One - Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill
One - Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill
The say of the 19th April, 1775 dawned much as any other day did in Massachusetts during that season, but this was to be a spectacularly different one to those that had gone before. Thomas Gage, the was Governor of the rebellious colony and de facto General of an occupying British force. He had received orders from the King's Minister, Earl Dartmouth, that he should proceed to disarm the local militia who were building supplies and drilling in expectation of forthcoming hostilities. It was upon these orders that he chose to send Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and around 700 British Regular troops, 'Redcoats', to the town of Concord where a substantial cash of arms and powder were stored.
The men marched with differing expectations, many believing that the militias would run at the sight of the Redcoats and others that if they did not, they would certainly be smashed aside and wish that they had. The actuality of the day was far different, Smith's route was first checked by a group of militia in Lexington where a tense stand-off was shattered when the British officer Pitcairn fired at the rebels[1]. Although this group was pushed aside by the numerically superior redcoats the rest of the day was to not go so well.
When Smith finally arrived at Concord the outnumbered militia surrendered the town to the British and retired to the north where they watched the British and their numbers grew. Arms and powder were discovered as were two artillery pieces. These could not be moved and Smith ordered that they should be spiked and their carriages burnt. Unfortunately the fire soon spread to some of the town's buildings and although the regulars tried, ineffectually, to fight the fire the militia were enraged seeing to smoke slowly drifting into the sky.
The militia moved towards Smith's position and he was compelled to retire as he was becoming out-numbered. Lord Percy, a singularly intelligent and professional officer[2], leading a relief column met with Smith's men, now back in Lexington, and took control. He managed to re-organise the group and extricate it from a progressively worsening situation. The conclusion of the 'battle' was a rebel victory and one that dispelled the myth's of the militia and, maybe more worryingly, showed that the redcoats were not the resolute and professional force that they had been. Indeed Percy was forces upon one occasion to form up a firing line to compel some of his own troops from a head-long rush[3].
Over the continuing days and weeks the New England militias grew in size and started to siege the British position at Boston. Gage was a natural conservative and had no real plan as to how to break the siege. He was stirred into action, however, on the 17th June when the colonials occupied Breed's hill on the Charlestown peninsular. from where artillery could pour down fire upon Boston and destroy the British in situ. Troops were quickly ferried across and readied for action.
Humphrey Bland[4] was was a leading tactician and wrote
A Treatise of Military Discipline: In Which is laid down and Explained the Duties of Officer and Soldier which was "considered the bible of the British Army". He summed up the perfect attack by stating that your line would advance and encourage ineffective long range musketry, then present a organised volley and immediately charge the foe before they could re-load. The troops that attacked at Bunker hill (the name of this near-by hill giving the battle its name) did not follow suit and tried to engage their well protected foe in a musketry duel. The consequences of this was to take an appalling toll upon the British, even if they won the day.
The pyrrhic victory thus won at Bunker hill caused the siege of Boston to continue and the British were in an untenable position. Gage was replaced by William Howe, who had commanded Wolfe's light troops in the legendary attack on Quebec. When Washington finally placed heavy artillery on the Dorchester heights the game was up and on the 20th March, 1776 the British evacuated to Halifax, Nova Soctia. Here Howe started the process of turning his line regiments into an 'American' fighting force[5]. He would phase out the rigid and ceremonial look of the redcoats and allow a more 'rough and ready' form of the uniform. He would also implement light infantry tactics across the entire force, moving from three to two rank lines.
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This is a preliminary part of the story and although there has been one POD, it is not the main one. I have decided that the initial encounters would not be much different, mainly having slightly smaller numbers of militia, but this would not have a really big impact. There will follow another important update, which follows the course of OTL, and then the third update will outline the big POD and we will see how things develop from there.
[1] There is some argument about who fired the first shot of the AWI, some believe it to be this major, who was lost at Bunker Hill, while others place the first shot with an unknown militiaman
[2] Very true, and this man will feature heavily in TTL unlike OTL
[3] Again OTL and quite surprising I feel
[4] Not someone who I had known until recently, a very remarkable fellow
[5] This is also OTL, but it will be very important and go much further in TTL than OTL. This is one of the major outcomes of the war
Thank you for reading, hope you are enjoying it. Please feel free to comment.