Hood takes command at Chespeake Bay

What surprises me is this is the earliest Gillray I've seen yet. Only on wiki did I see one dating to 1783, otherwise...they're all 1790s on.

It's also not as hilariously snappy as the later ones...
 
The Royal Navy operated under some rather peculiar rules, some of which led to officers being ruined or even executed for technicalities which shocked even people at the time, let alone today.

Meanwhile, for effectively losing the war, Graves was never even charged with anything, which suggests Hood would be committing suicide by committing an act of mutiny, even if he won.
 
Mr. Railman,

I am shocked, shocked that you would take such a flippant attitude towards the possible demise of the founder of American economic greatness and the patron saint of all Wall Street lawyers. I hereby sentence you to reading Ron Chernow's biograpphy of St. Alex and preparing and submitting to this forum a 1,000 word essay on: "Why Hamilton was the greatest of the Founding Brothers and why Jefferson should only be remembered as a fairly good architect".:)

Your humble servant,
AH

I am not clear about whether this is intended as a complement or an insult to Hamilton in that being a patron saint of Wall Street lawyers is to my mind an insult. Hamilton stood for strong federal government but not socialism and Presidents of the Hamiltonian tradition have taken on big business where necessary and regulated it. The Teddy Roosevelt took on the trusts and FDR was disliked by the bankers some of whom attempt to plot against him and Barrack Obama's attempts to control the bankers are of the same tradition
 
Mr. Hudson,

As a former Wall Street lawyer I often made pilgrimages to "Inspiration Point". This, of course, is Hamilton's modest tomb in the Trinity Church yard at the foot of Wall Street.
Unlike TJ who lived off the sweat of his "servants", Hamilton (when not in office) worked for a living churning out briefs, indentures, contracts, etc from his law office on Wall Street. Unfortunately, Hamilton's habit of working all hours into the night has become holy writ for those who came after him.
Hamilton's concept of an energetic Federal government can be used for good or ill and has been by the President's named by you, and others. However, all of them relied on Wall street lawyers from Elihu Root to Henry Stimson to John Foster Dulles to Cyrus Vance to plan and carry out their policies.

Your humble servant
AH
 
The Royal Navy operated under some rather peculiar rules, some of which led to officers being ruined or even executed for technicalities which shocked even people at the time, let alone today.

Meanwhile, for effectively losing the war, Graves was never even charged with anything, which suggests Hood would be committing suicide by committing an act of mutiny, even if he won.

I rather suspect had Hood could have got away with it, had his action resulted in a crushing British victory. Britain more than any other nation at the time or since lionized her naval heroes, his failure to follow orders would've been overlooked simply because he had won, everyone loves a winner!

Britain's captains afterall were trained to take the initiative and to be aggressive in all encounters with the enemy. Chesapeake Bay would have been another victory against the old enemy and Hood a hero.

The big surprise OTL was that Graves didn't follow Byng to the forecastle and a marine firing squad. Hood winning a victory would not produce the same fate as Byng.
 
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