Liberty or Tyranny; A Revolutionary Timeline

Liberty or Tyranny
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me; give me liberty or give me death!"-
Patrick Henry

"If Tyranny and Oppresion come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy"
James Madison
Chapter One: The Coward of Saratoga
October, 1777. It has been over a year since the American colonies declared their independence, and over two years since Lexington and Concord. The Americans have suffered defeat after defeat, save the Battles of Trenton and Princeton in the winter of 76-77. Washington has lost New York, and the British occupy Philadelphia. They seek out allies across Europe, but to no avail. There seems to be little hope for the Americans, and it’s only getting bleaker.

In Spring of 1777, the British began a new campaign in the north, designed and led by General John Burgoyne. He marches south from Quebec with an army of 8000 men, while a diversionary campaign is being led through the Mohawk River Valley by Colonel Barry St. Leger, and Iroquois leader Joseph Brant. The goal of this campaign was to capture Albany and take control of the Hudson river, cutting New England off from the rest of the colonies.

The American camp was becoming uneasy after Arnold’s return from Fort Stanwix. It was not so evident yet, but tension between Benedict Arnold and Horatio Gates would eventually boil over, causing disaster off and on the battlefield.

On September 18, Burgoyne’s vanguard was just north of Saratoga, and about 4 miles away from the American lines. Skirmishes occurred between the British vanguard and the American scouting parties.
On the 19th, Arnold begs Gates for the chance to attack the British, and after enough pestering, Gates allows him to take the left wing and nothing else. Arnold takes his troops and goes to where the skirmishes are occurring. As the battle continues, Arnold detects a gap in the British line and orders several charges in order to break through. According to one officer Arnold seems to have been "inspired by the furry of a demon".

At a critical moment, Arnold believes he can take the field and defeat the red coats if he only had more troops. He rides back to camp and implores gates for reinforcements. Gates gives in and allows him to take 1 regiment. As Arnold heads back toward the battlefield, Gates orders him back and strips him of field command and ordered him to stay at camp. The Troops marching out under Gates are not inspired and do not want to follow him. The Americans loose momentum, and the fighting ends.

The British eventually take the field when they send as many of their reserves as they can afford to send to attack the Right Wing of the army. The Americans retreated, giving the British a Technical victory. Burgoyne had 600 men killed or wounded, and the Americans had only 300 killed or wounded.

The tensions that had been boiling between Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold finally spill over after the battle. Gates refuses to acknowledge Arnolds contributions in the battle, and Arnold confronts him about it. After a strong shouting match and a threat by Gates to have Arnold removed and replaced, Arnold requests a pass to go join Washington’s army in Pennsylvania. Gates is only too willing to get rid of him.

After the battle, Burgoyne pushes his men forward closer to the American lines in order to consolidate their position. He receives a message Henry Clinton dated September 12th, saying that he was taking a fort just south of West Point, and would be there in 10 days. This meant that Clinton would not be close enough to Saratoga by the end of September in order to assist. With their supplies running low, Burgoyne decided to hold on and not push forward.

Word spreads among the troops of Arnold’s departure. The officers sign a petition to get Arnold to stay. Despite this effort, Arnold does not accept, saying that he will never get the respect or credit he deserves serving under Gates.* He gathers his belongings and heads south to join Washington.

With their supplies dwindling, and Burgoyne refusing to consider retreat, on October 4th, they agreed to launch an attack on the American Left Wing on the 7th. They engaged the Americans once again outside of Saratoga, this time at a place known as Bemis Heights.

When the attack is launched, the American left wing is under command of Benjamin Lincoln. Though a good general, he lacks the charisma to inspire the men as Arnold did. Many of the men were refusing to go out to battle. Some went but refused to push forward, and some even deserted. This lack morale amongst the soldiers caused the left wing to collapse, and the right wing was soon surrounded. Very few are able to escape the British encircling, this being Daniel Morgan and his riflemen.

On October 7th, 1777, General Horatio Gates surrenders to General John Burgoyne. News of this reaches the Continental Congress and Washington by October 20th. George Washington is distraught as almost the entire northern army has been captured. Arnold was full of mixed feelings. He felt that this was a tragedy for America, but he felt it a fitting end to Granny Gates.

By November, John Burgoyne’s army reaches Albany, New York. Though there are forts along the Hudson river that are still under American holding, both ends of the river are under British control. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the forts along the river fall and New England would be completely cut off from the rest of the colonies.
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*: This is the PoD. In our timeline this petition was sufficient to convince Benedict Arnold to stay with the northern army.
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Comments?
Questions?

I hope you enjoy this first installment of my newest timeline. This will be a side project for me, while my main project is still America the Fallen. You can expect to see updates for this timeline every so often in between AtF installments.
 
Looks quite interesting thusfar. Certainly a decisive British victory at Saratoga is going to demoralize the colonies and throw a huge wrench into Franklin's efforts for French recognition and support.

That said, Arnold escapes the battle unwounded, and to be honest... him and Washington would compliment each other quite well assuming he can keep the Continential Army a going concern after this debacle.

Though yes... Arnold's seeds of distrust in the upper ranks are already there too. His memiors probably will be saying how it could have been a great victory if only Gates had listened to him. Though he could win another one yet. For that matter, if the British decide to "go south" in this timeline, he might be the right man to command that army too.

Looks interesting and I look forward to more.
 
Looks quite interesting thusfar. Certainly a decisive British victory at Saratoga is going to demoralize the colonies and throw a huge wrench into Franklin's efforts for French recognition and support.

That said, Arnold escapes the battle unwounded, and to be honest... him and Washington would compliment each other quite well assuming he can keep the Continential Army a going concern after this debacle.

Though yes... Arnold's seeds of distrust in the upper ranks are already there too. His memiors probably will be saying how it could have been a great victory if only Gates had listened to him. Though he could win another one yet. For that matter, if the British decide to "go south" in this timeline, he might be the right man to command that army too.

Looks interesting and I look forward to more.

Thank you. Let's just say that the Americans are in for a very long, bloody, and violent revolution. America isn't going to be the same culturally after this.
 
Winter, 1777-1778

By December, all the forts along the Hudson river have been captured by the British Northern Forces under the command of John Burgoyne. He campaign to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies was a technical victory. This would not be the end of the war in New England. There were still rebel troops in the northern colonies along with die hard militia, not to mention the Green Mountain Boys up in the New Hampshire Grants.

Burgoyne adjusted the strategy in the North, basically turning it into a siege. Nothing would go into New England, and nothing would come out. He called for a blockade of the coast by as many ships as necessary. The Hudson river would also serve as a blockade line. He also called for troops to patrol the borders of New England to make sure no men or supplies could be moved. He didn’t want to bother with forcibly subjugating the Yanks in the north. Their livelihood was heavily based on shipping. With a blockade by sea and land the New England economy would suffer, leading to the death of this rebellion. And when New England folds the rest will die. Cut the head off a snake and bury separate from the body.

The British won several more victories before they would retire to winter quarters. Fort Mercer along the Delaware River was captured by 1200 Hessians led by Colonel Karl von Donop. The fort was renamed Fort Donop by the Hessian troops who captured it in honor of what Donop had said before the battle "Either the fort will be called Fort Donop, or I shall have fallen." Along with the capture and renaming of Fort Mercer, the British also captured fort Mifflin, which opened up supply lines. They won one final victory against the Americans on December 4th, in what became known as the Battle of White Marsh, forced Washington to retreat further away from Philadelphia.

When winter came George Washington and his army made camp at Valley Forge. While here he would rest and train his army for the next year, that is, if he even had an army next year. The rebel troops were tired, ill-equipped, and hungry. They were short on everything an army needed; food, equipment, shelter, and professionalism. The camp was a mess. Units were not camped together. The officers had no written records of who was in their regiment. Kitchens and latrines were set up next to each other without care. Animal carcasses littered the camp. Their cabins were small and had little ventilation short of leaving the door open. The continental army was in need of discipline.

To remedy this situation they brought in Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a Prussian drill master. He first set out to fix the camp. He ordered that the camp be completely remade, much to the begrudging of the soldiers. The kitchens were moved up hill on one side of the camp, and latrines were dug on the opposite side of the camp down hill. No one was to ever defecate in the river in order to prevent the spreading of disease. The soldiers were ordered to keep them selves in professional order. Bathing became was ordered to be done on a regular basis. A comission of soldiers was put together to get rid of any animal carcasses that may litter the camp. They would be taken outside the camp and burned to prevent the spread of disease. The men in the camp were also relocated according to company and regiment.

An attack on Steuben was conspired by angry and disgruntled soldiers within the army. This conspiracy was discovered, and the leaders of it were dealt with severely… Execution by firing squad. This showed the men that Washington was serious about the army learning what Steuben had to teach. Steuben personally took the commanders of all the companies and trained them in the art of European army style. How to march, salute, hold a weapon, and to stand at attention. The company commanders were also ordered to keep documents for their company, accounting for who’s there and who isn’t. Whether they died in battle, off battle, or deserted. What astounded Steuben the most about the differences between the Americans and the Prussians was the Americans incessantly asking why something be done the way they were told. He simultaneously admired and grew frustrated with this.

The lack of supplies was a problem that not even the Baron could solve. Much of the supplies that been ordered to them never made it. A couple of soldiers discovered crates on broken carts on the sides of the road outside of Valley Forge. These crates had labels telling that they were to be sent to Washington’s camp, but when the carts broke the continental congress simply left them where they sat, not even attempting to deliver them the rest of the way. Washington had tried to prevent the men from discovering this. He had been taking the blame for the lack of supplies himself because he did not want the army to loose faith in the Congress.

The soldiers who found out about the carts told the others in the camp about the lost supplies and how it was really congresses fault. This news spread like wildfire, and there was a movement to overthrow the congress. This movement was quickly expunged. The soldiers who discovered the crates and disobeyed the orders to not leave camp were executed by firing squad. It was too late to erase the knowledge of the crates, so Washington ordered soldiers to go find the crates and bring them back to camp.

By Spring, Washington and his army would be trained and re-equipped and hopefully ready to fight the British.

In the winter, just as many British officers did, General John Burgoyne and General Charles Cornwallis returned to England in the winter and would return to America in the Spring. For Cornwallis it was a great relief to be away from General Howe. While in London, Burgoyne met with George Germain to discuss the further operations to be taken in the northern theater of the rebellion in the American colonies. Germain also invited Cornwallis, who had distinguished himself under Howe, to attend these meetings. Burgoyne explained his plan for the north, essentially a siege of the region.

Cornwallis objected to this plan, saying that this will only prolong the war and increase the colonists animosity toward the mother country. He said that on top of this ‘siege’ there should also send a contingent force into New England to hunt down the rebel fighters and take out the rebel governments in order to re-establish British control from the bottom and the top. Burgoyne argued against Cornwallis, saying that this would cost unnecessary loss of man power that could be avoided by simply starving the enemy to death. In the end however, Germain agreed with Cornwallis. He assigned Cornwallis to a contingent of 10,000 men to be sent into New England in the spring and to root out the rebels and bring a quicker end to the war.
 
Hmm, not enough time to comment in depth.

Woithut Saratoga foreign aid will not be coming and the RN will be able blockade or attck the colonies at will.

With the Hudson under the Union Jack once more I have trouble seeing the Yankees winning. This string of defeats would prompt a lot of fence sitters to throw in with the king.

I would guess the Revolution far and in a geberation we get another revolt that is far more violent and less idealistic.

The Baron is awesome, as ever(better than the Marquis).

more later, best of luck.
 

Art

Monthly Donor
Herr Frage...

You are Quite Wrong, the French were sending millions to aid the Americans BEFORE Saratoga/Freeman's Farm. Beaumarchais had set up a dummy Spanish company to funnel aid to America. The French came in the war because they believed that after Saratoga, the British would come to terms with the Americans, and would declare war on France for sending aid. And for all this about "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne winning Saratoga, how about you have the POD be that the Battle of Valcour Island is never fought? Have Arnold die at Quebec, and British invade in '76 rather than '77. The thing is, St. Leger's detachment withdraws from Fort Stanwix, and Clinton does NOTHING in New York except send the silly "dumbell letter" that never even gets through! And I'd like to see a POD of Saratoga that has Horatio Gates get killed, and Arnold get the credit!
 
The New England Campaign: The Disenfranchisement of Charles Cornwallis
In March of 1778 General Cornwallis and General Burgoyne returned to the Americas after spending the winter back home in England. Burgoyne was stationed in New York City with 10,000 fresh troops, while Cornwallis would arrive in Boston with 5000 troops. Cornwallis would use his force to help crush any remaining rebels in New England and hopefully bring the revolt closer to an end. Burgoyne would Stay in New York City while the troops that had been stationed there would go south and relieve the British forces in Philadelphia.

Cornwallis started in Boston and traveled through the countryside of the New England colonies. They engaged in a few skirmishes, but no major head to head battle. Mostly militia and a small number of pro-American Indians. The real trouble for them came when they entered into the New Hampshire Grants. During the summer of 1777, General John Burgoyne made their way south from Canada through the Grants, capturing strategic forts and forced the Continentals to retreat. Raiding parties of Indians and British soldiers pillaged and burned frontier communities through the Champlain valley.

Needless to say the Vermonters were not too happy about that, and they finally had their chance at pay back. The Green Mountain Boys led by Ethan Allen regularly performed raids of their own on the British when ever they made camp. Stealing food and supplies, Cornwallis’ provisions were running low. He sent a message to General Burgoyne in New York requesting supplies. However, Burgoyne refused to send any. Burgoyne claimed this was to make sure that his blockade couldn’t be broken through, and as to not provide more supplies for the rebels to steal. As legitimate as these claims sounded, Cornwallis never believed them. He knew why Burgoyne refused to send supplies. Burgoyne was angry at Cornwallis for challenging him in front of the Secretary of State for the American Department, George Germain. Not only was he challenged, but Germain sided with Cornwallis.

The problem of supplies turned into a dire one. Unlike other officers, Cornwallis did not approve of stealing food from the local populace. He wanted to win hearts and minds by treating them with at least that much respect. First he offered to purchase food from the local colonists, and this worked for a short time, but there were some who absolutely refused to sell food to the British soldiers. Eventually Cornwallis ran out of money and had to sell his personal dining implements: silver wear, porcelain plates and pots. When these ran out he then was forced to scour the country side for food in the wild. They were able to hunt some of the local game and scavenge a little, but it wasn’t enough. By then end of Spring his army was out of money, tradable goods, and the land could not provide enough to feed his army.

Cornwallis had no choice but to authorize the seizure of food from local farms. He gave instructions only to take the minimum needed, but as soldiers of the time had a habit of doing, they took more then was necessary. This policy began to make the populace even more bitter. Their food was being taken away. They can’t trade or make contact outside of New England, and their property was being taken by foreign soldiers. This would continue into the summer. By September Cornwallis was down to just over 3000 men. Some had died in combat, others from disease caused by malnourishment, and from heat stroke. But, there were a lot of desertions.

This campaign was miserable, and Burgoyne was making it so for Cornwallis. Burgoyne stayed in New York City where he macro-managed the war. The fall was more of the same. Small skirmishes with diehard rebels, causing more damage to the morale of his own men then it was to the people of New England. In November Cornwallis returned to Boston, he had just over 2500 men left. He had lost half of the soldiers he started with, and those that were left were ill-equipped and wearing tattered uniforms.

Cornwallis would catch a ship back to London, where he would resign his commission in the British Army and return to the House of Lords. However, he would never forget what Burgoyne did to him and the shame he had to face returning home defeated. As he got on to the boat in Boston harbor, he faced south toward New York City. With one hand on the railing of the ship and the other clenched into a fist, he muttered under his breath “you shall have your day, and his will be numbered”.
 
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