station it was decided they would attack the Patriot Militia holding the Charlestown Peninsula. The attack was launched on the 16 of June as the Royal Navy started to ferry troops to the Charlestown Peninsula to force the Patriots back. At first they believed the Patriots wouldn’t fight as they didn’t open fire on them. However this wasn’t because the Patriots wouldn’t fight it was because of lack of gunpowder. Even through the British had failed to capture the stores at Concord gunpowder was still a hard to come buy resource and Brigadier Greene who was the commander of the peninsula ordered his troops not to fire till they saw the whites of the eyes of the British.

The effect of holding till the British were within feet of their own positions had a profound effect. With a quick second volley the British fell back to regroup. Again the fact the Patriots would aim their muskets and didn’t view officers in the same light as the British and saw them as fair targets showed as the British fell back. The British would assault the positions the Americans held two more times that day. It was the third assault that the British finally broke the American lines, but it was because of lack of powder not the British assault that had driven the Patriots from their positions. However if Gage had pressed or if not for Greene directing the retreat it could had been a disaster for the Patriots.

Bunker Hill had been a costly affair. The British had lost 301 killed and 1,023 wounded with a number of officers in both. For the Patriots they had lost 128 killed and 358 wounded along with 43 prisoners. Most of the prisoners were badly wounded and would die because of their wounds. However most of the losses that the Patriots suffered was turning the retreat. The Patriots also lost three of the cannons they had brought to Charlestown and much needed equipment. However it did show the British that the Patriots were just as good as they were.
 
The American Revolution Part Four

Just after news of Bunker Hill reached Philadelphia the delegation team that had been sent to London returned. They weren’t the bares of good news. Along with the Battle of Bunker Hill the report by the delegation team is marked as a turning point in the American Revolution that when from trying to create an equal footing where they didn’t have to pay taxes levy by a group they had no vote in to the drive for trying set up their own independent nation and break free from London and the British Crown.

The delegation reported they had been poorly received in London from everyone in the city. Even the general Londoner didn’t seem to care for the colonists at that much as they had been. The people of London didn’t see what the issue was about. They paid over 17 times more than what the colonists paid in taxes each year and didn’t see the problem of Parliament taxing the colonies just as they taxed the Londoners themselves. Even most Londoners didn’t have a vote in Parliament with most being in the same boat at the Colonists themselves with no say in the government.

It didn’t get any better from there. King George the Third refused to see them. Parliament did see them but only to yell at them. British Parliament refused to listen to them, instead Parliament turned the meeting into a free-for-all to blast the colonists as little children who needed to be reminded who the parent was. And that was putting it nicely. Parliament wanted to bring the colonies to heel and the Battles of Lexington and Concord gave them all the reason they needed to come down hard. They let the colonial delegation go instead of having them arrested to inform the Continental Congress to disband and swear an oath of loyally to the British Crown or be hung.

This didn’t go over well. With all 13 colonies now being declared to be in rebellion against the British Crown and Parliament forced the Continental Congress to move from trying to work with the British to understand their side of issue to forging a new path as a nation on its own. There were those still wanted to work out the issues with London peacefully. This group was led by Robert Alexander of Maryland. However as the actions of the British over the next six months would discredit this group with most of them coming out as Patriots. Alexander on the other hand became an American Tory.

It was during this time that Benjamin Franklin gave his famous we all hang together or hang separately speech. The full quote is “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” Franklin was pushing for national unity with his speech. At the time the idea of being an American was still something new and most people viewed themselves as being loyal to the colony they came from. However Franklin’s speech hit a cord that started the path to unifying the colonies into one nation. This would be help by both the victories and defeats that came from the battlefield.

During this time the Continental Congress approved a mission to take Quebec and bring it into the new nation that at this point didn’t even have a name. The idea of a republican monarchy hadn’t yet taken off and the idea of a divine right of kings was something that was generally disliked in the colonies. After they were the second and third sons of family lines that had come to the new world as they knew they wouldn’t get anything when their parents would pass. Instead they came to America and made something of themselves. Indeed at first America was a republic instead of a republican monarchy. However the weakness of a pure republic government had yet to be seen.

They also started handing out letters of marque. At the time the Americans had no navy and if one was going to fight the British they would need one. The letters of marque were short cut to building a navy if a costly one. However some of the best privateers would go on to form the core of the infant navy in a few years time. A navy that in time would take the title of the world’s most powerful navy away from the British.

In turn the British didn’t laurels. They started sending units of the British Army to the Americas to put down the rebellion against their rule. They also started hiring German Armies to help them in their goal of putting down the infant nation before it was even able to stand. The most noteable group to be hired by the British were the Hessens. However the British hired from all over the Germanies to put down the Americans. It was a question of time if they would bring enough troops to do it.
 
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