Brethren of the Coast: The Pirate Republic
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Chapter 11: Uncharted Waters
Chapter 11: Uncharted Waters
By the spring of 1723, Parliament had come to a decision on the Caribbean question. They would bring their wayward ally to heel not with force, but by the ballot. Elections for the Brethren Council were being held, and getting cooler heads into the assembly would go a long way towards advancing British interests. One of their best options was James McCullough, an Irishman who had fought in the Spanish War, and was in favor of holding off on further expansion for the time being. British agents offered to finance his campaign in return for him acting in favor of the crown. Another candidate they had their eye on was Charles Berkley, a sailor from Devonshire who was still sympathetic to the old country. Their efforts paid off, with both men being elected to the Council that fall. However, they had opposition in the form of Jack Rackham, who had turned to politics in the hopes of cementing his legacy, and Jacques Philippoteaux, a Haitian who favored the liberation of enslaved people throughout the Caribbean.
Philippoteaux gave a speech at his first Council Session telling of the plight of slaves in French Louisiana and the few French possessions still remaining in the Leeward Islands. McCullough responded by pointing out that the French were already on edge after the loss of Haiti and Martinique and would not be likely to fall for the same trick again, including a jab at the slavery question by pointing out that his people were under the rule of the British crown, but no-one would suggest going to war with Great Britain over it. This was the start of a rivalry that would last for years to come. Rackham agreed with Philippoteaux in principle, but was far more cautious, knowing how easy it was for imperial alliances to spiral out of control. He preferred to look for easy targets, such as the holdings of minor powers that were less likely to offer stiff resistance. One such option was the Danish West Indies, home to a small population and under the rule of a country that could do relatively little to defend them. The proposition was met with approval from most of the Council, although McCullough worried that Britain might take offense at another brazen conquest.
The town of Charlotte Amelie woke up on April 3, 1723 to find a fleet of ships approaching from the Northwest. When they realized what was going on, the residents chose to surrender without a fight. The rest of the Danish islands were occupied with similar ease. Apart from a different flag flying overhead, life largely went on as it always had for the inhabitants, and profits actually increased for the merchants based there. English, Bahamian, and Haitian traders brought their business to the islands as well, including a merchant from South Carolina named Charles Fitzroy.
Like many colonial businessmen, Fitzroy was willing to skirt the law to make extra money, which included smuggling goods into and out of French and Spanish ports. He was returning from a run to Saint Augustine when he was intercepted by a Spanish sloop. The captain punished Fitzroy for his violation of Spanish law by cutting off his left ring finger. At least, that was how the Spanish put it; Fitzroy claimed adamantly that he had been falsely accused, and was simply moving goods between the Virgin Islands and the English colonies on the Atlantic seaboard. Whatever the case, he brought his story to Parliament in 1726, and outraged MP’s demanded that Spain be punished for mutilating a subject of the British Crown. The vote was close, but Great Britain declared war on Spain on March 10, 1726, followed shortly afterward by the Bahamas and their satellites.
The War of Fitzroy’s Finger would be fought mainly over Florida and Cuba, with Carolinian militia putting in a respectable amount of the work for the Crown, followed by the Bahamians and the Royal Navy. On May 5, a Bahamian fleet blockaded Saint Augustine, while troops from South Carolina moved in to surround the city from the land. Two weeks later, the arrival of British marines led to the fall of the oldest Spanish settlement in North America after a bloody assault. There were several naval battles in the Caribbean with mixed results, an abortive Spanish assault on Gibraltar, and an attack on Havana that failed to take the city, but caused substantial damage. On August 10, Spain agreed to a ceasefire, with a treaty being formally signed one month later. Florida was ceded to Great Britain and a nominal indemnity was paid in return. The Freemen and the American colonists were both delighted by the removal of the Spanish threat on their border and the opening up of new land to settle. The first British colonists to settle the new territory came from South Carolina, followed soon by immigrants from the Caribbean. The Carolinians hoped to spread slavery to the south, which would become a sticking point in the future with their friends on the islands, but for now, the allies could bask in victory.
It'd be interesting if the Caribbean settlers in Florida results in a distinctive local culture that results in an independent Florida if/when TTL's American Revolution happens.
That's a great idea. It would make the North American map look different, and lead to plenty of unique Florida Man stories.
Chapter 12: Once More into the Breach
Chapter 12: Once More into the Breach
For several years after the War of Fitzroy’s Finger, the Freeman’s Confederacy got along smoothly with its neighbors. The member states all had fairly strong economies, bolstered by trade with Britain, the North American colonies, and one another. The Brethren Council was able to tamp down on raiding merchant shipping, and the Bahamian Navy developed into a more professional force. The main sticking point was the Confederacy’s de facto support for abolition, which made the British sugar islands and the southern colonies of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the newly formed Georgia, profoundly uncomfortable. Haiti remained officially unrecognized, and trade goods could not make up for the existence of a majority-black nation of freed slaves right next door to several economies that increasingly relied on slavery.
The newly acquired British colony of Florida quickly became a cultural melting pot as settlers flowed in from the southern colonies, Britain, the Bahamas, and Haiti, mixing with the small Spanish population and the Native Americans who occupied much of the colony. Most of the settlers in the north of the peninsula came from the Carolinas and Virginia, and brought their plantation-focused, cash crop economy with them. In addition, many of the English settlers founded cattle ranches, or appropriated them from their Spanish owners. In the south of Florida, most of the settlers came from the Caribbean, especially Haiti and Martinique, along with a smattering from the Bahamas and the smaller islands. These colonists were averse to using slave labor, mostly establishing small farms and trading posts. In the middle sat the Native population, which was becoming anxious about being squeezed between two new waves of settlement, both larger than the Spanish incursions had been. For the moment, the Indians were the majority, but the more prescient among them could see trouble in the future.
The Brethren Council remained divided between expansionists and moderates, but other divisions among the member states soon became apparent. Many of the more moderate Councilmen were also more traditional in their social outlook, hoping to introduce a class system similar to that in their homelands, often with the unspoken assumption that they would be at the top. Most of the expansionist-minded representatives tended to support a more egalitarian form of organization, feeling that aristocracies and strict hierarchies were the kind of thing they had come to the New World to get away from. Many Haitian Councilmen tended towards egalitarianism as well, with a focus on racial equality in addition to political levelling. These factions would come to be known as the Whigs and Tories after their counterparts in Britain, with Jack Rackham and John Finch being among the better-known and more influential Whigs and James McCullough and an up-and-coming Councilman by the name of Thomas Fitzgerald being leading members of the Tory faction.
Meanwhile in Europe, the great powers continued to squabble among themselves. In 1756, this escalated into another war, with Prussia and Britain lining up against France, Austria, Russia, and Spain. The Austrian Empire sought the return of Silesia from Prussia, while Britain wanted to drive the French out of the Ohio Valley and Canada. For their part, France wanted Haiti and Martinique back, as well as any other islands it could take from the British or their allies, while Spain hoped to recapture Florida. The Freemen, as allies of Great Britain, were drawn into the conflict, both to defend themselves and grab whatever bits of territory they could, preferably sugar islands or, failing that, a Spanish port or two. The war in North America went poorly for Britain at first, with an expedition sent after Fort Duquesne being massacred in the wilds of Appalachia, with most of the survivors being saved through the efforts of a captain in the Virginia Militia by the name of George Washington. The fighting in the Caribbean mostly consisted of skirmishes and attacks on merchant shipping for the first five months of the war, with neither side having a decisive edge. The European conflict saw Prussia bear the brunt of the fighting, nearly being overwhelmed until the Czar died suddenly, causing the Russians to make peace in the confusion of choosing a successor. In North America, the French evacuated their forts in the Ohio Valley as the colonial militias and Regulars began to step up their performance, and soon Britain was eyeing an invasion of Canada to drive France from the continent entirely.
French-aligned Indians massacring English settlers.
English militia in battle in the Ohio country.
Spain devoted much of its naval strength to a blockade of Florida with the goal of reclaiming its former colony. The blockade was able to isolate Saint Augustine and a few smaller ports, but a great deal of smuggling from the Bahamas and Puerto Rico allowed the settlements to hold out. Once again, the Freemen turned their attention towards Cuba, the jewel of the Spanish Main. An expedition headed by Admiral Finch set out for Havana in 1762 and put the capital under siege. After weeks of blockade and bombardment, the garrison surrendered. When they heard the news, the Spanish fleet pulled out of Saint Augustine and set sail to retake the Cuban capitol. They arrived to find the Bahamians supported by a pair of British frigates, leading to a bloody fight that ultimately saw the Spanish repulsed. The invaders could not advance far from Havana, but word of an attack on Santiago convinced the Spanish that Cuba was a lost cause. France had already lost Quebec, and these twin blows lead the allies to seek peace with Britain.
The Bahamians and English defend Havana.
The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ceded all of Canada to Great Britain. Louisiana, however, had been secretly sold to Spain shortly before the end of the fighting. The Spanish ceded control of Cuba, which joined the Freemen’s Confederacy. Britain also grabbed parts of Bengal from the Mughal Empire in India, as well as Tobago, Saint Vincent, Grenada, and Dominica from France in the Caribbean. The Thirteen Colonies were overjoyed at the elimination of the French threat, and many looked forward to moving into the new territories west of the Appalachians. Merchants both in the Colonies and the Confederacy were eager to get in on the Cuban market, and control of the Mississippi River promised great commercial gains in the coming years. However, all was not well in the Americas. Britain had expended enormous amounts of money funding a global war, and had large debts to repay. Its American subjects seemed like a perfectly logical source of revenue, especially now that there was no major obstacle to tax collection. Cuba still practiced slavery, as much of its economy was plantation-based. However, its fellow member states in the Confederacy were either ambivalent towards the practice or, in the case of Haiti, outright hostile. The newly acquired lands in North America contained many powerful Indian tribes that Britain was reluctant to provoke, despite the hunger for land displayed by many of their subjects. There were more than a few storm clouds on the horizon.
The situation in North America, 1763.
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Rivercat893
Banned
Whether or not it will become an independent nation, America will have a lot more land than OTL. Cuba might even become a state.
Chapter 13: Shot Heard Round the World
Chapter 13: Shot Heard Round the World
After the Seven Year’s War ended, Great Britain was left deep in debt despite its victory. Parliament needed a new source of funds, and their first choice was the Thirteen Colonies. The constant on-and-off wars with France and Spain had kept the Royal Navy distracted and unable to stringently enforce the Navigation Acts for years, and now that the fighting was over for the foreseeable future, it was time to bring the colonies in line and make them pay their share. Smuggling had long been a problem, especially goods routed through the Freemen’s Confederacy, and Britain decided to crack down on the practice. In addition, Parliament levied a series of new taxes on their American subjects, most notably a requirement that all documents sold in the colonies bear an official stamp of approval. The Stamp Act aroused deep resentment, and many a tax collector found themselves driven out of a village by angry colonists. Effigies of Prime Minister George Grenville were burned across the colonies, and public meetings demanded that, as English subjects, the colonists must have a say in their own taxation.
The Freemen’s Confederacy, while not being directly taxed, was still affected by Britain’s attempts to levy funds from their American possessions. The new focus on stopping smuggling cut into the profits of many of the Confederacy’s leading merchants, just as it did for many American businessmen. They protested that they were practicing entirely legitimate business and were being unfairly restricted by a controlling ally. Many of them actually were smugglers, but this detail was largely overlooked. The Brethren Council hoped to modify its trade agreement with Britain, much to the latter’s annoyance. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1764 in the face of colonial outrage, but was unwilling to modify the Navigation Acts or its agreements with the Freemen. Increasing numbers of British troops were stationed in the Colonies, both to enforce the new tax policy and to prevent settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, as the territories between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River had been designated as an Indian reservation. The American colonists were especially upset about not being allowed to settle lands that they had fought to wrest from the French, and many of them simply moved west anyway.
By 1773, events in the Colonies had escalated significantly. Protests, especially in New England, became increasingly common and violent. Prime Minster James Townshend sent troops to occupy Boston and blockade the town to force obedience in the wake of a particularly violent protest of the tax on tea. In response, leading citizens from across the Thirteen Colonies formed the Continental Congress to coordinate resistance to overbearing British authority. The Brethren Council offered to support the Congress, but this offer was refused for fear of escalating the situation too fast. Despite the efforts of moderates to gain a peaceful redress of Colonial grievances, the so-called Patriot movement soon spun out of control.
The Bahamas were drawn into the crisis when the Bahamian merchant ship Seagull was detained on charges of smuggling goods into Massachusetts. The crew, for their part, insisted that they had been sailing to trade with New Hampshire and had simply gone off course. Several members of the Brethren Council condemned British interference in their affairs and expressed sympathy for the Americans. The admiral who captured the Seagull was adamant that the crew should be tried in a British court, which further angered the Bahamians. The Brethren Council issued a formal condemnation of Parliament, souring relations that had already been cooling for some time. The Confederacy had been developing a distinct identity over the past sixty years, especially thanks to the Haitians and the French and Dutch populations of the minor islands. Their culture was far more egalitarian than that of their British allies, and they were increasingly at odds with slaveholding powers. They still did business with them, of course, but there was a definite distaste for the slave trade. Many of the Freemen sympathized more with the American Patriots than with Parliament, and this would influence their foreign policy going forward.
In April of 1775, British troops fired on the Massachusetts militia at Lexington Green and went on to fight a larger engagement at the nearby village of Concord, which ended with the Regulars being driven back to Boston. Militia began to rally from all over Massachusetts and the neighboring colonies to lay siege to the colonial capital, and Congress was left little choice but to organize the various militias into a Continental Army, under Virginian George Washington, in June. Now the Freemen’s offer sounded far more tempting. After a large battle at Bunker Hill outside of Boston, which saw the British drive the militia from the hill at the cost of nearly 1,000 casualties, those calling for independence from Britain rather than simple reform became emboldened. When word arrived that King George III had declared the Colonies to be in rebellion and was hiring mercenaries to put down the revolt, the issue was settled. The Continental Congress accepted the Brethren Council’s offer of trade and military advisors. The Council was not willing to go to war just yet, but a few “volunteers” would join the fight in North America and on the high seas. If the opportunity presented itself, the Confederacy would intervene. For now, they chose to wait and see what transpired.
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Chapter 14: Turning Point
Chapter 14: Turning Point
Throughout the spring of 1776, the Continental Congress debated a declaration of independence from Great Britain. The Southern Colonies, especially South Carolina and Georgia, were uncomfortable accepting aid from the Confederacy, fearing that it may inspire slave uprisings. Delegates from New England and the Middle Colonies defended the move by pointing out that they needed all the help that they could get. When Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson was asked to write a preliminary declaration, he included a clause claiming that slavery had been forced on the Colonies by Great Britain. Although a slave-owning planter himself, Jefferson believed strongly in the ideals of the Enlightenment, including the idea of natural rights that were possessed by all humans. The anti-slavery clause angered the Southern representatives, some of whom threatened to withdraw their support for the declaration if the clause were not removed. Jefferson was adamant about including the clause, believing that it would help attract foreign aid and that it would be hypocritical not to acknowledge slavery while fighting for freedom.
The debate went on for days, with the Southern delegates ultimately walking out. The Carolinas and Georgia would not declare independence from Britain if it meant giving up their economic mainstay. The planters made up the political elite in the South, and they certainly were not willing to sacrifice their positions for a principle they did not believe extended to all men. Despite their great disappointment, New England, the Middle Colonies, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia declared their independence from the British Empire on July 4, 1776. The news set off celebrations across the new United States, with statues of King George III being pulled down and copies of the Declaration being read in the squares of towns and villages to excited crowds. The Declaration was dismissed in Britain, but received with interest in France and the various German states. When news arrived in the Caribbean, the Brethren Council voted to extend an offer of alliance to the United States. Knowing that the fighting still to come would surely be difficult, Congress voted to accept on July 18.
In the meantime, the British had been preparing to retake their wayward territories. There were only a handful of large cities in the United States, all of them along the Atlantic coast. Boston was the cradle of the rebellion and a major port, Philadelphia was home to the Continental Congress and the largest population in the Colonies, and New York was the most important commercial port. From New York, British troops could move north along the Hudson River to link up with Canada and split the Colonies in two. After that, it simply became a matter of finishing off any lingering resistance. Some officers advocating landing troops in the South and marching up through Virginia and Maryland, bolstered by loyalist militias and a secure line of communications. General William Howe, supreme commander of British forces in North America, chose the New York plan. British troops landed on Staten Island on July 3 to find the Continental Army digging in on Manhattan and Long Island. In late August, the British attacked American positions on Brooklyn Heights, ultimately driving the Americans from the field, although Washington withdrew his men in good order.
After heated debate, Washington’s officers agreed to evacuate Manhattan. Over the following weeks, Howe chased Washington north to White Plains, and then west into New Jersey. By December, the Continental Army had reached the Delaware River. At this point, many had begun to fear that the cause was lost, including the Bahamian and Haitian advisors who were attempting to train the ragtag Continentals into a real fighting force. On the night of December 24, 1776, Washington surprised these observers by crossing the Delaware River and routing the Hessian mercenaries encamped on the other side at Trenton. Two days later, a British counterattack at Princeton was soundly repulsed. This breathed new life into the rebellion, and the coming year would see the Confederacy flex its muscles as well.
The Freemen had done relatively little up to this point, apart from sending supplies and advisors to the United States. They had also issued letters of marque and sent raiders to harass British shipping. By 1777, the Confederacy was preparing to go on the offensive. The big prize was Jamaica, but its importance meant that it was heavily defended. Puerto Rico, or Richland as the British called it, was right next door to Haiti and easier to isolate and overwhelm. In March, an expedition set sail from Port-au-Prince and met up with a fleet coming down from Nassau near St. John, Richland’s capitol. The garrison could do no more than offer a token resistance, and quickly surrendered. Resistance continued in the countryside for a few weeks, but it consisted of nothing more than occasional raids by militiamen. This got Britain’s attention, and Sir Richard Howe sent a squadron from New York to reinforce Jamaica.
Bahamian privateers attacking a British vessel.
Meanwhile, Sir John Burgoyne was preparing to lead an expedition down the Hudson in the hopes of cutting off New England from the rest of the Colonies. He expected support from further south, but for reasons known only to himself, William Howe chose to remain in New York. The Continentals intercepted Burgoyne’s forces near Saratoga and after several days of fighting forced him to surrender his entire army. This defeat came as a shock to the British, and convinced Louis XVI and his ministers that the American cause was worth supporting. The French crown made this decision not out of any sympathy for republican ideals, but simply out of a desire to spite their age-old rivals to the north and gain a new ally. France’s entry into the war was a serious blow to the British war effort, with more than a few MPs being willing to recognize American independence so they could focus all their resources on protecting more valuable possessions such as Jamaica, Trinidad, and Canada. Ultimately Parliament decided to continue fighting in North America, but with the goal of containing the United States to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic while most of their attention shifted to the south. The war was far from over, and the most savage fighting still lay ahead.
Burgoyne surrenders to Horatio Gates.
Interesting timeline! And quite a different American Revolution, now... I wonder if Spain will hold a grudge in TTL, allying with Britain in order to get back at the Confederacy.
Chapter 15: My God, it is All Over
Chapter 15: My God, it is All Over
The entry of France into the American Revolutionary War forced Britain to change its strategy from one of suppression to one of containment. American troops under George Rogers Clark had already seized much of the Ohio Country, leaving little hope of keeping the rebellious colonies out of the Great Lakes region. However, the South was a different story. The Carolinas and Georgia were loyal to the Crown and offered the perfect staging area for an invasion of Virginia which might force the Americans to move most of their troops south and leave New England exposed. If the Continental Army could be defeated in battle, the Americans might even make peace on Britain’s terms. Sir Henry Clinton landed an army at Charleston in early 1779 and began moving north.
The fighting in the Middle Colonies had gone on inconclusively since Saratoga, with the British capturing Philadelphia in the winter of 1777, only for Congress to flee and the Continental Army to encamp for the winter at nearby Valley Forge. Despite extreme deprivation and an outbreak of smallpox, the Americans used the winter months to train under the leadership of advisors from the Bahamas, Haiti, and the German states, with the former Prussian officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben being particularly instrumental. When the campaigning resumed in the spring, the Continentals were able to match Lord Howe’s troops on equal terms, fighting the British to a standstill at Monmouth, New Jersey. Howe was replaced as commander of British forces in America by Lord Charles Cornwallis, who supported a southern strategy. Clinton’s march northward was mostly unhindered, although fighting between Loyalist and Patriot militias was frequent in the Carolina backcountry. The fighting in the South was just as much a civil war as a revolution, and both sides committed atrocities against prisoners and civilians, which only made things ever more brutal.
Patriot Cavalry in the Carolina Backwoods.
General Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga, marched south to defend Virginia from Clinton, taking up a position near the town of Petersburg. Governor Jefferson and the House of Burgesses were adamant that Richmond must not be lost, forcing Gates to operate defensively. The British moved west of Gates’s position, looking to cut off the settlements in the Appalachians from the more established towns in the Tidewater region. As word spread of the British advance, frontier militias began organizing to defend their towns, from Indians just as much as from the British. A detachment of Loyalist troops went to subdue the Appalachian settlements, only to be annihilated by an army of militia and frontiersmen at Lynchburg. Despite this loss, Clinton still moved east to confront Gates. Hoping to avoid a siege, Gates marched out to meet Clinton in the field. Unfortunately, the militia making up his center routed in the face of a British charge, with the General and his staff following them in their flight. The professional units, including a regiment of German volunteers, held their ground and were almost all killed or captured.
The Continentals make a stand at Appomattox.
When news arrived of the defeat at Appomattox, the Virginia state government fled north from Richmond in a panic. Clinton soon occupied the state capitol with much fanfare. Washington was reluctant to move south with a British army still in New York, so he sent his trusted aide Nathaniel Greene to organize an army to drive Clinton out of Virginia. Meanwhile, the Spanish had their eyes on Florida. Spain was not especially friendly towards Great Britain, but they hated the Freemen more, as the latter had taken more territory from them, including Cuba. The island was the main war goal, but Spain also wanted to retake Florida, and the peninsula was more sparsely inhabited than Cuba, with fewer fortified settlements. As Clinton marched through the Carolinas, Spain negotiated a treaty of alliance with Britain, and forces soon began assembling for deployment in the Americas. The invasion force set out from Cadiz in June of 1779, bound for Saint Augustine.
The Spanish force arrived off Saint Augustine on July 1 and bombarded the nearby Castillo de San Marcos while the army disembarked and occupied the town. The fort held out for another day before being stormed. Despite the easy capture of the Floridian capital, actually occupying the colony was easier said than done. The frontier settlements rallied their militia, and sent couriers to alert forces across the peninsula. The Anglo population had a sizeable population of Loyalists, but they were loyal to the British crown, not Spain, and were willing to fight against the invaders. The southern part of Florida was especially hostile to Spanish rule, as most of the population was of Haitian or Bahamian descent. Even more daunting was the environment. Away from the coast, infrastructure was poor, even by colonial standards, and the swamps were breeding grounds for disease. Supply lines quickly became targets for partisan raids, and any moves away from the coast were costly failures. Another amphibious force seized Miami, but the fleet was soon attacked by a Cuban-Bahamian force and driven off, leaving the troops in the city surrounded by militia on land and hostile ships at sea.
Spanish troops in a Floridian swamp.
As the fighting in Florida ground on, Spain decided to shift its attention towards Cuba, the prize it had been seeking since it entered the war. This time, the Royal Navy would assist the Spanish in clearing away any hostile naval forces that might threaten the landing. The Cubans had been preparing for a possible invasion for some time, and now their defenses were about to be put to the test. On March 2, 1780, lookouts spotted sails on the horizon off Havana. The militia were mustered, and riders sent to spread word of the invasion to the rest of the island. Cuban naval forces, under Admiral Juan Alonzo Sanchez, set sail from Santiago upon receiving news of the Spanish approach. Before they could reach Havana, they encountered British ships patrolling the northern coast of the island. The British vessels, being only sloops, fled at the approach of the Cuban ships of the line, which promptly followed them. Sanchez soon came within sight of an Anglo-Spanish fleet and chose to offer battle. The fighting was bloody, and the Cubans ultimately withdrew, but British losses were slightly higher. To make matters worse, the Spanish had suffered heavy losses capturing Havana, and Cuban troops were converging on the town to lay siege. The Cuban navy was soon back with reinforcements from the Bahamas, along with a few Haitian ships, and this time the Royal Navy was forced to retreat from Havana, leaving the Spanish surrounded.
Meanwhile in Virginia, Clinton’s army, worn down from constant skirmishes with the Americans, withdrew down the Virginia peninsula to await reinforcements. George Washington seized the opportunity and marched the main Continental Army down to Virginia to join forces with Greene. Richmond was quickly reoccupied, and the combined force, supplemented by French troops, faced off against Clinton at Williamsburg. The general expected support from the Royal Navy, but a French fleet turned back the British reinforcements off the Virginia Capes, allowing the Franco-Americans to besiege Clinton. By April 19, supplies were running low, and the Americans were threatening to breach the outer defenses, leaving Clinton no choice but to surrender. When news of the disaster arrived in England, Lord North exclaimed “My God, it is all over!” Parliament soon agreed to a cease-fire and peace negotiations began with the United States.
Fighting in the Caribbean would last somewhat longer. The Spanish attempted to relieve the force in Havana, but were repulsed, and the beleaguered army surrendered on June 6. At this point, the British were willing to make peace with the Freemen as well, and Spain had little choice but to agree, as the fighting in Florida was still inconclusive and the Cuban invasion had been a bloody debacle. The United States received all British territory east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio, with North Carolina and Georgia retaining their western land claims. The status quo antebellum was restored in the Caribbean, with the Freemen’s Confederacy allied to the United States. Louisiana was returned to France. The Confederacy had come a long way in the past six decades, from a handful of outlaws to a force to be reckoned with. It had allies on the continent who shared its democratic ideals, and looked to expand south and westward. The future was uncertain, but the horizon looked bright.
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That was the last chapter of TTL for now. I plan on doing a sequel eventually, but I don't have any concrete plans at the moment. This was my first TL that wasn't based on any other work, and I hope it's been as much fun to read as it's been to write.
My God, it is All Over.
Great TL, I enjoyed reading it and would read a sequel if you ever write one.
It was a great read, short as it was...and I really can't express how much I'd love to see this continued
obviously, only if you want to, no pressure, but you have my full support!
Why should that matter, Spain also lost the war so couldn't Britain take it from them?
France did that IOTL's Seven Years War, and the British didn't take it. It's the same thing here.
The Southern Colonies actually sided with Britain over the slavery issue. The Confederacy's relationship with Britain had been deteriorating for a while, same as the Americans.
It was mentioned that the British changed the trade agreement to be less advantaging to the Confederacy recently and that's it, apart from that the British have been supplying them with exactly want they want, legitimacy and protection. Meanwhile, the Colonies have been festering for a decade and even the Colonies didn't actually want to go to war with the British until circumstances conspired. It just seems a huge leap for the Confederacy to throw over their one ally for a no-name group of rebellious Colonies that they are already butting heads with.