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.
……..
*: This is the PoD. In our timeline this petition was sufficient to convince Benedict Arnold to stay with the northern army.
----------------------
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.